EUROLEAGUE FINAL FOUR 2012 (Men) CSKA

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Euroleague Final Four2012 CSKA

Team Characteristics

Definitely the tallest line up seen in this competition, having four players over 2.10m and Teodosic as the point guard at 1.95m tall. Besides their size one has to mention their athletic abilities. All their power forwards have great shooters from outside and Khryapa could be referred to as the best passing power forward in the league. They are even able to play the pick & roll with Khryapa on the ball and Krstic as the screener for example. With Kirilenko and Krstic they had the MVP and the second MVP on the same team.

Transition

Their transition depended on Teodosic and the connection made with Shved and Gordon. Teodosic prefers to dribble the ball up court, Shved play coast to coast and Gordon pass the ball. If they push the break the team runs, if not they relied on their set offense dominance. Teodosic also loves to play the early pick & roll in secondary situations with Krstic.

Transition - Fast Break

Transition - Secondary Break

Offensive Tendencies

They are a low post orientated team, looking for screens to get the ball inside the low post. They are forcing the opponent to rotate several times, with all their players having great passing abilities. What is the biggest difference to any other team is the side pick & roll they can play involving two big players. With their players being taller than their opponents they are very safe in passing the ball around. They run the flex offense a lot and stagger screens or screen the screener option. These situations create enough shooting/passing opportunities so that they don’t rely much on penetration.

Set Plays

Hand Off and pick & roll offensive set: This is the set for Teodosic, since there are virtually no defenders that could defend him alone in a pick & roll that is followed by a hand off. The more they repeat this set in a game the higher the effort by the defense will have to be. Not only that these two technical elements give Teodosic the opportunity to shoot whenever he wants, but it also gives him with his extraordinary passing abilities opportunities to find any player he wants, and he mostly looks for the centers.

Screening offensive set: This set they play to post up their small forwards Kirilenko and Siskauskas. Continuous screens for the defense to be active on the ball and help side. If the ball can’t be passed inside they will go for the pick & roll continuations.

Zone Offense

Their initial alignment will be four out one in. They will run several cuts in combination with bumps and screens. There are very few teams who even dared to play a zone defense against this team. Most of the time their opponents played some full court pressure than going back to some kind of match-up zone. Many times teams started playing zone and switched back to man. To play classical zone defense against this rebounding team machinery and with such extraordinary passers rarely would create an advantage in terms of result.

OB Plays

They are very effective in BOB situations and have the possibility to run a low post option for another player each time. But their primary option is the the inbounder (mostly Teodosic or Shved) receiving the ball back for a pick & roll which creates shooting possibilities for both right away. If their shots are denied their forwards will use curls to finish strong and last but not least their centers will wait for the ball in the low post.

Defensive Characteristics

Maybe this segment could be defined as a weakness in general. Teodosic can play great defense, but doesn’t do so every game for every possession. Shved is not very aggressive in chasing behind screens. Lavrinovic and Siskauskas are towards the end of their careers and very slow in reactions. Generally they don’t pressure the ball or deny strong in the beginning of each sequence, so by constantly attacking them with penetrations, open shots will be created. The only space they seal permanently is the low post. Fighting for position with this team can become mission impossible.

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