Regular Season Game 6 - December 04, 2008 CET: 21:00 Local time: 21:00 - PALAZZO DELLO SPORT

Records

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

Referees

Crew Chief
MARTIN, JOSE, Spain
Referee
CHRISTODOULOU, CHRISTOS, Greece
Umpire
MAESTRE, NICOLA, France

Team Stats

Ave.   Ave.
79.0 Points 69.8
33.0 Rebounds 31.8
10.4 O. Rebounds 10.0
22.6 D. Rebounds 21.8
11.8 Assists 10.0
6.6 Steals 6.0
1.6 Blocks 1.4
11.6 Turnovers 14.2
48.5 % 2PT 51.3 %
40.5 % 3PT 33.7 %
78.2 % FT 64.4 %
80.2 Index 68.6

Player Stats

Ave.   Ave.
15.8 / BECIROVIC, SANI Points 11.8 / McELROY, IMMANUEL
5.8 / BREZEC, PRIMOZ Rebounds 5.4 / McELROY, IMMANUEL
3.2 / BREZEC, PRIMOZ OR 2.6 / McELROY, IMMANUEL
5.0 / DE LA FUENTE, RODRIGO DR 3.4 / Jacobsen
4.2 / BECIROVIC, SANI Assists 2.2 / McELROY, IMMANUEL
1.0 / GIGLI, ANGELO Steals 1.2 / Jacobsen
1.0 / GIGLI, ANGELO Blocks 0.4 / SESAY, ANSU
2.2 / BECIROVIC, SANI Turnovers 2.6 / McELROY, IMMANUEL
60.0 % / Jaaber 2PT 66.7 % / JENKINS, JULIUS
66.7 % / BECIROVIC, SANI 3PT 54.5 % / JENKINS, JULIUS
100.0 % / GABINI, ROBERTO FT 92.9 % / CHUBB, ADAM
19.8 / BECIROVIC, SANI Index 12.6 / McELROY, IMMANUEL

THE TAKE

Lottomatica Roma will put its four-game winning streak on the line Thursday when it hosts Alba Berlin at the Pallazzetto dello Sport in the Italian capital. Roma has not lost since opening night, when it went down to Alba in Berlin, and now leads Group C with a 4-1 record. Moreover, a win Thursday would increase Roma’s lead over the fifth place team in the group (Berlin) to three wins with only four games remaining, bringing head coach Jasmin Repesa’s squad to the brink of clinching a berth in the Top 16. But Roma may have a much different look when it takes the floor as three of its top players are in doubt. Center Primoz Brezec and guards Allan Ray and Sani Becirovic, who was named Euroleague Basketball’s MVP for the month of November this week, have all missed practice time this week with different injuries. Meanwhile Alba seeks its first road win of the season, which would propel head coach Luka Pavicevic’s men forward in the standings. Berlin enters the week tied for fourth place in the group with a 2-3 record, but is also only one win ahead of Union Olimpija, whom it lost to last week. Berlin continues to be at a disadvantage with star guard Julius Jenkins sidelined with an ankle problem. The injuries could affect each team differently. Roma suddenly has a more shallow backcourt, where rookie Brandon Jennings could be asked to do more than ever before alongside Ibby Jaaber, while Jacopo Giachetti and Luigi Datome could be forced into more time than hoped for after recovering from injuries of their own. Berlin’s Steffen Hamann, Immanuel McElroy and Rashad Wright will try and take advantage of Roma’s situation to overpower the hosts’ guards. At small forward, Rodrigo De la Fuente will pit his all-around game against the scoring skills of Casey Jacobson, while Ansu Sesay and Aleksandar Nadjfeji compliment Jacobsen against Roma’s Andre Hutson and Roberto Gabini. If Brezec can’t go, much will fall on the shoulders of Angelo Gigli, who will have his hands full against Adam Chubb and Patrick Femerling. Ultimately this game will be hard to forecast without seeing which of Roma’s players are fit to take the floor. With a healthy squad, the hosts would be favored, however with a short-handed lineup, how well Jennings and Gigli can do in the spotlight and how healthy Giachetti and Datome are in their minutes could determine the outcome as much as the play of McElroy or Wright for Berlin.

GAME QUOTES

Lottomatica Roma
  • Forward Rodrigo De la Fuente posted 11 points and 11 rebounds last week in the win over Fenerbahce Ulker for his first career double-double after 142 Euroleague games.
  • Guard Brandon Jennings made 3 three-pointers in his Euroleague debut against Alba Berlin in October, but has not made more than 1 triple in any Euroleague game since.
Alba Berlin
  • Alba Berlin has lost 15 consecutive Euroleague games on the road dating back to October 2002. The last road win for Berlin was against AEK Athens.
  • Playmaker Rashad Wright played with his Week 6 opponent, forward Andre Hutson, last season at Efes Pilsen.
  • Center Patrick Femerling won the 2003 Euroleague together with his Week 6 opponent, Rodrigo De la Fuente, at FC Barcelona.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Euroleague.net

Quotes Head Coaches

REPESA, JASMIN
Lottomatica Roma
"Alba is the only team that beat us, and we are not in good shape as we have a few injured players. But it is important to win to confirm our first place, but to win we'll need extra energies."
PAVICEVIC, LUKA
Alba Berlin
"Lottomatica has the highest aspirations and at their home court, it will be a great challenge for us to come up with a game that can keep us competitive to win. I think we must look for this kind of game. Until now we played three road games already and except in Vitoria, always had our chances, but we did not use them. Now we have only two games left to have a possible win away. We must attack with full force to see if we can do that, even though, of course, by any means Rome is the favorite in this game. In order to win on the road, there must be awareness that the home team supported by the fans. To go through this configuration, our team must respond not only well, which I think basically - except against Tau - we did. On the road, the team has to respond well enough to win, which sometimes means above the current possibilities. That's what we are looking for on Thursday: Not only to play good, but to play good enough."

Players

GIGLI, ANGELO
Lottomatica Roma
"We are first in the group, but we even lost four games in a row in the Italian Championship. It's important to beat Alba, but we have some injured players. We need extra efforts to stay focused, to play as we did with Olimpia and Tau, and everybody needs to give 100%."
McELROY, IMMANUEL
Alba Berlin
"At home we have been looking good so far, but we still are without a win on the road and hopefully will be able to change that in Rome. We beat them in Berlin, but already that was very tough and beating them on the road will be even more difficult. But we have to win there, too, and have to fight for it with all we have."
Andre Hutson - Lottomatica RomaAvenging its only loss of the season so far, Lottomatica Roma picked up a fifth straight victory in Group C when it polished off visiting Alba Berlin 70-64 in the Italian capital on Thursday. Roma improved to 5-1 and continues to lead the group exclusively while Berlin dropped to 2-4 and fifth place. The game was a seesaw affair for most of the first 25 minutes until Roma took control and then held off a couple of late Berlin charges. Both teams were missing important leaders, November MVP Sani Becirovic and big man Primoz Brezec on Roma's side, while Berlin was again without main weapon Julius Jenkins. Ibrahim Jaaber paced all scorers with 16 points for the winners while Andre Hutson had 15 points and 8 rebounds. Roberto Gabini added 11 points and Jacopo Giachetti had an solid game with 9 points, 4 assists and 2 steals. Roma survived committing 18 turnovers and hitting just 2-of-10 foul shots in part because head coach Jasmin Repesa's men out-rebounded Berlin 29-19. For Berlin, four players scored 11 points - Ansu Sesay, Casey Jacobsen, Immanuel McElroy and Aleksandar Nadjfeji. Sesay also corralled 10 rebounds.

Allan Ray hit a jumper to open the scoring for Roma, while Jacobsen knew he needed to step up with Jenkins out and nailed a trey. Ray made foul shots and then Jaaber got out on the break for a layup after a turnover to make it 6-3. Jacobsen scored inside after some nice passing and then McElroy's unsportsmanlike foul shot knotted the game at 6-6. Jaaber broke down his defender for another layup and Angelo Gigli dunked and Roma opened a 14-8 advantage. Sesay converted a tough layup to stop the Roma run but Gabini drained a triple from the wing as the margin grew to its biggest so far, 19-11. Nadjfeji was quicker to the basket than Gabini at the other end converted the three-point play to make it 19-14 after one quarter.

Ansu Sesay - Alba BerlinNadjfeji scored a layup off an inbounds pass to start the second quarter and Brandon Jennings started a Roma break and dished to Luigi Datome to make it 21-16. But that would be Roma's last basket for some time as the team clearly missed Brezec and Becirovic. Jacobsen continued his strong game with a triple before McElroy's jumper knotted the game at 21-21. Berlin finally pulled ahead as Rashad Wright made a fine pass to Adam Chubb, who converted for an easy two in the lane. Nadjfeji received Wright's next fine pass for an easy layup at 21-25. Hutson threw down a monster dunk to finally snap the 0-9 Alba run and cut the margin to 23-25. Jaaber's two foul shots made it 25-26 but Wright scored in the lane himself for a 25-28 lead. Roma knotted the game on Giachetti's basket and then Jaaber stole and drove for a layup to give Roma back the lead 30-28. Sesay answered after a nice pass by Nadjfeji and then Hutson got a tough layup for a 32-30 lead. McElroy would even the game with two foul shots only to have Wright made a horrible foul on Giachetti on a three-point attempt at the buzzer and the veteran made all three foul shots for a 35-32 Roma advantage at the break.

The second half started with two foul shots by Ray after Berlin coach Pavicevic was called a technical at the end of the first half. Ray then took a defensive layup and went coast to coast to push the lead to 39-32. McElroy turned Jennings' turnover into a dunk only to see Gabini answer with a driving layup for a 41-34 lead. Sesay willed in a tough layup in the lane and then Wright hit a free throw and it was 41-37. Steffen Hamann brought it to 41-40 with a driving layup. And after Gabini drove from the wing for a layup, Jacobsen hit a tough layup but could not even the game as he missed the extra foul shot. Giachetti then knifed into the lane to make it 45-42 before Gabini nailed a big triple and Gigli dunked easily inside after a fine pass by Giachetti and the lead was 50-43 after three periods.

Giachetti continued his brilliant game with a tough layup in the lane to make it 52-43. Jaaber then converted a reverse layup to push the lead to double digits for the first time - 54-43. Chubb answered with a three-pointer only to see Hutson get an easy lay-in inside after another nice pass from Giachetti. Berlin refused to die and Hamann hit a triple. Yet Giachetti made another fine assist -this time to Jaaber for a 58-49 lead and Gigli's foul shots made it 60-49. Sesay hit a tough layup and then knocked down a jumper to trim the deficit to 60-53 with over 4 minutes left. But Roma found the answer yet again as Ray found a cutting Jaaber for a layup. And after Jacobsen missed a three-ball, Hutson made two foul shots and it was 64-53. Berlin had one more push left inside and McElroy got out on the break for a dunk after a Wright steal and then McElroy made two foul shots to trim the margin to 64-57 with two minutes to play. But Hutson put back Ray's missed jumper and then banked in a shot off the glass and the advantage was 68-57 with just over a minute left. Nadjfeji converted a three-point play then Wright drove to the lane for a layup and Berlin trailed just 68-82 with 44 seconds remaining. But Jaaber knocked down a turnaround jumper just before the shot clock buzzer for a 70-62 lead, which Wright cut to 70-64 with two foul shots.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Euroleague.net
Referees: MARTIN, JOSE (ESP), CHRISTODOULOU, CHRISTOS (GRE), MAESTRE, NICOLA (FRA)
Attendance: 2920
By Quarter1234
Lottomatica Roma19161520
Alba Berlin14181121
End of Quarter1234
Lottomatica Roma19355070
Alba Berlin14324364
Head coach: REPESA, JASMIN
Lottomatica Roma
# 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 GIACHETTI, JACOPO 17:36 9 2/3 0/1 5/5   1 1 4 2 1     4 3 12
6 GIGLI, ANGELO 15:53 7 2/3   3/4   2 2 1 2 3     5 2 4
8 TONOLLI, ALESSANDRO 4:21                         1   -1
9 HUTSON, ANDRE 33:47 15 5/7   5/6 2 6 8   2 2 1   1 4 24
11 JENNINGS, BRANDON 11:10   0/1 0/1         1 1 2     3   -5
13 DATOME, LUIGI 14:22 2 1/2     1 3 4               5
14 DE LA FUENTE, RODRIGO 24:53 2 1/1 0/2     2 2 1 1 1     3 2 2
15 RAY, ALLAN 23:44 8 2/7 0/2 4/4   2 2 2   4     3 3 1
21 JAABER, IBRAHIM 29:00 16 7/8 0/1 2/2 1 5 6 2 3 2     2 2 23
22 GABINI, ROBERTO 25:14 11 2/2 2/3 1/2   4 4     3 1   3 1 9
Team                                
Totals 200:00 70 22/34 2/10 20/23 4 25 29 11 11 18 2 0 25 17 74
64.7% 20% 87%
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: PAVICEVIC, LUKA
Alba Berlin
# 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 JACOBSEN, CASEY 38:30 11 2/4 2/4 1/3   1 1   4 2   1 2 5 10
5 HERBER, JOHANNES DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
6 HAMANN, STEFFEN 19:17 7 1/2 1/3 2/2   1 1     3     2 3 3
7 ZWIENER, PHILLIP DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 DOJCIN, DRAGAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 SESAY, ANSU 33:33 11 5/7 0/3 1/2 1 9 10 1 2 2       4 20
12 WRIGHT, RASHAD 27:39 7 2/4 0/2 3/4   1 1 4 2 2     4 5 8
13 FEMERLING, PATRICK 11:57 1 0/2   1/2           1     2 1 -4
14 CHUBB, ADAM 14:40 5 1/2 1/1     3 3     2     2 1 4
21 DROBNJAK, DRAGISA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
23 McELROY, IMMANUEL 34:38 11 3/7   5/6 1   1 1 2 1   1 3 3 8
32 NADJFEJI, ALEKSANDAR 19:46 11 4/7 0/1 3/4   1 1 2         2 3 10
Team           1   1           1    
Totals 200:00 64 18/35 4/14 16/23 3 16 19 8 10 13 0 2 18 25 59
51.4% 28.6% 69.6%
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

REPESA, JASMIN
Lottomatica Roma
"This is an important victory because it allows us to play in the Euroleague with more tranquility and with this victory we had the chance to stay in first place. But we are still too nervous during the game and we are afraid to make mistakes."
PAVICEVIC, LUKA
Alba Berlin
"We played a good game. It was the last option to win away. We missed easy free throws and solid shots and we gave too many easy baskets to Rome. Now it becomes difficult for us to make the Top 16."

Players

GIGLI, ANGELO
Lottomatica Roma
"It was not a nice game to watch, but we have the will to win, sometimes too much will. But in the end, we played a good game on defense. We are in first place and we are very satisfied about that."
SESAY, ANSU
Alba Berlin
"It was a pity because we played a good game and we were close to victory, but Rome is a top team and finally they won. We did our best. Now, it's difficult and we have few hopes to continue in the Euroleague."
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