“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Confucius probably didn’t have modern day athletes in mind when he made his famous quote about bouncing back, but the best names in the leading sports know a thing or two about bouncing back from adversity. This is why many... Continue Reading »
CSKA Moscow
Formed in 1924, CSKA Moscow, in full PBC CSKA Moscow, are regarded as one of the richest and most successful teams in European club basketball. Dubbed the “Red Army” in the West due to links with the Soviet Army, the club has maintained its position of strength and power long after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Their biggest achievements were undoubtedly their Euroleague wins, with the 2015/16 and 2018/19 title being the most recent.
Arena
The club uses two stadiums in Moscow, the CSKA Universal Sports Hall and the Megasport Arena. The Universal Sports Hall is the smaller of the two venues and is named after Alexander Gomelsky, a former coach of the club and the Honorary President. The seating capacity for this venue is 5,500 people and is still commonly used for domestic matches.
The Megasport Arena has a capacity of 13,344 visitors for basketball games and opened its doors in 2006. This venue is used for larger games, such as Euroleague games.
The CSKA Arena, which used to be named the VTB Ice Palace, used to be CSKA’s home court before they moved to the Megasport Arena. This arena has a 13,000 capacity for basketball. This relatively new venue opened in April of 2015 and is a multi-purpose venue with two different capacity options for basketball in the overall arena, the 13,000 option and the 4,000 option. The CSKA Arena is part of the Park of Legends and is located close to the Avtozavodskaya metro station.
Domestic
Given the fractured and complicated history of Russia and the USSR, it is no surprise to see that CSKA Moscow have competed in different domestic leagues. However, no matter what domestic league they played in, CSKA were the dominant team.
The USSR League ran between 1923 and 1992 with CSKA Moscow triumphing 24 times. The successful seasons for the Moscow club were 1945, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1988 and 1990.
The switch to the Russian league occurred for the 1991/92 season and the following iterations have been played:
- 1991/92 to 2009/10 – Russian Super League
- 2010/11 to 2012/13 – PBL
- 2013/14 onwards – the VTB United League – a league for Eastern Europe
The VTB United League is regarded as the leading league for Russian teams but it has also contained teams from Estonia, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Latvia and Kazakhstan.
In total CSKA Moscow have triumphed on 22 occasions in these leagues with the successful years being; 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019.
With respect to domestic cups, CSKA Moscow won the USSR Cup in 1972, 1973 and in 1982 while they have won the Russian Cup in 2005, 2006, 2007 and in 2010.
Europe
The dominance of CSKA Moscow in their domestic league has been pleasing for fans but it is their success in the European arena that has marked CSKA Moscow out as being one the leading clubs in European basketball. The team has reached the final of the European Cup/Euroleague on 12 occasions, winning 6 titles.
The 8 European successes for CSKA Moscow are:
- 1960/61 – A 148-128 two legged win over ASK Riga from Latvia (former USSR) (87–62 / 66–61)
- 1962/63 – A 259–240 three-game win over Real Madrid from Spain (86–69 / 91–74 / 99–80)
- 1968/68 – A 103–99 win over Real Madrid (this game required 2 periods of OT to separate the sides)
- 1970/71 – A 67–53 win over Varese from Italy
- 2005/06 – A 73-69 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv from Israel
- 2007/08 – A 91-77 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv from Israel
- 2015/16 – A 96-101 win over Fenerbahce from Istanbul
- 2018/19 – A 83-91 win over Anadolu Efes from Istanbul
CSKA Moscow lost out in 1965, 1970, 1973, 2007, 2009 and in 2012. The club reached 8 consecutive Final Fours between 2002/03 and 2009/10, a European record, but have also continued to do great since making consecutive Final Four appearances since 2012.
CSKA Moscow have also clinched the Triple Crown once, in 2006. This is when a team wins their domestic league, their domestic cup and the European Cup/Euroleague in the same season.
Games against NBA opponents
The first time CSKA Moscow played a team from the NBA was in October of 2006 when the home side won 94-75 against the Los Angeles Clippers in Moscow. This was followed up with a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in the same month, Moscow losing 71-85 in Cologne in Germany.
In October of 2008, CSKA Moscow played two games on North American soil, losing 94-66 to the Orlando Magic and then 86-78 to the Toronto Raptors. In 2010, the club played three games in the United States. CSKA lost 96-85 to the Miami Heat and 97-89 to the Oklahoma City Thunder but they ended the tour with an 87-90 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers for CSKA Moscow’s first win on American soil.
The club also played two games in the USA in October of 2013, winning 106-108 against the Minnesota Timberwolves and then losing 95-93 to the San Antonio Spurs.
Players
The club has a string of well-known and popular players throughout their history with names like Sergei Belov, Stanislav Eremin, Rimas Kurtinaitis and Vladimir Tkachenko being regarded as some of the finest players that Moscow basketball fans have witnessed. There have also been excellent showings from players like Sergei Bazarevich, Andrei Kirilenko, Alexander Volkov, and Trajan Langdon.
With respect to the 2015/16 CSKA Moscow squad, Nando De Colo and Milos Teodosic are the most highly regarded and the two players who are likely to turn a match in the Moscow team’s favour. De Colo has NBA experience with the San Antonio Spurs and in the 2014/15 Euroleague season, he averaged 14.4 points per game for CSKA Moscow. Milos Teodosic has been with CSKA Moscow since 2011 and in the 2014/15 Euroleague season, he averaged 14.8 points per game. At the end of the 2014/15 season, Teodosic had featured in 179 Euroleague games for Olympiacos and CSKA Moscow, averaging 10.5 points per game.
Kyle Hines, a UNC Greensboro alumni has been with the team during 2013 and 2020. The player with perhaps the largest biceps in league has been a huge factor in winning many titles for CSKA Moscow.
Latest News about CSKA Moscow
Monday 31st May – Anadolu Efes Istanbul Are The New EuroLeague Champions
Thursday 27th May – The Final Four Is Upon Us
We’re nearly there. The wait has been long but by the time this weekend is over, the EuroLeague champions for 2020/21 will be known, and we will be looking back on what we hope is a rather exciting Final Four in Cologne. As you know by now, all four teams are in action on Friday.... Continue Reading »
Monday 24th May – What Do EuroLeague Stats Say?
We are now in the week of the EuroLeague Final Four, and it is fair to say things are getting rather exciting. If you are a European basketball betting fan, this is the time for you to pull together your research and start placing bets on the outcome of this year’s major event. When you... Continue Reading »
Thursday 20th May – CSKA Moscow Have A Busy Schedule
CSKA Moscow were in great form in the EuroLeague, booking their place in the Final Four with ease. Three of the four ties went to a fifth game, but the Russians were home and relaxing. Well, we say relaxing, but things haven’t been too easy domestically for CSKA. They are still on course for glory... Continue Reading »