By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
It is not easy to make it to the Final Four, but CSKA Moscow definitely makes it look easy. Since the format was adopted in 1988, CSKA owns the longest Final Four streak, eight consecutive appearances between 2003 and 2010.
The club also boasts the second longest, which is still active, from 2012 to the present. That’s 13 Final Four appearances in 14 seasons, something with no precedent in European basketball history. Head coach Dimitris Itoudis now has the responsibility to lead CSKA to its first Euroleague title since 2008. Itoudis knows better than most what it takes to win the Euroleague; he won five titles with Panathinaikos Athens as Zeljko Obradovic‘s star assistant coach.
A late Olympiacos rally in the semifinal prevented CSKA from making it to the Euroleague Championship Game last season, but Itoudis and CSKA are back with the best offense in the competition. Itoudis believes that offense and defense win titles, as he said in this Euroleague.net interview. “We can all over here talk about offense or defense, but definitely, the combination of both is what makes a team successful,” Itoudis said. “We can start talking about getting stops, but when you get the ball, you have to score. Definitely, the combination of those two gives you success.”
Hello, coach. This is your second Final Four as head coach. Even though you have been to many Final Fours, did last season’s first experience as head coach prepare you in any way to do even better this time around?
“I wouldn’t say. A lot of times, we coaches talk about the journey, what it takes to reach the Final Four. A lot of people, from the media to the fans, don’t realize how it is to be in a team and its daily routine. Everybody says ‘Okay, CSKA will go to the Final Four for sure,’ but it is not easy to reach it, to achieve it during the season, with injuries and emotions. It is not easy. I think that every Final Four has its specific history. For me, when I was an assistant coach and now as head coach, I think that every Final Four can give you some sort of experience, definitely, but I wouldn’t say it is something different. The responsibilities I had working for Zeljko in Panathinaikos and now as a head coach, they are not probably the same, but you can probably know already that I had a lot of responsibilities over there. For me, it is almost the same.”
Despite many injury problems, CSKA returns to the Final Four with better shooting percentages – leading the Euroleague in two-point and three-point range – and a higher scoring average. What allowed you to improve those numbers and become even stronger?
“Well, we are not shooting the ball well lately, but it is not much of a concern. My players did not forget to shoot that ball well. As long as we create good shots and work to have a good passing game, we create open looks, then it is not a problem. For us, in the team it is always about making that extra pass, keeping everybody involved and trying to make certain adjustments during the game, because the opponent also prepare some things and we have to read the game. Injuries definitely made us re-consider our defensive and offensive game, especially Freeland’s injury. It made us shorter and more mobile without that point of emphasis, but we had to find another style and make certain adjustments with what we have right now.”
You have been in pretty much every Final Four this decade as head coach, assistant coach or to see other teams. From your own experience, which are the biggest keys for a team to be successful at this level?
“A lot of details, but definitely, coaches say that less is more or that small details make big differences. I strongly believe on unity and team spirit, on teams that, if something is going wrong according to the plan, are capable to go on a second or third plan, a plan B or C, being creative and aggressive. We can all over here talk about offense or defense, but definitely, the combination of both is what makes a team successful. We can start talking about getting stops, but when you get the ball, you have to score. Definitely, the combination of those two gives you success. We have seen a lot of small ball lately, a lot of switches, so the good spacing will be a key offensively and wish, determination and team spirit will be keys defensively. I strongly believe in both things.”
Nando De Colo and Milos Teodosic have been leading the team this season, ranking first and second in scoring, respectively. Has it been difficult to adjust the team in a way which allowed both players to do so well?
“You know, we coaches are here to help players. The players are in the spotlight, the stars, the ones that make it happen. We can put things on paper, but they make it happen. So, for me, when I came to CSKA, I wanted to have another good creative guard close to Teo. When they play together, or even when one of them leads the team inside and the other is on the bench, my job is actually to help those two players to actually develop their abilities. We accomplished it because also their teammates are giving them a lot of space, a lot of good screens and open looks. That’s the system, as you and anyone reading this can understand. If Friz [Vitaly Fridzon] won’t make his shots, if Kurbanov does not crash the boards, if Kyle [Hines] does not set good screens, etc… I can mention all of my players. If Ceva [Andrey Vorontsevich] doesn’t spread the defense, if Victor [Khryapa] doesn’t read the offense, if Jack [Aaron Jackson] doesn’t put pressure on the ball… we need everybody’s contribution, it is important. We tried to create a team that has a certain, specific role for everyone. We brought people like Cory Higgins, who is hungry and knows exactly what he is capable of. He is always going to step up strong, just as Nikita [Kurbanov]. It is what it is. It is easy to talk to people who like basketball, like Nando and Teo, and their season is a great personal accomplishment, but we are also proud that we worked with them and the organization. As a franchise, we are proud to have such players.”
You will face Lokomotiv Kuban in the semifinals, a team that you play on a regular basis every season. Is that a factor in this game, the fact that both teams know each other two well, or do you expect a completely different story?
“Definitely, we already played twice, sharing wins, and something is always there. Like you said, we know each other, that’s a factor. Loko is a well-deserved Final Four team after playing an amazing season and definitely amazing playoffs. They have a specific playing style with the small rotation that they have. Obviously, their bigs play facing the basket and usually they pop [in pick-and-roll situations] instead of rolling. That makes them play a specific game, offensively. Defensively, they have play big ball or small ball, with Claver at the small forward or power forward position. They have a versatile style and it is going to be an interesting, tough game. As I repeated many times, there are three finals in the Final Four – the two semifinals are finals and the final is a final.”
For the second consecutive season, you will face a Greek coach in the Final Four, Georgios Bartzokas this time. How important is this for a basketball country like Greece, not only having great players but also great coaches at the highest level?
“For me, personally, it would be the same motivation, the same concentration if I would have another coach in front of me, but it is a privilege for a country like Greece, that loves basketball and it is amongst the best two sports in the country, to have representation over there, either with Greek teams or like this season, Greek players and Greek coaches in foreign teams. It is definitely an accomplishment, so congratulations to everybody.”
In general terms, what needs to be done in order to stop a tall, versatile, athletic team like Lokomotiv?
“I would say persistence, mobility, determination and team spirit.”
CSKA has much more Final Four experience than Lokomotiv, in which only two players were there before. Could that make the difference in this game – your know-how?
“That makes sense in theory, but this may have a different translation, that they have not that much concern. They are getting into their first Final Four with big determination, to live the moment. I wouldn’t say that. Yes, experience is definitely important, each of us have that in our minds, but in the end, the game will be five against five and we will need to give our maximum on the court, your best. You need to have the luck factor, of course, like in any sport, but you need to chase your luck with everything that I mentioned before.”
What is your take on the other semifinal, Fenerbahce Istanbul vs. Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz? Will you prepare anything for any of these teams, just in case?
“Fenerbahce and Laboral also deserved to be in the Final Four. They played amazing. We played against Laboral in the Top 16 and didn’t play against Fenerbahce, but I have analyzed their game and they played really good, aggressive basketball at both ends. They have the experience of going to back-to-back Final Fours after being in Madrid last year. It will be another interesting final/semifinal.”
CSKA is always in the Final Four, 13 times in 14 years, but has not won the Euroleague since 2008. What will it take to go the extra mile and finally win the Euroleague title in Berlin?
“Two more wins. That is all it takes: two more wins. Just like that.”