March 27, 2014 - Quarterfinals Game 2 MVP: Reggie Redding, Alba Berlin
After
two weeks of intense games, four teams came out on top to face off in
the semifinals, the previous step before the final series of the
Eurocup! However, one of those teams won't be Alba Berlin despite the
top performance by Reggie Redding, who led his team to a 78-73 Game 2
win over Valencia Basket, but not enough to overcome the deficit from
Game 1. With his great game, Redding became the MVP of the week in the
Eurocup thanks to a 40 index rating, the most among all winning players
this week, and the second time the series between Valencia Basket and
Alba Berlin prvides a weekly MVP in Quarterfinals, as Justin Doellman
was MVP in Game 1. Read more here.
Charles Jenkins scored
21 points in the last five minutes of regulation as Crvena Zvezda
Telekom rallied to beat Budivelnik Kiev 79-70 after overtime for a
158-152 aggregate win and a spot in the Eurocup Semifinals. Zvezda will
play Unics Kazan in the next stage for a spot in the championship
series. Kiev had won Game 1 by 3 points and led for much of the return
leg. Jenkins scored the last 3 points of regulation – the last 2 coming
on a drive with 3.9 seconds remaining. Read more here.
Nizhny Novgorod 88 - 72 Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem
Nizhny Novgorod claimed
a spot in the Eurocup Semifinals with an 88-72 victory over former
champion Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem on Wednesday at Trade Union Sports
Palace. Jerusalem had won the first leg by 3 in the Israeli capital,
was unable to make its advantage stand up in Russia, where it hasn’t
won since 1999. Nizhny got 10 three-pointers from six players, while
Hapoel was just 1 of 8 (12.5%) from downtown. Read more here.
Unics Kazan 88 - 52 Aykon TED Ankara Kolejliler
Unics Kazan led from start to finish en route to an
88-52 win in the Game 2 of the Eurocup Quarterfinals, and a clean sweep
of Aykon TED Ankara Kolejliler in their home-and-away series. Unics
advances by an aggregate score 169-120, and will play either Crvena
Zvezda Telekom or Budivelnik Kiev in the semifinals. Unics has now won
19 of 20 games during this Eurocup campaign, and had control from start
to finish of its quarterfinals second leg. Read more here.
March 25, 2014
Alba Berlin 78 - 73 Valencia Basket Club
Despite losing the second leg of the Eurocup
Quarterfinals, Valencia Basket eased past Alba Berlin and into the
semifinals of the competition for the third consecutive season. Alba
edged Valencia 78-73 in Game 2 on Tuesday, but it was Valencia that
held control throughout the two-game series and advanced comfortably on
the strength of the 86-54 win in Game 1, with 159-132 aggregate score.
Valencia will learn its next opponent Wednesday. Read more here.
March 25, 2014 - Quarterfinals, Round 2: Down to four contenders!
The Eurocup Quarterfinals – the second set of four
two-game series that will determine the 2013-14 Eurocup champion – come
to an end this week and when the dust settles, only the four best teams
in the competition will be left standing. One game will be played on
Tuesday, followed by three more on a decisive Wednesday. Remember, the
team with the best aggregate score in each series will advance to the
semifinals! Read more here.
Here is the schedule for
Game 2:
QUARTERFINAL A
Crvena Zvezda Telekom vs. Budivelnik Kiev 79-70 - Stats
Nizhny Novgorod vs. Hapoel Jerusalem 88-72 - Stats
March 20, 2014 - Quarterfinals Game 1 MVP: Justin Doellman, Valencia Basket
The
time of truth has arrived to the Eurocup with the Quarterfinals. Only
the best four teams will advance to semifinals next week and the high
stakes were already visible during Game 1 of this phase. With four
crucial battles across the continent, only onep layer could emerge as
MVP of the week and it was none other than Valencia Basket's Justin
Doellman, who amassed an index rating of 34, the most this week among
winning players. Doellman led his team to an outstanding 86-54 home win
over Alba Berlin on Wednesday, thanks to his 33 points - 11 of 15 twos,
2 of 3 threes and 5 of 5 free throws -, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals
and 4 drawn fouls. Read more here.
March 19, 2014 - Game 1
Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem 81 - 78 Nizhny Novgorod
Yotam Halperin’s
last-second three-pointer proved to be the difference as Hapoel Migdal
Jerusalem edged Nizhny Novgorod 81-78 in the Israeli capital in the
first leg of their Eurocup Quarterfinals series. Halperin finished with
17 points and 7 assists for the home team in a game that was close
throughout; neither team led by more than 6 the entire night. The
series will conclude next week in Russia, where Nizhny must win by at
least 4 to claim a berth in the semifinals. Read more here.
Aykon TED Ankara Kolejliler 68 - 81 Unics Kazan
Unics Kazan topped Aykon TED Ankara Kolejliler 68-81
in Game 1 of their Eurocup Quarterfinals series in the Turkish capital.
The second leg takes place next week in Kazan, Russia, where Unics will
advance to the semifinals if it wins or loses by up to 12 points, while
Ankara must win by at least 14 to advance. Unics used a 3-15 run in the
second quarter to build a 25-36 margin and extended it early in the
last quarter to 44-64 to take a big step toward the next stage. Read
more here.
Valencia Basket Club 86 - 54 Alba Berlin
Valencia Basket made a statement, and put one foot
in the Eurocup Semifinals, with a resounding 86-54 win over Alba Berlin
in Game 1 of the Eurocup Quarterfinals. Using its relentless defense,
Valencia raced away to a victory which means it will advance with
either a win or a loss up to 31 points in the second quarterfinal leg
next week. Spanish side started its wild 23-0 run late in the first
quarter behind Justin Doellman, who scored 21 points before halftime.
Read more here.
In the opening game of the Eurocup Quarterfinals,
Budivelnik Kiev edged Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade 82-79 on Tuesday
night in Kaunas, Lithuania. The second leg will be played next week in
Belgrade, Serbia, and the team with the highest aggregate scored will
advance, which means that a victory or a loss by up to 2 points will be
enough for Budivelnik to return to the semifinals. The Ukrainian champ
led for majority of the clash. Read more here.
March 18, 2014 - Quarterfinals,
Game 1: every point counts!
Some 48 teams started the 2013-14 Eurocup - and eight
other teams joined the competition later on. Only eight - from seven
different countries – remain alive in the marathon for Eurocup glory.
The list includes three former champions, a former finalist, one of
last season's semifinalists, a team in its ninth Eurocup season and two
newcomers that want to keep rewriting their own history. The
quarterfinals stage is the second of four two-leg series to determine
the Eurocup champion. Every possessions counts, as the aggregate score
will determine which teams advance. One game will be played on Tuesday,
followed by three more on Wednesday. Read more here.
Here is the schedule for
Game 1:
QUARTERFINAL A
Budivelnik Kiev vs. Crvena Zvezda Telekom 82-79 - Stats
Hapoel Jerusalem vs. Nizhny Novgorod 81-78 - Stats
March 17,
2014 - Quarterfinals Analysis
Nizhny Novgorod vs. Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem
It's
a Eurocup first-timer against a former champ in an explosive
quarterfinals clash. Hapoel Jerusalem has been successful with a
balanced lineup that features seven players averaging double figures in
scoring. Injuries have forced Nizhny Novgorod to tinker with its
lineup, but more players seem to rise to the occasion each time. Both
teams have players that have been in pressure situations before too;
Nizhny's Dimitriy Khvostov is a former Eurocup winner and teamed with
Semen Antonov to win an Olympic medal in 2012. Hapoel's Yotam Halperin
and Yaniv Green are both former Euroleague champs. Read more here.
Valencia Basket vs. Alba Berlin
Familiar
foes Alba Berlin and Valencia Basket Club square off in an exciting
quarterfinals matchup, a rematch of 2010 Eurocup title game which
Valencia won 67-44. This is their first meeting since, and it will be a
clash of basketball styles. A former two-time champion Valencia plays
up-tempo and is a three-point happy team that had 8 different players
make at least one triple in the eighthfinals, compared to Alba having
only 6 players that even attempted a three-point shot in their two
eighthfinal games. Rafa Martinez, Oliver Lafayette, Sam Van Rossom and
Pau Ribas all have above 40% accuracy behind the arc, while a Rising
Star Bojan Dubljevic, All-Eurocup selection Justin Doellman, and former
Euroleague champ Romain Sato give the team balance in the paint, and on
offensive boards. Read more here.
Aykon TED Ankara Kolejliler vs. Unics Kazan
This
series features the Eurocup's hottest player against its hottest team.
Aykon TED Ankara center Vladimir Golubovic has been nothing short of an
unstoppable force; he leads the competition in scoring (20.2 ppg.)
rebounding (10.6 rpg.) and index rating (28.2 PIR) and has
double-doubles in two-thirds of his games. Unics Kazan's 15-1 record is
best in the Eurocup, it has won nine of those games by double figures
and is unbeaten at home. Unics leads the competition in numerous
defensive categories, including fewest points allowed (64.8 ppg.),
lowest opponents' true shooting percentage (44.1%) and lowest
opponents' index (59.4). Read more here.
Budivelnik Kiev vs. Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade
It
is a clash of two teams coming from the Turkish Airlines Euroleague
regular season, as Budivelnik Kiev and Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade
now battle for the Eurocup glory. Last year semifinalist Budivelnik is
coming into this series as the only quarterfinalist that had more
turnovers (40) than assists (32) in the previous stage where it played
both games away from home. Little separates these two, as no team in
the quarterfinals allows more points than Budivelnik (80.5 ppg), but
Zvezda is right behind (78.3 ppg). However, Budivelnik's three-point
defense (allowing 32.7%) is one of the top in the competition, while
Zvezda allows only 29.1 rebounds per night, the best in all of Eurocup.
Read more here.