Khimki spent last summer gearing up for a shot at greatness by adding players like former All-Euroleague big man Jorge Garabjosa, former Olympic champion Carlos Delfino and veteran playmaker Milt Palacio. They joined an already-strong squad that featured former ULEB Cup Final MVP Kelly McCarty, multi-talented center Maciej Lampe, well-travelled guard Teemu Rannikko and rising stars Anton Ponkrashov and Timofey Mozgov. When the team didn't mesh immediately and suffered a blowout road loss in the Eurocup's second regular season game, a coaching change brought proven winner Sergio Scariolo to the Khimki bench. There followed four consecutive victories that clinched a first-place finish in the team's regular season group. A similar run of three straight wins in the Last 16 let the team qualify early for the Final Eight, where it hopes to peak at the right time in order to pin Khimki's flag on the international basketball map. That would be quite an accomplishment for such a young club. Khimki Basketball Club was founded in January 1997 and by the turn of the century had consolidated its place in the Russian League. In 2000-01, Khimki made its European debut in the Korac Cup and finished seventh Russia. Khimki had the same results the following season, but by 2002-03 was taking a bigger step forward, advancing to both the Russian League and Russian Cup semifinals, as well as the second stage of the FIBA Europe Champions Cup. Khimki kept challenging in every competition, finishing fifth and fourth, respectively, in the next two Russian championships, while returning to the Russian Cup semifinals in 2004 and 2005. The team did better in Europe, too, moving as high as the FIBA Europe League semifinals in 2005 before falling to eventual champ Dynamo St. Petersburg. Khimki climbed higher still in 2006, advancing to three finals — the Russian League, Russian Cup and FIBA Eurocup — but lost to perennial champion CSKA Moscow in the first two and to DKV Joventut in the latter. In its ULEB Cup debut in 2006, Khimki went as far as the elimination rounds and later that spring took third in the Russian League. That set the stage for last season's dream campaign, in which Khimki beat CSKA for its first trophy ever, the Russian Cup, then reached the Russian League finals. The team also made a very strong showing in the ULEB Cup before bowing out in the Last 16, again to eventual champion DKV Joventut. Having moved resolutely forward throughout its 12-year existence, Khimki lands at the Final Eight with one last step to make before sealing its place as a European power.