Europeans rule in Eurobasket.com All-Russian A Superleague Awards 2008-09 - May 31, 2009
Making season-end awards in Russian league is always a very big challenge. the league is filled with high-level players and there are way too many of them than places we could give them. Russian league attracted top European players. In the group of top Europeans, who did not make it to the NBA (which does not mean they are not that caliber and in few cases they prefered to play for bigger money in Russia instead of the States), most of them we can find in Russian league. That's why especially All-Bosman team was hard to pick as there were way more than just five quality Bosman players in the league. The Player of the Year goes this year to Lithuanian guard Ramunas Siskauskas (197-G-78), who received also Eurobasket.com All-Europe Player of the Year 2008 award. He lead CSKA again to the league championship title and Euroleague final where CSKA was slightly edged by Panathinaikos. The 1st team includes also Lyday, Nachbar, McCarty and Lorbek. Unics Kazan's American leader Terrell Lyday (190-G-79) completes Siskauskas at the guard position. That's a big progress from last season Honorable Mention. He helped his team to make biggest surprise this season stealing Russian Cup from CSKA powerhouse. Slovenian forward Bostjan Nachbar (207-G/F-80) came back from NBA to continue his pro career in Europe. He is for sure strongest addition to Dynamo Moscow and thanks to him Dynamo made it to Eurocup Quarterfinals and to Russian Cup final this year. He was also selected to Eurobasket.com All-Eurocup 1st Team this season. Naturalized American Kelly McCarty (201-F-75) of Khimky is also selected to 1st team at small forward position. No surprise as he was also Eurocup Forward of the Year this season helping Khimky make it to Eurocup final, after he was voted Eurocup Forward of the Year. Khimky was also the only team in Russian league which tried to challenge CSKA in both regular season and the play-offs. Slovenian Erazem Lorbek (210-F/C-84) is the teammate of Siskauskas and he gets the award of best center (plays also as power forward) for 08-09 season. His move from Italy (1st Team last year) to Russian league was a big success. CSKA has the strongest roster in Europe (at least on paper), so joining such strong team is always a big question. All-league 2nd team includes the only Russian-born player - Viktor Khryapa (204-F/G-82) of champion CSKA. He gets also Defensive Player of the Year award. The 2nd team is completed by his teammate American point guard Trajan Langdon (192-G-76) of CSKA, American-Bosnian shooting guard Ernest Bremer (196-G-80) of Triumph, another CSKA player - Slovenian power forward Matjaz Smodis (205-F-79) and Polish center Maciej Lampe (210-C-85) of Khimky. Player of the Year: Ramunas Siskauskas (197-G-78) of CSKA Moscow Guard of the Year: Ramunas Siskauskas (197-G-78) of CSKA Moscow Forward of the Year: Bostjan Nachbar (207-G/F-80) of Dynamo Moscow Center of the Year: Erazem Lorbek (210-F/C-84) of CSKA Moscow * played also as power forward Bosman Player of the Year: Ramunas Siskauskas (197-G-78) of CSKA Moscow Import Player of the Year: Terrell Lyday (190-G-79) of Unics Kazan Domestic Player of the Year: Viktor Khryapa (204-F/G-82) of CSKA Moscow Defensive Player of the Year: Viktor Khryapa (204-F/G-82) of CSKA Moscow Coach of the Year: Ettore Messina of CSKA 1st Team Terrell Lyday (190-G-79) of Unics Kazan Ramunas Siskauskas (197-G-78) of CSKA Moscow Bostjan Nachbar (207-G/F-80) of Dynamo Moscow Kelly McCarty (201-F-75) of BC Khimky Erazem Lorbek (210-F/C-84) of CSKA Moscow 2nd Team Trajan Langdon (192-G-76) of CSKA Moscow Ernest Bremer (196-G-80) of Triumph Lyubertsy Viktor Khryapa (204-F/G-82) of CSKA Moscow Matjaz Smodis (205-F-79) of CSKA Moscow Maciej Lampe (210-C-85) of BC Khimky Moscow Region Honorable Mention Lionel Chalmers (183-G-80) of Universitet-Yugra Surgut Robertas Javtokas (211-C-80) of Dynamo Moscow Darjus Lavrinovic (212-C-79) of Dynamo Moscow Carlos Delfino (199-G-82) of BC Khimky Moscow Region Jorge Garbajosa (205-C/F-77) of BC Khimky Moscow Region Vanja Plisnic (207-F/C-80) of Ural Great Perm Maurice Bailey (183-G-81) of Spartak Primorie Vladivostok Andrew Wisniewski (191-G-81) of Maccabi Electra Tel-Aviv (ISR) Marcus Goree (201-F-77) of Triumph Lyubertsy Szymon Szewczyk (209-C-82) of Lokomotiv Rostov na Donu Yegor Meshcharakou (205-F-76) of Spartak St.Petersburg Fred Warrick (195-G/F-76) of Enisey Krasnoyarsk Travis Hansen (198-G/F-78) of Dynamo Moscow All-Domestic Players Team Zakhar Pashutin (195-G-74) of Spartak St.Petersburg Viktor Khryapa (204-F/G-82) of CSKA Moscow Kelly McCarty (201-F-75) of BC Khimky Moscow Region * has double Russian-U.S. citizenship Vladimir Veremeenko (208-F-84) of Unics Kazan * had double Belarusian and Rusian citizenship Fedor Likholitov (210-C-80) of Ural Great Perm All-Imports Team Lionel Chalmers (183-G-80) of Universitet-Yugra Surgut Terrell Lyday (190-G-79) of Unics Kazan Carlos Delfino (199-G-82) of BC Khimky Moscow Region Travis Hansen (198-G/F-78) of Dynamo Moscow * has double American-Russian citizenship Marcus Goree (201-F-77) of Triumph Lyubertsy All-Bosmans Team Marko Popovic (185-G-82) of Unics Kazan Ramunas Siskauskas (197-G-78) of CSKA Moscow Bostjan Nachbar (207-G/F-80) of Dynamo Moscow Matjaz Smodis (205-F-79) of CSKA Moscow Erazem Lorbek (210-F/C-84) of CSKA Moscow All-Defensive Team Viktor Khryapa (204-F/G-82) of CSKA Moscow Timofey Mozgov (215-C-86) of BC Khimky Moscow Region Robertas Javtokas (211-C-80) of Dynamo Moscow Darjus Lavrinovic (212-C-79) of Dynamo Moscow Fred House (195-F-78) of Lokomotiv Rostov na Donu Unstoppable CSKA claim seventh straight Superleague title - May 25, 2009 Khimky - CSKA 45:78 CSKA dismantled Khimky on the road to clinch the Superleague title today. The victory marked the seventh consecutive crown for CSKA in Russia. The fourth game was surrounded by controversy as CSKA disputed the result of Game 3 in the series. Referees came up with some controversial decisions late in regulation of the third clash that arose some furious protests from the Moscow team. The Russian basketball federation however did not satisfy the claims from CSKA. But it turned out that CSKA left all of their anger for the upcoming fourth game. Erazem Lorbek (210-F/C-84, college: Michigan St.) and Matjaz Smodis (205-F-79) teamed up for 10 points in the opening frame as CSKA grabbed the lead. The visitors looked better in literally every facet of the game and earned a 24:9 advantage at the first intermission. Ramunas Siskauskas (197-G-78), Erazem Lorbek and Trajan Langdon (192-G-76, college: Duke) tipped off the second period with 7 points in a row as CSKA stretched the margin to 22 points. Khimky looked hapless offensively and CSKA easily kept them at bay. J.R. Holden (185-G-76, college: Bucknell) gave the defending champions a 40:18 lead late in the half before Kelly McCarty (201-F-75, agency: Avi Zilberman, college: S.Mississippi) sealed it 20:40. J.R. Holden and Matjaz Smodis ignited an 8:0 rally from CSKA early in the second half as the gap grew to 26 points. Jorge Garbajosa (205-C/F-77, agency: Interperformances) and Wilkinson tried to wake Khimky up but CSKA stayed on fire tearing up their opponents. Khimky went scoreless for almost five minutes in the fourth term as CSKA extended the margin to massive 35 points dooming the home team. Erazem Lorbek scored 14 points and grabbed 7 rebounds to pace the champions. Trajan Langdon and Matjaz Smodis added 13 points in the winning effort. Jorge Garbajosa and Kelly McCarty finished with 8 points apiece for Khimky. Mozgov added 7 points in the losing effort. Khimky: Jorge Garbajosa 8, Kelly McCarty 8 CSKA: Erazem Lorbek 14, Trajan Langdon 13, Matjaz Smodis 13 Unics beat Dynamo for Russian Cup trophy Unics - Dynamo 81:60 Unics Kazan demonstrated a nearly perfect basketball to stun Dynamo in the final game of the Russian Cup. Taking scalps of both Moscow basketball powerhouses CSKA and Dynamo was well worth the title for Unics. The success became the second Cup triumph for Unics. They clinched their first Cup title back in 2003. The start of the game belonged to Dynamo. Darjus Lavrinovic (212-C-79) and Sergey Bykov (190-G-83) hit twice from downtown to give the Moscow an early lead. Soon Javtokas marked a 10:3 dominance of a David Blatt team. But Unics found the rhythm and went on a 13:4 run to surge in front. Three-pointers from Sergey Bykov and Sergey Monya (204-F-83) however gave the lead back to Dynamo - 20:19 after ten minutes of action. The teams continued to trade baskets throughout the second frame. Sergey Bykov and Vasilyev extended Dynamo's advantage to 8 points just before Unics rushed back in the game. Marc Jackson dragged the Kazan outfit closer and Kresimir Kresimir Loncar (210-F-83) drew things level at 37. Sergey Monya capped the half with a jumper and Dynamo went to the locker room up by two 39:37. Kresimir Loncar drained two treys and added a jumper in a 10:2 rally from Unics at the start of the third stanza. Terrell Lyday (190-G-79, college: BYU) and Vladimir Veremeenko (208-F-84) soon widened the lead to 10 points as Unics took over. Javtokas and Nachbar slowed down Unics a bit late in the term but the Kazan team still led by 6 points with one quarter remaining. Marko Popovic (185-G-82, college: S.Idaho JC), Kresimir Loncar, Vladimir Veremeenko and Zamanskiy all delivered early in the fourth quarter as Unics piled up a 15-point cushion. Dynamo looked stunned and could not get things together till the end of the game. Unics coasted to the triumph and secured a confident victory at the end. Kresimir Loncar finished with 20 points and was named the Final Four MVP after the game. Terrell Lyday provided 17 points for the winners. Sergey Bykov nailed 15 points for Dynamo. Darjus Lavrinovic posted 12 points and 7 boards in defeat. Unics: Kresimir Loncar 20, Terrell Lyday 17, Petr Samoylenko (186-G-77) 8, Marko Popovic 8 Dynamo: Sergey Bykov 15, Darjus Lavrinovic 12 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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