<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Khryapa, 6-9, and Monia, 6-8, met about seven years ago at a basketball school in the industrial city of Saratov, Monia?s hometown and a sort of Detroit on the Volga famous for its car factories. Khryapa considers his older brother, Nikolai, his best friend and a father figure, and when Nikolai signed a contract to play for the Saratov club Avtodor, Viktor decided to move with him from Kiev. ?At first, Viktor and I were put in different sections,? Monia says. ?But after a while they put us together, and we immediately became close friends.? Two years later, Monia and Khryapa were suiting up for the Avtodor senior team in the Russian first division, and it gradually became evident that the duo could be the next Russians to follow Utah Jazz star Andrei Kirilenko to the NBA. Khryapa was selected for the Russian national team for the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis and drew comparisons to Kirilenko. Monia was not chosen for Indianapolis, but he and Khryapa left Saratov the next season for CSKA Moscow, the legendary Red Army team. The two were virtually inseparable in the Russian capital. They would emerge from the locker rooms after games wearing matching gray sweat suits and would often hang out together at the Starlite Diner, a kitschy American burger joint in central Moscow. While battling for playing time in one of the most talented and most expensive rosters in Europe, Khryapa and Monia both showed flashes of brilliance in their first season with CSKA. Khryapa played exuberant defense and made soaring two-handed dunks. Monia showed a combination of physical play and deft outside shooting. They were platooned by iron-fisted head coach Dusan Ivkovic in their two seasons together at CSKA before Khryapa left for Portland. His departure did not disrupt their friendship. ?We?re always trying to outplay one another,? Monia says, ?but if things aren?t going well for one of us, the other is always there to offer support.? Monia didn?t have his friend Khryapa around last season, and this compounded his frustration at playing fewer than 14 minutes per game for CSKA in the Euroleague, Europe?s premier league competition. Ivkovic usually opted to play expensive foreigners with more experience, and Monia averaged just 6.9 points and 3.2 rebounds per game on 54.7 percent shooting from the field, including 38.6 percent from behind the 3-point line. Things might not be any easier for him in Portland next year, either. ?We have a lot of guys at the small forward position, and it will be a real battle for playing time,? Khryapa says.</div> Source
