No "upsets" yet in this Top 16
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Exactly as I predicted on this very site (ahem…), Panathinaikos was upset on its homecourt by surprising Partizan. But wait a minute, why should we all live by habits and labels? C'mon, Partizan is not a surprise, definitely not anymore (I'm talking to myself here). It's no less than a pretty darn good basketball club with a solid philosophy and a great coach. Otherwise, the club could never, through the years, lose players like Vujanic, Perovic, Kecman, Pekovic, Velickovic, Tepic (or if you prefer Kicanovic, Dalipagic, Divac, Paspalj, Djordjevic, Danilovic) and still compete. Nor find back-to-back rough diamonds like Vesely and Maric and polish them into budding stars. And if yours truly is so hard-headed to need the umpteenth victory to realize that this is a top team, I'll tell who will never run such a risk. A Mr. Zelimir Obradovic, who wore the black-and-white and was clever enough through the years to pry several players away from his former team, realizing how strong their foundation is. That's why this Partizan's victory to open the Top 16 is even more impressive, because they definitely did not find the Greens asleep. So, shame on this writer for doubting Partizan. From now on they are another team legitimately fighting for the playoffs, and their wins will never be "upsets" anymore. Even if they beat FC Barcelona on Wednesday? Yes, even then. And by the way, Maroussi is not nearly as talented as Panathinaikos but it is tough as nails and has got nothing to lose. Did we already mention that balance rules and every game counts in the Top 16?
I watched CSKA beating Unicaja in the very first game of the Top 16. Unicaja did a very good job of staying in the game until the end, which is remarkable, in itself, for any team playing in Moscow. But CSKA knows how to win such games, there is no other way to put it into words. Proof to this is the
key play in the clutch: the team handles full-court pressure well, then goes inside to Khryapa who kicks the ball out to Langdon with a marvelous touch-pass. The Alaskan assassin calmly sinks the three-pointer with 2 seconds on the shot clock: +7 CSKA...game, set and match. The beauty of the Top 16 is also that in so many cases (this game included) teams thinking long-term will call a timeout with, let's say, 2 or 3 seconds on the game clock and the game already out of reach. When we say "every possession counts" it's not only a cliché.
Some other casual remarks from CSKA-Unicaja:
· Dmitry Sokolov is the first player (at least to my knowledge) shooting free throws with one hand, taking the supporting hand away well before releasing the ball. He reminds me of another Russian player, Vitaly Nossov. He twisted his whole body (and face …) during a free throw, and every point scored from the "charity stripe" was saluted like a game winner. Unforgettable.
· Ramunas Siskauskas might be the best baseline cutter I've ever seen. The way he gets ready to cut reading the defense, slowing down and pointing in the opposite direction before exploding to the ball with a sudden burst and catching it in stride...that's what you call poetry in motion. A smooth, precise, pointed motion. Jerry Rice on hardwood, for those familiar with the NFL. It does not get any better than that.
· Juan Dixon is another interesting player. His moves off the dribble are remarkable for someone who used to thrive in college using multiple screens and reading those like a master. But to play at a higher level you need to score one-on-one, because the defense will take away a lot of those screens. To give you a rough idea, shots off screens account for less than 5% of Unicaja's offense in Euroleague so far. You have to score, or at least create offense, off the dribble, like it or not. And Dixon will help Malaga a lot in this regard.
· Georgios Printezis was 4/9 on threes before the game but shot 2/3 in Moscow. It's the Top 16, expect the unexpected ….
Speaking of balance,
Real Madrid-Efes and MPS-Maccabi provided 80 minutes of thrilling action. I'll tell you one thing: Group F will be a carnage until the very last game. I think Real is at its best when helping and rotating on defense aggressively. That is obviously true for any team, but with such a deep roster and so many substitutions done to maximize its value, executing consistently on defense comes at a premium. Especially considering that defending the pick-and-roll as Madrid so often does (hard show) is a high risk/high reward strategy that leaves very little room for error. Also to be noted one more time is how key is Llull's impact. Chemistry and the whole in this beautiful game are way more important than individuals, no matter how talented. Llull brings what is needed to the table, i.e. a change of pace at both ends of the floor. And his presence is felt again and again.
Very interesting game in Siena too, with Maccabi showing a great attitude against the mentally toughest team in recent history. A couple of point-blank misses by Stephane Lasme, a couple of silly fouls, a couple of free throws. Such details probably prevented Pini Gershon & Co. from winning a big one, but you have to admire the resiliency they put on the court. And boy, can
Alan Anderson play some basketball! For the first time in its history, Montepaschi was able to beat a very good Maccabi team despite the pressure of playing the opener at home and a subpar game by McIntyre. When you see Henry Domercant, a star in a lot of his previous stops, deciding the game despite not being the featured player on offense, it tells you this is a Team, with a capital "T". Also, not by coincidence, the last six points for the home team came from the line Ksistof Lavrinovic, Domercant and Romain Sato each went 2 for 2.. If you take away Benjamin Eze, Montepaschi is shooting a whopping 397 for 462 on free throws (86 %!!!!) between the Euroleague and the Italian League. It means that if Montepaschi enters the last minute or so with whatever small margin, they have a great chance of nursing the lead to the buzzer. In other words, unless you are trying your luck with Eze, you should think twice before fouling a shooter or fouling in the penalty when playing Simone Pianigiani's team. This coming week, Montepaschi will see some old friends in Istanbul, but I'm not sure Ergin Ataman and Bootsy Thornton will be in the right mood for gifts. It will be very curious to see what happens there and in Tel Aviv because of the parity in this Group.
I already mentioned that
Olympiacos looks like the deepest team in the League. I might be tempted to say it looks like the best team in the league, bar none. When they click, as they did now and then in Vitoria against a very good team, there is literally no way you can stop them. A pick-and-roll involving Papaloukas and Bourousis with shooters like Kleiza waiting off the ball is a lethal weapon, and Josh Childress is the best "basketball athlete" in the competition, if you know what I mean. Fortunately for other teams, Olympiacos is not as consistent as it is good. And yes, some lineups are not as good defensively as they are on the other end. I will watch closely the Reds' game this week vs. Khimki, because the Russian team is loaded, too. Did we mention you can't relax at this stage of the competition?
POSTED BY
FLAVIO TRANQUILLO - ITALY
DATE:
Monday, February 01, 2010