Top 16 Game 5 - March 04, 2009 CET: 19:45 Local time: 19:45 - GDYNIA SPORTS ARENA

Records

Ave.   Ave.
0-0 Final Four 0-0
0-0 Playoffs 0-0
0-4 Top 16 3-1
2-8 Regular Season 8-2
2-12 Overall 11-3

Referees

Crew Chief
CEREBUCH, GUERRINO, Italy
Referee
RYZHYK, BORYS, Ukraine
Umpire
LATISEVS, OLEGS, Latvia

Team Stats

Ave.   Ave.
67.9 Points 92.9
35.1 Rebounds 34.1
10.9 O. Rebounds 9.1
24.2 D. Rebounds 25.0
10.2 Assists 14.9
8.7 Steals 7.6
2.6 Blocks 3.6
15.3 Turnovers 12.6
44.9 % 2PT 59.0 %
34.7 % 3PT 41.7 %
67.0 % FT 77.2 %
60.0 Index 107.2

Player Stats

Ave.   Ave.
17.6 / Logan Points 19.7 / Rakocevic
6.6 / BURRELL, RONNIE Rebounds 4.6 / MCDONALD, WILL
2.4 / BURRELL, RONNIE OR 1.9 / MCDONALD, WILL
4.1 / BURRELL, RONNIE DR 4.4 / Mickeal
2.6 / Logan Assists 4.4 / PRIGIONI, PABLO
2.8 / Logan Steals 1.9 / PRIGIONI, PABLO
0.8 / BURRELL, RONNIE Blocks 1.8 / SPLITTER, TIAGO
3.2 / Logan Turnovers 2.1 / Rakocevic
53.6 % / BURRELL, RONNIE 2PT 74.0 % / TELETOVIC, MIRZA
44.4 % / BURRELL, RONNIE 3PT 59.4 % / Vidal
75.0 % / Logan FT 90.5 % / Rakocevic
13.7 / Logan Index 19.8 / Rakocevic

THE TAKE

Two teams with very different goals are set to face each other in Sopot, Poland, on Wednesday when Asseco Prokom welcomes Tau Ceramica for a Group E meeting. Prokom (0-4) is mathematically out of the race for the Quarterfinal Playoffs and is looking for its first win in its final Euroleague home game of the season. Meanwhile, Tau (3-1) is in a direct fight with Olympiacos (3-1) and Armani Jeans Milano (2-2) to reach the playoffs and eventually win Group E. Tau already thrashed Prokom 99-77 at home in the Top 16 opener behind 22 points from Mirza Teletovic, who has been in great shape lately. Teletovic offers deep range and power to a solid frontcourt that also features All-Euroleague center Tiago Splitter, aggressive big man Will McDonald and center Stanko Barac. Splitter will face a strong test against blue-collar center Pat Burke. Teletovic and McDonald will battle around the baskets with Filip Dylewicz, Adam Hrycaniuk and Ronnie Burrell. Prokom's main concern will be stopping scoring ace Igor Rakocevic, who has been simply unguardable so far this season. Rakocevic has his perfect complement in Pete Mickeal, who offers one-on-one scoring skills and rebounding at small forward. Veteran swingman Sergi Vidal and shooting guard Fernando San Emeterio offers deep shooting range and intensity off the bench. Rakocevic will test his all-around scoring skills against David Logan, who has at least 14 points in his previous nine Euroleague games. Meanwhile, Mickeal has a strong matchup against Qyntel Woods, who matches his aggressiveness and power. Koko Archibong and three-point specialist Przemyslaw Zamojski come off the bench at the wings. The point guard battle will be equally important, as Prokom is deeper with Tyrone Brazelton backing up playmaker Daniel Ewing. Tau offers Pablo Prigioni, one of the best defensive players in the competition, and well-rounded veteran Vlado Ilievski. Prokom needs to improve its defense and get Logan, Ewing and Woods involved if it wants to break its 11-game losing streak in the competition. Meanwhile, Tau must be its usual self in defense while looking for Splitter in the middle, who can create double-team opportunities for Rakocevic and Teletovic. Even though Tau is the heavy favorite in this game, expect Prokom to give 101% in its final Euroleague home game this season.

GAME NOTES

Asseco Prokom
  • Guard David Logan is second in the Euroleague in scoring this season with 17.6 points per game. He has scored in double figures and drilled at least 1 three-pointer in nine straight games.
  • Logan has recorded at least 1 steal in 13 straight games and after picking up a season-high 6 steals last week against Olympiacos, he leads the Euroleague with 2.8 steals per game this season.
  • Asseco Prokom has lost 11 straight Euroleague games going back to Week 3 of the season.
Tau Ceramica
  • Tau is 5-0 all-time against Asseco Prokom.
  • Guard Igor Rakocevic leads the Euroleague with 19.7 points scored per game this season.
  • Rakocevic has made at least 1 three-pointer in 19 consecutive Euroleague games.
  • Rakocevic is 4 three-pointers away from reaching Maccabi Electra’s Derrick Sharp for 10th place on the Euroleague Basketball career list. He enters Wednesday’s game at Asseco Prokom with 212 career threes, but Sharp will play on Thursday.
  • Forward Mirza Teletovic has drilled 4 three-pointers in six different games this season and made 3 three other times. He leads the competition with 38 triples this season.
  • All-Euroleague center Tiago Splitter was named Top 16 Week 4 MVP after scoring 19 points on perfect shooting last week in a blowout win over Armani Jeans. He joined Will McDonald and Igor Rakocevic as the third Tau player to record that honor this season.
  • Splitter matched his career-high with 3 assists last week. Splitter has at least 1 assist in seven straight games and has blocked a shot in four consecutive games.
  • Splitter enters this week’s games tied for 11th place on the Euroleague Basketball career shots blocked list with 76. He is 2 away from reaching Eurelijus Zukauskas for 10th place.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Euroleague.net

Quotes Head Coaches

PACESAS, TOMAS
Asseco Prokom
"I was quite satisfied with my team after the last road game against Olympiacos but now our task is even more difficult. Tau Ceramica is definitely one of the best - in my opinion even the best at the moment - teams in Europe. This is a complete team - solid in defense and fantastic in offense. Nevertheless I expect that my players will be ready not only to learn basketball but to fight for the win."
IVANOVIC, DUSKO
Tau Ceramica
"It's true that Prokom is not fighting for the qualification right now, but I have to say the same I said right after the Top 16 draw; they are a team that can make a surprise, they are able to beat anybody and especially at home, they are a dangerous team. Now they only have one game at home, this one, so it will depend on our performance that they cannot do it. We need to play at a high level of concentration since the tip-off, we must play a serious game for the 40 minutes. They are quite an unpredictable team, that play fast-tempo basketball, they count on quality perimeter players that usually plays one-on-one situations. Logan and Ewing are very good players, not easy to guard. They make a lot of shots, sometimes even without a clear and open situation and that will force us to avoid any relax in defense."

Players

ZAMOJSKI, PRZEMYSLAW
Asseco Prokom
"I am very excited before this game. I admire such players like Prigioni, Rakocevic, Vidal or Splitter but I am not afraid of playing against them. Last game against Olympiacos proved that we are able to fight even with the strongest teams. I hope that we will confirm that on Wednesday."
VIDAL, SERGI
Tau Ceramica
"We must face this game as we always do. We have to bear in mind they are more dangerous at home and remember that they have players good enough to beat us. They like to play fast basketball, taking a lot of shots, so we have to play aggressive and focused in defense all the time to avoid surprises. We beat them in Vitoria by big margin, but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy here. It's a different game."
Mirza Teletovic - Tau CeramicaTau Ceramica took a giant step towards reaching the Euroleague Quarterfinals Playoffs by using a 8-31 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to cruise past Asseco Prokom 72-92 on the road in Group E. Tau improved to 4-1 in the Top 16 and will advance to the playoffs this week if Olympiacos beats Armani Jeans on Thursday. Meanwhile Prokom remained winless at 0-5, losing its final home game in the Euroleague this season. Prokom led by as many as 5 points in the first quarter as Pat Burke and Ronnie Burrell combined to score the final 16 points of the period for the hosts. Tau built a 5-point lead in a tight second quarter, which ended with the guests ahead 36-38. Pete Mickeal and Mirza Teletovic combined for 13 points in Tau's 4-16 surge to close the third quarter. And Teletovic continued his superb second half as the lead grew to 22 points midway through the fourth quarter. Teletovic scored all of his game-high 22 points in the second half. Mickeal had 14 points on the night. Igor Rakocevic hit for 13 points, Will McDonald added 11 points and 7 rebounds and Pablo Prigioni chipped in 9 points and 4 assists. Burke paced Prokom with 15 points and 9 rebounds. Burrell and Qyntel Woods both had 12 points and David Logan scored 11 points.

Qyntel Woods - Asseco ProkomLogan started the scoring for the hosts with a steal and breakaway layup. Piotr Szczotka's offensive rebound and put-back made it 4-0. McDonald's dunk after a nice interior pass by Rakocevic got Tau on the scoreboard. A breakaway layup by Rakocevic knotted the game early. Logan and Prigioni swapped three-pointers and Tau grabbed its first lead of the game on McDonald's three-ball from the right wing to make it 9-10. Prokom's big men Burrell and Burke began taking over play with Burke hitting two baskets for a 13-12 lead. Burrell threw down a dunk from the left baseline after a Tau turnover and the advantage was 15-12. A Burrell mid-range jumper on the left baseline and Burke's lefty jam had Prokom thinking upset with a 19-14 lead. Rakocevic answered by nailing a three on the left wing with a hand in his face only to see Burrell dunk from the right baseline for a 21-17 advantage. And 2 Burke foul shots ended the first quarter scoring with Prokom ahead 23-19 with Burke and Burrell having scored the final 16 points of the first period.

Tiago Splitter scored his first basket late in the first period and hit a jump hook and lefty layin to start the second quarter, knotting the game at 23-23 and forcing the hosts to talk things over. Splitter came up with a block on defense and McDonald's dunk on the break finished a 0-6 run for Tau. Filip Dylewicz stopped the run with a three-ball to push Prokom back ahead. But Tau continued exerting itself with McDonald, Splitter and Vlado Ilievski hitting baskets before Sergi Vidal's scooping layup to complete a 5-14 start to the second quarter for a 28-33 cushion. Woods knocked down a triple for his first score of the game and knotted the game seconds later with a driving layup for 33-33. Both sides would make three foul shots before Mickeal's layup just before the break made it 36-38 at intermission.

Will McDonald - Tau CeramicaRakocevic's two foul shots opened the second half before a Logan driving layup and Burrell three would make it 41-40. Prigioni answered with the triple of his own only to have Logan and Burke hit jumpers for a 45-43 lead. But then Teletovic began finding his form. After going scoreless in the first half, Prigioni found Teletovic for an alley-oop to even the game and he then knocked down his first triple to make it 45-48. A long Daniel Ewing jumper and Burrell put-back jam gave Prokom its final lead of the game, 49-48. Mickeal scored 4 straight points and made two more baskets, Prigioni nailed a three-ball and Teletovic hit a long jumper and a triple as Tau closed the third period on a 4-16 run for a 53-64 lead going into the fourth.

Teletovic continued his hot second half with a three-pointer to open the final period. McDonald's inside basket made it a 53-69 game before Burke's layin got Prokom on the board in the fourth. But Mickeal hit a fade-away jumper and Ilievski drained a three-ball as the lead grew to 19 points. Teletovic threw down a dunk and then hit another triple as Tau's advantage grew to 22 points, 57-79. Ewing and Woods hit back-to-back long balls to bring Prokom back to within 63-79. But the hosts would not get any closer the rest of the night as Teletovic dunked again on the break to re-establish a 20-point lead as the visitors coasted to the win.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Euroleague.net
Referees: CEREBUCH, GUERRINO (ITA), RYZHYK, BORYS (UKR), LATISEVS, OLEGS (LAT)
Attendance: 4200
By Quarter1234
Asseco Prokom23131719
Tau Ceramica19192628
End of Quarter1234
Asseco Prokom23365372
Tau Ceramica19386492
Head coach: PACESAS, TOMAS
Asseco Prokom
# 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
6 BRAZELTON, TYRONE 14:37   0/5 0/1   1   1 1       3 3 1 -9
8 DYLEWICZ, FILIP 14:27 5 1/3 1/1   2   2     1     1   3
12 LOGAN, DAVID 33:16 11 4/11 1/4   1   1 3 3 2     1 4 9
15 SWIETONSKI, TOMASZ DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
16 LAPETA, ADAM 1:05 5 2/2   1/1 2   2             1 8
17 ZAMOJSKI, PRZEMYSLAW 4:47   0/2 0/1                       -3
20 SZCZOTKA, PIOTR 15:29 2 1/1     1 3 4   2 1     1 1 7
24 WOODS, QYNTEL 24:41 12 2/4 2/3 2/4   2 2 1         2 3 11
30 BURRELL, RONNIE 25:30 12 5/6 0/1 2/2 2 1 3 1 1 1   1 2 1 12
31 BURKE, PAT 23:59 15 6/8   3/4 1 8 9     5     2 2 16
32 EWING, DANIEL 27:36 8 1/8 2/4     1 1 4 1 1   2 4 2  
34 HRYCANIUK, ADAM 14:33 2 0/3   2/2 2 5 7     1     5 1 1
Team           5   5               5
Totals 200:00 72 22/53 6/15 10/13 17 20 37 10 7 12 0 6 21 16 60
41.5% 40% 76.9%
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: IVANOVIC, DUSKO
Tau Ceramica
# 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 PRIGIONI, PABLO 24:24 9 0/1 3/5 0/2   2 2 4         2 1 9
6 ILIEVSKI, VLADO 21:04 5 1/1 1/2     1 1 1     1   2   5
8 RAKOCEVIC, IGOR 23:36 13 2/4 2/6 3/4   1 1 3   3     1 3 9
9 VIDAL, SERGI 17:24 2 1/1 0/2   1 2 3 5   2     3 1 4
11 ESLAVA, ARIEL 1:27 2     2/2                   1 3
12 TELETOVIC, MIRZA 25:58 22 5/5 4/8 0/1   3 3   1 3     1 1 18
19 SAN EMETERIO, FERNANDO 10:19 2 0/2   2/2   3 3 1         2 1 3
21 SPLITTER, TIAGO 18:44 8 4/5   0/2 2 3 5     3 2   1 5 13
33 MICKEAL, PETE 25:02 14 6/9 0/1 2/2 1 2 3 2 1       1 4 19
42 BARAC, STANKO 6:49 4 1/2   2/4 1 1 2   1   2   2 2 6
45 MCDONALD, WILL 25:13 11 4/4 1/2   2 5 7 2     1   1 1 20
Team                                
Totals 200:00 92 24/34 11/26 11/19 7 23 30 18 3 11 6 0 16 20 109
70.6% 42.3% 57.9%
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

PACESAS, TOMAS
Asseco Prokom
"I am really satisfied with our performance. My team played very good for two-and-a-half quarters, but later Tau Ceramica showed its power. Such games are very important and profitable, especially for my young players. They can learn a lot and see that playing ambitiously, you can fight even with the strongest opponent."
IVANOVIC, DUSKO
Tau Ceramica
"Asseco Prokom started the game very well. They were aggressive on defense and creative on offense. The ball circulation was good and we had trouble stopping them. I am satisfied with the second half; my team found its own rhythm of the game and our supremacy was undisputable. It is an important victory for us because our goal is to grab first place in Group E."

Players

HRYCANIUK, ADAM
Asseco Prokom
"We played well in the first half, when we had a lot of energy. I am happy that we managed to keep up with Tau. In the second half we began to run out of strength and they took advantage of it. They had many players who can decide the game and that worked today."
TELETOVIC, MIRZA
Tau Ceramica
"It was a difficult game in the beginning. We had some trouble with a well-playing home team, but in the second half we came out and started to play stronger in defense and more aggressive in offence. That gave us a victory."
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