By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The 30-year-old guard Daniel Hackett has signed a two-year contract with CSKA Moscow this summer and as a player with vast EuroLeague experience, he thinks this might even be the strongest team he was a part of:
“It is difficult to talk about the level of the team now because the season has not yet begun, we had only friendly games with an incomplete roster. But on paper, of course, the names are impressive. In Olympiacos, Milan and Siena, there were also very strong lineups, but here in CSKA, with such talented, successful and experienced players… I think this lineup is one of the best.”, Hackett explained in an interview with championat.com.
There has been a bit of a narrative going around the last couple of years regarding CSKA’s trouble in the games against Olympiacos some even calling it a curse. Hackett – who also had a two-year stint with the Greek team – noted he doesn’t believe in curses and all you have to do is concentrate and shrug off the pressure:
“I don’t really believe in curses. It seems to me that when a team dominates in the course of the regular season – and CSKA dominated in the last few years – then everyone starts to feel different in the club, and the players themselves feel additional pressure. Still waiting for the title. It is difficult to play under such pressure of responsibility.”
Hackett especially agreed with a comment that Olympiacos has also changed a lot over the years and that Vassilis Spanoulis certainly isn’t getting any younger:
“Exactly! Olympiacos also changed the roster, the coach, much has changed. You just need to concentrate on yourself and break this curse, if it exists.”