 The Top 16 draw for the 2008-09 Euroleague season made for some fascinating group matchups, including a pair of Final Four teams from last season and two of the biggest archrivals in world sports. Group E is headed by Final Four regular Tau Ceramica, another team that has made three straight playoff appearances, Olympiacos, historic club Armani Jeans Milano and Top 16 perennial Asseco Prokom. Group F is anchored by Spanish archrivals Regal FC Barcelona, the regular season's top team, and Real Madrid. They have to face Final Four perennial Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv and the team with the biggest crowds so far this season, Alba Berlin. Group G is stacked and unpredictable, with the most-crowned team of the last decade, Panathinaikos, facing its nemesis from last year, Partizan, as well as Spanish powerhouse Unicaja and reborn Italian contender Lottomatica Roma. In Group H, defending champion CSKA Moscow is met by another Final Four team from last year, Montepaschi Siena, as well as another returning playoff team, Fenerbahce Ulker, and one of the toughest home teams of the decade, Cibona Zagreb.
Top 16 viewpoints preview: Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H
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TOP 16 GAME 1 |
For its first Top 16 win in more than a decade, Milano beat Olympiacos at home. Week 1's only road winners were Unicaja, at Roma, thanks to Marcus Haislip's 22 points, and CSKA, which held Fenerbahce to a Top 16 record 48 points by a home team. The Spanish derby saw Real Madrid rally past Barcelona, the regular season's top team. MORE | MVP | TV Rewind |
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TOP 16 GAME 2 |
Four 2-0 teams emerged, three after road wins. Milano won the seventh of its last eight games, on the road at Prokom, Real Madrid rallied from 10 points down late at Alba, and Panathinaikos manhandled Unicaja in the final quarter. They joined CSKA, a blowout home winner against Cibona, as undefeated group leaders. MORE | MVP | TV Rewind |
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TOP 16 GAME 3 |
Real Madrid and Panathinaikos stayed perfect with blowout home wins, but the big news was Montepaschi handing CSKA its worst Euroleague loss in a decade as Terrell McIntyre scored 21. Partizan and Barcelona, with 30 points from Ersan Ilyasova, moved into second place, while Fenerbahce won its first at Cibona thanks to Mirsad Turkcan's heroics. MORE | MVP | TV Rewind |
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TOP 16 GAME 4 |
Three big road winners became the first Quarterfinal Playoffs qualifiers in Top 16, Week 4. Panathinaikos, Partizan Belgrade and Real Madrid all went through to the next stage with smashing road wins, while four more teams took their aspirations to the brink of qualifcationm, too. In all five teams won on the road, the first time that has happened in the Top 16 in five years, since Week 1 of the same phase in the 2003-04 season. MORE | MVP | TV Rewind |
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TOP 16 GAME 5 |
The eight teams that will play in Quarterfinal Playoffs are now known. Montepaschi Siena and Olympiacos both won on Thursday of a record-setting Top 16, Week 5, the latter’s victory also qualifying Tau Ceramica, which won Wednesday. CSKA Moscow and Regal FC Barcelona also advanced on Wednesday. However, the matchups are far from settled, as only one team has won its group and secured home-court advantage for the best-of-five playoffs. MORE | MVP | TV Rewind |
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TOP 16 GAME 6 |
The Top 16 came to an end with three road wins on the final day of action – two coming from Olympiacos and Regal FC Barcelona as they clinched first place in their respective groups and home-court advantage in the upcoming best-of-five Quarterfinal Playoffs. That advantage is significant in noting that in 16 series over four seasons, only twice has a team without the home-court advantage advanced to the Final Four. MORE | MVP | TV Rewind |
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STANDINGS
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| GROUP D |
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*Olympiacos |
5-1
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50
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*Tau Ceramica |
4-2
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82
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AJ Milano |
2-4
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-74
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Asseco Prokom |
1-5
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-58
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| GROUP E |
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*Regal FCB |
5-1
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79
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*Real Madrid |
5-1
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18
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Maccabi Electra |
2-4
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-22
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Alba Berlin |
0-6
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-75
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| GROUP F |
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*Panathinaikos |
5-1
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75
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*Partizan |
4-2
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-14
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Unicaja |
2-4
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23
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Lottomatica
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1-5
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-84
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| GROUP G |
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*CSKA Moscow |
5-1
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77
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*Montepaschi
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4-2
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16
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Cibona |
2-4
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-33
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Fenerbahce
Ulker
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1-5
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-60
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| *Qualified to Quarterfinal Playoffs |
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