CSKA Moscow continues its domination in Russia.

After a dramatic defeat in the Euroleague final, CSKA had to right the ship in another where they were battling Eurocup winners Khimki Moscow Region in the Russian championship (PBL) final.

Without surprise, CSKA won three games in a row (3-0) in a best-of-five series and conquered the Russian champion title for the 10th consecutive time. CSKA, which have won 19th championships in last 21 years, dominated through the whole series as they won all three games against Khimki by double-digit margins.

Nenad Krstic was the most efficient player in the series as he scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the first game, posted a 21 and five in the second and 17 and four in the series-clincher.

Euroleague MVP Andrei Kirilenko appeared only in one game, where he had 12 points and five rebounds.

Lokomotiv-Kuban Krasnodar finished third this season as they beat Triumph Lyubertsy, 3-1, while Euroleague sensation Unics Kazan won the series over Spartak Saint Petersburg, 2-0, to win 5th place.

CSKA was nearly perfect in regular season as they lost only once in 18 games. CSKA also received another award as coach Jonas Kazlauskas was named the best head coach of the 2011-12 season.

Triumph’s Davon Jefferson was the most dominating player in the Russian league this season. The former player of USC forward led the league in scoring with 19.5 PPG and rebounds with 7.6 per game.

Aaron Miles, former Kansas Jayhawks standout and leader of Krasnye Krylya Samara, was the league leader in assists with 6.8 APG.

Top-five contenders: BC Khimki, CSKA, Lokomotiv-Kuban, Spartak St. Petersburg, Unics Kazan

CSKA Moscow can compete with the likes of Panathinaikos and Montepaschi in regards to domination of its own domestic league. Nine championships in a row and counting, nine Euroleague Final Four appearances in the past 11 years and a bunch of other trophies. Nevertheless, a catastrophic performance in last year’s Euroleague led CSKA to a rebuilding process.

This year we’ll see a different CSKA with many roster changes. Longtime CSKA players and symbols of CSKA’s victories, J.R.Holden and Trajan Langdon retired from basketball this summer, but the Russian club quickly found equal replacements. They signed the MVP of the 2009-10 Euroleague season Milos Teodosic and last season’s sensation Sammy Mejia. Moreover, CSKA added Nenad Krstic, Darjus Lavrinovic, Andrei Kirilenko and created a team, which is capable of winning the Triple Crown (Euroleague, Russian championship and Russian cup).

CSKA decided to stay away from contracted NBA players and made an exception only to Andrei Kirilenko for obvious reasons. Their main opponent in competing for the title, BC Khimki, different than CSKA, used available opportunities to strengthen their roster with NBA players and signed three of them -- Austin Daye, Timofey Mozgov and Chris Quinn. However, NBA players didn’t help BC Khimki to avoid fiasco in Euroleague Qualifying Rounds, where they didn’t reach the final and didn't qualify for Euroleague.

As a result, BC Khimki is the main favorite to win the Eurocup and stil remains good enough to compete with CSKA in Russian championships.

NBA players in Russia:

Austin Daye (Detroit Pistons) - Khimki Moscow (NBA-out)

Andrei Kirilenko (Utah Jazz) - CSKA Moscow (NBA-out)

Nenad Krstic (Boston Celtics) - CSKA Moscow (no NBA-out)

Timofey Mozgov (Denver Nuggets) - Khimki Moscow (NBA-out)

Chris Quinn (San Antonio Spurs) - Khimki Moscow (no NBA-out)