FINAL FOUR Euroleague

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FINAL FOUR Euroleague

Postby iamamac on Mon Sep 14, 2009 11:05 am

Image EUROLEAGUE FINAL FOUR 2008


Image PANATHINAIKOS 83 - 80 Image REAL MADRID


Image

Mike Batiste of Panathinaikos (#8) on a fast break versus Real Madrid.



The Athenian basketball club Panathinaikos defeated the "Royal" basketball club Real Madrid after a dramatic game. Both teams were tactical, and aggressive both defensively and offensively. Mike Batiste of Panathinaikos and Louis Bullock of Real were exceptional. Batiste did not only score the most points, but also grabbed the most rebounds. Bullock was quick, aggressive and accurate, putting down 24 points for his team. Other considerable players in the game were Alex Mumbru, who grabbed 7 rebounds and hit a buzzer beater in the third quarter; Raul Lopez, who used his essential ball-handling skills to make 5 assists; Carl Smith and Felipe Reyes were also a big part of the Madrid team. For Panathinaikos, Sarunas Jasikevicius, who, despite 6 careless turnovers, earned 14 points for the team; Andrija Zizic showed an outstanding performance, making 10 points and grabbing 4 rebounds in just 18 minutes of action; Kostas Tsartsaris had similar results, but he grabbed 8 rebounds from under the basket. Some players were just out of luck; PAO's playmaker Vassilis Spanoulis had to miss the game because of slight back injury, which occurred two days prior to today's game. Both Pablo Aguilar and Blagota Sekulic missed today's game; they had family problems.

Panathinaikos started off the game with Mike Batiste's two-handed dunk. The Royal club had no answer for the first few minutes, so PAO's score grew (4-0). Finally, the Spanish club awoke and started off with Carl Smith's successful dunk with a foul (4-3). Real gained confidence after the Smith's three-point play and continued to rise above the opponents (6-7).

With 5 minutes left of the first quarter, Dimitris Diamantidis swished in a three-pointer that gained the lead for the greens (13-12), but it wasn't long before Louis Bullock overturned the lead, hitting an impossible 2-pointer. The Spanish team hung on to the lead, but it was very small. Towards the end of the first quarter, PAO's Kennedy Winston drove the ball in with a foul, taking the lead. Although Winston was unable to hit the free-throw, it was rebounded by Andrija Zizic and dunked in. The two opponents fought till the end of the quarter, with PAO taking the lead (22-18).

Second quarter turned out to be a tough quarter for the greens. Already from the beginning of the quarter the Royal club proved that it was not going to be defeated easily. After Lazaros Papadapoulos' two dunks and Raul Lopez's three-pointer, Panathinaikos' lead was reduced to a point (28-27). Bullock continued to attack from up close, Bodganovic - from farther distances, and the Royal club gained the lead, forcing Panathinaikos' head coach, Zeljko Obradovic, a minute's timeout (30-35).

The minute's timeout did not aid the drowning greens, as Royal club put much defensive pressure on them, forcing PAO's players to make careless turnovers. In the final minutes, Sarunas Jasikevicius finally stepped up to reduce PAO's deficit to only a point after a magnificent three-pointer and a lay-up (37-39).

After the halftime, both teams started off a little nervous, and for few minutes, no points were gained. Finally, green's Batiste made a shot from the paint, and tied the game. The two teams then played equally, taking no lead. The main points came from Diamantidis, Batiste, Tsartsaris, Smith, Bullock and Tunceri.

Towards the end of the third quarter, Batiste took advantage of the three-point play by hitting from free-throw line and drawing another foul (51-48). Real was shocked for a moment, and PAO began successfully gain points and increasing their spurt to a high 7 points (57-50).

However, the purple team did not throw their hands up and give up. With the help of Bullock, Reyes and Lopez, the team again reduced the deficit to minimum.

During the crucial quarter, the greens did not allow Real to take leadership and kept up ahead of the Royal club by a small lead. During the last moments of the game, Bullock made a power lay-up and tied the score (80-80). This, however, did not stop the greens from scoring. Perperoglou made the his first lay-up of the night and led his team forward. 4 seconds remaining, Real's Mumbru fouled on Jasikevicius, who hit one of the two free-throws. During the last seconds, Smith's game-tying three-point missed and Panathinaikos celebrated their victory over Real.

Statistics:
PANATHINAIKOS 83 - 80 REAL MADRID
(22-18, 15-21, 22-19, 24-22)

Leaders:
Panathinaikos
·M. Batiste - 33 minutes, 17 points (7/14 from field, 3/3 free throws), 10 rebounds, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 4 fouls
·S. Jasikevicius - 25 minutes, 14 points (5/11 from field, 3/8 three-pointers, 1/2 free throws), 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals, 6 turnovers, 3 fouls
·K. Tsartsaris - 18 minutes, 10 points (5/8 from field), 8 rebounds, 1 block, 3 fouls
·A. Zizic - 18 minutes, 10 points (5/6 from field), 4 rebounds, 1 block
·D. Diamantidis - 29 minutes, 9 points (4/9 from field, 1/4 three-pointers), 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 1 foul

Real Madrid
·L. Bullock - 36 minutes, 24 points (12/21 from field), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover
·C. Smith - 23 minutes, 15 points (7/15 from field, 1/2 free throws), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls
·R. Lopez - 26 minutes, 13 points (6/10 from field, 1/3 three-pointers, 1 rebound, 5 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers, 2 fouls
·L. Papadopoulos - 30 minutes, 6 points (3/7 from field), 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 3 fouls
·K. Tunceri - 17 minutes, 6 points (1/6 from field, 4/4 free throws), 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 turnover


Gallery:

Image Image
(Left) Sarunas Jasikevicius and Kerem Tunceri. Louis Bullock (#22) dunking over Dimitris Diamantidis (Right).
iamamac
 
Posts: 464
Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2009 3:15 am

Re: FINAL FOUR Euroleague

Postby iamamac on Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:00 pm

Image EUROLEAGUE FINAL FOUR 2008


Image CSKA MOSCOW 100 - 78 Image OLYMPIACOS PIRAEUS


Image

CSKA putting defensive pressure on Ioannis Bourousis (#9).



The Greek giant Olympiacos could not hold off the multi-champion CSKA of Moscow. CSKA showed no mercy for the Greek club, turning almost every turnover into points. Slovenian Matjaz Smodis, Americans Lynn Greer, Qyntel Woods and Trajan Langdon, Greeks Ioannis Bourousis and Georgios Printezis really established themselves during the game; Ioannis Bourousis injured his arm right before the third quarter, but came back in the fourth quarter and still made some decent shots.

At first, Olympiacos began their game successfully, with Lynn Greer and Ioannis Bourousis hitting in the paint once, and Qyntel Woods further expanded the score by hitting two free-throws (0-6). CSKA, however, soon scored their first points by counter-attacking their opponents and successfully finishing the play. A turnover made by Bourousis soon paid its price; David Andersen made an uncontested lay-up. CSKA then began defending assertively, which forced Olympiacos to make turnovers. Siskauskas' three-pointer soon overturned the lead and Trajan Langdon's solid dunk with a foul created a comfortable lead for the Russian club (8-13).

After a short timeout taken by Panagiotis Giannakis, CSKA continued to play with concentration and serenity. Their lead rose from five points to 9 points towards the end of the quarter (21-12). But the Greek club did not even dream of giving up. With Macijauskas' magnificent three-pointer and Qyntel Woods' two field goals, Olympiacos reduced CSKA's lead to only 2 points. During the last seconds of quarter 1, David Andersen fouled on Ioannis Bourousis, who hit one of the two free throws. Ramunas Siskauskas hit a buzzer beater from the free throw line and CSKA owned the first quarter.

During the second quarter, CSKA's gameplay improved even more. Nikos Zisis hit a three-pointer during a clutch, Andersen once again slam dunked, and CSKA's lead rose to 9 points (29-20). However, CSKA's lead stopped there till the end of the quarter, where they exploded again; Olympiacos made fast breaks towards the basket as CSKA made careless turnovers (especially bad passes) in mid-second quarter. Their deficit decreased to 3 points in just 5 minutes (35-32).

After a minute's timeout, CSKA once again improved their gameplay and played the last minutes concentrated. Olympiacos finished their quarter a little nervous, but still with a chance (48-38).

After 15 minutes, the two teams met again on the court. CSKA's players were now on fire, important players like Siskauskas and Holden hitting from down-town and Andersen and Langdon hitting up-close.
Olympiacos' deficit grew exponentially and they were forced to take timeouts. With 5 minutes left of the third quarter, CSKA was up by 16 points (67-51).

The two teams slowed down after another timeout called by Giannakis. Macijauskas hit a buzzer beater from down-town and rose the hopes of many fans. However, it wasn't long before Matjaz Smodis hit an impossible three-pointer with much defense pressure. David Andersen continued to increase CSKA's score, hitting 2 two-pointers in the paint and the healed Zisis stepped out on the field to score the last field goal before the end of the third quarter (76-54).

Many Olympiacos fans left after the third quarter, but many more left when CSKA increased their lead to 25 points early in the fourth quarter (84-59). That was the biggest lead of the night for CSKA. But Olympiacos, realizing that they will lose the game, didn't give up and tried to minimize the score. They succeeded, and just before 6 minutes were left of the game, Woods and injured Bourousis lead the team forward, decreasing the deficit to 17 points (90-73).

But smaller Olympiacos player couldn't depend just on the leaders; they had to score as well, which was their weakness during the game. When the two leaders became fatigued, CSKA took advantage of the moment and shot up, increasing their lead. Olympiacos, overwhelmed with great defense and offense, couldn't handle the tough CSKA players, and gave up during the last seconds. The CSKA secured their lead and won the game (100-78).



Statistics:
CSKA MOSCOW 100 - 78 OLYMPIACOS PIRAEUS
(23-20, 25-18, 28-17, 24-23)

Leaders:
CSKA Moscow
·Matjaz Smodis - 28 minutes, 16 points (5/12 two-pointers, 1/6 three-pointers, 3/4 free throws), 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 4 fouls
·Trajan Langdon - 31 minutes, 12 points (4/6 two-pointers, 0/3 three-pointers, 4/4 free throws), 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 fouls
·Ramunas Siskauskas - 27 minutes, 12 points (2/5 two-pointers, 2/4 three-pointers, 2/2 free throws), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls
·David Andersen - 23 minutes, 10 points (5/6 two-pointers), 5 rebounds, 1 turnover, 1 foul
·Nikos Zisis - 21 minutes, 8 points (1/2 two-pointer, 2/5 three-pointers), 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 foul

Olympiacos Piraeus
·Ioannis Bourousis - 33 minutes, 15 points (6/9 two-pointers, 3/4 free-throws), 8 rebounds, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls
·Qyntel Woods - 27 minutes, 15 points (6/11 two-pointers, 1/5 three-pointers), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 turnovers
·Lynn Greer - 29 minutes, 12 points (2/3 two-pointers, 2/4 three-pointers, 2/2 free-throws), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, 5 fouls
·Arvydas Macijauskas - 21 minutes, 9 points (3/6 three-pointers), 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal
·Georgios Printezis - 19 minutes, 9 points (4/7 two-pointers, 1/2 free-throws), 4 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 1 foul


Gallery:
Image Image
(Left) David Andersen (#13) looking over the court. Olympiacos fans (right) observing the game.
Last edited by iamamac on Tue Oct 26, 2010 12:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
iamamac
 
Posts: 464
Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2009 3:15 am

Re: FINAL FOUR Euroleague

Postby iamamac on Mon Sep 28, 2009 1:00 am

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Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2009 3:15 am


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