The dominance of CSKA in Russian basketball has long become an axiom.
Every year, the army team calmly won first the national championship, and then the VTB United League, with practically no serious competition.
So before the start of the completed season, the organizers of the tournament, having lengthened the final series to four victories, could hardly have imagined that the decisive confrontation would drag on to the full distance.
Yes, and the red and blue before the start of meetings with Zenit, which had never reached this far before, were considered clear favorites, despite the departure of six legionnaires in early March: Tornike Shengelia, Iffe Lundberg, Marius Grigonis, Johannes Vogtmann, Joel Bolomboy and Daniel Hackett.
Nevertheless, the composition, by internal standards, remained combat-ready.
In particular, two American leaders remained in place: point guard Casper Ware and forward Will Clyburn.
Serbian center Nikola Milutinov did not leave either.
And the Swedish striker Jonas Jerebko, who played ten years in the NBA, was even expelled from the national team due to his refusal to move to Russia.
Finally, the head coach Dimitrs Itoudis decided to continue his work.
Also, CSKA could still count on its domestic performers, first of all, the best basketball player in the country at the moment, Alexei Shved.
At Zenit, the backbone of the Russians was no less representative.
However, Egor Vyaltsev, and Sergey Monya, and Vitaly Fridzon have long crossed the 30-year mark and are no longer able to spend half an hour on the floor.
Sergey Karasev looked like a real young man against their background.
In addition, the Petersburgers, unlike the Muscovites, retained almost all the legionnaires: Jordan Loyd, Billy Baron, Alex Poythress, Jordan Mika.
And yet, the red and blue remained favorites and during the final could put a golden point and win another title.
After the first two games, the impression was that Javier Pascual's men had no chance.
The first one turned out to be especially unsuccessful, which they lost with a difference of 24 points.
In the next home match, the army team also had no problems - 82:73.
This was followed by a most offensive home defeat in overtime (110:111), after which the guests took the lead in the series - 3:1 and stopped a step away from success.
Moreover, with the previous format of the competition, they would again become champions.
But it was not possible to solve the problem.
Zenit, at the cost of incredible efforts, won two hardest victories.
First, he finished off his opponent on the road in the end - 97:95, although after the first quarter he lost minus 10. And then a comeback followed in front of the home fans - 82:63.
In the decisive match at the Megasport arena, few people bet on St. Petersburg either.
It seemed that they already jumped above their heads and created a small miracle by returning to the fight in a hopeless situation.
Plus, on the side of the opponent was a stadium filled to capacity.
But blue-white-blue once again proved to be a competent coaching team.
"Zenith" has relied primarily on a reliable game in defense.
The stars of CSKA received a minimum of free space.
They were not allowed to calmly meet the ball and make shots.
As a result, the army team was constantly in a state of time trouble.
This led to the fact that in the first 15 minutes the leaders of the hosts were absolutely invisible: Milutinov, Ware, Clyburn.
Only the Swede tried to lead the partners forward.
The guests, according to tradition, immediately ran out on the attack and converted almost all the moments.
After a short break, they continued to increase their advantage in the score and reached the +15 mark.
The position of the army became truly threatening.
But everyone was waiting for the decisive match of the struggle until the last moments and the minimum difference.
But it would be strange if the red and blue, who won so many trophies, gave up.
A timely time-out from Itudis helped them to recover.
After him, the hosts, having made two long-awaited hits, caught the courage.
The guests, on the contrary, showed problems with the implementation, and the projectile stubbornly did not go into the ring.
The apotheosis of this was Weir's most curious throw with a siren, after which the ball miraculously hit the target, and CSKA reduced the gap to one point - 44:45.
Separately, it is necessary to note the role of the Swede.
Realizing that the game was not sticking with the partners, he took everything into his own hands and helped them to liberate themselves with a couple of accurate throws.
I especially remember Alexey's important three-pointer from an average distance.
In the third quarter, Itoudis' wards continued to dominate and quickly took the lead.
Zenit did not even manage to score points for four minutes.
The team from the banks of the Neva found itself in the most difficult situation when Milutinov converted two free throws, and CSKA took the lead +6.
In a very difficult moment, as in previous matches of the series, Fridzon's exit helped the guests.
Let him spend quite a bit of time on the floor, but he managed to make a block-shot and an interception, and also successfully connected to the attack.
With the advent of an experienced partner, the basketball players calmed down and finally adjusted their aim.
But the army team, on the contrary, suffered a serious loss.
As it turned out later, Shved received a fracture of the hand.
Doctors tried to tap the athlete's hand, but this did not allow him to return to the game.
Without their leader, the red-blues again began to have difficulties with scoring points.
However, Zenit was completely left without Pascual before the final break.
The Spaniard lost his nerve, and he yelled at the judges, considering one of their decisions controversial.
As a result, he first received a first disciplinary warning, and then a second, although, according to assistant Iñigo Zarzano, his colleague did not say anything particularly rude.
The teams went to the break with a six-point advantage of the hosts.
But in the last quarter, even without the head coach on the edge, the Petersburgers performed a miracle and declassed a formidable opponent, allowing him to score only 13 points.
Denis Zakharov's exit, who had practically never appeared on the floor before, helped add reliability to the defense.
The basketball player worked well in destruction and managed to make two rebounds.
He also has a key three-point hit to his credit.
Another one was noted a little earlier by Karasev.
Other Zenit players also demonstrated the presence of steel nerves and practically did not miss.
As a result, Mickey scored 19 points, Loyd - 17, and Poythress - 13. Their compatriot Baron, who earned several fouls, also acted very competently and usefully.
Mickey was also named the most valuable basketball player in the playoffs.
The leaders of CSKA went into the shadows and surrendered.
Without the Swede, there was no one to lead the team.
For example, Clyburn smeared several free throws at once.
Some hope for a comeback glimmered only at the very end, when Ware hit from behind the arc and reduced the gap to three points.
But the guests quietly spent the last minute and did not allow the opponent to do anything.
Thus, the Petersburgers managed to perform a miracle and forever inscribe their names in the history of national basketball.
The army team became national champions 18 times in a row and 27 in total.
Before that, only Ural Great, which had the upper hand in 2001 and 2002, had been able to remove them from the highest step of the podium.
Moreover, in the national championship draws with the final series, they only lost more than one match for the second time.
Back in 1996, Dynamo gave them a fight.
And, for example, Khimki, who became silver medalists 11 times, were content with one victory at best.
Now, however, one cannot rule out the appearance in Russian basketball of an exciting confrontation with an unpredictable outcome.
Quite possibly, the time of total dominance of CSKA has come to an end.
The departure of Itoudis, who announced his decision at a press conference, should also weaken the team.
The president of the club Andrey Vatutin will temporarily fulfill his duties.
At the same time, the final of the season that came to an end, according to the head of the league, Sergey Kushchenko, aroused interest among the entire continent and forced them to regret the exclusion of domestic teams from the Euroleague.
“We have received a lot of messages, everyone agrees that this is something incredible.
This is the recognition of colleagues from other European leagues and from the coaching staff of European clubs.
The basketball holiday was a success, ”said the functionary in an interview with the Championship.
It is important for Zenit to keep all the leading foreign players and add new strong Russians, because the veterans have not long to play.
In the meantime, I would like to separately rejoice for Fridzon and Monya - both played a lot in Khimki, but could not lead them to victory.
Both also managed to become champions in CSKA.
And at the end of their career, they nevertheless suspended the victorious pace of the hegemon.