By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
During all this season CSKA was “the team to beat”. However, Lokomotiv Kuban, Olympiacos and Khimki proved that the Russian champs are not invincible. Manu Markoishvili talked on Eurohoops about these defeats and the “earnings” for his team.
The only “Unbreakable” was Bruce Willis in the film. In the basketball nobody is “unbreakable” and CSKA knows it well since last week. After the defeat by Lokomotiv Kuban in the second official game of the season, CSKA celebrated 30 straight victories until Kuban showed up again. And then, Itoudis’ team suffered its first Euroleague loss by Olympiacos. Three days later, Khimki forced CSKA to its third loss in row.
The most experienced player of CSKA in the Euroleague is Manu Markoishvili, alongside with Khryapa as soon as both played first time in the league in 2002-03 season. After these defeats he talked on Eurohoops about the advantage that CSKA must get out of it: “We must learn from these games and be prepared for the next time. Of course, it’s not an excuse but we must remember that we missed Jackson and Sony Weems was injured”.
After 30 straight wins, CSKA faced three defeats in row. Does that mean that isn’t “unbreakable” any more? The Georgian forward found a “motivation” on these and mentioned: “These defeats made us more hungry, more humble and ready for the upcoming games. We have to practise harder and get better. We must see what we had and where we are now. We have to be smart and use that as a good lesson”.