February 09, 2012
Regular Season Week 1 in review
Ksistof Lavrinovic - Montepaschi SienaMontepaschi Siena put on a defensive show for the ages, unveilings its new-look team as it smashed Cibona 40-85. At the Drazen Petrovic Basketball Center, an arena named for one of the greatest scorers in basketball history, Montepaschi limited Cibona to the fewest points ever scored by a home team in a Euroleague game, shattering the previous mark by 8 points. Montepaschi led by 11 at halftime, but blew the game open with an 8-32 third quarter. Overall Cibona was forced into 27 turnovers. Ksistof Lavrinovic led the winner with 26 points and 8 rebounds. He shot 4 for 5 from downtown, moving up three spots into third place on the Euroleague’s career three-point accuracy charts with a 47.83% success rate.

Zalgiris started the new season in style with an impressive 71-52 victory over Asvel Basket. The hosts had young and old, familiar faces and newcomers, working for them on this night as homegrown talent Mantas Kalnietis shined with 17 points, the Euroleague’s career leading scorer Marcus Brown added 16 and rookie Marty Pocius also scored 16 in his Euroleague debut. Pocius made himself a crowd favorite after sinking 3 three-pointers in five minutes after making his entrance in the first quarter to secure the leads that the home team protected well the rest of the game.

Regal FC Barcelona got everything it could have wanted and more from its newcomers in routing Fenerbahce Ulker 59-82, on the road in Istanbul, Turkey. After making the Final Four last season, Barca made some changes and after one game, they look to be right on target. Pete Mickeal paced the winners with a Euroleague career-high 26 points and just one shot missed. Ricky Rubio barely missed a double-double with 9 points and 9 assists in his first Euroleague game with Regal FCB on his 19th birthday. More than two-third of Barca’s points and more than half its rebounds and assists came from newcomers Mickael, Rubio, Erazem Lorbek, Terrence Morris and Boni NDong.

Olympiacos started the new season just as it hoped by pounding Entente Orleanaise 94-72 in the latter’s first Euroleague game. Linas Kleiza made a sparkling Euroleague debut with 23 points and 9 rebounds and head coach Panagiotis Giannakis made the most of his deep bench as 10 players played at least 14 minutes in the winning effort. Olympiacos dominated the glass 37-21 and shot 11 for 15 (73.3%) from the paint as every player scored. It was the Reds’ best offensive output since scoring 113 in a thrashing of Union Olimpija in December 2007.

Lietuvos Rytas made its return to the Euroleague a successful one with a 77-70 win over Efes Pilsen. A fantastic shooting effort from Martynas Gecevicius and brilliant playmaking from Bojan Popovic guided the hosts. Gecevicius practically doubled his previous career high with 21 points on 5-for-8 three-point shooting, while Popovic recorded his first career Euroleague double-double with 11 points, 10 assists and 3 steals. The duo proved irreplaceable to head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis to the point that Popovic played 40 minutes and Gecevicius more than 38. Also key to L. Rytas’s success was outrebounding Efes 35-23.

Georgios Printezis - UnicajaIn a thriller to open Group B for both teams, Unicaja rallied from 8 points behind in the fourth quarter to nail down a 64-72 road win over Partizan. Unicaja’s full-court press frustrated Partizan’s young lineup and Joel Freeland scored 13 of his game-high 19 points down the stretch to bring the victory. Georgios Printezis added 16 points on 8-for-8 shooting for the winners. Unicaja outscored Partizan 5-21 over the game's last six minutes, forcing a number of Partizan’s 24 turnovers during that period. Point guard Bo McCalebb, signed just a few days before the game, led Partizan with 15 points and 5 assists.

Maccabi Electra opened the 2009-10 Euroleague Regular Season in style by thrashing Union Olimpija Ljubljana 85-65 in the traditional Opening Game before a sold-out crowd of 11,000 at Tel Aviv's Nokia Arena. Alan Anderson led the attack with 25 points and a series of impressive slam and D'Or Fischer paced the defense with 5 blocks. The result marked the 12th year in a row in which Maccabi won its home opener.

Viktor Khryapa hit the first buzzer-beater of the season to lift CSKA Moscow over Maroussi Costa Coffee 65-66 in the latter’s Euroleague debut. Khryapa’s heroics capped an already thrilling final that featured three lead changes in the final 10.4 seconds. Billy Keys’s long three-pointer put Maroussi ahead 65-63, with 1.4 seconds to go, just enough time for Khryapa to steal the win. Trajan Langdon led the winners with 18 points, while Khryapa scored only 5, but added 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks. Langdon moved within 4 points of cracking the Euroleague’s career top 10 scoring list.

Lottomatica Roma started the season with a resounding home win over Caja Laboral 77-65. The trio of Kennedy Winston, Ibby Jaaber and Andre Hutson fueled a 21-3 third-quarter run that broke the game open and allowed the Romans to celebrate early. Jaaber and Winston paced the winners with 18 points apiece. The win marked the first time in three seasons that Roma has won on opening night. Roma’s defense also held Laboral to its lowest regular-season output since CSKA beat the team 70-62 in January 2008 in the midst of what proved to be a championship season.

Defending champion Panathinaikos fought off injuries, foul trouble and a stubborn Armani Jeans Milano for a 67-75 victory. The Greens outscored Milano 2-9 at a crucial stretch late in the fourth quarter to walk away with the win. Vassilis Spanoulis led the charge with 19 points and 5 assists and Nikola Pekovic scored 17 before fouling out. The victory marked the sixth year in a row in which Panathinaikos has won its Euroleague opener.

Carlos Cabezas - BC KhimkiBC Khimki Moscow Region registered a win in its Euroleague debut by edging Real Madrid 84-81 in overtime. The game featured several highlights and thrills, including a game-saving block by Paulius Jankunas on Novica Velickovic in the closing seconds of regulation. Carlos Cabezas paced the winners with 20 points, 15 of them in the fourth quarter and overtime. He was one of six Khimki scorers in double figures. Darjus Lavrinovic had a career performance for Madrid in a losing effort. Lavrinovic, playing in his first Euroleague game in over three years, dominated with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks, good for an outstanding 49 index ranking - the eighth highest ever in a Euroleague game.

EWE Baskets Oldenburg made its Euroleague debut a memorable one with a hard-fought 81-87 road win at Asseco Prokom. Rookie Josh Carter broke a 79-79 tie with a clutch triple with less than a minute-and-a-half remaining and Rickey Paulding sealed the win with an off-balance three-pointer with 24 seconds left to lift the German champs to victory. Despite missing its starting playmaker, not having a single player in uniform with any past Euroleague experience and facing an opponent with tons of experience, Oldenburg stayed calm when it mattered most to start its season in the best possible way.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Euroleague.net
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