Regular Season Game 2 - October 29, 2008 CET: 21:00 Local time: 21:00 - MEDIOLANUM FORUM

Records

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

Referees

Crew Chief
BRAZAUSKAS, ROMUALDAS, Lithuania
Referee
MUHVIC, DUBRAVKO, Croatia
Umpire
GARCIA GONZALEZ, JUAN CARLOS, Spain

Team Stats

Ave.   Ave.
64.0 Points 61.0
25.0 Rebounds 20.0
9.0 O. Rebounds 4.0
16.0 D. Rebounds 16.0
7.0 Assists 7.0
5.0 Steals 8.0
1.0 Blocks 4.0
15.0 Turnovers 12.0
46.3 % 2PT 50.0 %
30.0 % 3PT 36.8 %
88.9 % FT 52.6 %
36.0 Index 51.0

Player Stats

Ave.   Ave.
12.0 / SOW, PAPE Points 17.0 / VUJANIC, MILOS
6.0 / Hawkins Rebounds 7.0 / Gonlum
2.0 / Katelynas OR 1.0 / KAKIOUZIS, MICHAILIS
5.0 / Hawkins DR 6.0 / Gonlum
2.0 / BULLERI, MASSIMO Assists 4.0 / VUJANIC, MILOS
2.0 / THOMAS, JOBEY Steals 2.0 / VUJANIC, MILOS
1.0 / ROCCA, MASON Blocks 2.0 / Peker
3.0 / ROCCA, MASON Turnovers 5.0 / VUJANIC, MILOS
100.0 % / ROCCA, MASON 2PT 83.3 % / VUJANIC, MILOS
100.0 % / MORDENTE, MARCO 3PT 100.0 % / VUJANIC, MILOS
100.0 % / THOMAS, JOBEY FT 100.0 % / SMITH, CHARLES
14.0 / Hawkins Index 19.0 / VUJANIC, MILOS

THE TAKE

Armani Jeans Milano hosts Efes Pilsen in an important early season battle between two teams with some history between them. Milano and Efes met in the 1996 Korac Cup finals, which Efes won by a single point after tow games for its first European trophy. But the focus on Wednesday will be a lot more modern as both teams eagerly hunt for victory. Milano comes into the game in rough shape as injuries have depleted a roster that already struggled last week on the road against the reigning champs. CSKA handed Milano a 90-64 loss last week and now Milano could take the floor without two of its most important players. Guard Massimo Bulleri is sidelined with a finger injury and big man Pape Sow is questionable and suffering a foot injury in the Italian League. Moreover, small forward Luca Vitali remains out with a knee problem. Meanwhile Efes opened its Euroleague season with a narrow 61-60 home win over Partizan Belgrade. Efes is also banged up. Center Mario Kasun has a wrist injury and is out, while former Milano shooter Preston Shumpert is a question mark with an ankle injury. Kasun’s absence hurt the club last week as it was outrebounded 20-43. The bright news came in the form of Milos Vujanic, who paced the offense with 17 points for his highest scoring Euroleague game in three-and-a-half years. Vujanic will join forces with Charles Smith, Bootsy Thornton and Ender Arslan to challenge the Milano backcourt of David Hawkins, Jobey Thomas, Yohann Sangare and sharpshooter Marco Mordente. Hawkins is considered one of the top defensive guards in the league, but he will need help from the rest of the team to lock down all of Efes’s scoring threats. At small forward, Efes will hope to have Shumpert back, but can otherwise turn to Cenk Akyol. In the paint Milano will need reserves Mason Rocca, Mindaugas Katelynas and Joey Beard to step up along Mike Hall if Sow is out. Meanwhile Efes will employ Kaya Peker, Kerem Gonlum and Michalis Kakiouzis inside. The many injury questions that surround this game certainly create headaches for both coaching staffs. One thing working in everone’s favor is the multitude of veteran players who can step in where needed. A big game from any one of the role players for either teams could make a huge difference in the game. Two matchups to keep an eye on could be at point guard, where Sangare will look to prove his skills against Vujanic, and at power forward will Hall will try to use his athleticism o handle Peker. If the hosts can control those matchups, they will have a distinct advantage as the game progresses.

GAME NOTES

Armani Jeans Milano

  • Guard Massimo Bulleri needs just 4 points to reach 1,000 for his Euroleague Basketball career. He would become the 43rd player in the competition to reach that plateau.
  • After going 3 for 3 from behind the arc last week, guard Marco Mordente moved up to third place on the all-time three-point shooting percentage list with a 47.12% success rate. He is the active leader in that category as well.


Efes Pilsen

  • Efes Pilsen defeated Armani Jeans Milano in the finals of the 1996 Korac Cup. Efes won the first leg at home by 8 and lost the second in Italy by only 7 to list the cup. Efes has won all four meetings with Milano since then.
  • Big man Michail Kakiouzis enters his team’s Week 2 game tied with former teammate David Andersen for 10th place on the all-time Euroleague Basketball offensive rebounding charts. They each have 237 for their careers. Dejan Tomasevic with 243 and Marcus Goree with 244 are ninth and eighth all-time, respectively.
  • Forward Preston Shumpert played his first Euroleague season with his Week 2 opponent, Armani Jeans Milano, in the 2005-06 season. Guard Massimo Bulleri is the only player still with the club from that season. Shumpert played for Benetton Treviso the following season, where he was a teammate of current Milano guard Marco Mordente.
  • Guard Milos Vujanic, who led the Euroleague in scoring in the 2002-03 season with 25.8 points per game, had his best scoring output in over three-and-a-half years last week when he scored 17 against his former team, Partizan Belgrade. Vujanic, who missed large chunks of time with a knee injury, scored 18 against Zalgiris Kaunas in March 2005.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Euroleague.net

Quotes Head Coaches

BUCCHI, PIERO
AJ Milano
"We are living a very hard period because of too many injuries in the last days, but I expect a good performance of my team against Efes Pilsen. We want to take an important victory in front of our crowd. They are a good and deep team, with a lot of talented and experienced guys, some of them former players of our domestic league. Efes Pilsen is one of the best teams in our group. It will be a tough game, but we'll be ready to play it."
ATAMAN, ERGIN
Efes Pilsen
"Of course it’s a very important away game for us. We don’t care about the first round results as it’s just the beginning of the season and most of the teams are not ready yet. For that reason, we don’t take the game into account in which Armani Jeans Milano lost to CSKA Moscow with a big difference. We are having problems in the paint because of the injuries we are having since than some couple of weeks. The absence of Mario Kasun, Preston Shumpert and Baris Hersek damaged our rotation inside the paint. But we are working on the possible solutions for the problems. We are planning to win the game by controlling it for whole 40 minutes. It’s not sure whether if Preston Shumpert will play it or not, but we will have standby plans for sure."

Players

MORDENTE, MARCO
AJ Milano
"The game against Efes Pilsen will be a very tough one, also because we have a lot of injuries that will make our job more difficult. This is not an excuse for us, but missing some important players is another big problem for us for this game. They have a deep roster with great players. They really can play for the Euroleague playoffs and they could be competitive for a spot in the Final Four. We are coming off a bad loss in Moscow in the fist game, but I think we had a good reaction in Caserta in our Italian League game, even if we lost again. Wednesday at the DatchForum, we will fight from the first possession because we know that we have to win at home to try to advance in this competition, and also to try to get some good results. We’ll be ready."
GULER, SINAN
Efes Pilsen
"It’s a new beginning for most of the players in the team and for me, it’s also an additional excitement that I’m having my very first season in the Euroleague. Honestly, we made a good start to the new season by beating Partizan and that strengthened our morale and motivation. It also affected us positively in the Turkish League at the weekend, where we played impressive defense. We have to keep going at the same level against Armani Jeans Milano. We have some similar things as them as they are a newly built team like Efes Pilsen. So it’s going to be an interesting game for sure, which we will be digging in to win from the beginning until the end."
Bootsy Thornton - Efes PilsenEfes Pilsen stayed undefeated in Group D and ties with CSKA for first place by downing Armani Jeans Milano 71-81 on the road on Wednesday night. Efes improved to 2-0 while AJ Milano dropped to 0-2. Milos Vujanic led the winners with 19 points. Bootsy Thornton added 17, Charles Smith had 14, Michalis Kakiouzis got 12 while Kerem Gonlum contributed 10 and 9 rebounds for Efes. David Hawkins led Milano with 20 points. Jobey Thomas added 14, Marco Mordente had 13 while Mike Hall got 10 for the hosts. A three-point play by Vujanic gave Efes a 17-20 lead after 10 minutes. Efes improved its defense while Smith, Vujanic and Kakiouzis boosted the guests' lead to 33-43 at halftime. A three-pointer by Thornton broke the game open, 39-58, late in the third quarter. Thomas, Mordente and Hawkins brought Milano within 69-75 but Thornton stepped up to make a more experienced Efes seal a well-deserved win.

Hall got Milano going with a turnaround jumper but Smith answered from downtown for a 2-3 Efes lead. Yohann Sangare took over with a big move in the low post while Thomas added a reverse layup to put Milano ahead, 6-3. Thornton shined with his trademark fallaway jumper and fed Kaya Peker for an easy basket, good to restore a 6-7 Efes edge. Smith nailed his second three-pointer to cap a 0-7 run but Hawkins took over with a driving basket to get Milano within 8-10. Vujanic joined the three-point shootout but Hall and Thomas combined for 5 quick points to tie the game at 13-13. Milano had improved its defense, not allowing any easy shots now. Gonlum stepped on court to give Efes more intensity at both ends while Smith made free throws. Thomas sank a mid-range jumper that Gonlum erased with an easy layup. Joey Beard shined with a jump hook that Vujanic improved with a layup-plus-foul to give Efes a 17-20 edge after 10 minutes.

Marco Mordente - AJ Milano Hawkins provided a highlight with a power layup - and the free throw that came with it - early in the second quarter. Thornton sank his first three-pointer while Kakiouzis added an easy layup to give Efes a 20-25 lead. Smith shined with a big block on Marco Mordente, as Efes used its experience to slow down the game tempo. Kakiouzis struck from downtown to give Efes a 20-28 margin. Milano had been scoreless for more than 5 minutes until Thomas sank a mid-range shot. Efes dominated the game with its zone defense but Mason Rocca stepped up with a layup to get the hosts within 24-30. Kakiouzis took over with another triple but Rocca shined with his trademark power layup. Peker and Ender Arslan sank free throws to boost Efes' lead to 27-36. Hall and Thornton traded free throws while Hawkins sank a step-back triple to make Efes call timeout at 32-38. Vujanic followed a three-point play with foul shots to give Efes a 33-43 halftime margin.

Vujanic collected a steal in the inbound pass and fed Peker for an easy basket that Hawkins matched with a big dunk. Thornton quickly answered from downtown for a 35-48 Efes margin early in the third quarter. Hawkins kept pacing Milano with free throws that Gonlum erased with a layup. Kakiouzis took over with a layup-plus-foul while Thomas fired in a jumper to get Milano within 39-53. Thornton scored off another steal by Vujanic and then beat the hosts' 2-3 zone defense with a triple coming off a screen to break the game open, 39-58. Rocca tried to change things with a fast break layup while Mordente fired in a running three-pointer to make Efes call timeout at 44-58. The guests slowed down the game tempo and Smith beat the shot clock with a wide open triple. Mordente and Smith traded shots from downtown while free throws by Kakiouzis and Hawkins fixed the score at 49-65 at the end of the third quarter.

Milos Vujanic - Efes Pilsen Milano needed a major comeback to keep its options alive but Efes stayed focused early in the fourth quarter. Cenk Akyol stepped up with an easy basket while the guests did not allow any points in the opening two minutes of this period. Mordente nailed another three-pointer and fed Beard for a reverse layup to give the hosts some hope, 54-67, with 7 minutes to go. Gonlum silenced the crowd with a dunk but Hall answered to keep Milano within 58-69. Efes now struggled against the hosts' zone defense but coach Ergin Ataman called timeout to solve his team's problems. Vujanic and Hawkins traded three-pointers while free throws by Mordente brought the hosts within 63-72 with less than 3 minutes to go. Thomas struck from downtown to give Milano some hope, 66-72. Vujanic and Hawkins joined the three-point shootout while Thornton sealed the outcome with a layup already in the final minute, as Milano ran out of time to complete its comeback.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Euroleague.net
Referees: BRAZAUSKAS, ROMUALDAS (LTU), MUHVIC, DUBRAVKO (CRO), GARCIA GONZALEZ, JUAN CARLOS (ESP)
Attendance: 2151
By Quarter1234
AJ Milano17161622
Efes Pilsen20232216
End of Quarter1234
AJ Milano17334971
Efes Pilsen20436581
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
6 FILLOY, ARIEL 1:37                              
7 HALL, MIKE 33:06 10 4/8 0/4 2/2 4 2 6 2 1 1     2 1 9
9 MORDENTE, MARCO 25:19 13 1/5 3/6 2/2 1   1 2 1     1 3 2 8
11 THOMAS, JOBEY 28:05 14 4/8 2/6   1 1 2 1 2 1     3 1 8
12 ROCCA, MASON 20:23 7 3/6   1/2 2 4 6   1 1     4 3 8
15 KATELYNAS, MINDAUGAS 12:27 1   0/1 1/2 1 1 2 1   1     4 2 -1
16 MICEVIC, MARKO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
18 MERCANTE, JACOPO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 BEARD, JOEY 17:29 4 2/3     1 1 2   1 1     2 1 4
20 SANGARE, YOHANN 28:55 2 1/1 0/3     2 2 2 1 5     2   -3
34 HAWKINS, DAVID 32:39 20 3/8 3/7 5/5 1 2 3   2 4     2 5 15
Team           4 2 6               6
Totals 200:00 71 18/39 8/27 11/13 15 15 30 8 9 14 0 1 22 15 54
46.2% 29.6% 84.6%
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: ATAMAN, ERGIN
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
7 SMITH, CHARLES 34:25 14 0/2 4/9 2/2 1 4 5 1 2 3 1   2 3 14
10 ABI, MUSTAFA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11 THORNTON, BOOTSY 35:24 17 3/4 3/6 2/4   3 3 4 4 3     1 4 22
12 GONLUM, KEREM 33:24 10 4/5   2/2 2 7 9   1 4     3 2 14
13 VUJANIC, MILOS 29:40 19 3/3 3/8 4/4   4 4 1 2 6     2 4 17
14 PEKER, KAYA 17:36 3 1/2   1/2 2 1 3 2 1 1     4 2 4
15 KAKIOUZIS, MICHAILIS 28:44 12 2/2 2/4 2/3 1 1 2 1         2 3 13
22 ATSUR, ENGIN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
32 GULER, SINAN 0:27                              
33 ARSLAN, ENDER 10:07 4 0/1 0/1 4/4 1   1 1   2       2 4
55 AKYOL, CENK 10:13 2 1/1 0/2                   1   -1
Team           3 3 6               6
Totals 200:00 81 14/20 12/30 17/21 10 23 33 10 10 19 1 0 15 20 93
70% 40% 81%
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

BUCCHI, PIERO
AJ Milano
"We had many problems in the middle of the game. We were okay at the beginning and we had a good finish in the last quarter. We struggled on offense and didn't find our rhythm. Sangare struggled a lot against their pressure, but we had a good reaction as a team. This is a very hard period for us, because of the defeats and the injuries. But our team never gave up. Mike Hall is doing better and better and I think we saw good signs of things to come from our team."
ATAMAN, ERGIN
Efes Pilsen
"We dominated the game from the first to the last minute. We missed our center [Mario Kasun], but we were lucky because Milano is without Pape Sow at the same time. We missed some easy shots against their zone defense in the last quarter, but winning on the road is always difficult. This is a good result for us, a deserved win. They played with zone defense in Moscow and we knew that it was a good option for them. Maybe we would have had more problems, had they used it earlier."

Players

HAWKINS, DAVID
AJ Milano
"Our biggest problem tonight was defense. We have to be better on defense, for sure. I don't know why we didn't play the whole game like we did in the last quarter, with that intensity. We don't really have any problems on offense: We missed some open shots, but offense is not the problem. We really have to play 40 minutes with intensity. Am I angry? Of course, I never like to lose. We must now focus on winning the next game. I know we have some injuries and a short bench, but this is basketball, that's not an excuse for us."
ROCCA, MASON
AJ Milano
"The game was up and down for us. We had a lot of problems in the first three quarters and it was too late when we tried to come back in the game. We played with more intensity and also looked better on offense, getting some easy baskets. We went to the zone [defense] and had some defensive stops. We were able to run in transition and get some rhythm, which we missed the rest of the game. On offense we were not able to get the type of shots we want to and also were a second late in everything we did. We are not ready to search for a second option if we cannot reach the first one."
KAKIOUZIS, MICHAILIS
Efes Pilsen
"It was a very important game for us. We knew that Milano was coming off some defeats, both in the Euroleague and in the Italian League, and they wanted to be tough in their first Euroleague home game. We stayed focused for most of the game and it was a deserved win. I don't think we slowed down in the last quarter, we made some mistakes like missing open shots or committing some turnovers, but I think that is normal at this level. We just tried to run the 24-second clock down and managed to win the game in the final minutes."
THORNTON, BOOTSY
Efes Pilsen
"I think it was a very important road win for us, because both teams missed some key players. My mismatch with David Hawkins was a little rematch of last year's Italian [League] finals. He is a very good player and a nice guy, we know each other well and I think we both did a good job tonight. We tried to slow down the tempo in the last quarter because we had a big lead. We also had to adjust our play against the zone defense. We missed some good shots and they came back in the game, but i think we played well all 40 minutes tonight."
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