A month and a half ago, CSKA forward Nikita Kurbanov was teammates with Alexey Shved at EuroBasket, helping the Khimki star lead the tournament in scoring. On Monday, Kurbanov will do everything he can to ruin Shved’s night. Prior to the showdown with Khimki, the CSKA forward talked about containing Shved, preparing for the League’s biggest rivalry, and picking up a win.
– Nikita, have you counted the number of times you’ve played Khimki in your career?
– No, of course not. But I think it’s a lot, since we play each other a lot in the regular season and the playoffs. It’s too many to count at this point.
– What are your emotions like when you play Khimki?
– I’m super competitive. It’s always intense. Even the loss they handed to us in the Gomelsky Cup was upsetting. Obviously, it was a preseason tournament and neither team was completely prepared. Some of the guys had just re-joined their teams. But it was an upsetting loss and it stuck with me. We’ll try to get revenge.
– After how that turned out, will you approach this game differently?
– It’s not about the approach… We would have taken the game very seriously. This is one of the biggest rivalries in the VTB League. Regardless of how we lost, we still lost. Now we’re burning with desire to get some payback.
– If you had a choice, would you rather beat Khimki in the United League or the EuroLeague?
– I don’t think it matters. It’s not the nature of the competition, it’s the nature of the derby. These are two teams that always attract attention when they play. Khimki is playing in the EuroLeague this year, but even last season when they weren’t there, our games were always huge. You’re not focused on the tournament, but the team. Especially since Khimki looks stronger this year.
– Is it fair to say this is the strongest roster Khimki has had in recent years?
– It’s hard to say right now since the season is only starting. A lot of teams haven’t had time yet to click, like they will in January/February. Khimki probably isn’t an exception. But if you look at their roster on paper, it’s probably one of the strongest rosters in the past 10 years.
– A lot of people say that Khimki is capable of overtaking CSKA as the strongest team in Russia. Do you get the feeling there’s another powerhouse team in the league now?
– Khimki put in excellent work in the offseason. They brought in a new coach and a lot of well-known new players with experience in the EuroLeague. The loss in the Gomelsky Cup adds even more excitement to our meeting. But let’s wait until the end of the season. Every year, there’s talk that this time Khimki will show everyone, but, in the end, CSKA has been able to stay on top. The format for the finals changed this season, so it should be a very interesting, captivating, unpredictable season. We’ll judge based on the results.
– As one of European basketball’s top defensive specialists, what’s it like defending against Shved? He can shoot and score in any situation at any time.
– Like they say, nothing’s impossible, but Alexey does give Khimki a powerful weapon. He has a lot of freedom on offense and that makes things challenging. It’s always dangerous when a player is that good, and has that much freedom. But basketball is a team game and even though I always defend Shved one-on-one, a lot depends on my teammates, too. You’re going to be a step slow sometimes and the help defense is very important. Your own work sticks out more. Without help, it’s very tough to stop players like Shved. We’ll play as a team.
– After the game vs. VEF, did you watch the end of the Khimki – Astana game in the locker room?
– Of course.
– Who were you rooting for?
– It was a big surprise that Astana had a legitimate chance to win the game. Obviously, before the game everyone understood the odds, but when you get that type of finish, you’re not cheering. All you can do is sit there and wonder if Astana can close out the game. The entire locker room reacted to every shot and play. We caught the final minute after our game ended. We didn’t support anyone; we were just amazed by what we were seeing. Astana put in a lot of work to prepare for that game.
– Do you think that type of game will help or hurt Khimki ahead of playing CSKA?
– It’s hard to say. But when you’re on the court, you don’t think about it, especially since there’s a lot of time until we play. We still need to play in the EuroLeague, for example. Our schedule is so busy that it’s hard to think about what’s happening a week from now. It distracts from the goal that we’re pursuing. We won’t really start to think about Khimki until after Zalgiris.
– Beginning with EuroBasket, it seems like Nikita Kurbanov has stopped trying to score. Is that coming from the coach?
– I haven’t been told that. If we’re talking about the Russian national team, everyone saw what kind of offense we had. Alexey was the primary scorer. All we had to do was support him. The club season is only getting started and with every game I’m trying to pay more attention to it. The coach never tells me not to look at the basket. I might not have posted any big numbers in recent games, but I’m trying to focus on it more and keep you happy (laughs).
– Final question: Are you afraid of Khimki?
– There’s no fear whatsoever. Khimki isn’t some dream team or the type of team no one’s been able to beat for the past 10 years. “Fear” probably isn’t the right word. We have concerns, and the loss in the Gomelsky Cup left an impression, but this is basketball and we can’t pick our opponent. CSKA has momentum and I think we have more confidence than we did a month ago. We’re more experienced too. Obviously, that’s true of Khimki as well, but the game will be very interesting. That loss will give us more motivation and maybe even an extra edge. We are determined to show that we’re number one. We need to prove it.
