Nerves were to blame for CSKA Moscow slipping 14 points behind Panathinaikos in the first quarter of their Euroleague semifinal, CSKA guard Andrei Kirilenko has said.
A second-quarter 13-0 scoring run brought CSKA back into Friday’s match before a haul of six points in the last two minutes for Alexey Shved gave the Russians a 66-64 comeback win over the reigning Euroleague champion.
Kirilenko posted 17 points and nine rebounds to finish as CSKA’s top scorer, but said the whole team was crippled by nerves at the start.
"I think it was our, the players', fault. The stress before the start played its part, and in the first quarter we ground to a halt,” ex-Utah Jazz star Kirilenko said Friday.
“During our first six or seven attacks we were not focused enough and lost concentration. In the starting eight minutes we didn't play the basketball CSKA was famous for throughout the season, with an aggressive defense, helping each other and quick changes."
CSKA coach Jonas Kazlauskas said the match was a battle of mental strength.
"I had to get the players hyped up and also calm them down. In the beginning Pao were two times faster than us, but that was only due to our psychological condition."
CSKA’s comeback was the result of a tactical switch after the first quarter, Kazlauskas said.
"We made the opposing player, for example Dimitris Diamantidis, possess the ball for a long time without allowing him to play a pass into the corner," said Kazlauskas.
"We let this player score, but left all his team-mates without the ball for two or three minutes. He didn't score much, but his partners were ruled out of the game, just as we planned."
The Panathinaikos match saw CSKA continue a 3-0 winning record against the Athens team this season and earn its first Euroleague final since 2009.
CSKA will face Greek side Olympiacos in the Euroleague final on May 13 at Istanbul’s Sinan Erdem arena after Olympiacos defeated Barcelona 68-64 in Friday’s other semifinal.
