Miami Heat to face injured CSKA Moscow team
Chris Bosh is a member of the
Big Three of the Miami Heat, along with NBA superstars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. And while Bosh may be the easiest name to forget amongst the three, one thing he will never forget himself was what transpired on 16 October, 2005.
And with the Heat hosting Russian team CSKA Moscow tonight in Miami in a pre-season game, the memory becomes that much more vivid.
It was on this date that the Bosh-led Toronto Raptors embarrassingly lost to Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv at home in a pre-season game, marking the first time in 27 years that an NBA
team lost to a European squad. When Bosh was asked about the humiliating loss, which was attended by NBA commissioner David Stern, he said it was not a pleasant feeling.
“You gotta win the game,” Bosh said. “Just to be honest, nobody wants to lose to a team from Europe, especially at home. No offense to any of the European teams. I’ve lost to a team from
Europe and it wasn’t too good the day after.”
CSKA lost to FC Barcelona in last year’s Euroleague semi-finals. That’s the same Barcelona team that beat the Los Angeles Lakers last week in an exhibition game in Spain.
But it seems highly unlikely that CSKA will be able to pull off a victory, especially with injury troubles hitting the team. The Russian outfit, previously owned by Mikhail Prokhorov,
current owner of the New Jersey Nets, arrive in the U.S. without many of their star players.
The team’s best American player, J.R. Holden, didn’t make the trip out as he deals with a heart condition back home. Former NBA player Victor Khryapa won’t play due to injury. CSKA also
has two players expected to be on an NBA roster in the near future, Andrey Vorontsevich and Sasha Kaun, who are nursing injuries and are not expected to play. Despite the injuries, they will be trying their best and are hoping to stun the Heat, using Barcelona’s
win last week as motivation.
"We all know that Barcelona defeated the Lakers at home last week, but I think that you should not draw any comparisons from that," CSKA Moscow's Sergey Bykov wrote on his blog. "We are
in a different situation, but I can tell you for sure that we will do our best to defend the pride of one of Europe's best teams."
The Miami Heat, perhaps the most talked about team in any sport right now, are 2-1 to begin their pre-season. Unless the game is close, it is unlikely Miami coach Erik Spoelstra will give
much playing time to his stars tonight. In their last game, a loss to the San Antonio Spurs, James and Bosh logged only 12 minutes so that Spoelstra could evaluate players near the end of the roster.
Dwyane Wade has not played since injuring his hamstring three minutes into the pre-season opener against the Detroit Pistons on 5 October.
Spoelstra is not focusing on the opposition but is only concerned with improving his own team.
"Let's focus on us, our system, and building some familiarity and continuity," he said. "It'll be a great opportunity for us to take a step forward."
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