Euro Trip: #9
Danielle Vecchi has Lietuvos Rytas Vilinius in the top spot of his Euroleague Top 10.
10-FENERBAHCE ULKER ISTANBUL (TURKEY)
The turkish are closed to the Top16 with this key win past the french champions Chorale Roanne. Right now the Boscia Tanjevic’s yellow-blues need one more victory to secure the next Euroleague stage. Next week they will face Brose Baskets Bamberg, theoretically an easy game.
9-MONTEPASCHI SIENA (ITALY)
Without two key players like Lavrinovic and Kaukenas, Montepaschi Siena roll over Tau Ceramica Vitoria, with a strong team win. All the starting five scored in double figures. All the italians are crazy for this winning machine, still undefeated in the Italian League (18-0).
8-OLYMPIACOS PIRAEUS (GREECE)
“Continuity” is the word, in Piraeus. That’s what Pinhas Gershon was looking for his team. Olympiacos edged the strongest Euroleague team of last month, Cska Moskow, a healthy 71-67 win who put the greeks at second place of Group A, tied with other four teams.
7-MACCABI ELITE TEL AVIV (ISRAEL)
Maccabi in the Top16. Despite the Bynum’s troubles with justice (arrested last week in alleged hit and run), last night Maccabi at Yad Eliyahu had a strong win on Unicaja Malaga, one of the real contenders of Final Four. And now Maccabi seems to be the same.
6-ZALGIRIS KAUNAS (LITHUANIA)
Fifth consecutive win for the Green lithuanians,week after week big steps to the Top16. Zalgiris Kaunas won in Slovenia over Union Olimpija Ljublijana, with a solid team performance and with a great (as usual) Marcus Brown.
5-AXA FC BARCELONA (SPAIN)
They could win. They were at their own Palau, and they’ve been closed to beat Pana. Grimau missed a free throw on 55-56 with 8 seconds left, Basile grabbed rebound and tried a three pointer off balanced. No basket. Panathinaikos won, but Barcelona fought ’til last second.
4-REAL MADRID (SPAIN)
Le Merengues reach the big rivals Barcelona at second place of Group C, behind Panathinaikos. Real Madrid won in Serbia, edging Partizan Igokea on the tough Pionir field, in Belgrade. A strong game in the paint from Reyes and Papadopoulos secure the W for the Plaza’s spanish.
3-CSKA MOSKOW (RUSSIA)
Fighting and trying to win ’til the end, a loss in Piraeus could happens, also for Cska Moskow. Olympiacos had a great night, and the russians done their best. Cska has to learn about this kind of losses, and Messina knows it very well.
2-PANATHINAIKOS ATHENS (GREECE)
The first team to reach ten wins in the Euroleague, Panathinaikos grab a tough win at Palau Blaugrana in Catalunya, over Axa Fc Barcelona. A 55-56 tight victory with big defense and character, the classic Obradovic trade-mark.
1-LIETUVOS RYTAS VILNIUS (LITHUANIA)
Amazing Lietuvos, that’s all we have to say about this team. Rallying from 54-64 with four minutes in the fourth quarter in Thessaloniki, the lithuanians posted a 18-5 partial in the crunch time, winning 72-69 the game over Aris TT Bank, beeing once again the Group B leaders.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
CHRIS WARREN (CIBONA ZAGREB)
Chris Warren is hot. After the last week performance (29 points), this week Warren drove Cibona to a big win in Milan over Armani Jeans. 27 points (9/16 from the field) and 10 rebounds for the former University of South Carolina.
KOSTAS TSARTSARIS (PANATHINAIKOS)
In a game with 111 total points, the guy who scores 20 points is the man. Always dangerous from the arc and in the paint, Tsartsaris scored 20 points with 8 rebounds and with 5/9 from the three points line. Panathinaikos has a strong and deep bench.
LOREN WOODS (EFES PILSEN)
A powerful doble-double for the former Wake Forest and Arizona, 16 points (4/6 from the field and 8/10 free throws) and 18 rebounds (10 offensive) in the last night Efes Pilsen Istanbul win. Loren Woods is the Euroleague Week 11 MVP.
DANIELE VECCHI
43 Responses to “Euro Trip: #9”
Jan.11 at 1:28 pm
max says:
yes daniel lietuvos rulez! Good piece
Jan.11 at 2:39 pm
sugar ray says:
Lietuvos is the former team of Kareem Rush, right?
Jan.11 at 2:54 pm
Daniele Vecchi says:
I think Lietuvos can reach the Final Four
Jan.11 at 3:03 pm
rodrigo says:
what about Unicaja?? record 8-3 c’mon
Jan.11 at 3:28 pm
lukk says:
the europeans basketball knowledge is overrated. They have to learn about America, and that’s it. Some good players are in NBA, but it’s not enough.
Jan.11 at 3:30 pm
kostas says:
playing with us always dangerous… panatha mou se agapo. PAO in the heart
Jan.11 at 3:41 pm
Matt Caputo says:
Daniele Vecchi is a true expert on the euro game.
Jan.11 at 4:40 pm
retroking says:
One point to note. Many current grates of Lithuanian Basketball… like Kaukenas, Macijauskas, Jasikevicius and Siskauskas have played in Lietuvos Rytas. I just wonder what will happen to Lietuvos Rytas the next season? Will it be the old story of the best players being sold to other teams and Rytas starting all from new again? Fighting it’s way up through ULEB finals and reentering Euroleague in 2009/2010 season and so on? Would be a sad story
Jan.11 at 5:27 pm
Daniele Vecchi says:
Lietuvos seems to be a strong organization with a qualified front office, they’ve made such a great team with no superstars and with a young coach. I don’t think it’s all about “best players”, just because the team effort is the real strength of Lietuvos. They have a strong chemistry, and in the crunch time they play the game as a TEAM. All around the world we see best players go to best teams, but Lietuvos is beyond that, they’re a TEAM.
Jan.11 at 6:23 pm
retroking says:
You are right about that. I love to watch this team defending,they don’t look that athletic, but maybe they are, cause they always manage to turn off the other teams. It seems that nobody knows how to play them. Although I have to say I am less impressed with their attacking skills. They hesitate a lot. I mean I watched them in Malaga, and in my opinion that is why they lost to Unicaja. On the other hand I think Unicaja is another great example of a TEAM play. And CASK is probably the strongest all round team… attack defense as well as individual star performances
Jan.11 at 6:27 pm
ratko says:
don’t forget Zalgiris Kaunas…
Jan.11 at 6:31 pm
retroking says:
Daniele, would be interesting if you could do some kind of special on the Top- 10 Euro Arenas, Top-10 coaches and Top- 10 on Supporters
Jan.11 at 6:33 pm
emanuelle says:
I’m from Malaga and I hope Unicaja will compete til the end for the Final Four in Spain!
Jan.11 at 6:35 pm
Daniele Vecchi says:
it would be great! I like the idea of Top 10 supporters…
Jan.11 at 6:48 pm
retroking says:
right?
Let me guess, Partizan fans would not be too happy about what can be said about them
Jan.11 at 6:57 pm
mula says:
if you talk about top10supporters, you know who’s number one…… GATE13
Jan.11 at 7:18 pm
Daniele Vecchi says:
I like all the fans who have FAITH in their colours, and I think Partizan fans have FAITH. I like the sound of Pionir, I like their chants, and I like a lot of greek, turkish, croatian and slovenian fans. Also in Italy, Spain, Lithuania and the other countries of the basketball european map there’s cool and hot fans, but a little bit less.
Jan.11 at 7:36 pm
pablo pueblo says:
DRAGS BARCELONA ARE THE BEST IN EUROPE
Jan.11 at 7:48 pm
rust78 says:
would like to read something about turkish basketball
Jan.11 at 7:56 pm
vladivoj says:
cska moskow is under pressure!
Jan.11 at 8:17 pm
max says:
when we’ll see the SUPPORTERS TOP 10? I disagree with you said spanish fans are not so hot. We got sangue caliente and we can be very faithful in our colors.
Jan.11 at 8:27 pm
panaiotis says:
Turkey don’t mess with Greece. Let’s go Olympiacos
Jan.12 at 2:15 am
FIBA says:
WE ARE BASKETBALL
Jan.12 at 2:22 am
shanty says:
alot of top ten would be cool
Jan.12 at 2:25 am
verizzon99 says:
daniele are you talking about hooligans, saying “faith for the colours”? it looks like
Jan.12 at 8:16 am
freak1313 says:
WE SAY: In’ ena horto magiko, dhoste mou ligho ghia na pio, ton PAO mou na onirefto ke na fonaks’ os to Theo: Panatha mou, se agapo, san heroini, sa skliro narcotico, san to hashish, to lsd, ghia/me sena PAO mastouroni ol’ i ghi, ol’ i ghi. Panatha mou, Panatha mou, se agapo, se agapo, opou ki an pezis panda tha s’ akoloutho, s’ akoloutho, PAO edho, PAO edho, PAO eki, PAO eki, opou ki an pezis panda tha ‘maste mazi, panda mazi. ANYONE LIKE US
Jan.12 at 8:30 am
just say mo? says:
Max the faithful meter is to go on trip with your team, to do hundred of kilometers to see and support you team, and few spanish fans do that. You have to admit that. Greeks and turks and serbians and croatians do it. I live in USA but I’m greek, and I really can see the faithful of our part-of-Europe people. Cheers
Jan.12 at 8:37 am
michael says:
olowokandi played in italy??? when?
Jan.12 at 8:46 am
sweet lou B. says:
spanish have sangue caliente but balkans fans have a big fire inside
Jan.12 at 8:51 am
Daniele Vecchi says:
Rodrigo, this is a weekly Top Ten, and Unicaja had a bad loss in Tel Aviv. They have a positive record, but this week they’re out. Respect to Sergio Scariolo.
Jan.12 at 8:57 am
rodrigo says:
yes all right. But Unicaja Malaga is one of best ten teams in Europe.
Jan.12 at 8:58 am
slobo says:
look at Partizani fans http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7Vlha0J0is
Jan.12 at 9:16 am
Wally Bryant says:
euroball is the future of NBA.
Jan.12 at 12:25 pm
gur says:
Maccabi can play Final Four in Madrid, and can win. Young group experienced coach winning attitude
Jan.12 at 3:37 pm
Daniele Vecchi says:
verizon99, hooliganism is a different thing. Olowokandi played some games with Ettore Messina at Virtus Bologna in the NBA lock out season, 1999. Nothing special.
Jan.12 at 3:44 pm
Daniele Vecchi says:
and I totally agree with Just Say Mo about the faithful and the attitude of the balkan fans (and greek and turkish). I like them.
Jan.12 at 3:51 pm
max says:
hey freak1313, I know that song, is the chant of Panathinaikos. Cool.
Jan.12 at 4:39 pm
Fossa says:
on tuesday Fortitudo played in Uleb Cup in Oostende, Belgium. Oscar Torres hitted a buzzer beater for the win, ON TIME, but refs told it wasn’t good. They stolen us the victory. Fortitudo made an official protest to the Uleb. Salutate la FORTITUDO!!! We are the proud of Bologna in Europe
Jan.12 at 7:19 pm
freak1313 says:
yes HORTO MAGIKO
Jan.12 at 7:56 pm
melvin says:
area-Fiba players are tough players. they have fundamentals and they’re smart, but they love too much the flop.
Jan.14 at 1:56 pm
max says:
partizani fans are cool
Jan.14 at 4:27 pm
daveano says:
partizan are the ultimate fans in Europe. Red Star not in our house
Jan.14 at 4:59 pm
Daniele Vecchi says:
Pionir is noisy. Great.