By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Cory Higgins was standing at his locker while some CSKA Moscow staff members were playing drinking games by using the EuroLeague champions’ trophy as a cup that held a generous amount of champagne. He wasn’t participating in any celebration, at that moment. Just browsing through Twitter and social media on his phone.
“I’m looking at the people that support me,” Higgins told Eurohoops. “Like so many people from back home, I want to share this experience with loved ones, great friends, family members.”
Higgins’ fans, friends and family had just seen the American guard being named “Man of the Match” in the win of CSKA over Anadolu Efes in the EuroLeague championship game. The 29-year-old player posted a team-high 22 PIR by finishing 20 points (2/5 2-pointers, 4/5 3-pointers), three rebounds, two assists, and seven fouls won in 33:08 against the Turkish side.
In the last and most crucial game of the season, Higgins put on a performance that epitomized how vital his game has been for CSKA this campaign: He set the tone with three 3-pointers and 11 points overall in the first quarter that put the offensive wheels of CSKA in motion. He later drained a 3-point bucket to answer a triple by Shane Larkin and push back Efes that was closing in.
With 4:25 left to play, Higgins slashed to the rim for a tough layup for the 71 – 83 with 4:25 remaining. When Efes made its final rally, his 2/2 from the line put CSKA ahead at a six-point distance, 81-87 with 1:17 remaining.
Apart from his scoring output, Higgins was highly active on the defensive end. Like all season long.
It was overall the most fitting finale in Higgins’ the best season of his professional career. Higgins completed this EuroLeague campaign as the top scorer of CSKA with 14.9 points per game on 55.09% True Shooting (the fourth highest among guards) while firing away triples with a 49% accuracy on 2.8 attempts per game.
All this en route to winning his second EuroLeague. An accomplishment he achieved after playing four years in the top-tier continental competition.
“Two-time champion,” Higgins kept repeating. “It’s not much that people can really say anymore. A lot of people don’t like to give credit where credit’s due.” It was an allusion of him to being snubbed in the All-EuroLeague First and Second Team voting.
“Now, I’m a two-time EuroLeague champion. What can people say now?” Higgins wondered out loud.
There’s not much anyone can say now. Not only for Higgins but for this CSKA squad as a whole. The Russian side went through the season facing doubt, disbelief, and criticism, as a result of some upsets that made them look more vulnerable in comparison with previous seasons.
There were also “haters”.
“We believe in us, especially when no one else does. Let’s have some haters, no problem,” CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis had said following the defeat of his team to Baskonia at home in Game 2 of the playoffs. The “Army Men” proceeded to win both away games in Vitoria-Gasteiz and take the series 3-1 to advance in the Final Four.
Itoudis had a perhaps unprecedented, deeply emotional outburst right after the EuroLeague Final. He broke into tears during a hug with CSKA president Andrey Vatutin. “Thank you so much,” Itoudis told Vatutin. “You made me proud,” the latter said to the Greek coach.
“I think we celebrated this title more than the one of 2016,” Higgins admitted to Eurohoops.
“There was a whole lot of chatter,” Higgins proceeded to elaborate. “People liked talking about us a lot because we had poor performances in the last two Final Fours. Some people were asking us if we are soft, before the games.”
“Soft” is just one of the epithets some people may have used to describe the CSKA squad that lost in the semifinal games of 2017 (to Olympiacos) and 2018 (to Real Madrid). This season, CSKA players were seeing their capacity for actually lifting the trophy at the end of the road heavily questioned. Challenged. Underestimated.
Every negative, sarcastic comment, the slightest remark to the past failures just poured more and more fuel to fire up Higgins and his teammates. Ultimately, CSKA appeared in the Final Four motivated like never before. And captured the 8th EuroLeague title in the history of the club.
“There’s a lot of chatter going on in this scene. We had to stick together. We had to silence this noise,” Higgins said to Eurohoops.
Higgins signed his first contract in Europe in 2013 with Triumph Lyubertsy Moscow Region (now Zenit St. Petersburg) following an unsuccessful 2011-2012 stint with the Charlotte Hornets (then Bobcats). The team owned by Higgins’ godfather, Michael Jordan. Rod Higgins, Cory’s father, was President of Basketball Operations of the club back then.
The European journey took Higgins from Russia to Turkey and then back to Russia with CSKA. Now, Higgins is currently playing the best basketball in his career and has won everything there is to win in Europe.
An NBA return and trying to establishing himself in the league could be the step for Higgins.
“I know I can play there [NBA], of course,” Higgins said to Eurohoops. “But I’m going to explore everything and pick the best situation for my family.”