Euro Trip: #7
Daniele Vecchi’s final Euroleague ranking.
10- ZALGIRIS KAUNAS (LITHUANIA)
Right now Zalgiris Kaunas is a serious challenger for the Top16, taking advantage of their first road win in all the Tournament last night in Poland against Prokom Trefl Sopot. Right now the team of President Arvydas Sabonis is tied with Olympiacos at the third place of Group A
9- EFES PILSEN ISTANBUL (TURKEY)
Third consecutive win for Efes Pilsen, last night in Milan, over an Armani Jeans always in trouble. The Blues edged the Red Shoes 76-73, and despite the final score, they were in control all the game. Efes is continuing to improve, game after game.
8- LOTTOMATICA ROME (ITALY)
Last week Panathinaikos, this week Real Madrid, Lottomatica Rome is the only team who defeated both the most powerful teams in the entire Euroleague. A lot of injuries and a short rotation, but the Roman Centurions have a big big heart.
7- OLYMPIACOS PIRAEUS (GREECE)
An easy win for Olympiacos, abusing Union Olimpija at the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus, 113-80, no way for the slovenians. The key word for Olympiacos is “continuity”. They’re strong, they’re talented, they’re well coached. Just need continuity.
6- TAU CERAMICA VITORIA (SPAIN)
Dominating this week in Bologna over the poor Vidivici Bologna (without Dewarick Spencer and the fresh-waived Delonte Holland, and with Travis Best who cannot play in the Euroleague), Tau Ceramica grab a good win in Italy, reaching Montepaschi Siena at the second place of Group A.
5- UNICAJA MALAGA (SPAIN)
Sergio Scariolo and his Unicaja continue their silent and strong Tournament, still at the top of Group B tied with the surprising Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius. This week Unicaja Malaga defeated 76-62 Cibona Zagreb in Croatia.
4- AXA FC BARCELONA (SPAIN)
A strong 85-80 win in Istanbul over Fenerbahce Ulker for Barcelona. The Blaugrana with this W (the fifth in a row) confirm his second place in the Group C behind Panathinaikos and ahead the big rivals Real Madrid.
3- LIETUVOS RYTAS VILNIUS (LITHUANIA)
Right now, at the Week 9 of Euroleague, Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius is not just a surprise or an outsider, they are a great reality of the Group B. First place tied with Unicaja, with a big win over Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv, for the israeli the first loss at their Yad Eliyahu Nokia Arena.
2- PANATHINAIKOS ATHENS (GREECE)
A kind of vacation for the Greens in Germany last night, where they easily edged 72-58 the Brose Baskets Bamberg. A Good game of Jasikevicius (21 points) and a minimum effort of the others to get the win, enough for mantain the first place in Group C.
1- CSKA MOSKOW (RUSSIA)
An impressive second half (Cska was down 33-43 at the halftime) to get this great 69-66 win in Siena, over an healthy (and still undefeated in the Italian League) Montepaschi. This is Ettore Messina’s Cska, an amazing, cynical and unmerciful basket machine.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
TIAGO SPLITTER (TAU CERAMICA VITORIA)
The basque center had 25 points, 10/14 from the field, 12 rebounds and 6 steals in the Tau’s road win over Vidivici Bologna. The italian defense suffered dramatically the game in the paint of the young spanish prospect. Tiago Splitter is the Euroleague Week 9 MVP.
NIKOLA PEKOVIC (PARTIZAN IGOKEA BELGRADE)
26 points, 11/18 from the field, 16 boards, 4 steals, 4 assists, 4 blocks in the 82-76 home win of Partizan Igokea Belgrade over Chorale Roanne. A powerful performance against a physical team like Chorale Roanne.
CHUCK EIDSON (LIETUVOS RYTAS VILNIUS)
The University of South Carolina’s product was the main man in the Lietuvos Rytas win in Israel last night, 28 points, 11/20 from the field, and a crushing in-between game. Hollis Price made the clutch basket, but Chuck Eidson made the rest.
DANIELE VECCHI
29 Responses to “Euro Trip: #7”
Dec.21 at 12:43 pm
slash says:
wow, roman centurions… cool.
Dec.21 at 1:40 pm
jonas says:
I think euroball is overrated.
ANY european team can compete with 80% of NBA teams. Maybe cska can compete with some team, but any of them can be stronger than the NBA organizations.
Dec.21 at 1:50 pm
linton townes says:
Cska play D, and that’s it.
Dec.21 at 1:54 pm
Amauri says:
can I watch some games on euroleague.tv? Is it like nba.tv?
Dec.21 at 1:58 pm
minda88 says:
can’t you see Lithuanians are basketball-minded? We have the ball in our DNA. Let’s go Lietuvos!
Dec.21 at 2:15 pm
manu chao says:
BARCELONA!ARIZONA! EH! EH!
Dec.21 at 2:53 pm
max says:
Virtus Bologne is so sick.
do they need Ginobili back?
Dec.21 at 3:13 pm
Pul77 says:
eh eh I don’t think Manu will be back….
Dec.21 at 3:29 pm
russianrocket says:
WE are Euroleague!
Dec.21 at 5:09 pm
oven says:
rumors about Belinelli come back in Italy, to Montepaschi Siena.
Dec.21 at 5:22 pm
Daniele Vecchi says:
They need a tough and clutch player, but Ginobili… wow, I think it’s impossible.
Dec.21 at 5:43 pm
Polamalu says:
Merry Christmas to all the Euroleague!
Dec.21 at 6:07 pm
Andy J. says:
tryin to figure out the euroleague website, but the .tv doesn’t work…. we have to pay?
Dec.21 at 7:00 pm
shiny says:
Merry Christmas Europe!!!!!! a big hugh to all the european ballers!
Dec.21 at 7:44 pm
anthony says:
bravo Daniele, continua così, i tuoi articoli sono molto belli.
Dec.22 at 6:51 am
xrays says:
what about France in euroball
Dec.22 at 9:56 am
mox79 says:
why my comment always desappear?!?!? LET’S GO OLYMPIACOS
Dec.22 at 11:33 am
el pueblo says:
spanish basket is right now the best in Europe. You can see that, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Tau and Unicaja are the best teams in each group, I’m a Badalona fan, but I admit these teams are better than Juventud and also of the most of Euroleague. Pablo
Dec.22 at 1:45 pm
Daniele Vecchi says:
basketball of Espana is the higher level of Europe, but some other good teams, obviously Panathinaikos and Cska, and also Montepaschi and (sometimes) Olympiacos, could win (or dominate) the 2008 Euroleague.
Dec.22 at 1:47 pm
JD says:
Merry Christmas to all you european ballers!
Dec.22 at 2:17 pm
milos says:
no way about it. spain is good, but panathinaikos is THE BEST team in Europe.
Dec.22 at 4:26 pm
AUGUSTUS says:
MILLE CENTURIONI ROMANI CON A CAPO CESARE! ROMA CAPUT MUNDI! cheers from Rome
Dec.24 at 7:15 am
clemson says:
Montepaschi’s McIntyre is the man. He’s Orange and proud
Dec.26 at 12:54 pm
ciolkstar says:
Tiago splitter will be in a san Antonio Spurs uni soon enough.
Dec.26 at 1:48 pm
max says:
Tiago Splitter is amazing
Dec.28 at 2:01 am
retroking says:
I seriously think that Unicaja will be slated in Vilnius by Rytas. It’s pity that this team all the time has to go through ULEB cup to get a spot in Euroleague. I think they should expand Euroleague and add to more qualifying groups in regular season, more games more play, more money. Hapoel, Rytas, Khimki or Dynamo Moscow should also have a place in Euroleague. I think Euroleague is mature enough to reform into a year long NBA-like top European competition with few division and big playoffs
Dec.28 at 1:22 pm
Daniele Vecchi says:
I completely agree with you Retroking, Euroleague must look forward to ALL the real good teams in Europe, to make a strong big european league, more groups and more games, you got it, man.
Dec.28 at 1:26 pm
max says:
an Euroleague with more teams and more games, it could be an idea, but all the national Federations would not leave their teams to expose too much in Europe, ignoring all the national leagues… it would be a political battle.
Jan.4 at 9:38 pm
fiba says:
we are basketball