May 25, 2013
Regular Season Game 10 - January 14, 2009 CET: 19:30 Local time: 20:30 - OLYMPIC COMPLEX-HELLINIKON
Panionios On Telecoms 77 - 87 AJ Milano

Records

Ave.   Ave.
0-0 Final Four 0-0
0-0 Playoffs 0-0
0-0 Top 16 0-0
3-6 Regular Season 4-5
3-6 Overall 4-5

Referees

Crew Chief
ARTEAGA, JUAN CARLOS, Spain
Referee
VIATOR, EDDIE, France
Umpire
RADOVIC, SRETEN, Croatia

Team Stats

Ave.   Ave.
65.7 Points 71.9
25.1 Rebounds 27.2
7.9 O. Rebounds 9.2
17.2 D. Rebounds 18.0
10.4 Assists 10.4
7.7 Steals 8.7
1.7 Blocks 0.9
14.3 Turnovers 13.7
49.6 % 2PT 50.2 %
30.1 % 3PT 36.9 %
70.6 % FT 81.0 %
54.4 Index 65.0
Team Stats - AJ Milano

Player Stats

Ave.   Ave.
12.0 / CVETKOVIC, BRANKO Points 13.8 / Hawkins
4.8 / BAXTER, LONNY Rebounds 5.3 / ROCCA, MASON
1.4 / BAXTER, LONNY OR 2.4 / ROCCA, MASON
3.3 / BAXTER, LONNY DR 2.7 / Hawkins
3.6 / MILES, AARON Assists 2.6 / Hawkins
2.0 / MILES, AARON Steals 1.7 / Hawkins
0.9 / BAXTER, LONNY Blocks 0.3 / Katelynas
2.4 / MILES, AARON Turnovers 3.0 / VITALI, LUCA
93.3 % / RAICEVIC, MIROSLAV 2PT 60.0 % / VITALI, LUCA
45.5 % / NIKOLIC, GORAN 3PT 60.0 % / MORDENTE, MARCO
100.0 % / NIKOLIC, GORAN FT 100.0 % / HALL, MICHAEL
10.4 / MILES, AARON Index 15.1 / Hawkins
Team Roster - Panionios On Telecoms
Team Roster - AJ Milano

THE TAKE

Panionios On Telecoms will host Armani Jeans Milano on Wednesday in a decisive game for both teams. They must both win and hope for other results to go their way to reach the Top 16. Milano could also theoretically advance with a minimal loss. For Milano, a victory combined with a loss by either Efes Pilsen or Partizan would send the club through. But if both Efes and Partizan win, both Milano is finished. Head coach Piero Bucchi’s men could also go through if they lose by less than 4 and Partizan loses. Panionios’s hopes are much smaller. Head coach Aleksandar Trifunovic’s men must win by at least 32 points and have Efes win and Partizan lose to climb into fourth place in Group D. Milano will come into the game with plenty of confidence after besting Partizan and Real Madrid in its last two contests. Last week Marco Mordente shot 5 for 6 from downtown en route to a Euroleague career-high 23 points as Milano pulled away late to beat Madrid 70-61. Milano also bested Panionios 77-73 earlier this season behind 18 points from David Hawkins and a double-double from Mason Rocca. However, Armani Jeans is winless on the road this season. Meanwhile Panionios has dropped three in a row and was blasted by 23 at Partizan last week. The lone bright spot in that game was playmaker Aaron Miles, who scored 14 and dished 5 assists. Miles will need to be at his best in leading the Panionios attack if it hopes to win by 32. Shooting guard Branko Cvetkovic will also have to carry much of the burden, with Lonny Baxter and Dimos Dikoudis helping out inside. Milano meanwhile has a number of offensive weapons it can turn to, led by Mordente, Hawkins and Jobey Thomas. Veteran Massimo Bulleri can also provide a lift of the bench, while Rocca makes a living on the offensive glass. It will be interesting to see the strategy each team employs over the course of the game. Panionios could come out looking to run since it needs the big win and that could impact the entire game. It’s hard to imagine a 32-point win for Panionios – its three wins so far come from a combined half that amount, while Milano’s worst loss against the reigning champs in Week 1 was just 26. The tension and excitement will be there from the opening tip as these two teams battle for Euroleague surbival.

GAME NOTES

Panionios On Telecoms
  • Panionios has played against Milano seven times in the last 17 years, but is winless in those games. Milano won four in the Korac Cup and three in the Euroleague.
  • Big man Lonny Baxter recorded his only double-double of the season in Week 5 against Armani Jeans. He posted 15 points and 12 rebounds in the 77-73 loss.
  • Guard Ivan Zoroski scored a season-high 12 points in last week’s loss at Partizan.
Armani Jeans Milano
  • Guard Luca Vitali made his first career Euroleague start last week against Real Madrid. The inclusion of Vitali and Pape Sow in the starting lineup ended a run of five games in a row in which head coach Piero Bucchi had used the same starting five – Yohann Sangare, David Hawkins, Jobey Thomas, Mike Hall and Mason Rocca.
  • Swingman Marco Mordente shot 5 for 6 from downtown en route to a career-high 23 points in last week’s victory over Real Madrid. Mordente leads the Euroleague this season with a 60% success rate on three-pointers. He is second on the Euroleague Basketball career charts at 48.85%.
  • Big man Mason Rocca recorded his only double-double of the season in Week 5 against Panionios. He posted 16 points and 10 rebounds in the 77-73 win.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Euroleague.net

Quotes Head Coaches

TRIFUNOVIC, ALEKSANDAR
Panionios On Telecoms
"It is the last game of the regular season and definitely we want to accomplish a home win to finish the first phase of the Euroleague. Actually, we are not thinking about the points' margin that we need or the other results. What we care for is our performance. Unfortunately, we didn't have the opportunity to prepare the game the way we wanted after Dikoudis' injury at the jaw, while Kalampokis and Baxter will be decided few hours before the tip off. Meanwhile, Milano is not the team that used to be two months ago and their two wins over big clubs like CSKA Moscow and Real Madrid mean much."
BUCCHI, PIERO
AJ Milano
"On Wednesday we will play a very important game, no question about it. We really want to try to reach the Top 16. W have done a good job in the second leg games, winning 4 out of 5, and now we have the chance to complete our run. We're gonna face a good team of Panionios, and we want to play a good game for all 40 minutes to take a very important win. We'll have to resist in the first minutes. I’m sure that they will put a lot of pressure on us at the beginning of the game. We have to be ready and focused to stay in the game till the end."

Players

XANTHOPOULOS, VASILIS
Panionios On Telecoms
"Our mission is really difficult, since we depend on other results. We know that at Euroleague level it is very tough to accomplish large margins, but we will go for it. At first we will try to win in order to finish the regular season with a good result, while this game is also important for psychological reasons since we started the new year with two losses, one in the Greek League and another in the Euroleague last week, so we need a push to our confidence."
MORDENTE, MARCO
AJ Milano
"This is the third time of my career that I play a 'do-or-die' game: I lost the first two with Benetton Treviso in the Top 16, so I hope this one will be the good one for me. We are going to Athens with the right concentration. We really want to take this victory. We never won on the road until now, but everybody knows that you need almost a victory far from home to qualify for the Top 16. We were very close to doing it in Madrid and Belgrade, but at the end we lost. We know we have to win to qualify ourselves and to show that we have the mental skills to do it."
Luca Vitali - AJ MilanoArmani Jeans Milano made it to the Top 16 and finished third in Group D by edging Panionios On Telecoms 77-87 on the road on Wednesday. Milano registered its fifth win in six games and despite its 0-4 start in Group D, managed to finish third at 5-5 due to its tiebreak advantage against Partizan. Meanwhile, Panionios finished Group D sixth with a 3-7 record. Luca Vitali paced the winners with an incredible show of offensive leadership, posting 32 points on 7-for-9 three-point and 7-for-7 free-throw shooting. David Hawkins added 17 points for the winners, while Jobey Thomas had 12. Lonny Baxter led Panionios with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Ivan Zoroski added 14 points, Branko Cvetkovic had 13 while Miroslav Raicevic got 10 for the hosts, who led 55-45 midway through the third quarter. Hawkins had 9 points in a 5-18 run that put Milano ahead for good, 58-63. Vitali sank consecutive triples while a layup by Yohann Sangare sealed the outcome, 62-76, with 4 minutes remaining. Panionios managed to get within 75-79 but free throws by an outstanding Vitali allowed the entire AJ bench to celebrate that the club will keep fighting for Euroleague glory.

Panionios appeared without Dimos Dikoudis and Ioannis Kalampokis, who had injury problems, while AJ Milano tried to quickly control the rhythm. Panionios big man Lonny Baxter, who is also injured, but decided to play, opened the scoring before Vitali took over for the guests. His first three-pointer put Milano up 4-7, and after Zoroski ended a 7-0 Panionios response from downtown, Vitali matched him with another to make it 11-10. That ignited a 0-13 run for the visitors in which Jobey Thomas popped a triple and Pape Sow a three-point play that made it suddenly 11-20. Panionios found suddenly its defensive spirit, using full-court pressure to grab steals and make a 8-0 response in less than a minute to trim the difference to 19-21 at the end of the quarter.

Lonny Baxter - Panionios On TelecomsA quiet exchange of free throws opened the second quarter until Marco Mordente and Vitali shattered the silence with consecutive triples at 22-29. Hawkins kept it going with a put-back of one of Milano's several offensive rebounds before Vitali posted a basket and free throw combination that boosted the margin to 26-34. Again, however, Panionios proved itself too hard to die. Head coach Aleksandar Trifunovic changed his defense from individual to zone, put Vassilis Xanthopoulos at point guard and watched the results pour in. Armani coughed up consecutive turnovers as Panionios scored either in transition or from the arc in a 16-6 blast, including 6 consecutive points, that took back the lead before Milano's Thomas hit free throws for a 42-42 halftime tie.

Vitali came out after the break to prove he was still unstoppable. He opened the third quarter with another triple at 42-45, but Zoroski and Cvetkovic answered with consecutive three-pointers as Panionios tried to steal the game with 13-0 run in less than 4 minutes that seized a 55-45 advantage. The hosts seemed able to go further, but Hawkins came to the fore, posting 10 unanswered points in 2 minutes to bring the match to another tie, 55-55. In the most crucial point of the match, with its season in danger, Milano survived and closed the third quarter with layups by Vitali and Thomas to lead 58-61.

Vitali was about to make it his night to remember, too. His next three-pointer pushed the difference to 62-69, and after Mindaugas Katelynas added a basket, Vitali blasted another triple over the Panionios zone to open the game's first double-digit lead, 62-74. Milano kept dominating now with a 0-10 series that boosted the margin to 62-76. Then Panionios woke up with an 8-0 answer to get withing 70-76. But once again, Vitali was there to continue his three-point shooting extravaganza and score the most decisive basket of the match, a big triple at 70-79. The hosts tried once again to come back by using some zone press defense, but the visitors didn't panic, wrapping up the win and the ticket to the Top 16.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Vassilis Skountis - Athens
Referees: ARTEAGA, JUAN CARLOS (ESP), VIATOR, EDDIE (FRA), RADOVIC, SRETEN (CRO)
Attendance: 1000
By Quarter1234
Panionios On Telecoms19231619
AJ Milano21211926
End of Quarter1234
Panionios On Telecoms19425877
AJ Milano21426187
Head coach: TRIFUNOVIC, ALEKSANDAR
Panionios On Telecoms
# 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 XANTHOPOULOS, VASILIS 26:02 1 0/1   1/2   2 2 7 1 4     4 2 3
5 CVETKOVIC, BRANKO 30:59 13 2/3 1/5 6/6           2     1 4 9
6 ZOROSKI, IVAN 28:13 14 0/1 3/5 5/6 1 1 2 3 1       4 3 15
7 GEORGALLIS, IOANNIS 6:30 2 1/1     1   1   1 2     5 1 -2
8 DRELIOZIS, PRODOMOS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11 MILES, AARON 28:16 6 3/8       1 1 1 1   1   3 1 3
12 RAICEVIC, MIROSLAV 24:13 10 2/5 2/5 0/2   3 3     2     3 3 3
14 KENDALL, LEVON 14:37 7 3/3   1/2 1   1   1       4 1 5
15 GIANNOULIS, YANNIS 12:15 5 1/1   3/4   1 1           1 3 7
16 KANONIDIS, ANDREAS 1:10                              
17 NIKOLIC, GORAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
18 BAXTER, LONNY 27:45 19 8/12   3/6 2 7 9 2   1 1   1 8 30
Team             2 2   3           5
Totals 200:00 77 20/35 6/15 19/28 5 17 22 13 8 11 2 0 26 26 78
57.1% 40% 67.9%
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: BUCCHI, PIERO
AJ Milano
# 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 BULLERI, MASSIMO 4:21                   3         -3
7 HALL, MIKE 33:33 5   1/2 2/2 1 1 2 1 3 2     2 1 7
8 SOW, PAPE 18:02 7 3/6   1/1 2 5 7 1   1   1 5 3 8
9 MORDENTE, MARCO 12:56 3   1/2     2 2           4 3 3
10 VITALI, LUCA 29:13 32 2/3 7/9 7/7       3   5     3 7 31
11 THOMAS, JOBEY 27:58 12 1/3 2/7 4/4   2 2     1     3 2 5
12 ROCCA, MASON 13:34 2 1/1     1 4 5 1   2     4 1 3
15 KATELYNAS, MINDAUGAS 14:51 6 2/3   2/3 1 5 6 1         3 2 10
16 MICEVIC, MARKO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
18 MERCANTE, JACOPO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
20 SANGARE, YOHANN 11:36 3 1/2 0/1 1/2       2 1 1   1   1 2
34 HAWKINS, DAVID 33:56 17 4/8 2/5 3/4 2 3 5 3 1 2     2 5 19
Team                   2           2
Totals 200:00 87 14/26 13/26 20/23 7 22 29 12 7 17 0 2 26 25 87
53.8% 50% 87%
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

TRIFUNOVIC, ALEKSANDAR
Panionios On Telecoms
"Despite the absence of two important players, Dikoudis and Kalampokis, we had the proper adjustment to the game requirements and we played with energy, but in the most crucial point we lost our concentration and AJ Milano came back after trailing by 10 points. I have to say that Vitali played an outstanding game with great shots, while Hawkins drove them when they were 10 points behind. Now that we are eliminated, I hope that we can have a better rhythm, more concentration and experience. Panionios returned to the Euroleague after 11 years and compared to other teams, we were missing experience and had a lower budget. We made some changes, but the time was not enough for make the adjustments."
BUCCHI, PIERO
AJ Milano
"We are very happy for the win and especially for the qualification. A historic team, like Armani Milano returns to the main scene of European basketball after 12 years. I have to say that this is a big success and becomes special, because we started the regular season with four losses and we were considered dead. Despite the defeats, we were not disappointed. On the contrary, we worked hard in practices, managed to take five victories in six matches and here we are. Vitali played an unbelievable match, but I am proud for all the players and the team, which proved its personality and character."
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