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Comparing the fever for Final Fours!
 For those of you who don't know me, I am one of CSKA's handful of newcomers this year, and thanks to the hard work all season, we are going to Berlin to try to keep this club's record of success going at the Final Four. That would be a great end to my rookie year as a pro. Even though I grew up in Russia and I'll be 24 right after the Final Four, I am a true rookie because I have spent the last seven years playing at high school and college in the United States. I am even kind of a rookie in Moscow - although I am lucky enough to speak the language! Everyday life is a little different here in Russia compared to what I was used to for seven years in the U.S. That's especially true in Moscow. It's such a big city, the prices are so much higher, the traffic is ridiculous. And even though I came from Siberia, I had lived in Florida in high school and Kansas in college, so the weather here is colder than what I became used to. More precisely, the coldest weather lasts a much longer span of time than anything in the States. So little things like that were bigger adjustments than you might think if you consider that I am Russian.
From a basketball standpoint, the big adjustment was getting used to the European style over here. I had never played organized basketball in Russia, only in America. So the first couple months were really hard. Then, I started understanding more and more as time went by. I am still trying to learn and adjust all the time, even now. It's kind of a process, but it's fun trying to help the team as much as I can while my own game gets better. The approach to the game here is different. You are expected to know a lot more than you are expected to know in college. At Kansas, it was more of a learning process. The coach would stop practice to explain if you were doing something new or you were doing it wrong. Here, if things aren't done a certain way, you have to find a way to do it. You figure it out or talk to your coach, but you have to take that responsibility.
Last year, as you might have heard, I was part of the NCAA Final Four, which my University of Kansas team won. So now I am definitely excited to be part of another Final Four team, although this one is on a whole other level. It's the Euroleague Final Four, the competition is so much bigger, and CSKA is trying for back-to-back. I am anxious to see what happens once we get there, whether the whole process is different or similar. The NCAA Final Four was a bit overwhelming. There were special times to go back and forth to the gym to talk to the media, and just lots of stuff going on all around you. It was definitely exciting to be part of it, live through it and see all the attention paid to it.
It's crazy how big the NCAA tournament is to a lot of people in America, and I think it's definitely a legitimate comparison to European basketball. The fans and the atmosphere here in Europe are more like college than the NBA, for sure. I mean, we were in Belgrade Arena recently for our playoff game there, and the atmosphere was just amazing, with a sellout and the crowd so into the game. The biggest difference here, though, is to see older people in the crowd compared to all crazy students in the NCAA. There are older crazy people here in Europe. When we were in Belgrade, that was ridiculous it was so like a college atmosphere. It was just great to play with all those people creating so much energy there.
Also the way the system is run in Europe, it seems to me similar to college. The coaches are strict and ask more of players than in the NBA, where maybe players have more freedom compared to here. Some more of the things I like in European basketballs are off the court things like staying together in the hotel, having team meals, which is similar to the university experience. I think maybe in the NBA its not like that so much, and people are free to go do their own thing until the next day at the gym. There are more similarities in things like organization, too, but the one thing that's much bigger here in Europe is the talent level. I knew to expect that the talent level would be good, but it's something you really understand when you get here. Now that there are players going back and forth between here and the NBA, you can just see that the talent is so high. And of course the playing style is different from the U.S., so all of that makes it different and unique here.
Well, the Final Four is a week away and I am working on getting to know our opponent, Barcelona, and our potential ones, Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, so I'll be ready. At CSKA, we won our first Russian playoff round, the quarterfinals, and we are now focusing strictly on the Final Four. I can't wait to be part of this great team at this event and having this Final Four experience for my future!
See you in Berlin!
POSTED BY
Sasha Kaun, Moscow
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