By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
VITORIA-GASTEIZ– If there’s one label that Cory Higgins has carried this last couple of seasons in EuroLeague, this is the one of perhaps the “Most Underrated” player in the competition.
This season though, Higgins shined like one of the brightest stars. The American guard finished the run of CSKA Moscow towards the Final Four as the team’s top scorer with 14.8 points (plus 2.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists).
He was arguably one of the best players in the continent down the stretch, something he proved time and again with a series of clutch performances.
Yet Higgins’ numbers and overall contribution to CSKA, weren’t enough to guarantee him a spot in the All-EuroLeague Team.
“Of course I deserved it,” Higgins told Eurohoops when asked if he was disappointed that he made neither the Second nor First Team. “I think it was disrespectful that I wasn’t on any [All-EuroLeague] teams.”
The players who compile the All-EuroLeague Teams are determined by 75% of media votes and 25% of fan votes.
“But it’s not up to me. And I’m just here to control what I can control,” Higgins said.
What Higgins can control a part of is what CSKA will do in this Final Four. The “Army Men” will look towards returning to the EuroLeague championship game after losing in the past two semifinal matches vs. Olympiacos (in 2017) and Real Madrid (2018).
“The goal remains the same. It all comes down to one and then another game. Just last year. Hopefully, we will correct all the mistakes we did last year and just come down stronger.”
CSKA’s history in knockout games hasn’t been exactly pretty. With the exception of their title-winning year of 2016, the Russian side had lost in every single semifinal game from 2013 and onward.
“Every game is different in this type of situations,” Higgins commented. “Especially in EuroLeague, any team can beat anyone in one game. It just comes down to the little things and to which team is going to do more than the other team in those over 40 minutes.
CSKA suffered a couple of upsets this season and often looked vulnerable even at their home court. Higgins believes that this had made his squad more battle-hardened ahead of the Final Four.
“We had some ups and downs this season. And I definitely think we had a lot of bounce back wins.”
“What we’ve put ourselves through has made us mentally strong,” Higgins added.
Photo credit: CSKA Moscow