FINAL EIGHT 2009: Dynamo Moscow
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 With ambition as its middle name almost, Dynamo Moscow is back for its second straight Final Eight with its target set higher than ever. Dynamo is the only semifinalist from a year ago to return to Turin, and with an improved roster under head coach David Blatt, there is certainly reason for optimism. Dynamo is arguably the hottest team entering the Final Eight, having peaked at the right time, following a number of roster moves made prior to and during the Last 16. Not only was Dynamo the only undefeated team in the Last 16, but it rides an eight-game winning streak into Turin and has only lost to one team - now-eliminated Unics Kazan - all season. The roster returns six players who took part in the Final Eight last season, including three former champions of Europe's second competition: Dmitry Domani and Sergey Bykov, who helped Dynamo win the 2006 ULEB Cup and Robertas Javtokas, who lifted the same trophy in 2005 with Lietuvos Rytas. The newcomers to the team have been impressive, too, with former All-Euroleague big man Darjus Lavrinovic making an impact inside, forward Bostjan Nachbar providing consistent points and playmaker Brian Chase arriving like a booster rocket for the second half of the Last 16. Dynamo's signature player, however, is shooting guard Travis Hansen. In his third season in Moscow, Hansen has become a go-to leader whenever he is on the floor. All join a long list of Dynamo alumni who have helped make the club into a Russian powerhouse over the years. Dynamo was founded in 1923 and before long won Soviet Union (USSR) championship titles in 1937 and 1948. Dynamo's next major highlight was reaching the 1968 European Cup Winners' Cup final, where it lost to Slavia Prague. Dynamo finished third in the USSR League four times between 1975 and 1982 and once the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, found new success internationally. Dynamo reached the Saporta Cup semifinals in 1991, losing to eventual champ PAOK Thessaloniki by a single point, and made same tournament’s title game in 1996, getting stopped by Tau Ceramica. After short disappearance, Dynamo came back strong as ever in 2001 and resumed climbing the Russian League ladder until making the playoff finals in 2004-05. The next season, led by Mire Chatman, Ruben Douglas, Antonis Fotsis and Lazaros Papadopoulos, Dynamo went undefeated in the ULEB Cup elimination rounds and didn’t stop winning until it had lifted the club's first European trophy in the 2006 final against Aris Thessaloniki of Greece. In the Euroleague the next season, Dynamo won its regular season group, survived the Top 16 and was only eliminated in the playoffs by eventual champ Panathinaikos. Last season Dynamo made another ULEB Cup semifinals run and left Turin in third place. Now, under Blatt, it has been more of the same - high-level basketball that gets results - making Dynamo a candidate to be the last team standing at the end of Final Eight weekend!
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