Olimpia-CSKA Moscow will open the EuroLeague reagular season and its the same game that closed the great 2020/21 campaign, but its story is a lot longer than that. (David Hawkins is in the top pic)
When Olimpia won its first European championship in Bologna in 1966, beating Slavia Prague, in the semifinals, also played in Bologna, it was CSKA who surrendered to the team coached by the legendary Cesare Rubini 68-57 with 20 points from the great Bill Bradley and 15 from sharp-shooting center Massimo Masini. That marked the first time in history that Olimpia faced the mighty Russian team. In 1963, Simmenthal was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Dinamo Tbilisi by only one point: if they had managed to overcome Dinamo, they would have met CSKA in the semifinal series, but they could not do it. In 1964, Olimpia reached the semifinals, but did not meet CSKA, it was eliminated by Real Madrid. In 1965, CSKA faced the Italian representative in the semifinals, but it was Varese. In 1966, the two teams were placed in two different quarterfinal groups. CSKA won its group, Simmenthal eliminated Real Madrid, but closed in second place and was on a collision course against the Russian team.
The all-time record between those two teams is 11-5 in favor of CSKA if the score is limited to the modern-day EuroLeague (since 2000). Adding the pre-EuroLeague era, in addition to the 68-57 of the Bologna 1966 semifinals, there are four more games played in 1982/83 and in 1996/97 all of them won by the home team. The total is therefore 13-8 for CSKA Moscow.
During the 2008/09 season, Olimpia managed to beat a mighty CSKA team – back then coached by Ettore Messina – 80-79 at the Mediolanum Forum capping a great comeback. That year, Olimpia lost the first four games of the first phase, but then won five of the last six, gaining access to the Top 16 phase. Two real feats are part of that streak, one is the one with CSKA and the another with Real Madrid. Against Moscow, Olimpia was down by 17 at half-time, but scored 53 points in the second half including 31 in the last quarter. David Hawkins scored 20 points and Luca Vitali added 17. After trailing for the entire game, Olimpia went ahead for the first time with seven minutes to go thanks to a three-point play completed by Mike Hall. Then there were two crucial moments. CSKA responded with two consecutive three-pointers made by the legendary Ramunas Siskauskas. Instead of succumbing, Olimpia found two baskets in a row by Massimo Bulleri finding a way to remain close. With two minutes remaining, it was Hawkins who put Olimpia ahead. The lead changed hands repeatedly in the final minutes, until Khryapa’s lay-up was canceled by Hawkins’ decisive floater with nine seconds left. Hawkins scored 13 points in the decisive quarter.
Two years later, Olimpia defeated CSKA twice, immediately in the opener, 88-73, and then in Milan 71-65. It was of little use because Olimpia and CSKA were eventually eliminated from the competition. For CSKA it was the only season in which they did not reach the Final Four from 2003 to 2021. Olimpia in Moscow had 23 points scored by Olek Pecherov and 15 were added by Morris Finley. In the return game, Ibby Jaaber scored 18 points and Stefano Mancinelli added 15. After that win, Olimpia lost 11 consecutive times to CSKA, despite having had double-digit margins twice, in the opening game of the 2017/18 season, on the road, and in the return leg of the following season, in Milan. In both cases it ended up losing. Last year, the game in Milan was a tough one: despite Nikola Milutinov’s 19 rebounds, Olimpia got a free throw away from winning in regulation, before giving in after an overtime, 91-87. But in the following two games, Olimpia always won. In Moscow, 84-76, with 32 points from Kevin Punter and 14 from Shavon Shields after a memorable 30-10 first quarter. In Cologne, Olimpia prevailed, in the 3rd-place game, 83-73 with 14 points and six assists made by Sergio Rodriguez.
