Looking at each other from opposite sides of Group E, 3-1 Galatasaray and 1-3 GasTerra Flames face off with very different predicaments Tuesday night in Istambul. The hosts have the motivation of knowing a victory seals their Last 16 passport, while Gasterra is under intense pressure, as only a road win can keep them alive in their quest for the next round. Their previous meeting, in opening week, ended with Galatasaray imposing their will in Holand by the narrowest of margins, as they rallied from 8 points behind with 3 minutes left to win, 65-66. Preston Shumpert's 5-for-6 free-throw shooting in the final 2 minutes made the difference along with his 15 points, while Rado Rancik led the visitors with 16, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Talented Joshua Shipp chipped in 10 and 5 steals, while GasTerra made 9 three-pointers and outrebounded Galatasaray 43-33, but committed 19 costly turnovers and shot only 10-for-19 from the line. Center Matt Haryasz is a solid presence for GasTerra in the paint and will try to win the rebounding battle again, and the hope is talented point guard Matt Bauscher can hold better control of the game this time around while Bobby Bostain takes care of the scoring load. Stephen Ross led GasTerra with 15 points in Week 1, including 4 of 6 three-point shooting, so look for him to stretch the defense some with his long range. Haryasz had 12 points and 7 rebounds, and will look for some help from versatile forwards Jason Dourisseau and Jason Ellis, as well as lengthy center John Turek. Galatasaray’s middle men, Ermal Kuqo and Luksa Andric, can also grab a few boards, though the soring usually comes from the perimeter, with Shipp and Shumpert averaging almost 28 combined points per game.
REFEREES: Fernando Rocha, Boris Ryzhyk, Sergio Silva
Monday, December 13, 2010
Eurocupbasketball.com
|