Week 10 review: Panathinaikos, CSKA, Barcelona, Unicaja, L.Rytas in the Top 16!
|
The first week of Euroleague games in 2008 brought the first teams to qualify for the Top 16 with four games to go in the regular season, as well as an impressing milestone from a well-rounded rebounding machine. CSKA Moscow, AXA FC Barcelona, Unicaja, Lietuvos Rytas and Panathinaikos already made it to the next round in all three groups. CSKA overcame a slow start to down Union Olimpija 74-57 behind 25 points and 8 rebounds from David Andersen. Just as usual, CSKA improved its defense after the break and managed to seal the outcome long before the final buzzer to get its 22nd consecutive Euroleague home win at the Universal Sports Hall, also taking revenge from its buzzer-beating road loss against Olimpija earlier this season. Meanwhile, Panathinaikos held off a wild Partizan Igokea rally to register a 67-66 home win and advance to the Top 16. Sarunas Jasikevicius paced the winners with 17 points and despite being outrebounded by 23-46, the Greens managed to get an important win. AXA FC Barcelona survived a tough test and made it to the next round by downing Chorale Roanne 79-89 on the road behind 17 points and 13 rebounds from Jordi Trias. Last but not least, Unicaja thrashed Armani Jeans Milano in Malaga, Spain, to move up to 8-2 in competitive Group B and reach the next round. Berni Rodriguez led the way for Unicaja with 16 points, as the hosts used a 13-0 run in the third quarter to break the game open. Lietuvos Rytas also joined the Top 16 in Group B by simply overwhelming Le Mans 85-50 in Vilnius behind 20 points from Matt Nielsen. L. Rytas led 48-26 at halftime and never looked back. Elsewhere in Roma, Mirsad Turkcan of Fenerbahce Ulker became the first player to surpass the 1,000-rebound barrier in Euroleague history by pulling 13 in his team's impressing 63-84 road win against Lottomatica in Group C. Will Solomon led Fener with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Also in Group C, Real Madrid is all but mathematically into the Top 16 by thrashing Brose Baskets 93-57 in the Spanish capital on Thursday. Madrid fired in 17 three-pointers, just one shy of the all-time record. It belongs to Lottomatica Roma, that buried 18 three-pointers in a 106-100 road win against Pau-Orthez on December 18, 2003. Louis Bullock sank 6-for-7 triples o his way to 20 points. Meanwhile, Maccabi Elite sent a message that echoed all around Group B by thrashing Efes Pilsen 68-83 in Istanbul. Terence Morris led Maccabi with a huge double-double of 16 points and 19 rebounds. Scoonie Penn led Efes with a Euroleague career-high 30 points and 6 assists. Also in Group B, Aris TT Bank took a crucial step forwards to reach the Top 16 by edging Cibona 76-83 on Thursday behind 20 points on 8-for-12 two-pointers from Jeremiah Massey. Zalgiris took another step forwards to make it to the next round in Group A by edging mighty Montepaschi Siena 75-69 in Kaunas. Marko Popovic led the winners with 15 points off the bench. Another team that is about to clinch a Top 16 spot in Tau Ceramica, that simply overwhelmed Prokom Trefl Sopot 98-74. Will McDonald led 5 Tau players in double digits with 19 points. Tau needs to win another game or wait for Union Olimpija to lose to reach the Top 16. Olympiacos improved to 6-4 by downing Virtus VidiVici 80-91 in Bologna on Thursday. A recovered Lynn Greer led the Reds with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists.
Andersen led CSKA to a big 74-57 home win against Union Olimpija with 25 points and 8 rebounds, as CSKA got full control of the game in the second quarter and never looked back. Trajan Langdon added 10 points and 7 rebounds for CSKA. Maurice Bailey had 15 points for Olimpija, that missed injured star guard Goran Dargic. Marko Milic added 12 for the guests.
Partizan rallied from a 14-point deficit in the final 7 minutes but it was not enough to beat Panathinaikos in Athens. Jasikevicius had 17 points for the Greens but nobody else scored in double digits for Panathinaikos. Dusan Kecman had 22 points for Partizan while Nikola Pekovic added 15 and 13 rebounds. Partizan had the game's final possession, but Pekovic missed an alleyoop layup.
 Unicaja downed AJ Milano 89-70 to make it to the next round. Rodriguez had 16 points for Unicaja but Jiri Welsch was the man of the game, as he had 14 points and helped Unicaja to hold Danilo Gallinari scoreless. A 13-0 run in the third quarter broke the game open. Carlos Cabezas had 12 points and 7 assists for Unicaja while Dusan Vukcevic had 19 points for Milano.
AXA FC Barcelona used team effort to down Chorale Roanne 79-89 on the road and mathematically make it to the Top 16. Jaka Lakovic had 19 points to lead 6 Barcelona players in double digits but Trias was equally important with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Mario Kasun showed his power with 14 points and 8 rebounds. Marc Salyers led Roanne with a monster double-double of 30 points and 11 rebounds.
Lietuvos Rytas stormed into the Top 16 by overwhelming Le Mans 85-50. L. Rytas improved to 8-2 and keeps fighting for the top spot in this group with Unicaja and Maccabi Elite. Nielsen led the winners with 20 points, Marijonas Petravicius stayed solid with 14 points and 7 rebounds while Chuck Eidson and Mindaugas Lukauskis each had 11 points in an easy home win for L. Rytas.
Mirsad Turkcan became the first player to grab 1,000 rebounds in Euroleague Basketball and entered the competition's history books again. Turkcan, the 2003 Euroleague MVP, had 13 rebounds to help Fenerbahce Ulker beat Lottomatica Roma 63-84 and get an important win. Fenerbahce now has a 2-0 record against Lottomatica in what could be a crucial factor in the Top 16 race.
Real Madrid is virtually into the Top 16 by thrashing Brose Baskets 94-57 at home. Madrid fired in 17 three-pointers, as Bullock paced the winners with 20 points. Madrid opened the game with a 15-0 run and never looked back. Axel Hervelle did not miss a shot on his way to 19 points, Alex Mumbru added 16 while Darren Fenn led Brose Baskets with 17 points.
Olympiacos moved within one win of reaching the Top 16 in Group A by beating Virtus Vidivici Bologna 80-91 on the road. Greer showed he is fully recovered with 23 points, Qyntel Woods added 17 while Marc Jackson posted a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Dewarick Spencer had 17 points for Virtus, that dropped to 2-8 and registered its fourth consecutive loss in Group A.
Tau Ceramica is all but mathematically into the Top 16 by downing Prokom Trefl Sopot 98-74 in Vitoria on Thursday. McDonald led the way for Tau with 19 points, Igor Rakocevic and newcomer Gabe Mouneke each added 16, Zoran Planinic had 15 and Mirza Teletovic 12 for an unstoppable Tau, that led 79-47 after 30 minutes and cruised to a well-deserved win.
Zalgiris is very close to lock a Top 16 spot for the first time since 2006 by beating Montepaschi Siena 75-69 at home. Popovic had 15 points off the Zalgiris bench while Paulius Jankunas replaced injured Michael Bradley in the starting lineup, scoring 13 points and pulling down 6 boards. Terrell McIntyre had 19 points for Montepaschi, that missed injured superstar Rimantas Kaukenas.
Maccabi Elite stays on the fight to win Group B by downing difficult Efes Pilsen 68-83 in Istanbul. Morris and Marcus Fizer each had 16 points for Maccabi, Will Bynum added 14 while Yotam Halperin had 12. In a night of rebounds records, Morris pulled down a All-Euroleague season-high 19 boards. Penn had 30 points for Efes, his career-best in 79 Euroleague games, but it was not enough for his team to win.
Aris TT Bank also got closer to reach the Top 16 in Group B by edging Cibona 76-83 in Zagreb. Massey paced the winners with 20 points on 8-for-12 two-point shooting and Dimitris Tsaldaris was the key factor for Aris with a Euroleague carrer-high 18 points on 4-for-4 three-pointers. Chris Warren led Cibona with 29 points while Larry Ayuso added 23.
|
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Euroleague.net
|