February 08, 2012
Regular Season Week 8 in review
Nikola Vujcic - OlympiacosSix more teams punched their tickets to the Top 16 in an active an exciting Week 8 that featured blowouts and overtime thrillers, four road winners and one historic milestone. In all 10 teams have secured their place in the next stage and the remaining six could go down to the last minutes of Week 10. The only group where all four spots have been settled in Group A after Unicaja eliminated Air Avellino 72-68. Marcus Hailsip led the way with 17 points as Unicaja survived a stern test from Avellino. Olympiacos crushed Cibona 93-64 as Nikola Vujcic scored his 2,000th career point in the Euroleague, joining a select group of basketball stars. Maccabi Electra ran over Le Mans 73-87 as Carlos Arroyo, Lior Eliyahu and Omri Casspi shared the spotlight with 19 points apiece. Olympiacos and Unicaja lead the group at 6-2, but Maccabi and Cibona are only one win behind. That foursome will all play in the Top 16, but the order among them is still a question. And in the next game after the winter break, Unicaja visits Cibona and Maccabi hosts Olympiacos. A great surprise was registered in Group B when Regal FC Barcelona blasted Montepaschi 87-61. The shock was not necessarily in the result as much as in the fashion. Barca led 25-3 after 10 minutes as it coasted to victory and first place in the group at 7-1. Meanwhile Panathinaikos cruised past SLUC Nancy 83-69 as Stratos Perperoglou registered career highs of 16 points and 8 rebounds. The Greens advanced to the Top 16 and matched Montepaschi for second place at 6-2 with a head-to-head clash in Siena looming after the break. Zalgiris zapped Asseco Prokom 79-68 for its first win to set up an exiting battle for fourth place in the group. A tie remains for first place as the two co-leaders in Group C both won and moved into the next stage. Tau Ceramica topped Alba Berlin 68-73 to become the first team to beat the German champs at the o2 World arena – home of this season’s Euroleague Basketball Final Four. League-leading scorer Igor Rakocevic netted 24 – including 3 clutch free throws that helped decide the game. Lottomatica Roma edged Union Olimpija 74-69 in overtime behind a monster game from Sani Becirovic that included 23 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and several key points in the extra period. Wednesday’s lone Group C encounter was in Istanbul, where Fenerbahce Ulker routed DKV Joventut 89-63. The reserves for FB Ulker combined for 51 points. In Group D, there was a rare result in the Russian capital, where Real Madrid defeated CSKA Moscow 78-82 behind a strong effort from Felipe Reyes. It was just CSKA’s second loss at home in the last two years. Reyes paced the winners with 19 points. CSKA is the only team in the group to have already advanced and the other results didn’t settle much as one win separates four teams for third place. On Wednesday Armani Jeans Milano bested Partizan Belgrade 73-59 and 24 hours later Efes Pilsen beat Panionios On Telecoms 64-78 in Istanbul. Partizan, Milano and Panionios are all tied for fourth place at 3-5 – one win behind Efes. And the drama there will continue after the break with more tense-head-head duels on tap.

Olympiacos put on a basketball clinic as it crushed Cibona Zagreb 93-64 in a battle for a share of the Group A lead. The Reds outrebounded Cibona 35-23 and dished 25 assists to the visitors’ 6 as they improved to 6-2. Center Nikola Vujcic was the star of the show with an impressive performance that included 12 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocked shots. Moreover, Vujcic entered the history books late in the second period when he scored his 2,000th career Euroleague points, joining a shortlist of legends that includes Marcus Brown, Luis Scola, J.R. Holden and Jaka Lakovic.

Unicaja outlasted Air Avellino 72-68 to advance to the Top 16. Unicaja decided the game with its lock down defense in the last five minutes of the game. Marcus Haislip led the winners with 17 points, including 4 in a row late that broke Avellino's back. Carlos Cabezas shined with 15 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds in just 18 minutes for the winners.

Lior Eliyahu - Maccabi ElectraThe tandem of Carlos Arroyo and Lior Eliyahu led Maccabi's attack en route to a 73-87 win at Le Mans. It was Maccabi’s third straight win and second on the road. Arroyo scored 19 and dished 7 assists, Eliyahu recorded 19 points and 10 rebounds and Omri Casspi added 19 as well. Eliyahu produced his third consecutive double-double after having just three in his previous 45 Euroleague appearances. He is averaging 20.3 points on 66.7% two-point shooting, 12.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the last three games.

Regal FC Barcelona took a big step towards winning Group B and becoming a top-seeded team in the Top 16 Draw by downing Montepaschi Siena 87-61. Barca scored the first 15 points of the game and led 25-3 at the end of the first period, establishing a new Euroleague Basketball defensive record for fewest points allowed in the first period of a game. That would be too much for Montepaschi to come back from as the hosts cruised to victory. Juan Carlos Navarro paced the winners with 17 points. Gianluca Basile and David Andersen also scored in double figures as they played their 166th Euroleague game, overtaking former Barca player Denis Marconato for the most games played this decade.

Panathinaikos bounced back from a rare home loss by thrashing SLUC Nancy 83-69 to clinch a berth in the Top 16. Stratos Perperoglou led Panathinaikos with 16 points and 8 rebounds – both Euroleague career highs. It was the Greens’ 12th straight victory over a French opponent since losing to Cholet Basket in February 2000. Panathinaikos went on to win the Euroleague that season.

Loren Woods - ZalgirisZalgirus Kaunas picked up its first win of the season in style by dominating Asseco Prokom Sopot 79-68. The Lithuanian champs ended an 11-game losing streak dating back to last season and fueled their Top 16 hopes by taking the potential tiebreaker from Prokom. The keys to victory for Zalgiris were an all-around game that included excellent three-point shooting (11 for 20) and excellent interior defense (11 blocked shots). Paulius Jankunas paced Zalgiris offensively with a Euroleague career-high 23 points, while Loren Woods was the star on the defensive end with 14 rebounds and 7 blocked shots. His blocks tie him for the third most ever in a Euroleague game with two other former Zalgiris players – Grygorii Khizhniak and Darjus Lavrinovic. In fact, After Stoyko Vrankovic, who holds the single-game record with 10 blocks, the next four spots on the list belong to former or current Zalgiris players.

Tau Ceramica finished strong to clinch a Top 16 berth and remain tied atop of Group C with a 68-73 win at Alba Berlin. Tau used a 8-2 final spurt to hand Berlin its first loss at the o2 World arena – the site of the 2009 Euroleague Basketball Final Four. The hosts’ defense did the job, holding the best attack in the league to a season low, but couldn’t handle Tau down the stretch. League-leading scorer Igor Rakocevic led Tau with 24 points and Tiago Splitter added 15 points and 8 rebounds.

Lottomatica Roma advanced to the Top 16 by downing Union Olimpija 74-69 in overtime in the Italian capital. Sani Becirovic paced the winners with 23 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and several key points in the extra period. Saso Ozbolt free throws with 2 seconds remaining forced overtime, but the Slovenian champs were unable to give new head coach Jure Zdovc a win in his debut. Ozbolt finished 9 for 9 from the line and is perfect from the charity stripe in 22 tries this season.

Fenerbahce Ulker bounced back from a three-game losing streak to smash visiting DKV Joventut 89-63 in Istanbul. Devin Smith came off the bench to harass the guests with his athleticism on both ends of the floor, leading Fenerbahce with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. Emir Preldzic scored 8 of his 14 points in the first period and matched Smith with 8 rebounds to help the hosts outrebound Joventut by 38-27. It was the Turkish champs’ biggest Euroleague win since smashing Partizan 100-64 in January 2006. Omer Onan and Oguz Savas are the only FB Ulker players to have played in both games.

Real Madrid sent a message that echoed all around the continent by downing CSKA Moscow 78-82 in Group D in front of a sellout crowd at Universal Sports Hall in the Russian capital that included the Prime Minister of Russia, Vladimir Putin. Felipe Reyes paced the winners with 19 points and 11 fouls drawn. Madrid used a 0-10 fourth-quarter run that Reyes capped with a floating jumper to get a 67-69 edge with four minutes to go and Louis Bullock took over with back-to-back three-pointers in the final two minutes to seal the outcome. The loss marked CSKA second defeat at home in the past three seasons.

Bootsy Thornton - Efes PilsenEfes Pilsen grabbed sole possession of third place in hotly contested Group D with a 64-78 road win at Panionios On Telecoms. Efes dominated early, outscoring Panionios 11-25 in the first quarter to establish a comfortable lead that would serve it the rest of the way. Bootsy Thornton led Efes with a season-high 18 points, going over 1,000 for his Euroleague career in the process. Kerem Gonlum added a season-best 17 off the bench. Miroslav Raicevic led Panionios with a career-high 22 points.

Armani Jeans Milano remained alive in the race for the Top 16 with a 73-59 victory over Partizan Belgrade. Milano held Partizan to just 6 points in the third quarter and the visitors never rallied again. Luca Vitali and Jobey Thomas scored 14 points each for the winners, while Mindaugas Katelynas chipped in 10 points and 9 rebounds – both season highs. Milano also outrebounded Partizan 42-29.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Euroleague.net
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