February 09, 2012
PHASE PAGES: Regular Season, 2003-04
EB Regular SeasonThe 2003-04 regular season was the perfect storm as far as individual stars and performances go in the Euroleague, with a new crop of talents blending in with the established superstars to deliver an exciting season full of record-setting performances, impressive comebacks, overtime thrillers and buzzer-beating shots. Defending champion Barcelona finished with the best record and CSKA Moscow’s iron-clad defense saw it win Group B on a tiebreak over Maccabi Elite, which delivered the most impressive offense in the league. Legendary center Arvydas Sabonis was magic in the middle in his return for Zalgiris, while teammate Tanoka Beard and Benetton’s Tyus Edey also delivered performances to be remembered. The 14-game regular season went to the wire for many as six teams waited until Week 14 to advance, several waiting for the outcome of an overtime thriller to decide their fate.

REGULAR SEASON
TOP 16
FINAL FOUR
Marino Bazdaric - Union Olimpija
 REGULAR SEASON GAME 1
The 2003-04 regular season got underway with some real thrills as five of the 12 games were decided by a single basket, including a win for defending champ FC Barcelona. Newcomer Pamesa stunned 2003 runner-up Benetton by 25 points, CSKA beat Montepaschi in a rematch of last season’s third place game and legend Arvydas Sabonis returned to the Euroleague to lead Zalgiris past Panathinaikos.
Adam Wojcik - Idea Slask
 REGULAR SEASON GAME 2
Seven teams improved to 2-0, including defending champion Barcelona. Half of the week’s games went to road team, among them the eye-opening result of the week as Tau Ceramica dropped Benetton Treviso to 0-2 behind a career-high 36 points plus 15 rebounds from Andres Nocioni. Efes Pilsen put on a defensive show by holding Adecco Asvel Lyon to 44 points in a 25-point home win.
Fabricio Oberto - Pamesa
 REGULAR SEASON GAME 3
The ranks of the unbeaten slipped to five, led by CSKA Moscow and a defensive show for the ages as it held Krka Novo Mesto to a record 35 points in Moscow. J.R. Holden paced the winners with 17. Idea Slask also improved to 3-0 by downing Adecco Asvel Lyon on the road as Lynn Greer produced 21 points and 9 assists. Arvydas Sabonis posted 18 points, 13 boards and 4 blocks as Zalgiris topped Skipper.
Marcus Brown - CSKA Moscow
 REGULAR SEASON GAME 4
Pamesa Valencia took a showdown of undefeateds in Group C by edging Idea Slask thanks to a strong fourth quarter from Antoine Rigaudeau. Maccabi used a triple off a purposely missed free throw in the waning seconds to force overtime before topping Skipper in overtime as Maceo Baston was named MVP for the second week in a row. Ed Cota’s game-winner lifted Zalgiris past Unicaja.
Guilherme Giovannoni - Benetton Basket
 REGULAR SEASON GAME 5
Hanno Mottola's 2 free throws with 4.6 seconds left lifted Skipper over CSKA, while Adecco Asvel crushed Pamesa by 22, leaving Barcelona and Maccabi as the lone undefeated teams after five games. Roma came from behind to edge Union Olimpija for its first win and Unicaja picked up its first win behind 5-for-5 three-point shooting and a career-high 22 points from Walter Herrmann.
Fred House - Partizan
 REGULAR SEASON GAME 6
The last two undefeated teams fell as CSKA rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat Maccabi in Tel Aviv behind a brilliant showing from weekly MVP Marcus Brown, while Partizan dumped Barcelona as Fred House recorded a then-record 9 steals. Olympiacos picked up its first win by beating Adecco Asvel. And EB Pau-Orthez won its third straight by trumping Ulker on the road.
Panagiotis Liadelis - Olympiacos
 REGULAR SEASON GAME 7
The regular season reached the halfway point with only one clear group leader, Barcelona in Group A, after it crushed Ulker by 35. Arvydas Macijauskas enjoyed a near-perfect shooting night – including 6 for 6 from downtown – for a career-high 40 points as Tau downed Adecco Asvel. Lottomatica bested Pau-Orthez in overtime as the teams combined for 35 three-pointers.
Nikos Hatzivrettas - Panathinaikos
 REGULAR SEASON GAME 8
Benetton Treviso won its sixth straight since dropping two to start the season, beating Pamesa, while Efes Pilsen dropped Tau, leading Benetton and Efes tied atop Group C. Group B tightened up when co-leaders Maccabi and CSKA both lost. Louis Bullock scored 23 to lead Unicaja over Maccabi and Montepaschi edged CSKA. Partizan climbed to second in Group A by beating Olimpija at home.
Dzenan Rahimic - Union Olimpija
 REGULAR SEASON GAME 9
Panathinaikos outlasted Skipper 114-118 after two overtimes in a thriller that saw the team’s star guards Jaka Lakovic and Milos Vujanic combined for 63 points. CSKA also needed OT to beat Unicaja and remain tied for the Group B lead. In Group C, Efes took over first place after beating Adecco Asvel on the road while Tau and Arvydas Macijauskas shot down Benetton.
Andrija Zizic - Cibona
 REGULAR SEASON GAME 10
Tanoka Beard produced a game for the ages with 35 points on near-flawless shooting and 19 rebounds for a Euroleague record 63 index, but it wasn’t enough as Zalgiris fell 117-107 in a high-scoring classic at Skipper Bologna. Meanwhile Group A leader Barcelona became the first team to advance to the Top 16 and in Group C, Efes Pilsen cemented its hold on first place by topping Benetton on the road.
Matjaz Smodis - Skipper Bologna
 REGULAR SEASON GAME 11
Efes Pilsen advanced to the Top 16 after beating Olympiacos behind Ermal Kuqo’s career-high 26 points, as did CSKA Moscow, which also found itself alone atop Group B when Skipper topped Maccabi in Tel Aviv on the strength of 51 points from Matjaz Smodis and Milos Vujanic. Roberto Chiacig amassed 22 points and 14 rebounds in Montepaschi’s rout of Krka.
Artur Drozdov - EB Pau-Orthez
 REGULAR SEASON GAME 12
Tyus Edney dished a Euroleague-record 14 assists to lead Benetton over Olympiacos and into the Top 16. Tau Ceramica, Pamesa Valencia, Cibona and Ulker also advanced, while Barcelona became the first to clinch first place, winning Group A by topping AEK on the road behind 22 points from Dejan Bodiroga. Union Olimpija boosted its Top 16 hopes with a big win over Lottomatica behind Simona Petrov’s career high 26.
Nikos Zisis - AEK Athens
 REGULAR SEASON GAME 13
Efes Pilsen outlasted Idea Slask behind 28 points from Antonio Granger to clinch the top spot in Group C, while Anthony Parker’s buzzer-beating triple in Moscow tied Maccabi and CSKA for first place in Group B. Montepaschi was the only club to advance to the Top 16, beating Skipper behind David Vanterpool. Ulker defeated Pau-Orthez for its fifth straight win to climb into a tie for second in Group A.
Nenad Krstic - Partizan
 REGULAR SEASON GAME 14
Olympiacos, Skipper, Union Olimpija, Pau-Orthez, Panathinaikos and Zalgiris earned the remaining Top 16 berths as the regular season came to a close. Victor Alexander’s last second three-pointer lifted CSKA over Zalgiris and gave it first place in Group B thanks to a tiebreak advantage over Maccabi. Vladimer Boisa’s 27 points helped Olimpija beat Cibona in overtime, ending AEK and Partizan’s Top 16 dreams.
STANDINGS
GROUP A
FC Barcelona
 *FC Barcelona
12-2
+149
cibona
 *Cibona
8-6
+21
Ulker
 *Ulker
8-6
-27
Union Olimpija
 *Union Olimpija
6-8
-30
EB Pau-Orthez
 *Pau-Orthez
6-8
+11
AEK Athens
 AEK Athens
6-8
-33
partizan
 Partizan
6-8
+3
Lottomatica Roma
 Lottomatica Roma
4-10
-93
*Qualified to Top 16
GROUP B
cska moscow
 *CSKA Moscow
11-3
+134
Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv
 *Maccabi Elite
11-3
+92
Fortitudo Bologna
 *Skipper Bologna
8-6
+33
Montepaschi Siena
 *Montepaschi Siena
7-7
+15
panathinaikos
 *Panathinaikos
7-7
+28
Zalgiris Kaunas
 *Zalgiris
6-8
0
Unicaja
 Unicaja
4-10
-60
Krka Novo Mesto
 Krka Novo Mesto
2-12
-242
*Qualified to Top 16
GROUP C
efes pilsen
 *Efes Pilsen
10-4
+64
Benetton Treviso
 *Benetton Treviso
10-4
+18
Pamesa Valencia
 *Pamesa Valencia
9-5
+60
Tau Ceramica
 *Tau Ceramica
9-5
+56
olympiacos
 *Olympiacos
7-7
+1
Idea Slask
 Idea Slask
6-8
-53
Alba Berlin
 Alba Berlin
3-11
-95
Adecco Asvel
 Adecco Asvel
2-12
-151
*Qualified to Top 16

STATISTICAL LEADERS

POINTS
Lynn Greer
 L. Greer 25.0
A. Macijauskas 21.5
H. Jenkins 20.0
M. Brown 18.3
N. Vujcic 17.5
REBOUNDS
Arvydas Sabonis
 A. Sabonis 10.3
J. Blair 10.0
M. Turkcan 9.9
Q. Lollis 9.7
M. Baston 8.7
ASSISTS
Ed Cota
 E. Cota 5.6
G. Pozzecco 5.5
L. Greer 5.5
T. Edney 5.0
D. Lukovski 4.8
STEALS
House
 F. House 3.3
S. Penn 2.3
A. McDonald 2.2
P. Prigioni 2.1
D. Vanterpool 2.0
BLOCKS
Arvydas Sabonis
 A. Sabonis 1.8
D. Marconato 1.3
M. Baston 1.2
A. Wojcik 1.2
J. Blair 1.0
FREE THROWS
Simon Petrov
 S. Petrov 91.6%
A. Glyniadakis 91.6%
D. Sharp 94.7%
D. Vukcevic 93.3%
D. Bennerman 92.8%
2P SHOTS
Darren Phillip
 D. Phillip 80.7%
J.A. Paraiso 77.4%
D. Bluthenthal 76.9%
V. Khryapa 76.1%
M. Nicola 75.0%
3P SHOTS
Harold Mrazek
 H. Mrazek 56.8%
G. Kalaitzis 56.2%
V. Stefanov 55.8%
A. Garcia 55.5%
G. Gustas 54.1%
Friday, May 22, 2009
Euroleague.net
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