For the second year in a row, underdog Olympiacos Piraeus stunned CSKA Moscow in the Euroleague Final Four and once again the Russian club has to leave the competition without the title.

At the beginning of the season, four-time Euroleague champion and current head coach of CSKA, Ettore Messina, was meant to be the savior Moscow needed, but it wasn't enough to achieve big success in London. CSKA once again failed at a crucial moment, but Messina believes there's still some work left to be done in Moscow.

RealGM sat down with Messina in London to talk about what the future holds for CSKA, the Euroleague Final Four format, Viktor Khryapa and things that money can't buy.

RealGM: What was the first thought that came to your mind on the morning following the loss on Friday?

Messina: That we badly lost the game. I woke up with very few hours of sleep with the idea that we lost and we played poorly. We need to find a way to make players want to win. We cannot throw in the towel and there's a lot of work that has to be done. We need to find a way to convince them that there's some work to do.

RealGM: Last summer, CSKA president Andrey Vatutin told RealGM that his plan is to build a team for at least three years. Do you believe CSKA's plan remains the same even after Friday's loss?

Messina: Usually at the end of the season, regardless of whether we win or lose, I sit with the president of my club to talk about the situation and obviously the future. We discuss the adjustments that we may do or not, thus it is difficult for me to answer the question now. We will have some discussions at the end of the season, for sure.

RealGM: As you know, 14 of 15 players have contracts for the next season. Do you think that this group of players are still able to bring a championship to Moscow?

Messina: First of all, we talk about the team, which had a great Euroleague season. But we're talking about the team that collapsed again at the most important moment of the season, which was a shock. At this point, you can think two ways. First, let's make minor adjustments and we can solve the problem, or you might think let's change everything. I have no idea what the feel of the club is and I will make sure at the end of the season that at least they hear my personal opinion.

RealGM: Do you agree that building a team with long-term vision is better than rebuilding a club every single year?

Messina: It must be better with this, I agree. This team went through forced adjustment during last summer. We lost three key players not because we wanted. Two went to the NBA and one retired. Once that happened, we're talking about three players who were 70 percent of our scoring power, thus we had to make adjustments. All season long it seems that we were moving on and we were going on the right direction. And then all the sudden there comes a game like the one on Friday and everything looks like a disaster. You have to detach yourself from this very close field and think about it with cold mind.

RealGM: Leaving Friday's game behind us, Viktor Khryapa was one of the best players in the league all season long, but he wasn't selected to the All-Euroleague First Team. Was that a surprise for you?

Messina: I thought he deserved the first lineup and I think he was a great candidate for the MVP award as well. But that's out of my control. And even if this made him [Khryapa] upset, it's just something you have to deal with. He was absolutely a key player of our team. If not him, we wouldn't be in the final four because he was so consistent all season. He played a major role, for sure.

RealGM: Talking about the current Euroleague format, you play many games all season long and there's only one decisive game in semifinal and final. Do you think it is the way it should be?

Messina: I always said that [a series is better]. The experience in the 2001 Euroleague best-of-five final series was one of the best experiences that I had as a coach. Not only because we won, but also because those five great games got all the attention in Europe and South America or around the world. Comparing with the Final Four, just as you said, you have a bad day and you basically destroy your season. Same happens if you get injured. But I understand why they use the format of the Final Four. There are marketing reasons. However, as a coach, I always said that to decide who is a champion, there must be a playoffs.

RealGM: Looking at this season, did you like the decision to extend the Euroleague Top 16 phrase? 

Messina: I have to say the second stage was great. All those great teams playing games every week… I really like the way it is. Basically, the Top 16 becomes a true regular season. The regular season is more like a qualification. I would put it like this.

RealGM: We've seen so many cases when teams that have money cannot achieve great results. What is the key ingredient in terms of building a championship team?

Messina: Chemistry. And you also have to find the right people before the right players.

RealGM: Can you buy chemistry?

Messina: No, but choosing the right people is very important and maybe sometimes you have to sacrifice a little bit in terms of talent. But you have to make sure you have the right people. 

RealGM: Do you see those right people in Europe that you would want to have in your team? 

Messina: Yes, but we do not want to be affected by a very bad game and start thinking that what we did was all wrong and what the other do is all good.

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After spending the 11-12 lockout shortened NBA season in Russia with CSKA Moscow, Andrei Kirilenko was all smiles as walked through the Barclays Center and sat in front of his locker.

Kirilenko discussed his return to the NBA from Russia and what the future holds for basketball in his country.

Last season, Kirilenko was one of many NBA players who spent time overseas due to the lockout. However, Kirilenko was also one of the rare NBA players to spend the entire season overseas after the lockout was lifted.

“When I signed with the Russian team, it was a lockout season and I thought it was a great chance for me to play in Russia in front of Russian fans and my family and friends since I’m still the right age,” said Kirilenko. “I had the chance and I used it.”

Being close to his family was enticing for Kirilenko, but he also remained overseas to represent his country in the best physical condition on the grandest stage of all.

“They (NBA) played like 66 games in a season in a short period of time and the Olympics was coming,” said Kirilenko. “I kind of decided I’m going to finish the season in Moscow and then I’m going to move back to the NBA.”

The move paid dividends for Kirilenko and his country.

Kirilenko won his second EuroBasket medal, a bronze, in 2011, and helped CSKA finish as the Euroleague runner-up. Kirilenko then led Russia to it’s first medal, a bronze, since 1988 (as Soviet Union) in the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

According to Kirilenko, winning the bronze medal in London and having Mikhail Prokhorov as a Russian owner in a large market (Brooklyn, New York) has brightened the future of basketball in Russia.

Kirilenko spoke highly of Prokhorov’s impact and how he will draw more positive attention to Russia’s basketball future.

“I think it’s a huge impact because for the scouts and the NBA right now, it’s a little different approach for the Russian players,” said Kirilenko. “I think it’s a great platform for the Russian young talent to get to the NBA because of (Prokhorov) and because the perception is a little bit different right now. The scouts probably look a little bit closer because they want to bring the Russian talent to make him play for (Prokhorov).”

Kirilenko confirmed that he spoke with Prokhorov briefly before the game, but in a casual manner.

“He asked, like, how is everything,” said Kirilenko. “I said everything is great obviously. I just said it’s a great arena because when we get to the arena it looks very flashy.”

The Barclays Center was nearly a new home for Kirilenko who was courted by Brooklyn Nets' management heavily before failing to come to terms on a deal.

Kirilenko stressed that he has moved on and is solely focused on his current team.

“I’m not talking about that (Nets negotiations), said Kirilenko with a smile. “I’m a Minnesota Timberwolf.”

After talks broke down with Brooklyn, Kirilenko received a two-year, $20 million offer from the Minnesota Timberwolves to return to the NBA.

Kirilenko discussed the difficulty of getting acclimated to the NBA game after spending a year overseas.

“The only adjustment probably is the schedule because in Russia we only play twice a week,” said Kirilenko. “Here you’re playing four, sometimes five times a week. It’s just the quantity of the games, but other than that it’s just less practices. In Europe and Moscow you have more practices and the schedule is a little different.”

Despite the scheduling adjustment and return to an 82-game NBA schedule, Kirilenko has enjoyed his time with Minnesota.

“I like everything,” said Kirilenko. “All the details are definitely how I expected and I’m really enjoying playing with coach Rick (Adelman). I think he’s a very good coach so far.”

With franchise centerpiece Kevin Love expected out of the lineup until the middle of November, or the start of December, Kirilenko is expected to see increased minutes at power forward.

At 6-foot-9 and 235 pounds, Kirilenko has enough bulk to fight for rebounds and the leaping ability to jump over opponents around the paint. Kirilenko is also an excellent help and on-the-ball defender known for blocking shots (2.03 per game career average).

For the Minnesota to remain competitive until Love returns, and without the services of human highlight reel Ricky Rubio, Kirilenko must carry the Timberwolves as he did with his Russian bronze medal teams.

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The 2012-13 Euroleague regular season will begin on October 19th and here are RealGM's preseason power rankings.

1. CSKA Moscow (Russia)

The absence of Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved will definitely be felt, but the return of head coach Ettore Messina and the acquisition of one of the best Euroleague rookies of 2011-12 season, Sonny Weems, maintains CSKA as the most talented team in Euroleague. Also, it's going to be the second season in Russia for Serbians Milos Teodosic and Nenad Krstic, who together with Weems should lead CSKA to the Final Four.

2. FC Barcelona Regal (Spain)

FC Barcelona Regal clearly suffered some serious losses this offseason as one of the most versatile Euroleague players, Chuck Eidson, left for Unics and two big men moved south to Unicaja Malaga. Barcelona didn’t shock the market by making huge signings, but that’s what their front office usually does. The Catalonians managed to re-sign RealGM’s last season’s All-Euroleague 1st Team member Erazem Lorbek, who together with elite point guard Marcelinho Huertas, healthy Juan Carlos Navarro and Olympic surprise Joe Ingles might help FC Barcelona Regal make another Final Four appearance.

3. Real Madrid (Spain)

Real’s time has finally come. It has been 18 years since Real won its last Euroleague title and this year Pablo Laso’s team has the best chance they have had in years. This season’s Real is very versatile, having the pieces to go all the way to the top. They are both young and experienced, explosive and dangerous, which by adding Rudy Fernandez this offseason might become unstoppable in every league they’ll compete in the 12-13 season.

4. Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul (Turkey)

It seems that Montepaschi Siena was relocated to Turkey and that’s good news for Fenerbahce Ulker fans. Fenerbahce Ulker managers opened their pockets to bring former Montepaschi players David Andersen, Romain Sato, Bo McCalebb and coach Simone Pianigiani. These pieces have experience together, therefore Fenerbahce Ulker should find a winning path straight away. Everybody in Europe knows that McCalebb, who signed a three-year deal with the Turkish team, is a game changer and a Euroleague Final Four is probably not so far away for Fenerbahce Ulker.

5. Olympiacos Piraeus (Greece)

After a stunning performance in last season’s Final Four, current Euroleague champion Olympiacos is no longer an underdog. Every team will treat Olympiacos as a champion and the expectations for the Greeks will be sky high. Despite the departure of head coach Dusan Ivkovic, Olympiacos managed to maintain the core of the team and especially the key Greek players from the last season  - Vassilis Spanoulis, Georgios Printezis, Kostas Papanikolaou, and American Kyle Hines.

6. Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)

Maccabi is clearly not the same dominant team as it was in 2004 or 2005, but they are one of only few who remained elite for years and are always among top candidates to claim the title. Before the start of the season, Maccabi doesn’t seem to be at the same line with Europe’s best (CSKA and FC Barcelona Regal), but David Blatt and his players are capable of beating the odds and making a long run in this year’s Euroleague.

7. Unicaja Malaga (Spain)

Unicaja has been struggling for years in the Euroleague tournament but there are signs that the dark days for Malaga basketball might be over. Unicaja, which won only five out of 24 games in the Top 16 in last four years, had to say goodbye to its team face Joel Freeland and 11 other players and build a new team from the ground up. Luka Zoric, Fran Vazquez and Kosta Perovic will form one of the best frontcourts in the league, which will be the key strength of Unicaja.

8. Montepaschi Siena (Italy)

Life after Bo McCalebb won’t be easy and Montepaschi is about to experience that. Montepaschi completely changed its team by almost completely turning over its roster and starting a new page. Montepaschi managers had to say goodbye to Siena’s biggest stars and its leader McCalebb, who had been Montepaschi’s key player since 2010. As other teams’ experience shows, it takes years to build a winning Euroleague team, therefore patience might be an essential thing for this year’s Montepaschi.

9. EA7 Emporio Armani Milano (Italy)

After years of disappointments, EA7 Emporio Armani was finally very close to making the Top 8 last season and this year’s team looks even more impressive. It seems the managers of Olimpia Milano did their best on bringing an elite player, such as Keith Langford, and missing pieces like Gianluca Basile and Richard Hendrix. EA7 Emporio Armani hasn’t looked this strong for many years and this might be the best chance for Sergio Scariolo and his guys to break their team's curse of Euroleague.

10. Panathinaikos Athens (Greece)

The post-Obradovic era begins. Nine new players and more to come as Panathinaikos was completely rebuilt this offseason. The wind of changes came when eight-time Euroleague champion Zeljko Obradovic, who coached Panathinaikos since 1999, stepped down and 11 players left the team as well. One of two players who stayed in Athens, Dimitris Diamantidis and new coach Argyris Pedoulakis is in a very difficult position as it might take more than a season to build a strong relationship between players and bring Panathinaikos back on the winning path.

11. Caja Laboral Vitoria (Spain)

The biggest upset of the last season, Caja Laboral do not have any reasons to be very optimistic about this year as well. Two key players, Euroleague leading points per game scorer Mirza Teletovic and team assist leadser Pablo Prigioni left the Spanish organization for the NBA and Caja Laboral struggles to find a proper replacement. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see group C’s Caja Laboral missing Top 16 for the second straight season.

12. Zalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania)

Similar to last season, Zalgiris formed a solid roster for the Euroleague tournament and seems to be a Top 8 team on paper. But Zalgiris fans know the best that it's way too early to celebrate and there's nothing to be excited about before the Top 16 starts. Statistics don't lie: over the last nine years, Zalgiris won only seven and lost 35 games in the Top 16 stage. Despite how good Zalgiris' roster seemed to be, Kaunas won just four matches in Top 16 since 2004 and holds an awful 4-32 record.

13. Khimki Moscow region

Eurocup winner Khimki formed its team the earliest among all Euroleague clubs and signed all players even before the beginning of the summer. Khimki didn’t spend as much money as they did in the past, but Rimas Kurtinaitis’ team should repeat their success in 2009-10 and make it out of the group with the talent they have.

14. Anadolu Efes Istanbul

‘Born to lose’ are the first three words, which came to my mind when I hear the name Anadolu Efes Istanbul. It didn’t matter how many top European players Istanbul had on its roster, they have always failed to meet expectations. The main reason is that chemistry is something money can’t buy. However, Anadolu Efes will have another shot to make a long run this season, as they’ll have future MVP candidate Jordan Farmar on their side and many other individually great players. As always.

15. Besiktas Istanbul (Turkey)

No doubt, last season was amazing for Besiktas and their fans as Istanbul club won three titles - Turkish league, Turkish Cup and EuroChallenge (the third best European competition). It was simply the gold age for the Turkish team, but this year’s Besiktas will be different as day and night. The whole starting five left the club and that doesn’t mean anything good for Besiktas.

16. Cedevita Zagreb (Croatia)

It’s not a secret that the last two seasons weren’t the best for Croatian basketball, but it seems Cedevita is here to change the things. Definitely, Cedevita wasn’t the luckiest club on the Euroleague draw day as they would probably like to be anywhere but in group C. However, the Croatian team’s managers did nice work this offseason by building a versatile team with few well-known names, who are good enough to shake things up make a mess in group C.

17. Brose Baskets Bamberg (Germany)

Brose Baskets proved that German basketball can compete with the Europe’s best clubs and last season was just one step away from making to the Top 16. During the offseason, Brose Baskets lost some very important pieces and is going to be quite a challenge for Chris Fleming to build a winning team with the guys he has now.

18. Partizan Belgrade (Serbia)

As usual, Partizan will be a team to watch this season. The Serbian club will have many well-known talents on its roster. Davis Bertans, Dejan Musli, Leo Westermann, Bogdan Bogdanovic have proved themselves in youth tournaments and now it’s time to demonstrate their capabilities on the big scene. Moreover, coach Dusko Vujosevic, who led Partizan to the Final four in 09-10, is back in Belgrade. The 24-year-old Marko Cakarevic is currently the oldest player on the team, but it is surely going to be fun to watch how talented and hungry Partizan will try to find its way out of the group D.

19. Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius (Lithuania)

One of the two best Lithuanian teams, Lietuvos Rytas is known for signing less-known players and making the most out of them. This season is going to be a no exception as Lietuvos Rytas lost its biggest star, Jonas Valanciunas, and didn't add any elite players to its squad. Even with the roster as it is now, Lietuvos Rytas, is capable of making it out of the group but might lack talent to shake things up in the Top 16.

20. Alba Berlin (Germany)

It’s been a while since Alba won its last title and it seems the hype from making to the Euroleague Top 16 in 08-09 disappeared. Even after being  awful last season, Alba got a chance to play in the Euroleague, where their chances are really limited. Nevertheless, everything is possible in group B for Alba, especially with the support they’ll have at home games.

21. Elan Chalon (France)

French teams has always been like tourists in the Euroleague and Elan Chalon will probably be no exception. On the other hand, Elan Chalon made one of the most interesting signings this offseason in six-year NBA veteran Shelden Williams. Of course, it would be a no-braner to believe Williams could carry Elan Chalon on his back to the Top 16 stage, but he could make some serious problems for group D underdogs, Asseco Prokom and Alba.

22. Asseco Prokom Gdynia (Poland)

The previous two seasons were horrible for Asseco Prokom and it seems that the Polish team is heading for a third one. New head coach Kestutis Kemzuras will have a very difficult task to build a winning team from very average players. Also, Asseco Prokom will be missing its biggest star, Donatas Motiejunas, who moved to Houston Rockets, and for now, there’s no such player, who could replace Motiejunas and become a leader of the team.

23. Union Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia)

Last season’s worst team, Union Olimpija, didn’t do much this offseason to avoid the same situation this year. Ljubljana’s team lost all its best players and the new additions look more like a lottery than a promising future. It seems that Union Olimpija don’t have financial problems anymore and that might be club’s biggest victory of the offseason.

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