May 23, 2013
Regular Season Game 8 - December 17, 2009 CET: 20:45 Local time: 20:45 - PALAU BLAUGRANA
Regal FC Barcelona 89 - 55 Zalgiris

Records

Ave.   Ave.
0-0 Final Four 0-0
0-0 Playoffs 0-0
0-0 Top 16 0-0
7-0 Regular Season 1-6
7-0 Overall 1-6

Referees

Crew Chief
BACHAR, SHMUEL, Israel
Referee
MOUZAKIS, COSTAS, Greece
Umpire
HERCEG, SINISA, Croatia

Team Stats

Ave.   Ave.
81.3 Points 67.7
33.9 Rebounds 32.6
8.6 O. Rebounds 9.1
25.3 D. Rebounds 23.4
16.7 Assists 12.4
7.1 Steals 5.1
4.3 Blocks 4.0
12.1 Turnovers 16.9
60.5 % 2PT 49.8 %
34.4 % 3PT 38.1 %
78.7 % FT 70.2 %
102.3 Index 70.3
Team Stats - Regal FC Barcelona
Team Stats - Zalgiris

Player Stats

Ave.   Ave.
16.0 / Mickeal Points 12.7 / BROWN, MARCUS
5.9 / MORRIS, TERENCE Rebounds 10.6 / WATSON, TRAVIS
1.1 / Ndong OR 4.1 / WATSON, TRAVIS
5.1 / MORRIS, TERENCE DR 6.4 / WATSON, TRAVIS
5.1 / RUBIO, RICARD Assists 4.4 / Kalnietis
1.1 / RUBIO, RICARD Steals 1.1 / Salenga
1.7 / MORRIS, TERENCE Blocks 1.3 / Begic
2.0 / RUBIO, RICARD Turnovers 3.7 / Kalnietis
94.7 % / MORRIS, TERENCE 2PT 63.6 % / Kalnietis
66.7 % / Lakovic 3PT 50.0 % / Pocius
100.0 % / RUBIO, RICARD FT 100.0 % / Kalnietis
20.3 / Mickeal Index 17.4 / WATSON, TRAVIS
Team Roster - Regal FC Barcelona
Team Roster - Zalgiris

THE TAKE

The only undefeated team in the competition battles against a classic Euroleague team fighting for survival in Group A, where Regal FC Barcelona hosts Zalgiris in Spain on Thursday. Barcelona has a perfect 7-0 record and will become the Group A champion and secure a top seed for the Top 16 draw by winning its remaining home games. Meanwhile, Zalgiris is tied for fifth place at 1-6 and needs to win at Palau Blaugrana to avoid being all but mathematically out of the competition in the best-case scenario. Zalgiris will be out of chances to advance if it loses and both Fenerbahce Ulker and Asvel Basket win. There is some good news for Barcelona, as Pete Mickeal recovered from the flu and already saw some playing time this weekend. Mickeal and Euroleague MVP Juan Carlos Navarro have made the difference for Barcelona at the wings. A recovered Gianluca Basile offers experience and deep range off the bench, while team captain Roger Grimau provides intensity, defense and team-oriented spirit. Mickeal has an interesting matchup against Week 6 MVP Dainius Salenga. Meanwhile, Navarro and Basile are ready to test their shooting skills against the Euroleague's all-time top scorer Marcus Brown, up-and-coming talent Adas Juskevicius and streak shooter Marty Pocius. The point guard battle will be equally interesting, as Barcelona relies on Ricky Rubio to organize its offense and change any game with his on-the-ball defense and court sense. Victor Sada offers passing skills and athleticism off the bench, with Jaka Lakovic seeing playing time at both guard spots to make the most out of his shooting touch and quick release. Rubio has a big challenge against athletic point guard Mantas Kalnietis. Meanwhile, Sada will test his defense against Zygimantas Janavicius. Zalgiris must play aggressive on the boards, basing its production on rebounding machine Travis Watson and center Mirza Begic. Tadas Klimavicius offers determination, aggressive play and shooting range off the bench. Barcelona is one of the deepest teams in the 2009-10 Euroleague and it confirms that with its incredible battery of big men. The hosts can try to be very athletic with Boni Ndong and Fran Vazquez together on court, try to get Begic into foul trouble through Erazem Lorbek or open the floor to get Watson out of the paint with Terence Morris at the three-point line. Barcelona must be its usual self on defense and try to get Navarro and Lorbek involved to get yet another home win. Zalgiris must power the offensive boards and get a big game from Brown to have a chance to win on the road. Even though Barcelona is the favorite, expect Zalgiris to give its best to stay in the fight to reach the Top 16.

REFEREES: Shmuel Bachar, Costas Mouzakis, Sinisa Herceg


GAME NOTES

Regal FC Barcelona

Juan Carlos Navarro needs 6 more assists to reach Tyus Edney for 10th place on the Euroleague career assists charts. Navarro currently has 378 assists in 162 career games.

Navarro scored a career-high 32 points in a February 2006 game at Zalgiris. Navarro shot 4 for 8 from downtown and also had 4 steals to help Barcelona win the Top 16 contest 85-86 in overtime.

Navarro has made at least 3 three-pointers in five consecutive games.

Jaka Lakovic needs just 9 more successful free throws to become just the second player to make 600 free throws in his Euroleague career.

Terence Morris has blocked at least 1 shot in seven consecutive Euroleague games.

Morris swatted a career-high 6 shots against Zalgiris in March 2006. Morris finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 6 blocks as his team at the time, Maccabi, won 80-66.

Morris needs just 3 more blocks to crack the top 10 on the Euroleague’s career shot-blocking charts. He is now in 14th place with 77 career blocks. Marcus Haislip sits in 10th place, though two active players, Real Madrid’s Jorge Garbajosa and Montepaschi’s Ben Eze are ahead of Morris with 79 blocks each.

Ricky Rubio has made 17 straight free throws over his last eight Euroleague games.

Barcelona boasts the best defense in the Euroleague this season, having allowed an average of just 62.3 points per game.

Fran Vazquez scored a career-high 19 points last week at Cibona.

Zalgiris Kaunas

Scoring king Marcus Brown has played in some memorable games against Barcelona. Brown played every second of a double-overtime loss with Efes Pilsen against Barca in October 2002. The 50 minutes is the most Brown has played in one game in his career. Brown finished that game with 17 points and 3 steals.

Brown also dished a career-best 9 assists in a 70-91 win in Barcelona with CSKA Moscow in February 2005.

Brown has made at least 1 three-pointer in nine consecutive Euroleague appearances dating back to last season.

Mirza Begic has blocked a shot in six straight games.

Begic had his best game of the season – with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks – in Week 3 against Barcelona.

Zalgiris head coach Gintaras Krapikas has dressed the exact same starting five – Kalnietis, Brown, Salenga, Watson and Begic – in every Euroleague game this season.

Zalgiris has dropped 12 consecutive road games. Its last win away from home came in January 2008 at Union Olimpija as Marcus Brown scored 22.

Travis Watson came within 1 offensive rebound of the Euroleague record last week with 10 against Montepaschi.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Euroleague.net

Quotes Head Coaches

KRAPIKAS, GINTARAS
Zalgiris
"We are going to play the team that has not lost yet in the Euroleague. That fact alone makes Regal FC Barcelona the favorite of this match. Anyway we aren’t going to Barcelona with the thought that we already lost the game. We are preparing for the game both tactically and mentally. We will try to keep the game close until the final minutes and then we will see. The same scenario happened in Kaunas. We battled for 37 minutes and lost the game only in the last three. I hope we have learned from that game and we will play better now."

Players

SALENGA, DAINIUS
Zalgiris
"We need to play our best game in Euroleague if we want to be successful in Barcelona. They are a well balanced team, which will play at home, so we have to make an upgrade from what we have shown so far. I don’t think that the fact of Regal FC Barcelona being undefeated and already qualified for the Top16 will be a factor on Thursday. They are quality team and I cannot imagine them relaxing even if their place is secure in the Top 16."
Pete Mickeal - Regal BarcelonaRegal FC Barcelona stayed as the only undefeated team left in the Euroleague and got closer to win Group A by thrashing Zalgiris 89-55 at home on Thursday. Barcelona leads Group A with a 8-0 record and will be first with a road win against Asvel if Montepaschi Siena - second at 7-1 - loses at home against Fenerbahce Ulker. Barcelona, however, can win Group A with a home win against Montepaschi in the final regular season date, regardless of any other scores. Meanwhile, Zalgiris dropped to 1-7, registered its seventh consecutive loss and needs two wins and several other results to reach the next round. Pete Mickeal paced the winners with 14 points. Juan Carlos Navarro added 13, Terence Morris had 11 while Roger Grimau and Boni Ndong each got 10 for Barcelona. Travis Watson led Zalgiris with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Dainius Salenga added 10 points for the guests. Free throws by Salenga gave Zalgiris its only lead, 12-13, late in the first quarter. A layup by Erazem Lorbek ignited a game-breaking 14-0 run that Ricky Rubio capped with a corner triple that boosted the hosts' lead to 4-28 at halftime. Nothing changed after the break, as Barcelona kept a safe lead all the way until the final buzzer.

Barcelona placed team captain Grimau in its starting lineup to guard Marcus Brown, who went scoreless in the opening 4 minutes before heading to the bench. Navarro fed Ndong for a layup to get the hosts going and soon scored in transition for a 4-0 lead. Grimau took over with a driving layup but Salenga dunked it off a steal to get the guests within 6-2. Grimau fed Ndong for an easy slam and soon added a dunk in transition to make Zalgiris call timeout at 10-2. Mantas Kalnietis shined with a floating jumper and soon scored in penetration to bring Zalgiris back to life, 10-6. Ndong sank a turnaround jumper but Salenga bettered that with a catch-and-shoot triple, good for a 12-9 Zalgiris deficit. Watson scored down low and free throws by Salenga completed his team's comeback, 12-13. Sada and Mickeal made 6-of-6 free throws, as Barcelona tried to attack the basket once Zalgiris got into the foul bonus. Mickeal managed to stop Salenga and shined with a fast break layup but free throws by Tadas Klimavicius and a running jumper by Brown got Zalgiris within 20-17 after 10 minutes.

Brown took over with a driving basket early in the second quarter that Fran Vazquez matched with a two-handed dunk. Marty Pocius scored in transition, as Zalgiris tried to speed up the game tempo. Gianluca Basile downed his trademark 'tiro ignorante' from way downtown but a big dunk by Watson kept Zalgiris as close as 25-23. Morris sank a three-pointer and soon added a reverse layup to keep Barcelona out of trouble at 30-24. Zalgiris could not get Brown or Watson involved now and called timeout to adjust its offense. Navarro sank his signature floating jumper and fed Lorbek for an easy layup. A off-balance jump hook by Lorbek gave the hosts their first double-digit lead, 36-26. Grimau shined with a power layup and Navarro finished a long, two-chance Barcelona offense with a seven-meter triple that broke the game open, 41-26. Zalgiris kept committing turnovers - as many as 6 in this quarter - while free throws by Navarro and a wide open triple by Rubio allowed Barcelona to break the game open, 46-26, after a 14-0 run. A layup by Kalnietis brought Zalgiris within 46-28 at halftime.

Travis Watson - Zalgiris KaunasNavarro kept pacing Barcelona with a floating jumper immediately after the break, as Zalgiris tried to play more aggressive at both ends. Navarro took over with a fast break layup that Salenga bettered with a three-pointer. Barcelona tried to play with more patience in offense, now looking for early shots now. Mickeal scored in transition but Barcelona entered the foul bonus very early in the third quarter. Watson sank 3-of-4 free throws but a jumper by Mickeal restored a 20-point Barcelona lead, 54-34. Lorbek took over with a three-point play, as Barcelona looked to improve its intensity with Rubio, Mickeal and Ndong together on court. Mickeal provided a highlight with a layup-plus-foul and a tip-in by Ndong soon made it a 28-point game, 62-34, after a 10-0 run. Rubio took over with a reverse layup, Mickeal beat the shot clock with a triple and a dunk by Jordi Trias fixed the score at 69-37 after 30 minutes.

The outcome was clear but Zalgiris kept trying, looking for Mirza Begic and Watson for easy points in the paint. Begic sank free throws and soon added a put-back dunk to get the guests within 69-41. Barcelona kept trying to run the clock down and Trias sank a mid-range jumper. Kalnietis sank free throws, as Barcelona tried to please its fans with some spectacular plays in the final 6 minutes. Morris buried a three-pointer and Sada added a backdoor layup for a 76-44 lead. Morris stayed on fire from beyond the arc and free throws by Ndong boosted the hosts' lead to 81-45 with 4 minutes left. Everything was said and done already, as Barcelona confirmed that few teams, if any, will be able to steal a road win at Palau Blaugrana in this 2009-10 Euroleague season while Zalgiris returned home with very slim chances to stay alive in the competition.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Euroleague.net
Referees: BACHAR, SHMUEL (ISR), MOUZAKIS, COSTAS (GRE), HERCEG, SINISA (CRO)
Attendance: 3522
By Quarter1234
Regal FC Barcelona20262320
Zalgiris1711918
End of Quarter1234
Regal FC Barcelona20466989
Zalgiris17283755
Head coach: PASCUAL, XAVIER
Regal FC Barcelona
# Player Min Pts 2FG
M-A
 3FG
M-A
 FT
M-A
 Rebounds As St To Bl Fouls PIR
O D T Fv Ag Cm Rv
5 BASILE, GIANLUCA 17:37 3   1/4         2 1       1   2
8 TRIAS, JORDI 8:16 4 2/4 0/1   1   1         1     1
9 RUBIO, RICKY 17:20 5 1/2 1/3   1 3 4 3 1 1     2 1 8
10 LAKOVIC, JAKA 15:00   0/1 0/3     2 2   2       1 1  
11 NAVARRO, JUAN CARLOS 19:17 13 4/6 1/3 2/2       3 1 1     2 2 12
17 VAZQUEZ, FRAN 12:12 4 2/2       1 1 1     1   5 2 4
21 NDONG, BONIFACE 20:14 10 4/5   2/2 3   3 2 2 1     2 1 14
23 MORRIS, TERENCE 19:02 11 1/1 3/4   1 3 4 1 1         1 17
24 SADA, VICTOR 13:05 8 2/2   4/4       4 4 2     4 4 14
25 LORBEK, ERAZEM 20:16 7 3/9 0/1 1/1 2 5 7 1 3 1 2 1 2 2 11
33 MICKEAL, PETE 18:09 14 4/5 1/1 3/3         1 1     3 4 14
44 GRIMAU, ROGER 19:32 10 5/6 0/1   1 3 4 3           2 17
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 89 28/43 7/21 12/12 10 18 28 20 16 7 3 2 22 20 116
65.1% 33.3% 100%
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Head coach: KRAPIKAS, GINTARAS
Zalgiris
# Player Min Pts 2FG
M-A
 3FG
M-A
 FT
M-A
 Rebounds As St To Bl Fouls PIR
O D T Fv Ag Cm Rv
5 BROWN, MARCUS 15:30 4 2/3 0/1     1 1 1   1     2 2 3
7 POCIUS, MARTYNAS 13:22 2 1/1 0/4     1 1 1   2 1 1 1   -3
8 JUSKEVICIUS, ADAS 19:07           1 1 1 1 3     1 1  
9 KALNIETIS, MANTAS 31:07 9 3/5   3/3   1 1 1 1 4     2 3 7
10 JANAVICIUS, ZYGIMANTAS 8:53   0/2                     4   -6
12 KLIMAVICIUS, TADAS 26:50 2 0/1 0/1 2/2   2 2 1   4     2 1 -2
14 BUTKEVICIUS, POVILAS 8:50 2 1/1       1 1           1   2
15 BEGIC, MIRZA 14:29 5 1/1   3/4 2   2           1 3 8
20 SALENGA, DAINIUS 19:07 10 1/5 2/3 2/2 1 1 2   2 2   1 2 3 7
21 MILAKNIS, ARTURAS 5:23 1   0/1 1/2                 1 1 -1
22 VENE, SIIM-SANDER 7:31 3 1/1 0/1 1/2   1 1     1       1 2
35 WATSON, TRAVIS 29:51 17 5/11   7/11 4 10 14 1 1 3 1 1 3 7 24
Team                     1         -1
Totals 200:00 55 15/31 2/11 19/26 7 19 26 6 5 21 2 3 20 22 40
48.4% 18.2% 73.1%
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

PASCUAL, XAVIER
Regal FC Barcelona
"Everything we do in these games that we win easily helps us grow because they are more difficult than they seem. To see the time pass and the lead increase is not easy. You learn from everything, but the truth is we are playing games lately that we break open in a way that we don't see close finishes. We showed intensity in this game when it wasn't easy to have that. It was clear in the way we stared, up 10-2, which didn't help us become brilliant on defense. But after that we got better. We were able to take them out of the game, which is not so easy normally, and we had an easy game, calm, with big leads. It's another victory that lets us be happy with our path in the Euroleague."
KRAPIKAS, GINTARAS
Zalgiris
"It's difficult to say if Barcelona is the best team in Europe, but I think they are playing the best and most attractive basketball in the Euroleague. To have a record of 8-0 in this competition at this time is incredible, that's for sure. They played a great game. We will try to win our next game, but today my team wasn't capable of playing like a team."

Players

SADA, VICTOR
Regal FC Barcelona
"We just find ourselves very comfortable playing at home in the Palau and we are playing well now. When you win by so much, it's easy to relax at the end. But from the third quarter, we were able to maintain our rhythm. We have to remember that in the near future there will be games that are more difficult. In that sense, it helps to have easier games so we can see our capacity to react and get the fluidity of play we need to go ahead on the scoreboard."
MORRIS, TERENCE
Regal FC Barcelona
"We did things better after the beginning. We had a tough start and we realized after that that we really couldn't get overconfident. We look game to game, and not at our overall record. We just want to try to give all our effort to keep improving."
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