Regular Season Game 11 - January 10, 2007 CET: 19:15 Local time: 20:15 - ABDI IPEKÇI SPORTS HALL

Records

Ave.   Ave.
0-0 Final Four 0-0
0-0 Playoffs 0-0
0-0 Top 16 0-0
1-0 Regular Season 0-1
6-4 Overall 9-1

Referees

Crew Chief
BRAZAUSKAS, ROMUALDAS, Lithuania
Referee
PUKL,SASA, Slovenia
Umpire
CEREBUCH, GUERRINO, Italy

Team Stats

Ave.   Ave.
76.4 Points 83.7
29.3 Rebounds 30.4
9.0 O. Rebounds 10.8
20.3 D. Rebounds 19.6
12.3 Assists 16.2
8.3 Steals 12.3
3.4 Blocks 2.3
11.1 Turnovers 12.9
53.8 % 2PT 54.0 %
38.9 % 3PT 38.5 %
68.1 % FT 67.2 %
81.0 Index 89.8

Player Stats

Ave.   Ave.
14.2 / Nicholas Points 16.7 / SCOLA, LUIS
6.4 / HAISLIP, MARCUS Rebounds 5.5 / SCOLA, LUIS
2.0 / Gonlum OR 1.6 / SCOLA, LUIS
4.9 / HAISLIP, MARCUS DR 3.9 / SCOLA, LUIS
3.4 / Nicholas Assists 4.9 / PRIGIONI, PABLO
1.3 / Akyol Steals 2.8 / PRIGIONI, PABLO
2.0 / HAISLIP, MARCUS Blocks 0.7 / Peker
2.3 / JENKINS, HORACE Turnovers 1.9 / SCOLA, LUIS
68.8 % / Gonlum 2PT 100.0 % / PRIGIONI, PABLO
44.1 % / Nicholas 3PT 45.9 % / Rakocevic
80.0 % / ERDEN, CUNEYT FT 100.0 % / PRIGIONI, PABLO
15.7 / HAISLIP, MARCUS Index 18.2 / SCOLA, LUIS

THE TAKE

Two of the fastest-growing teams in European basketball over the last decade will battle other in Istanbul on Wednesday when Efes Pilsen welcomes Tau Ceramica for a key Group A encounter. Efes (6-4) will mathematically advance to the Top 16 with one more victory combined with an additional defeat by either Le Mans or Prokom. Meanwhile, Tau (9-1) has already advanced to the next round, is on a nine-game Euroleague winning streak and is unbeaten in any competition since November 11. Tau leads all Euroleague teams this regular season in assists (16.2 apg.) and is third in scoring (83.7 ppg.), while Efes had the fewest turnovers of any team so far (11.1 per game). Above all, it is a big showdown between arguably two of the deepest, strongest frontcourts in the competition. Tau has its star player in all-Euroleague power forward Luis Scola (16.7 ppg., 60.4% 2FG), who teams up in the paint with center Tiago Splitter (9.7 ppg., 6 rpg.), sharp shooter Mirza Teletovic (4.2 ppg.) and big Kaya Peker (4.8 ppg.), who returns to Istanbul for the first time to face the club for which he played six full seasons. Peker will be welcomed with a warm ovation at Abdi Ipecki arena, but not likely by his former team, which doesn't want to wait to reach the Top 16. Efes counters with a versatile, talented frontcourt featuring Marcus Haislip (13.6 ppg., 2 bpg.), who leads the league in blocked shots, Ermal Kuqo (10.1 ppg.), Niksa Prkacin (7.3 ppg.) and Kerem Gonlum (5.9 ppg., 4.1 rpg.). Scola and Prkacin, two of the biggest low-post threats in the competition, will go against each other, while Haislip will have a high-flying matchup against Splitter. Longtime friends Kuqo and Peker will do heavyweight battle in the paint, too. Efes bases its backcourt in super scorers Drew Nicholas (14.2 ppg., 44.1% 3FG) and Horace Jenkins (12.4 ppg.), as well as teenager Cenk Akyol (7.2 ppg.) and newcomer Laron Profit (2.3 ppg.). Nicholas will test his scoring skills against Pablo Prigioni (7.3 ppg., 4.9 apg., 2.8 spg.), one of the best defenders in the competition. Meanwhile, Akyol might have a chance to go against Zoran Planinic (12.1 ppg., 4.6 apg.), in which could be one of the key matchups. Tau plenty more firepower to throw at the Efes defense, with Igor Rakocevic (16 ppg., 45.9% 3FG) and Serkan Erdogan (12.2 ppg., 45.2% 3FG) at the wings, while Fred House (7.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg., 2.9 spg.) brings tough defense to the table. It will be an intense game between teams that know very well that they both want the same things on Wednesday and later in the season: expect nothing less than a major showdown in Abdi Ipecki.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Euroleague.net, Gokhan Ture - Istanbul, Natxo Mendaza - Vitoria

Quotes Head Coaches

MAHMUTI, OKTAY
Efes Pilsen
"Tau Ceramica has proved that they are a very good team with the results they already have this season. They have a real good roster, packed with experienced stars. We are in a good mood right now and will try to play our own normal game once again. There’s no doubt that it’s going to be a very hard game for both sides. We will try to keep on winning by beating a very tough opponent."
PERASOVIC, VELIMIR
Tau Ceramica
"It's the most difficult road game we must to play until the end of this round, because Efes is a team with very good potential. It's a team built to make it to the Final Four. I feel that, after they added new players, they are able to beat anybody. It's a powerful team that is improving and playing better every game. They count on first-class players and they are more dangerous on their home court. They like to play looking for their perimeter players, especially for Nicholas. Haislip ends several offensive sets as well, and I think he is one of the best athletes of the whole Euroleague. Our goals is to win as many games as possible and not to depend on others. We are in a very good position, but it's still early, as there are four more games left to play. We cannot foretell what's going to happen with the other teams in our group."

Players

NICHOLAS, DREW
Efes Pilsen
"This is going to be the hardest challenge of the season for us. Tau is one of the teams playing for the top spot in this competition, like we do. We are getting better every day and that’s what makes me hopeful for the win. They have great guys like Frederick House, Luis Scola, Serkan Erdogan, Zoran Planinic. What we need to do is to play tough for all 40 minutes, never break the resistance and, of course, be patient. It’s not easy to play these kinds of games, but we are ready to handle it. And of course, to play at home is always better than to be on the road."
ERDOGAN, SERKAN
Tau Ceramica
"It's not such a special game for me, because I never played for Efes Pilsen. It's a kind of different game for me because I will be able to meet my family and they will attend the game to watch me play. That aside, it will be a very important game for us: it's that type of game I love to play. Efes Pilsen is a very competitive team. They count on big players and tough defense. We must play as a team and stay very focused and play solid defense. I think they key will be the defensive work becuase they don't have only a single dangerous player, but any day it can be a different one who makes the difference. It's a key game for us because we want to end the first round in first place and I believe we have a good opportunity to make it."
Scola and Akyol - Tau Ceramica, Efes Pilsen Tau Ceramica remained on pace to finish the regular season in first place in Group A with a 78-84 win at Efes Pilsen on Wednesday night at Abdi Ipekci Sports Hall in Istanbul, Turkey. Tau's Turkish guard Serkan Erdogan scored 18 points in front of friends and family to lead Tau to its 10th straight Euroleague win. The visitors improved to 10-1 this season and remain at least a step ahead of second-place Olympiacos, which hosts LeMans on Thursday. Efes Pilsen dropped to 6-5 and now sits in fourth place in the group. Tau led for much of the game and went up by double figures late in the second period to take a 32-43 halftime advantage. Marcus Haislip scored half his team's points during an 8-0 spurt to get back in the game and closed to within 3 during the fourth quarter, but Tau held on easily for the win. Luis Scola added 17 points, while Igor Rakocevic and Kaya Peker had 12 apiece for Tau, for whom Zoran Planinic dished 10 assists. Haislip led Efes with 23 points, Horace Jenkins added 20 points and 6 assists and Drew Nicholas finished with 13 points and 6 assists.

Tau and Efes came out hammering each other basket for basket until 7-6, when the visitors made the first break. Tau forced 3 consecutive Efes turnovers and used triples by Erdogan and Rakocevic, sandwiched around Scola's second basket, to race ahead 7-14. Efes, after a timeout, brought in Prkacin to help on offense, and he got loose underneath for a pair of baskets on feeds by Drew and Jenkins, that brought the hosts back to within 15-16. Haislip helped the cause with a high-flying dunk, giving him 7 points already, however, Tau substitute Fred House finished the quarter with a driving layup to leave the guests holding an 15-18 after 10 minutes.

Jenkins and Peker - Efes Pilsen, Tau CeramicaThe second quarter had a similar flow, as Tau rocketed ahead again, starting with Erdogan's second three-point shot and free throws by Splitter that made it 15-23. Laron Profit answered with a triple for Efes, but that was all the hosts could manage for most of 4 minutes. Jenkins turned his team around with 5 points in a row that cut the difference to 24-27. That just meant it was time for another Tau blast, however. Scola started it and then, after big block by Mirza Teletovic, he joined Pablo Prigioni and Rakocevic in raining a trio of triples that sent the guests way in front, 26-38. It was all that Efes could do with baskets by Kerem Gonlum, Ermal Kuqo, Nicholas and Jenkins to stay within 32-43 at the half.

Efes had a better start to the second half as it aimed on closing the gap. A three-pointer from the side by Haislip got the hosts nearer, then Jenkins and Prkacin made layups that made it 43-47. Another of Tau's players from Turkey, Peker, kept the visitors calm by scoring a basket for his seventh point of the quarter already and lifting the lead back to a safe 43-52. Erdogan was not ready to stay calm, however, and he reappeared with a pair of three-pointers around one by Nicholas that left an 48-60 scoreboard. Efes than started to show its strongest side, defens, limiting Tau to just 2 points the rest of the quarter while making nothing but free throws in a 10-2 run that accomplished the goal of closing the gap to 58-62 after 30 minutes.

A pair of quick layups by Peker and Splitter settled down Tau to start the final quarter, so that even when Jenkins popped a triple from the arc, the visitors still led 61-67. But Jenkins and Haislip got back to the foul line now, where they reduced the differance to 3 points, 64-67, with more than 7 minutes let. After Akyol Cenk of Efes made it 66-69, Tau went back to work on expanding the chsion, with Rakocevic making a triple before layups by Splitter and Scola made it 66-76. Efes tried again, as Haislip and Drew combined on the next 5 points, cutting the difference to 71-76, but that was the hosts' last gasp. Planinic stepped up with a huge triple for Tau before Scola got a three-point basket-plus-free throw to settle the matter in favor of the visitors, 78-84.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Gokhan Ture, Istanbul
Referees: BRAZAUSKAS, ROMUALDAS (LTU), PUKL,SASA (SLO), CEREBUCH, GUERRINO (ITA)
Attendance: 6500
By Quarter1234
Efes Pilsen15172620
Tau Ceramica18251922
End of Quarter1234
Efes Pilsen15325878
Tau Ceramica18436284
Head coach: MAHMUTI, OKTAY
Efes Pilsen
# 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 NICHOLAS, DREW 36:45 13 2/5 2/6 3/4   5 5 6 1 3 1 1 3 1 12
6 ERMIS, BARIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 PRKACIN, NIKOLA 24:15 9 4/7   1/5 1 6 7 1 2 1     5 8 14
9 PROFIT, LaRon 23:00 5   1/2 2/2   5 5 3 1 2     3 2 10
10 ABI, MUSTAFA 2:30           1 1   1 1     1 1 1
11 ERDEN, CUNEYT 3:30           1 1     1          
12 GONLUM, KEREM 8:15 2 1/3       2 2 1         2   1
13 HAISLIP, MARCUS 31:45 23 5/10 2/3 7/9 1 6 7 1 1 1     2 6 27
14 HERSEK, BARIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
15 JENKINS, HORACE 36:30 20 6/9 2/8 2/2 1 3 4 6 3 2   1 2 3 22
23 KUQO, ERMAL 15:45 4 2/6           1   2     3   -4
41 AKYOL, CENK 17:45 2 1/3 0/1     2 2   1 2     2   -2
Team                                
Totals 200:00 78 21/43 7/20 15/22 3 31 34 19 10 15 1 2 23 21 81
48.8% 35% 68.2%
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: PERASOVIC, VELIMIR
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
4 SCOLA, LUIS 25:15 17 8/12   1/1   4 4 3   3     3 3 17
5 PRIGIONI, PABLO 17:45 3   1/3     4 4 3 3 1     1   9
7 CILLA, JESUS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 RAKOCEVIC, IGOR 28:45 12 1/3 3/7 1/2 2   2 6 2 2   1 1 2 13
10 PLANINIC, ZORAN 30:45 8 2/6 1/2 1/1   4 4 10   3 1   2 2 15
11 ERDOGAN, SERKAN 27:45 18 2/5 4/7 2/2         3 1     2 4 16
12 TELETOVIC, MIRZA 16:30 4   1/4 1/2   5 5   1   1   3 3 7
14 PEKER, KAYA 15:45 12 5/6   2/6 1 2 3   1 1     4 4 10
20 ESLAVA, ARIEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 SPLITTER, TIAGO 22:30 8 3/5   2/8 2 6 8 2 2 2     3 5 12
32 HOUSE, FRED 15:00 2 1/3 0/1   1 4 5 1         2   3
Team                           1   -1
Totals 200:00 84 22/40 10/24 10/22 6 29 35 25 12 13 2 1 22 23 101
55% 41.7% 45.5%
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

MAHMUTI, OKTAY
Efes Pilsen
"There's nothing much to say except that we could not win this game because we didn't play well. Of course, we came to the point of winning. But the indivudual mistakes of our team and the individual talent of the opponent made the differance. Whenever we came back, they lengthened the difference again with those quality players. With the way we played tonight, I can honestly say that we didn't deserve to win."
PERASOVIC, VELIMIR
Tau Ceramica
"I think we played one of the favorites of the Euroleague. Horace Jenkins and Laron Profit, whom didn't play in the first game in Vitoria, have been the strength, the power of Efes. It was a very tough game. We played one of the serious games of the season and my players had very good motivation. It's very difficult to win here in Istanbul anytime. So it's a very important win for us. It's not easy to win 10 straight games in the Euroleague. We are in a group in which everybody can win at home. We played very seriously this first part of the competition. Serkan Erdogan and Kaya Peker were very motivated tonight. Tonight they had good games and this was part of our excellent team game."

Players

HAISLIP, MARCUS
Efes Pilsen
"I think we didn't play good tonight. We made many mistakes, including turnovers. They also scored better than us behind the line, and that made the differance. Even when we cme back in the game in the third and the last quarters, the critical turnovers and the missed attempts damaged our rhythm and caused us to lose the game."
SCOLA, LUIS
Tau Ceramica
"It was a big game for us. We needed to win for the top spot in the group. I think Kaya Peker and Serkan Erdogan were well motivated tonight. They really performed well in their home country. But we are a good team and the most important thing for us is to win at the end of the game, no matter how many points we scored individually."
ERDOGAN, SERKAN
Tau Ceramica
"It was a very important game for us. We are aiming to finish the first phase on top of the group and I think this win will help us a lot to reach our goal. Because of that, we resisted for the whole game and that was the key for the win. We played good defense, especially in the first half. We saw that we can beat one of the candidates for the Final Four on the road, and that's a good sign for the future."
PEKER, KAYA
Tau Ceramica
"I think tonight we really played well. We had the game under control for most of the 40 minutes. It's not easy to keep the control in the hand for most of the game against a big opponent like Efes. Efes Pilsen is a great team and seemed that they prepared the game very well. The game was tougher than the first game in Vitoria. But this is normal. I really felt better in the early minutes of the game after the nervous start. I am proud to win the game."
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