NIKEiD Fantasy Challenge, Top 16 Week 6 update
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 Like the competition it follows, this season's 2008-09 NIKEiD Euroleague Basketball Fantasy Challenge is proving to be a strong one for Spain with one week left in the contest. First, the winner of the Last 16 Week 5 prize was Sergio Colina Gutierrez of Spain, whose team "burgos arrasa en europa" led the pack of almost 80,000 users with a solid score of 231, which was 15 points better than all but two other players. Sergio wins an official Euroleague game ball and this season's official Media Guide on DVD. And he'll be entered in the end-of-season drawing for more prizes. The weekly prizes and end-of-season drawing mean that even if you don't have NIKEiD Fantasy Challenge teams yet, even with just a week to go, you can start new ones and still have a chance to win a prize. New teams have the advantage of starting with 500 credits, too. The last 2008-09 NIKEiD Fantasy Challengedeadline of the season will be on Wednesday, March 11 at 19:00 CET, one hour before the first games of Top 16 Week 4, a simultaneous start with all the teams of Group G and of Group H. Watch for this week's injury update and take one final chance to win!
Meanwhile, the races for end-of-phase and end-of-season prizes also have leaders from Spain. Holding good position to become the Top 16 winner is Daniel Boluda and his team "Pantomimotion" with an impressive five-week score of 987, almost 35 points higher than his next-closest competitor. If he doesn't slip up in the final week, Daniel will be in line for a special end-of-season prize, a commemorative gift autographed by the Euroleague player of his choosing. Much tighter going into the final week is the grand prize of them all, a trip for two and VIP status at the 2009 Final Four in Berlin. Xuban Epelde of Spain and his team "xubanovic5" held onto the top overall spot for a second week, but faces the final one with a reduced lead of 14.4 points after scoring just 176.9 last week. Hundreds of teams in the previous week scored at least 14.4 points higher than 176.9. A third team is within 20 points of him, too. All of which promises an exciting Last 16, Week 6 and the announcement of all the prize winners after the final scoring is tabulated and confirmed.
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FANTASY CHALLENGE RUNDOWN
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GROUP E
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Tau Ceramica:
- Head coach Dusko Ivanovic has a full squad available for Thursday’s game against Olympiacos. |
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Olympiacos:
- Big man Sofoklis Schortsanitis is sidelined due to disciplinary reasons.
- Forward Giorgos Printezis is expected to return after missing time with a kidney problem. |
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AJ Milano:
- Head coach Piero Bucchi has a full squad available for its game against Asseco Prokom. |
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Asseco Prokom:
- Forward Koko Archibong and center Adam Hrycaniuk are not expected to play due to injuries. |
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GROUP F
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Regal FC Barcelona:
- Guard Roger Grimau is questionable for Thursday’s game against Maccabi due to an injury suffered to his quadriceps muscle on his right leg last week against Real Madrid.
- Teenage guard Nihad Dedovic suffered a sprained left ankle last week and will not be available in Tel Aviv. |
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Real Madrid:
- Head coach Joan Plaza has a full squad available for the game against Alba Berlin. |
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Maccabi Electra:
- D’Or Fischer is out for the remainder of the Top 16 after undergoing surgery for facial cuts.
- Center Yaniv Green is doubtful due to back pain. |
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Alba Berlin:
- Center Patrick Femerling remains sidelined after undergoing knee injury. |
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GROUP G
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Unicaja:
- Guard Carlos Cabezas is sidelined after undergoing surgery for appendicitis.
- Big man German Gabriel has returned to training after an Achilles’s heel injury and will travel with the team to Athens.
- Center Boni N'Dong has missed practice time due to a sore right knee. He is expcted to be available for Wednesday’s game against Panathinaikos.
- Big men Vitor Faverani and Paulo Prestes are not on the roster for this week’s game. |
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Lottomatica Roma:
- Guard Sani Becirovic is not expected to face Partizan on Wednesday.
- Center Primoz Brezec will not face Partizan, either, due to pain following an injury in the last domestic game.
- Forward Rodrigo De la Fuente will not be playing against Partizan. |
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Panathinaikos:
- Head coach Zeljko Obradovic has a full squad available for Wednesday’s game against Unicaja. |
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Partizan:
- Guard Milenko Tepic sat out his team’s Adriatic League game over the weekend to rest after hurting his knee in last week's win over Panathinaikos. |
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GROUP H
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CSKA Moscow:
- Ramunas Siskauskas will not travel to Zagreb to face Cibona due to a leg injury that will keep him sidelined a week.
- Andrey Vorontsevich will not be travelling to Zagreb to face Cibona. |
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Montepaschi Siena:
- Guard Henry Domercant sat out of Sunday’s Italian League game due to a sprained ankle. He will be a game-day decision against Fenerbahce Ulker.
- Guard Terrell McIntyre did not travel to Istanbul due to some pains resulting from the last Italian League game. It is a precaution measure.
- Big man Ksistof Lavrinovic is sidelined with a broken hand. |
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Fenerbahce Ulker:
- Center Omer Asik has returned to practice after undergoing surgery this summer to repair damaged ligaments in his knee, but is not expected to dress against Montepaschi.
- FB Ulker has decided to sit out Gordan Giricek in this game. |
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Cibona:
- Head coach Velimir Perasovic has a full squad available for Wednesday’s game against CSKA. |
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Euroleague.net
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