By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
CSKA Moscow has a deal with AEK play-caller Stefanos Dedas who will join the Russian club for the rest of the season, as an assistant.
Dedas, 39, will work under fellow Greek tactician Dimitris Itoudis in the team based in the Russian capital with AEK already in the market for a new head coach.
As Itoudis said: “Stefanos Dedas has big experience of working as a head coach or a first assistant coach. He was a head coach in AEK, Hapoel, in Turkish teams, worked with Jure Zdovc with Slovenian National Team, and in Russia together with Anton Yudin. Most importantly, he is thrilled and motivated to come and help the team in this transitional period. I am really happy that a person that has a lot of experience and also has a lot in his tank wants to come and help make our developments and adjustments. The fact that Stefanos worked with some members of our staff, as I said, will make the transition easier and smoother. We expect him to join our group soon and start working with us, so welcome!”
Dedas himself added: “I am thrilled to be part of the legendary club of CSKA Moscow. It’s a big honor and I am very excited to give all my heart and effort for the best coach in Europe Mr.Dimitris Itoudis and all the organization of CSKA!”
After taking over the reins at AEK in June, he has guided the Queen to an 11-16 record across all competitions. His side bowed out of the 2021-22 Basketball Champions League campaign at the conclusion of the Regular Season and currently carries an 8-9 domestic record with seven games left on the Stoiximan Basket League Regular Season schedule.
Other head coaching stints include Hapoel U-NET Holon from 2019 to 2021, Bahcesehir Koleji from 2017 to 2019, and Gaziantep from 2015 to 2017. He previously worked as an assistant for the Slovenia senior national team under Jure Zdovc, current boss of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague outfit Zalgiris Kaunas.
Andreas Pistiolis was the lead assistant for Itoudis at CSKA since 2014. After working alongside Itoudis for nearly two decades, he jumped to a head coaching role taking over Galatasaray Nef following the dismissal of Ekrem Memnun.
As for CSKA, all EuroLeague games are suspended until further notice, while a six-game winning streak has improved the VTB United League Regular Season record to 14-3, half a game behind leading UNICS Kazan. The war in Ukraine suspending action for all Russian teams in Euroleague Basketball competitions has raised uncertainty about CSKA’s future.
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League