May 25, 2013
Regular Season Game 8 - December 16, 2009 CET: 20:30 Local time: 20:30 - FERNANDO BUESA ARENA
Caja Laboral 62 - 53 Union Olimpija

Records

Ave.   Ave.
0-0 Final Four 0-0
0-0 Playoffs 0-0
0-0 Top 16 0-0
5-2 Regular Season 1-6
5-2 Overall 1-6

Referees

Crew Chief
CEREBUCH, GUERRINO, Italy
Referee
MAESTRE, NICOLA, France
Umpire
GELLER, RENAUD, Belgium

Team Stats

Ave.   Ave.
80.1 Points 71.3
33.6 Rebounds 30.1
8.3 O. Rebounds 9.7
25.3 D. Rebounds 20.4
15.4 Assists 12.0
4.1 Steals 6.3
1.7 Blocks 0.9
11.3 Turnovers 15.4
50.8 % 2PT 51.1 %
42.6 % 3PT 33.1 %
72.9 % FT 68.5 %
88.6 Index 59.9
Team Stats - Caja Laboral
Team Stats - Union Olimpija

Player Stats

Ave.   Ave.
14.0 / TELETOVIC, MIRZA Points 20.3 / Walsh
6.1 / SPLITTER, TIAGO Rebounds 4.6 / GOLUBOVIC, VLADIMIR
1.7 / SPLITTER, TIAGO OR 2.4 / GOLUBOVIC, VLADIMIR
4.4 / SPLITTER, TIAGO DR 3.3 / Walsh
2.9 / Ribas Assists 3.4 / BECIROVIC, SANI
1.8 / SINGLETARY, SEAN Steals 1.5 / Walsh
0.7 / Barac Blocks 0.4 / GOLUBOVIC, VLADIMIR
2.1 / ENGLISH, CARL Turnovers 3.1 / BECIROVIC, SANI
66.7 % / Eliyahu 2PT 68.2 % / Vidmar
66.7 % / Micov 3PT 45.2 % / Walsh
100.0 % / Ribas FT 100.0 % / ALEKSANDROV, NEMANJA
17.6 / SPLITTER, TIAGO Index 21.5 / Walsh
Team Roster - Caja Laboral
Team Roster - Union Olimpija

THE TAKE

Two teams fighting for different goals in Group C are ready for a big showdown in Vitoria, Spain, where Caja Laboral hosts Union Olimpija on Wednesday. Caja Laboral is part of a three-way tie for first place in Group C with a 5-2 record. Olimpija is sixth at 1-6 and is in a do-or-die situation. Laboral will qualify for the Top 16 with a win or if Maroussi BC loses against Lottomatica. Laboral faces severe injury problems, as Vladimir Micov, Walter Herrmann, Brad Oleson and Marcelo Huertas are sidelined for one more week. As such, Pau Ribas will see most of the minutes at point guard, with Sean Singletary offering quickness and court sense off the bench. Ribas is ready for a big battle against Sani Becirovic, who returns to Vitoria for the first time since his fourth-quarter exhibition against the then-called Tau Ceramica playing for Lottomatica Roma a year ago. Dusan Djordjevic and Jaka Klobucar will help him with the playmaker duties, leaving Saso Ozbolt as a full-time shooting guard to make the most out of his unlimited range, self-confidence and quickness. Carl English and Fernando San Emeterio will see most minutes at the wings due to the circumstances. It will not be surprising to see Ribas at shooting guard sharing playing time with Singletary. English is ready for a big shootout against Matt Walsh, who is currently the Euroleague's top scorer. Meanwhile, San Emeterio must use his defensive skills against Ozbolt and newcomer Curtis Millage. Nemanja Aleksandrov could make a difference at forward due to his size and talent. Olimpija must be ready to stop Tiago Splitter and three-point threat Mirza Teletovic, who hit 8 bombs from downtown against Maccabi Electra last week. Lior Eliyahu offers speed off the bench, while Stanko Barac provides size and soft touch. Splitter is a reference for Laboral and Gasper Vidmar and Edin Bavcic will have the tough mission to guard him. Uros Slokar is the right man to guard Teletovic due to his shooting range and toughness, while Vladimir Golubovic must use his size and power against Barac. Laboral must get Splitter and Teletovic involved and try to keep English and San Emeterio away from foul trouble. Olimpija has to improve its defense and try to run its offense through Becirovic to keep its options alive. Even though Laboral is the heavy favorite, Olimpija needs to win this game, so expect the Slovenian champion to be a tough contender at Fernando Buesa Arena.

REFEREES: Guerrino Cerebuch, Nicola Maestre, Renaud Geller


GAME NOTES

Caja Laboral

Mirza Teletovic scored a career-high 28 points on 8-for-14 three-point shooting last week at Maccabi. His 8 triples were 1 short of the Euroleague single-game record.

Teletovic has made at least 3 three-pointers in each of his last four games. He is shooting 51.4% from downtown over that stretch after shooting 23.5% in the first three games of the season.

Carl English scored a season-high 18 points on 6-for-11 three-point shooting last week at Maccabi.

Center Stanko Barac scored a Euroleague career-high 11 points against Union Olimpija last season. Barac also grabbed 8 rebounds and had 2 steals in just 16 minutes as Caja Laboral won 101-69.

Forward Vladimir Micov and Union Olimpija center Vladimir Golubovic were teammates on the Serbia & Montenegro national squad that won the bronze medal at the European Under-20 Championships in 2005.

Pau Ribas set a career-high with 7 assists last week versus Maccabi.

Union Olimpija

Uros Slokar and Caja Laboral point guard Marcelinho Huertas were teammates last season at Fortitudo Bologna.

Edin Bavcic and Caja Laboral power forward Mirza Teletovic have been teammates on the Bosnia & Herzegovina national team.

Sani Becirovic moved into 20th place on the Euroleague’s career assists charts last weel. He currently has 281 assists in 108 career games.

Matt Walsh leads the league this season with 20.3 points scored per game.

Walsh has made multiple three-pointers in every game this season.

Gasper Vidmar is last in the league in free throw shooting among qualified players with just 3 made in 16 tries for 18.8 %.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Euroleague.net

Quotes Head Coaches

IVANOVIC, DUSKO
Caja Laboral
"It’s a dangerous game because Olimpija is a good team, they can surprise anybody. They are a fighting team, they showed it so far, and they will come in without pressure. It’s probably the first game in which they can play with no pressure and that can turn any team in a serious threat. Sometimes, teams with no pressure play a perfect game and we must be aware of that. We must focus on winning, but also on improving our game. I want this team play with more intensity. Our first target was always to make it to the Top 16 and then to grab the best position we could achieve."
ZDOVC, JURE
Union Olimpija
"Since our Top 16 options are now only theoretical I only expect one thing from my players for this game: good playing for 40 minutes. I want them to be brave, to work in defense, to pull rebounds and commit intelligent fouls. I want them to play the game we all expect from them. We have to erase the bad image we offered against Maroussi. I am aware that Caja Laboral needs this win and they will do everything in their hands to get it. Maybe we have a chance to win, but we will only get that if we play well throughout the game."

Players

SAN EMETERIO, FERNANDO
Caja Laboral
"It's a very important game. We made a big step ahead last week in Tel Aviv and now we cannot ruin it with a home loss. We face a team that is below us in the standings, but we cannot understimate them. They are good enough to have chances to win. We must focus on winning the last three games we have in order to secure the first place of the group, and Union Olimpija is the first step. We must win whatever it takes."
DJORDJEVIC, DUSAN
Union Olimpija
"In Ljubljana we showed we can play against Caja Laboral. We lost, it's true, but we played well and only small details decided the winner. We know they play much better at home and that they need the win to sceure a Top 16 berth, but we also know that if we play like we should, we can beat them. I agree with coach Zdovc: we have to improve our image after last week in Athens."
Tiago Splitter - Caja LaboralCaja Laboral climbed into the Top 16 on Wednesday with a 62-53 win over Union Olimpija at Fernando Buesa Arena in Vitoria, Spain. Laboral improved to 6-2 in Group C and will share the top spot with the winner of Thursday’s clash in Moscow between CSKA and Maccabi Electra. Laboral hosts Maroussi in Week 9 before its showdown with CSKA in the regular season finale. Meanwhile Olimpija slipped to 1-7. The hosts used a 13-0 second quarter run to pull away for a 36-21 halftime lead. Sani Becirovic breathed some life into what seemed a dead game, scoring 8 straight points to spark Olimpija when it was down 17 in the third quarter and later making it 52-48 midway through the fourth quarter, but Tiago Splitter stood tall in the closing minutes, scoring twice to restore a double-digit margin and adding 2 free throws to seal the win. Despite outrebounding Laboral 26-34, 19 turnovers and 4-for-24 three-point shooting (16.7%) were too much for the Slovenian cha,ps to overcome. Splitter paced the winners with 15 points, Fernando San Emeterio added 11 and Mirza Teletovic had 10. Becirovic, who was scoreless in the first half, ended up with 14 points, while league-leading scorer Matt Walsh was held to a season-low 9.

The hosts got on the scoreboard first on a pair of free throws by San Emeterio. Gasper Vidmar broke the ice for Olimpija on the following play. The pace was slow early and Olimpija enjoyed that to take a 3-6 edge on 2 free throws from Dusan Djordjevic. Teletovic started to heat up with a jumper and a triple, but Djordjevic soon knotted the score at 8-8. Teletovic fed Stanko Barac inside for the big guy’s first basket, however continued his red-hot start with a triple for a 10-11 Olimpija lead. At that point Laboral took it up a notch. Marcelinho Huertas came off the bench for his first basket since his injury, Teletovic scored inside and then Pau Ribas fed San Emeterio and Barac on back-to-back plays to finish an 8-0 run. Pawel Kikowski finished the quarter with a layup to keep Olimpija within 18-13 after 10 minutes.

Sani Becirovic - Union OlimpijaTeletovic drilled a three to start the second quarter, but Uros Slokar’s basket and 3 free throws by Kikowski had the visitors close at 21-18. Laboral got Splitter involved down low and Ribas fed a cutting San Emeterio to put the hosts up 7. A basket by Vladimir Micov and a San Emeterio triple gave Laboral its first double-digit lead of the night. Lior Eliyahu added a basket before Splitter capped a 13-0 run from the line to make it 34-18. Walsh sank a three-pointer to end the Olimpija drought, but Splitter tacked on another basket to make it 36-21 at halftime.

Walsh opened the second half with a jumper, but Olimpija was unable to generate any momentum. Fast break baskets by Eliyahu and Carl English soon had the hosts up 17. Becirovic tried to ignite his team with a three-pointer and a drive to the basket. Another Becirovic triple had both teams taking notice as the Laboral lead suddenly shrunk to 9. Splitter and Barac scored low as Laboral tried to regain control, but a three-point play by Walsh made it 44-36. Barac and Becirovic traded baskets. Becirovic continued his strong quarter with a basket and 2 more free throws, giving him 12 points in the quarter. A Barac block on Becirovic prevented him from cutting more of the lead and the quarter ended with the hosts up 48-40.

Edin Bavcic further narrowed the gap with a pair of free throws at the start of the fourth quarter. Micov weaved through the Olimpija defense for an important basket, but Vladimir Golubovic scored in transition to keep it close. English fed Micov only to see Curtis Millage pick up his first points on a tip-in. Becirovic battled through the Laboral defense for a tough layup to make it 52-48 midway through the quarter. San Emeterio banked in a shot at the other end and Splitter added a tough basket to restore an 8-point cushion. Olimpija continued to fight hard on both ends of the floor, but missed three-pointers and turnovers damaged its chances. Splitter put the hosts back up by 10 with a hook shot that practically sealed the win.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Euroleague.net
Referees: CEREBUCH, GUERRINO (ITA), MAESTRE, NICOLA (FRA), GELLER, RENAUD (BEL)
Attendance: 8700
By Quarter1234
Caja Laboral18181214
Union Olimpija1381913
End of Quarter1234
Caja Laboral18364862
Union Olimpija13214053
Head coach: IVANOVIC, DUSKO
Caja Laboral
# 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 RIBAS, PAU 29:37   0/1 0/3     3 3 4 1 1 1   2 2 4
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 22:36 8 3/3 0/1 2/4   3 3           2 4 10
7 SINGLETARY, SEAN 11:44   0/1 0/1   1   1           2 1 -2
9 HUERTAS, MARCELINHO 14:33 2 1/2       1 1 4 1 2   1 1   3
11 ELIYAHU, LIOR 19:18 6 3/3       1 1 4 1 1       3 14
12 TELETOVIC, MIRZA 20:07 10 2/4 2/4     2 2 1   1         8
19 SAN EMETERIO, FERNANDO 25:26 11 3/4 1/2 2/2   1 1 3   2     4 2 9
21 SPLITTER, TIAGO 23:12 15 5/10   5/8 1 5 6   3 2   1 3 4 14
23 ENGLISH, CARL 16:04 2 1/4 0/1     3 3 1   2     1 3 2
25 URIARTE, JON IRKUS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
35 HERRMANN, WALTER DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
42 BARAC, STANKO 17:23 8 4/8   0/2 1 2 3 1   1 2   2 2 7
Team             2 2               2
Totals 200:00 62 22/40 3/12 9/16 3 23 26 18 6 12 3 2 17 21 71
55% 25% 56.3%
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: ZDOVC, JURE
Union Olimpija
# 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
7 BECIROVIC, SANI 29:45 14 3/8 2/5 2/2   2 2 2   2   2 1 5 10
8 KLOBUCAR, JAKA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 BAVCIC, EDIN 29:45 6 2/2 0/3 2/2 1 4 5 1 1 3     5 1 3
10 DJORDJEVIC, DUSAN 30:30 7 1/2 1/4 2/2   2 2 1 1 2   1 2 1 3
11 KIKOWSKI, PAWEL 8:37 3   0/1 3/3 1   1   2       2 1 4
12 ALEKSANDROV, NEMANJA 3:23     0/1           1 1     2   -3
13 VIDMAR, GASPER 16:32 6 2/2   2/2 1   1     2     3 2 4
14 MILLAGE, CURTIS 7:48 2 1/2 0/1   2   2     1         1
15 SLOKAR, UROS 11:53 2 1/4 0/1   1 2 3           1 1 1
21 GOLUBOVIC, VLADIMIR 18:27 2 1/2   0/2 1 4 5   1 3 1   2 2 3
31 OZBOLT, SASO 10:45 2 1/1 0/1   1 2 3       1     1 6
44 WALSH, MATT 32:35 9 2/5 1/7 2/3   5 5   1 3     3 3 2
Team           3 2 5     2         3
Totals 200:00 53 14/28 4/24 13/16 11 23 34 4 7 19 2 3 21 17 37
50% 16.7% 81.3%
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

IVANOVIC, DUSKO
Caja Laboral
"We won this game and thanks to it we are now in the Top 16, which was our main target. Now we can focus on improving our position as much as we can. I would prefer not to talk a lot about the game tonight, we had to win, and we did it, but I expected a different behavior. I thought we were a more serious team. That we could play with more concentration, but I was mistaken. We played well only for some moments in the second quarter, when we managed to perform good in defense and play fast. We won tonight, but I feel worried about some players."
ZDOVC, JURE
Union Olimpija
"First of all I would like to congratulate Dusko Ivanovic and his team for the win. They deserved it. We started well, but we committed some defensive mistakes and Teletovic exploited them to make some baskets that broke the game open. We had some very bad moments for 15 minutes, we disappeared from the court and we didn’t fight. This has been our problem this season in the Euroleague, we are soft, we lack character sometimes and we turn into a non-fighting team. In the second half we did things better, we reacted and had some chances to win, we came within 4 points and we got some open shots to reduce the margin even more, but we didn’t make it and in the end Caja Laboral deserved to win this game."
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