Top 16 Game 2 - February 22, 2007 CET: 19:15 Local time: 20:15 - ABDI IPEKÇI SPORTS HALL

Records

Ave.   Ave.
0-0 Final Four 0-0
0-0 Playoffs 0-0
0-0 Top 16 0-0
1-0 Regular Season 0-1
8-7 Overall 5-10

Referees

Crew Chief
ZACHARA, IVAN, Czech Rep.
Referee
JERSAN, ANDREJ, Slovenia
Umpire
TAURINO, PAOLO, Italy

Team Stats

Ave.   Ave.
75.9 Points 72.9
30.4 Rebounds 30.6
8.1 O. Rebounds 8.5
22.3 D. Rebounds 22.1
12.1 Assists 13.1
7.7 Steals 9.4
3.1 Blocks 2.5
12.1 Turnovers 13.1
53.2 % 2PT 50.0 %
37.0 % 3PT 34.0 %
71.6 % FT 71.2 %
79.1 Index 72.0

Player Stats

Ave.   Ave.
13.9 / Nicholas Points 11.7 / DALMAU, C.
5.9 / HAISLIP, MARCUS Rebounds 4.5 / BESOK, HUSEYIN
1.7 / Gonlum OR 1.5 / MASIULIS, TOMAS
4.7 / HAISLIP, MARCUS DR 3.0 / BESOK, HUSEYIN
3.5 / Nicholas Assists 2.6 / ATKINS, R.
0.9 / PRKACIN, NIKOLA Steals 1.6 / DALMAU, C.
1.8 / HAISLIP, MARCUS Blocks 0.5 / ATKINS, R.
2.1 / Nicholas Turnovers 2.3 / DALMAU, C.
62.2 % / Gonlum 2PT 62.5 % / NORDGAARD, J.
42.4 % / Nicholas 3PT 42.3 % / ATKINS, R.
80.0 % / ERDEN, CUNEYT FT 100.0 % / NORDGAARD, J.
15.7 / HAISLIP, MARCUS Index 10.8 / BESOK, HUSEYIN

THE TAKE

One team will get its first Top 16 victory and the other will have its back against the wall after Efes Pilsen welcomes Prokom Trefl Sopot to Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday for an important Group F encounter. Not only did neither team win its Top 16 opener, but neither came close to doing so. Efes Pilsen's 27-point defeat at Panathinaikos and Prokom's by 19 at Winterthur FC Barcelona were the biggest losing margins of Week 1. Whichever rebounds with a victory this week, however, will suddenly be tied for second place after Panathinaikos and Barcelona play each other. Efes and Prokom know each other as well as any from different countries possibly can after facing each other as many as eight times in the last three seasons. Efes has won all eight of those games, and therefore starts this one as a heavy favorite at home. Prokom is having some roster shakeups as well. In addition to veteran Jeff Nordgaard (2.3 ppg.), who is out with a long-term injury, Prokom will be without Justin Hamilton (5.1 ppg.), who was released this week at the same time that assistant coach Jacek Winnicki was let go. Also, shooting ace Donatas Slanina (10.5 ppg.) missed the weekend Polish League game, although he is expected to play on Thursday. Slanina highlights a deep battery of shooters featuring combo guards Christian Dalmau (11.7 ppg., 41.4% 3FG) and Tomas Pacesas, playmaker Rashid Atkins (6.7 ppg., 42.3% 3FG) or small forward Jasmin Hukic (6.4 ppg.). Atkins, Pacesas and Dalmau will have the tough mission to shut down the electric Efes backcourt combo of Drew Nicholas (13.9 ppg., 42.4% 3FG, 3.5 apg.) and Horace Jenkins (15.2 ppg.). Efes will get plenty of help, too, from Mustafa Abi started at small forward last week, while Cuneyt Erden (4.3 ppg., 42.4% 3FG), Cenk Akyol (6.2 ppg.) and a recovered Antonio Granger (3 ppg.) will be ready to come off the bench. Granger will test his shooting skills against Slanina while Akyol will have a tough matchup against a more experienced Hukic. Above all, it will be a special game for Prokom center Huseyin Besok (10.2 ppg., 4.5 rpg.), who returns to Istanbul to face his former team. Besok will test his strength and mid-range game against Ermal Kuqo (10.4 ppg.) and Nikola Prkacin (6.6 ppg.). Prokom has many resources around the basket, with effective, experienced players such as Tomas Masiulis (4.7 ppg., 3.9 rpg.), Michael Andersen (6.5 ppg.), Adam Wojcik (7.6 ppg.) and Filip Dylewicz (3.1 ppg.). Wojcik is set to have a power matchup against Kerem Gonlum (4.9 ppg., 4.3 rpg.) while Andersen and Besok will go against Marcus Haislip (13.8 ppg., 5.9 rpg., 1.8 bpg.), the top shot-blocker in the competition. Although Efes is the favorite, the odds are with Prokom to eventually end its eight-game skid against the host. At the very least, that is certainly extra motivation to get closer to the playoffs.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Euroleague.net - Gokhan Ture, Istanbul

Quotes Head Coaches

MAHMUTI, OKTAY
Efes Pilsen
"Of course, this one of those hard Top 16 games, like every game that we play from now on will be. We have won twice against Prokom Trefl in the regular season, but both of those matches were very tough for us in that we were only able to win in the last couple of minutes. We will play against a strong and tough opponent once again. Despite struggling at home since the beginning of this season, we want to win this game too much. And in order to do so, we will do whatever it takes, of course."

Players

GRANGER, ANTONIO
Efes Pilsen
"It was a very bad start for us last week against Panathinaikos. The Prokom Trefl match is one that we have to win for the good of the future of our position the group. If we lose, that will be a big problem for us. We have no other choice but to win this game at home. It’s true that we are not good enough at home this season. But on the other hand, if we lose, we will lose our target, too. So we are concious about what we have to do on the court. We have to play tough, stay resistant and fight to win during the whole game. If we can do that, we can get what we need."
PACESAS, TOMAS
Prokom Trefl Sopot
"I hope the game with Efes will look totally different than our game with Barcelona. We cannot play as bad as we did in Spain. We have to prove that we are a strong team. It won't be easy. We have many problems now, but I hope that despite them we will fight for the win and prove to our fans that we are still strong. We know Efes very well. I would say we know this team better than any Polish club. We have had many games with the Turkish club, but we have never found a way to beat them. I hope on Thursday that we will achieve our first victory in the Top 16."
Rashid Atkins - Prokom Trefl Prokom Trefl Sopot held on for a thrilling 67-71 overtime win against Efes Pilsen in Istanbul, Turkey, on Thursday to climb back into the battle for a spot in the Quarterfinal Playoffs from Group F. Prokom improved to 1-1 and now shares second place with Winterthur FC Barcelona, while Efes dropped to 0-2. The game looked to have been won by the Polish champs several times. First Prokom built a seemingly insurmountable 16-point lead in the fourth quarter, but a three-point barrage by Drew Nicholas and Antonio Granger accounted for a 12-1 run that carried the hosts back. Prokom also had the ball on the last play of regulation. Michael Andersen drove to the hoop for a slam at the buzzer, allowing his team to celebrate. However, after reviewing the play on the TV monitors, the referees ruled that the ball was still in the center's hands when the horn sounded and waived off the basket. But Prokom didn't break in overtime either and earned its first ever win against Efes after losing in eight previous tries – all in the last three seasons. Rashid Atkins led Prokom with 16 points – including 4 clutch free throws in the final minute. Filip Dylewicz matched a career-high with 15, Huseyin Besok posted 14 and Andersen finished with 11. Nicholas led Efes with 18 and Marcus Haislip added 12 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in defeat.

Prokom Trefl got off to a fast start with Atkins, whose 5 points – including a three-pointer – gave Prokom a 1-7 lead after 2-and-a-half minutes. But Efes didn’t waste any time in stopping the visitors and taking control of the game. Horace Jenkins made two of three free throws midway through the opening period to cap an 8-1 run and give Efes the lead. Prokom continued to move the ball faster on offense, but kept on missing, while Efes put pressure on its opponent inside via Haislip. Cuneyt Erden’s missile from 10 meters ended the first quarter with the hosts ahead 16-11.

Marcus Haislip - Efes PilsenProkom started the second quarter on fire. Back-to-back layup plus free throws from Andersen and a jumper from Dylewicz accounted for a 0-8 run and a 3-point lead for the visitors. Antonio Granger, fresh in for Mustafa Abi, hit a three-pointer from the right corner to tie the game again at 19-19. But despite the strong efforts on defense, Efes missed attempts one after another at the other end as Prokom extended the lead to 5 points through Christian Dalmau's three. Prokom continued to take advantage of Efes's offensive struggles as Atkins's triple extended the lead to 21-31. Efes added a point from Jenkins's free throw, but Dylewicz gave Prokom an 11-point lead. In the final minutes of the half, Efes was able to cut the deficit as a Marcus Haislip alley-oop made it 26-33 at halftime.

Prokom continued to control the tempo in the third quarter while Efes threw up panic shots and kept missing as well. Dylewicz's three midway through the period gave the visitors a 12-point lead. Atkins then hit a jumper from the post as the 24-second clock sounded to make it 30-44. The hosts tried to stop Prokom with a half-court zone press, but the visitors were in good shape and didn’t let up, cruising to a 39-50 lead after 30 minutes.

Filip  Dylewicz - Prokom TreflAfter a pair of jumpers at the end of the last quarter, Besok rocked Efes at the start of the fourth quarter, too. His three-pointer two-and-a-half minutes in was followed by a Donatas Slanina jumper, which gave Prokom its biggest lead of the night, 41-57. But then Efes roared back. Granger got things started with a three, Nicholas hit two more and Granger added another three to complete a 12-1 run and get within 53-58. With less than three minutes remaining, Haislip cut it to 59-60 from the line, but Andersen’s single free throw put the visiting side up 2. Cenk Akyol tied the game at 61-61 with 1:22 on the clock. Both sides then missed crucial shots one after another. After Cenk Akyol missed a three-pointer with 19 seconds remaining, Prokom had one last chance. Andersen had the ball and moved inside from the baseline and threw down a slam as the horn sounded. The basket was at first awarded, but the referees reviewed the play according to Euroleague by-laws approved in the last year concerning instant replays that apply to end-of-game circumstances. After watching the replay on the court-side monitors, the referees ruled that the ball was still in the center's hands when the buzzer went off and they waived off the basket. And the game went into overtime tied at 61-61.

Efes had the first lead in the overtime when Nicholas made one of two free throws. Prokom answered with Dylewicz, but Nicholas hit a three to lead Efes to a 65-63 lead. However a determined side from Sopot used layups by Besok and Dylewicz and Atkins's free throws to make it 65-69. Haislip's dunk in the waning seconds didn’t change anything and Atkins hit another pair of free throws to seal the score at 67-71 for Prokom.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Gökhan Türe, Istanbul
Referees: ZACHARA, IVAN (CZE), JERSAN, ANDREJ (SLO), TAURINO, PAOLO (ITA)
Attendance: 7000
By Quarter1234Extra 1
Efes Pilsen161013226
Prokom Trefl Sopot1122171110
End of Quarter1234Extra 1
Efes Pilsen1626396167
Prokom Trefl Sopot1133506171
Head coach: MAHMUTI, OKTAY
Efes Pilsen
# 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
4 NICHOLAS, DREW 36:00 18 2/4 3/9 5/7   3 3     3     2 5 11
6 AKIN, FIKRET CAN 6:30     0/3     1 1 1           1  
8 PRKACIN, NIKOLA 15:30 4 2/5     1 3 4 1 2 2     4 1 3
10 ABI, MUSTAFA 24:00 4 0/2 1/3 1/2 1 3 4     2     2 2 1
11 ERDEN, CUNEYT 10:45 3   1/3     1 1           1   1
12 GONLUM, KEREM 29:00 8 3/6   2/2 5 5 10 1 1       2 3 18
13 HAISLIP, MARCUS 29:30 12 5/9 0/4 2/2 3 7 10     1 4   3 1 15
14 HERSEK, BARIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
15 JENKINS, HORACE 15:30 5 0/2 0/1 5/7   2 2 2   3     3 3 1
21 GRANGER, ANTONIO 25:45 9 0/1 3/6     3 3   1 1     1 2 9
23 KUQO, ERMAL 16:00 2 1/3 0/1   1 3 4   2 3     1 1 2
41 AKYOL, CENK 16:30 2 0/1 0/4 2/2   1 1 1         2 1 -2
Team                                
Totals 225:00 67 13/33 8/34 17/22 11 32 43 6 6 15 4 0 21 20 59
39.4% 23.5% 77.3%
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: KIJEWSKI, EUGENIUSZ
Prokom Trefl Sopot
# 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
4 HUKIC, JASMIN 23:45 4 1/4 0/1 2/4 1 6 7 1         2 1 5
5 ATKINS, RASHID 32:15 16 3/8 2/3 4/5 1 2 3 2 1       3 5 17
7 MASIULIS, TOMAS 16:00   0/1 0/1     3 3 1         1   1
8 DYLEWICZ, FILIP 29:15 15 6/9 1/3   1 6 7 2   2   1     16
9 DALMAU, CHRISTIAN 25:00 5 1/4 1/3     4 4 2 1 4     5 2  
10 WOJCIK, ADAM DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 BESOK, HUSEYIN 19:15 14 5/9 1/2 1/4 2 4 6     1     1 2 12
13 SLANINA, DONATAS 41:15 6 2/6 0/4 2/2   2 2 2 2     1 3 4 4
14 ANDERSEN, MICHAEL 25:45 11 4/11   3/4 1 2 3 1 3     2 2 7 13
15 PACESAS, TOMAS 12:30     0/1         4   1     3   -1
20 FRANK, RAFAL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           1   1               1
Totals 225:00 71 22/52 5/18 12/19 7 29 36 15 7 8 0 4 20 21 68
42.3% 27.8% 63.2%
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

MAHMUTI, OKTAY
Efes Pilsen
"There's nothing much to say about this game. We weren't able to show anything good for basketball. We played really bad. I cannot find any word to describe the game. This is a loss which was not on our plans. Every loss means a damage for our target. Now our chances in the group are in real danger."
KIJEWSKI, EUGENIUSZ
Prokom Trefl Sopot
"We had the complex of Efes before and we are very happy that we beat our complex tonight. We played a very hard game and I think we deserved to win tonight. Efes is a very big team and they showed that by coming back from 16 points in the last quarter. This is our first win in the Top 16 and that makes us happier than ever. At the end of the regular time, the referees firt showed that we won the game but then they changed the result. That was a correct decision. But those kind of things are possible in sports."

Players

GONLUM, KEREM
Efes Pilsen
"It's really like a kind of nightmare for us. We still cannot believe that we lost the game. We really had a disastrous three periods and realized that we were losing the game in the middle of the last quarter. We did everything we could to turn the game back and managed to go into overtime. But the things went bad also in the overtime and we lost in a sudden. There's nothing to say but we are really so sorry about the way we played tonight. This is not the real Efes Pilsen. We will try to find our way in the next matches."
BESOK, HUSEYIN
Prokom Trefl Sopot
"It was an excellent but also a very interesting game for us. The decision of the referees, letting the game to go into the overtime in the end of the regular time was correct. If we had lost the game, it would have been really sad. It's really an excellent win for us against Efes in their homecourt. We will try to do evertying we can in the rest of the games. We have three games at home, so it means that we have a good chance for the quarterfinals. Of course, it's hard but we will try to make a surprise."
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