Specially for our site, former CSKA player, Russian national team player and forward for the Utah Jazz Andrey Kirilenko commented on the Euroleague Final Four semifinal game between Barcelona and CSKA. Andrey followed the game in one of Moscow’s sports bars:
- It was a really intense game! The Spaniards played smarter. And CSKA – better. It’s impossible to predict the winner in a game like that. Barcelona was just luckier. Plus, CSKA couldn’t hit anything from the outside.
What did you think about the officiating?
It was completely normal officiating. I don’t think it was too much in favor of the home team. Yes, there were mistakes. But in my opinion, they weren’t big ones. I haven’t seen European basketball in a long time, and I thought that they called too many fouls. If the game were played in America, they wouldn’t have called one foul! You need to hammer someone to get a foul called there. And here they call the lightest touch.
Who are you betting on in the final?
- I think that Barcelona will win. They look really confident. And CSKA looked a little better than Benetton. The Italians had an almost 20-point lead against Siena and still almost lost. That says that the team can’t play well for an entire 40 minutes. By the way, I was rooting for Siena. Too bad, that they didn’t make it to the final. And I hope CSKA will not let its guard down, but rather go out and take third place. Sure, it’s not the championship, but it’s better than fourth place. The team plays really well. And they deserve more. But in a game between two equal opponents, only one team can win.
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