CSKA Moscow to Beat Panathinaikos

With a 10-7 record, you can’t say that CSKA Moscow has been particularly impressive so far in the EuroLeague. However, this team has a huge potential to do wonders in the remainder of the season.

CSKA has some elite players on its roster, most notably:

  • Tornike Shengelia, who was the EuroLeague leader in player index rating (PIR) before suffering an injury in October
  • Will Cyburn, CSKA’s PIR and scoring leader ahead of EuroLeague Round 20
  • Johannes Voigtmann, who ranks third in two-point field goal percentage with 74.29%
  • Alexey Shved, who was the EuroLeague top-scorer last season

With such offensive machines on the roster, CSKA seems capable of defeating almost any opponent. So, why the Army Men haven’t been doing it? Because they’ve been terrible in the defense.

With 1342 points conceded in 17 games, they have one of the worst defenses in the competition. Luckily for CSKA, their next opponent has been even worse – Panathinaikos’ defensive tally is 1345 points conceded thus far.