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Khimki going into the derby of the round with 18 consecutive wins

Siena have played only a single game with the new squad and will have a hard time matching the organized Russians who are crushing everything in their path

Siena decided their own fate in the last round of the Euroleague at home against Unicaja. They practically ensured the overtime and then allowed Granger to waltz throughout the court with 4 seconds to go and score for their win. Another bad news arrived soon after as their main player Hackett left the team and signed for Milano. As a part of the deal, Haynes traveled the other way and they also got Janning from Cibona and sacked Rochesti. 

They gave their new team a first run in the last league round against Varese. They started the game with 0-7 but a great second period that they won by 28-12 saw them got to half time with +15. Varese came only 3 points behind them at one point in the last period but there was no panic and they eventually got a valuable 87-79 win.


Haynes played a great game on his debut as he scored 24 points and got 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Hunter added 17 points and 8 rebounds, Carter got 11 points and Janning got 10.


- It was the first game of this group of players and we got a very important win. I am very happy that the guys held on when Varese came close in the last period as we are still not completely organized. We played great defense and got some crucial balls in the offense - said Crespi after the game.


After the win, there was more talk about the derby against Milano in the next round than about the game against Khimki. If that's the way they will be thinking today, they are not in for an easy game.


- We are expecting a great team who had a 9-1 score in the first phase of the Eurocup and have won all 9 of their VTB League games. They play fast and aggressively and they get an average of 24,2 assists per game. Our main goal is to stop them from dictating the tempo of the game. The win against Varese brought some good atmosphere into the team - said Crespi ahead of the game.


Regardless of their win against Varse, Khimki are not coming in a right moment for them. Haynes and Janning have only had several training session and they are very important for their rotation. Crespi mentioned the lack of organization in his team and since Khimki are currently a few steps above Varese, they are rightly regarded as the favorites here. 


Khimki have picked up where they left off in the last year. In their first game of 2014, they stormed through Samara and got their 18th consecutive win in all competitions. The current winners of the Eurochallenge couldn't count on several important players which Khimki used well and got a routine win. It was all settled by half-time (48-29) but Kurtinaitis's players didn't give up but they completely demolished Krasnye Krylya until the end (91:58).


- Today's result is a consequence of basketball-unrelated problems for Samara. We knew that J. Wright, Zabelin and Miles, wouldn't play and this made our job easier. However, we approached the game very seriously as Samara play a tough game and we were defeated here last season. We are trying not to think about our winning run and to go into each game with maximum responsibility - said Rimas Kurtinaitis.


The way Khimki are doing right now, they should feel sorry about their defeat against Oostende at the Euroleague qualifications at the start of the season. It's not too hard to image Khimki finding their place in the Euroleague Top 16 where they belong, objectively speaking. However, they can fight for the trophy in this competition and I'm sure winning it would be a huge success. The second round brings big challenges, the first one in Italy against the team who missed their spot among the best 16 teams in Europe by a matter of seconds.


The game between Montepaschi and Khimki is definitely the on of the best in the first round. Both teams have played against each other in the second phase of the Euroleague last season and each team got 1 home win. It's certain that the fans will be Siena's huge asset but Khimki are really doing great at the moment, much better than Siena.


Kurtinaitis got the grip of his team  and has organized new players very quickly and Khimki have a very balanced team with quality front and back court. In their winning run, they have already handled some tough away games, including those against Karsiyaka and CSKA and they will not let the full stands get to them.

This game is coming at a very bad time for Siena. They lost Hackett, who was their best player, and their other point guard Rochestie left a bit later too. Haynes and Janning arrived to the team, but there was not much time to fine tune them with the others, as coach Crespi himself admitted after the Varese game. They managed to win, but it was not a very convincing display. Green dropped in form, and they don't have many players, apart from Carter and Hunter, who can be effective on the offense. Khimki, on the other side, are in top form, with 18 consecutive victories, among which an away win vs CSKA too. Kurtinaitis did a great job assembling the team, with a balance of paint and perimeter, and they are an Euroleague level crew right now. Names such as Koponen, Popović, Davis, Monya, Augustine, Gelebale, Green, Lončar, and Vyaltsev are too much for Siena right now.