Regular Season Game 12 - January 18, 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 0-0
4-7 Overall 8-3

Referees

Crew Chief
LAMONICA, LUIGI, Italy
Referee
RYZHYK, BORYS, Ukraine
Umpire
CHRISTODOULOU, CHRISTOS, Greece

Team Stats

Ave.   Ave.
73.5 Points 79.3
30.0 Rebounds 31.8
7.4 O. Rebounds 10.1
22.6 D. Rebounds 21.7
10.1 Assists 14.5
10.5 Steals 9.5
1.7 Blocks 3.5
14.0 Turnovers 11.9
55.5 % 2PT 53.0 %
33.6 % 3PT 42.3 %
72.3 % FT 77.6 %
72.9 Index 92.9

Player Stats

Ave.   Ave.
15.6 / KAMBALA, K. Points 18.5 / Navarro
9.6 / TURKCAN, MIRSAD Rebounds 5.1 / TRIAS, JORDI
2.1 / TURKCAN, MIRSAD OR 2.3 / TRIAS, JORDI
7.4 / TURKCAN, MIRSAD DR 3.7 / MARCONATO, DENIS
3.9 / SOLOMON, WILLIE Assists 3.5 / Lakovic
1.4 / Onan Steals 1.4 / KAKIOUZIS, MICHAILIS
0.6 / TURKCAN, MIRSAD Blocks 1.2 / Vazquez
3.6 / SOLOMON, WILLIE Turnovers 2.4 / Navarro
63.6 % / BASDEN, E. 2PT 68.4 % / MARCONATO, DENIS
100.0 % / KAMBALA, K. 3PT 50.0 % / DE LA FUENTE, RODRIGO
86.7 % / SOLOMON, WILLIE FT 90.2 % / Navarro
15.8 / KAMBALA, K. Index 17.6 / Navarro

THE TAKE

Fenerbahce Ulker faces yet another make-or-break showdown to qualify for the Top 16 in Group C by hosting difficult Wintethur FC Barcelona in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday at 19:15 CET. Fenerbahce (4-7) depends on itself to advance to the Top 16 but needs as many wins as it can get. In fact, Fenerbahce cannot make it to the best five in this group if it loses and Aris TT Bank wins, so a loss on Thursday means it would have to fight to become the best sixth-ranked team to seal the last ticket for the Top 16. Meanwhile, Barcelona (8-3) will finish second in this group if it loses or if CSKA beats Zalgiris in this round, but also has to count victories if it wants to finish as the best second-place team in all groups, thereby taking a first-level seeding into the Top 16 draw and avoiding the group champs in the next round. Barcelona will have to do so, however, without the Euroleague's leading scorer, Juan Carlos Navarro (18.5 ppg., 46.7% 3FG, 90.2% FT), who aggravated an old Achilles' tendon injury in the team's last practice before travelling. In the November matchup between these teams, Barcelona beat Fenerbahce 84-70 at home behind 19 points by Navarro, who joins long-term injury victim Mario Kasun (11.9 ppg.) on the sidelines. Luckily for them, the visitors have proven scorers elsewhere in the backcourt with Jaka Lakovic (11.1 ppg.) and Gianluca Basile (10.3 ppg., 45.8% 3FG). Meanwhile, Rodrigo De La Fuente (5.1 ppg., 50% 3FG) will have the tough mission to go against Fenerbahce's sharp shooters Ibrahim Kutluay (12.1 ppg.) and Damir Mrsic (10.6 ppg.), who can break open any game, any time with their unlimited range and experience. Basile will go against a top defender in Omer Onan (5.1 ppg.), while Lakovic and Roko-Leni Ukic (4.3 ppg., 41.7% 3FG) meet another experienced, dangerous point guard, Will Solomon (12.9 ppg., 3.9 apg.), who has been playing better since Eddie Basdem (6.3 ppg., 1.8 spg.) arrived in Istanbul. Without Kasun to help, Fran Vazquez (3.5 ppg.) and Denis Marconato (6.9 ppg., 68.4% 2FG) will share all minutes at center while Michalis Kakiouzis (6.5 ppg., 3.7 rpg.) and Jordi Trias (5.6 ppg.) are ready to see extended playing time at power forward. Fenerbahce has its own injury problems, too, as rebounds king Mirsad Turkcan (8.7 ppg., 9.6 rpg.) will miss his third game with an elbow injury. As such, Kaspars Kambala (15.6 ppg.) will be the hosts' main frontcourt reference, even when he will get help from veteran forward Ira Clark (3.2 ppg.). Up-and-coming big men Semih Erden (4.4 ppg.), Oguz Savas (3.2 ppg.) and Rasim Basak (2.8 ppg.) stand ready to provide intensity off the bench. If Vazquez uses his long arms and timing to slow Kambala, Barcelona will have the most chances to win, even when Fenerbahce is in a do-or-die situation and will be backed by its expectant fans.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Euroleague.net - Gokhan Ture, Istanbul - J.A. Casanova, Barcelona

Quotes Head Coaches

ORS, AYDIN
Fenerbahce Ulker
“We are getting better every game, and that makes me hopeful for the Top 16. At the weekend, we had a very tough game against Turk Telekom, which was strong like a Euroleague game. I’m feeling confident about my team despite that loss because they really gave their best to win the game. Winterthur Barcelona is one of the traditional teams of Euroleague, plus they are a member of the best national league in Europe, the Spanish ACB League. We are taking every game into account, one by one. So Barcelona is our third step to reach our goal. I believe in my team and the fans, who I’m expecting to fill Abdi Ipekci the way like they did for the game against Turk Telekom.”
IVANOVIC, DUSKO
Winterthur FC Barcelona
"This is an important game for us if we want to keep on fighting for the first spot in our group. We'll do everything in order to win. Fenerbahce Ulker is a team that I personally like very much and has big potential in my opinion. When they play at home, they are a very aggressive team and they use their strength to make many steals and run the fastbreak. They have three first-quality shooters who are able to change the game. Kambala is a very strong player who can hurt you a lot if you leave him some room. This team has a lot of confidence in its inside game with its recent good results."

Players

ONAN, OMER
Fenerbahce Ulker
“We have lessened our disadvantages by working very hard over the last couple of weeks. We really want to keep on playing this season and to move towards the Top 16. Winterthur Barcelona is a very strong team and we can’t take into account the loss that they had against Eldo Napoli last week. We will try to do our best with all our aim to win and strengthen our chances for the next round.”
GRIMAU, ROGER
Winterthur FC Barcelona
"I feel that I'm in a good shape right now, but there is one thing I know for sure: I have to be ready for doing everything the coach is asking to me. Fenerbahce Ulker has some high-quality players at every position. Solomon and Kambala are able to break open the game at any given moment. We need to be very focused on our defense. Sometimes they defend with a 2-3 zone, so we have to break it with fast ball movement. We all know this is a difficult arena to visit, but we need to go out with only one thing in mind: to take the victory."
Kaspars Kambala Fenerbahce Ulker Fenerbahce Ulker stayed alive in the Top 16 race and set up a big showdown in Group C next week by downing Winterthur FC Barcelona 82-69 in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday. Fenerbahce improved to 5-7 and will face Eldo Napoli, with the same record, in the next-to-last regular season game next week. Meanwhile, Barcelona dropped to 8-4 in the Group C standings and cannot challenge for first place now. Kaspars Kambala led the winners with 20 points and Will Solomon was a hero with all his 19 points in the final 15 minutes. Ibrahim Kutluay added 11 points for Fenerbahce. Fran Vazquez had 17 points for Barcelona, Jaka Lakovic 13 and Gianluca Basile 12. Barcelona played without injured Euroleague leading scorer Juan Carlos Navarro. Lakovic and Vazquez paced Barcelona to a 32-43 lead early in the third quarter, before Solomon joined forces with Kambala to give Fenerbahce a 53-52 edge after 30 minutes and extended it to 69-59 with 5 minutes to go, enough to seal the outcome.

Barcelona opted to use a tall lineup in the early going with Jordi Trias as small forward. Kutluay opened fire with a three-pointer but Lakovic answered by stroking in a pair from downtown for a 3-6 Barcelona lead. Fenerbahce tried to attack the basket, but without much success due to early turnovers. Meanwhile, Lakovic kept pacing Barcelona with a driving layup while Rodrigo De La Fuente added a put-back layup for a 3-10 advantage. Kutluay lifted the hosts by firing in a triple off a screen but Basile did the same for Barcelona. Kutluay's driving layup was also matched by Fran Vazquez dropping a baseline jumper. Damir Mrsic and Ira Clark brought Fenerbahce and its fans back to life with consecutive three-pointers to make it 14-15. Lakovic buried his third triple in response, and even when Semih Erden got loose for a dunk, Basile nailed another shot from downtown on the buzzer to give Barcelona a 16-20 edge after 10 minutes.

Jaka Lakovic - Winterthur FCBDe La Fuente scored in the paint to start the second quarter scoring, but Kambala soon posted a tip-in and a layup to get Fenerbahce within 20-22. Basile took over with a fallaway jumper but a red-hot Kambala matched it by putting back an offensive rebound. Lakovic hit free throws and Vazquez a jump hook for a 22-28 Barcelona lead, but Kambala kept the hosts within striking distance. But when Vazquez downed a jump hook and a mid-range jumper, Fenerbahce needed a timeout to try to figure out Barcelona's improved defense. Two more visitors scored then, Roger Grimau in penetration and Denis Marconato inside, to finish a 3-12 run with an 11-point lead, 25-36. Fenerbahce needed to react, and so it did, as Mrsic buried a triple and Kambala a second-chance layup. Now, Barcelona needed the timeout, but it didn't help as Erden capped a 7-0 Fenerbahce run to finish the half with an acrobatic drive that left a 32-36 scoreboard at the break.

Basile buried his trademark triple coming off a screen right after the break while Vazquez added a short jumper to put Barcelona seemingly out of trouble at 32-41. Fenerbahce went scoreless for more than 2 minutes while Marconato made free throws to cap a 0-7 run, good for another double-digit advantage, 32-43. Kambala answered at the line, however, and Erden dunked again to spark another Fenerbahce revival. That's when Will Solomon finally found his first basket while Kambala capped a 8-0 run with a left-handed layup that forced a Barcelona timeout at 40-43. Roko-Leni Ukic made free throws for the guests but Solomon's strike from the arc brought the hosts even closer. Ukic shined with a driving layup but Oguz Savas bettered it with a layup-plus-free throw. Vazquez buried another shot but Kutluay rained a triple and Solomon added a floating jumper to tie, 50-50. Michalis Kakiouzis got loose underneath for a layup to put Barcelona in front momentarily before Omer Onan beat the buzzer with a three-pointer to fire up the home crowd with Fenerbahce's first lead since the opening basket, 53-52.

Kambala opened the final quarter with another layup as Vazquez returned to the bench with four fouls. Solomon added a driving basket to make the crowd go crazy at 57-52. Ukic fired in a triple but a second-chance basket by Clark kept Fenerbahce ahead, 59-55. Barcelona called timeout but Solomon came back with a huge triple for a 62-55 Fenerbahce lead. Barcelona could not find the way to the basket while a red-hot Solomon fired in a long two-pointer to make it 64-55, with 5 minutes to go. Basile tried to ignite a Barcelona comeback with a mid-range jumper but Clark answered from downtown for a 67-57 Fenerbahce margin. Vazquez hit a jumper but Kambala showed that fate was with Fenerbahce by hitting an acrobatic layup while landing on his back. Barcelona ran out of time as Solomon - who else? - finished the show with back-to-back three-pointers as Fenerbahce fans celebrated their team's continuing fight to make the Top 16!
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Euroleague.net
Referees: LAMONICA, LUIGI (ITA), RYZHYK, BORYS (UKR), CHRISTODOULOU, CHRISTOS (GRE)
Attendance: 9000
By Quarter1234
Fenerbahce Ulker16162129
Winterthur FC Barcelona20161617
End of Quarter1234
Fenerbahce Ulker16325382
Winterthur FC Barcelona20365269
Head coach: ORS, AYDIN
Fenerbahce Ulker
# 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 DEMIREL, HAKAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 ONAN, OMER 14:15 3   1/3   1   1 1         2   1
8 BASAK, RASIM 3:30 1 0/3   1/2               1   1 -3
9 ERDEN, SEMIH 14:45 6 3/5     3 3 6     2     2 2 8
10 KUTLUAY, IBRAHIM 36:00 11 1/3 3/6     4 4 2 2 1 1     3 17
11 SAVAS, OGUZ 4:45 3 1/1   1/2                 3 1  
12 MRSIC, DAMIR 19:30 9   3/4     1 1 2         2   9
13 CLARK, IRA 24:30 8 1/3 2/3   1 6 7 2   2     3   9
14 GULAY, ZEKI DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
15 KAMBALA, KASPARS 32:00 20 9/14   2/2 4 2 6   2 1   1 3 6 24
23 BASDEN, EDDIE 20:00 2 1/3             4 1     2   1
52 SOLOMON, WILLIE 30:45 19 5/10 3/6     3 3 3 1 4   2 2 2 12
Team                     2         -2
Totals 200:00 82 21/42 12/22 4/6 9 19 28 10 9 13 1 4 19 15 76
50% 54.5% 66.7%
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: IVANOVIC, DUSKO
Winterthur FC Barcelona
# 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 BASILE, GIANLUCA 34:45 12 3/4 2/6     2 2 3 1 3     3 1 8
8 TRIAS, JORDI 18:15 1 0/3   1/4 2 2 4 3 1 2       5 6
9 MARCONATO, DENIS 28:30 4 1/5 0/1 2/2   2 2 2     1   3 1 2
10 LAKOVIC, JAKA 25:15 13 1/1 3/6 2/2   1 1 6 1 3     1 5 19
12 MONCASI, ALBERT DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
14 DE LA FUENTE, RODRIGO 17:15 4 2/3     1 1 2 1 1     1 1 1 6
17 VAZQUEZ, FRAN 24:30 17 8/10   1/2 2 3 5 2   1 3   4 2 21
20 KAKIOUZIS, MICHAILIS 19:30 7 2/3 1/1     1 1           2 1 6
21 UKIC, ROKO 16:15 9 2/4 1/2 2/4 1   1 2 1 2       3 9
44 GRIMAU, ROGER 15:45 2 1/4       3 3     1     1    
Team                     1         -1
Totals 200:00 69 20/37 7/16 8/14 6 15 21 19 5 13 4 1 15 19 76
54.1% 43.8% 57.1%
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

ORS, AYDIN
Fenerbahce Ulker
"It's really feels good to keep winning and trying to make our goal of reaching Top 16. I'm really honored to see my team beating one of the traditional teams of Euroleague with the way they played, especially defensively in the second half. We didn't give up the fight even when we were 11 points behind them. Everybody on the team was willing to win and it's also a good sign to show the real capacity of our team. We knew that we could beat any team and it's really good to show that. I hope that we play in the same atmosphere, with the great support from our fans, against Eldo Napoli next week. I hope to win this game as that's the only way to the Top 16."
IVANOVIC, DUSKO
Winterthur FC Barcelona
"It has been a game of two different faces for our team, as always happens. The first half, we played very good. But in third quarter, despite starting good, we saw Fenerbahce Ulker start playing very aggressive defense and that was what we weren't able to answer. The big game of Willie Solomon was the key. When Fenerbahce Ulker took the lead, we were demoralized and we lost the self-confidence that we needed to turn the game around. The Euroleague is the kind of very tough league where any team can beat another. That's what happened to us tonight."

Players

KAMBALA, KASPARS
Fenerbahce Ulker
"We played a really good game. We stayed in the game even when we were down by ten. Now we are starting to play tough defense and that's the main thing to win these kinds of matches. We learned how to play together and won this one, so we will try to go further by beating Eldo Napoli, too."
KUTLUAY, IBRAHIM
Fenerbahce Ulker
"I can easily say that we played really good. We challenged really well in the third and the last quarter. That was the key to the win for us. But as important as the win was our will to win and the quality of our game. If we have the same standard in the next games, we can do something more. It's really good to see our team sharing the ball, fighting to win and playing together. I hope we do the same against Eldo Napoli next week and made another step toward the Top 16."
VAZQUEZ, FRAN
Winterthur FC Barcelona
"We played really good in the first and the second quarter. But in the third quarter everything changed suddenly. Fenerbahce Ulker started to play very tough defense and we couldn't answer the same way. We got nervous after we fell behind them. And in the last quarter, Willie Solomon did a really good job for Fenerbahce. We weren't able to stop him and lost the game."
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