March 9, 2017 - 7DAYS EuroCup, Quarterfinals Game 3 MVP: Bojan Dubljevic, Valencia Basket
The
quarterfinals round endde on Wednesday night with two games that saw
both Spanish squades, Valencia Basket and Unicaja Malaga, advance to
the semifinals where they will meet Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem and
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar respectively. The hero of the night for
Valencia was big man Bojan Dubljevic, who racked up a 26 performance
index rating to become MVP of the week. Dubljevic netted 16 points,
pulled 11 rebounds, doshed 2 assists and had 3 steals to lead his team
in the decicive win against Khimki Moscow Region. Following him this
week was Unicaja's Dejan Musli with a PIR of 22. Musli scored 16
points, pulled 4 boards and drew 9 fouls to lead his team in a decisive
road win that was worth a semifinals ticket. Completing the top
individual performances of the week were Nemanja Nedovic of Unicaja and
Luke Sikma of Valencia with PIR 21 each. Read more here.
March 8, 2017 - Game 3
A pair of teams who saw their long winning streaks
snapped in Game 2 on Friday look to bounce back on their home floors in
the do-or-die third games of their respective best-of-three 7DAYS
EuroCup Quarterfinals series. Both games are set to be played on
Wednesday, with Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar and Hapoel Bank Yahav
Jerusalem looking on, after already having punched their semifinals
tickets. FC Bayern Munich hosts Unicaja Malaga in winner-take-all Game
3 of their series, with the winner set to face Lokomotiv in the
semifinals. Unicaja stayed alive with an 82-67 win in Game 2 on Friday.
Read more here.
Here is the schedule for Game 3:
B
FC Bayern Munich vs. Unicaja Malaga 69-74
D
Valencia Basket vs. Khimki Moscow Region 92-76
March 5, 2017 - 7DAYS EuroCup, Quarterfinals Game 2 MVP: Alexey Shved, Khimki Moscow Region
In
Game 2 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals on Friday, there were two
road victors who punched their tickets to semifinals, and a pair of
teams triumphing at home and forcing a deciding Game 3 next week.
Alexey Shved helped make Khimki Moscow Region one of those two
survivors by coming close to a triple-double while leading his team to
a blowout 98-74 win over Valencia Basket. Shved posted 17 points –
making 5 of 10 two-point shots and 2 of 8 three-pointers – dished 11
assists, and pulled down 8 rebounds. He also had a steal and 4 fouls
drawn to amass a performance index rating of 22, the highest of any
player on a winning team in quarterfinals Game 2. The highest index
rating in Game 2 belonged to Stefan Markovic of Zenit St. Petersburg,
who had PIR of 23 in 77-88 loss to Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar. Read more
here.
March 3, 2017 - Game 2
After Game 1 was dominated and swept by home teams
on Tuesday, the best-of-three 7 DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals series now
change venues for Game 2 on Friday. Each of the new hosts on Friday
need a victory to survive and force a deciding Game 3, while any or all
of the four road teams can punch their tickets to the Eurocup
Semifinals with another victory. Read more here.
Here is the schedule for Game 2:
A
Zenit St Petersburg vs. Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 77-88
B
Unicaja Malaga vs. FC Bayern Munich 82-67
C
Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas vs. Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 79-85
D
Khimki Moscow Region vs. Valencia Basket 98-74
March 1, 2017 - 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals, Game 1 MVP: Fernando San Emeterio, Valencia Basket
The
7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals started with a bang this week as the
opening games of the best-of-three series saw all home teams get wins.
One of them, Valencia Basket, triumphed 88-82 against visiting Khimki
Moscow Region in a re-match of the 2012 final. Valencia was led by
Fernando San Emeterio, whose performance index rating of 29 earned him
the MVP honor for Game 1 of the quarterfinals. San Emeterio, whose PIR
was a career-best for him in the EuroCup, paced Valencia with 17
points. He added two more personal bests with 8 rebounds and 5 assists
while also drawing 8 fouls for a great all-around performance. San
Emeterio made 5 of 7 two-point shots and 4 of 4 free throws. Following
him in Game 1, on the other side of the same court, was Khimki's Alexey
Shved, with a PIR of 24 thanks to his 24 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists
and 2 steals. Read more here.
February 28, 2017 - Game 1
The 7DAYS EuroCup reaches its most decisive stages
of the 2016-17 season as three-way playoffs series will be played until
there is one team left standing with the trophy. The action starts on
Tuesday with Game 1 of the quarterfinals in four series: Valencia
Basket vs. Khimki Moscow Region, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar vs. Zenit
St. Petersburg, FC Bayern Munich vs. Unicaja Malaga and Hapoel Bank
Yahav Jerusalem vs. Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas.
Here is the schedule for Game 1:
A
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar vs. Zenit St Petersburg 75-52
B
FC Bayern Munich vs. Unicaja Malaga 91-82
C
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem vs. Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas 87-67
D
Valencia Basket vs. Khimki Moscow Region 88-82
February 27, 2017 - Series Breakdown
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem vs. Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas
Group G winner Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem and its
quarterfinals opponent Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas have so much
in common. They are experienced teams designed to go deep this season
and both enjoy distinct home-court advantages. But only one of them can
reach the EuroCup semifinals! Both Jerusalem and Gran Canaria have
rosters that were built to challenge for the EuroCup crown this season.
They each have deep, veteran rosters with players that have been on the
big stage before. Hapoel has a two-time Euroleague champ (Yotam
Halperin), three players with EuroLeague Final Four experience (Lior
Eliyahu, Halperin, Malik Hairston), a reigning EuroCup champ (Curtis
Jerrells) and a six-time NBA All-Star (Amar’e Stoudemire). Gran Canaria
features four players (Richard Hendrix, Bo McCalebb, Darko Planinic and
Xavi Rabaseda) who have played the EuroLeague Final Four, a pair (Pablo
Aguilar and Hendrix) of former EuroCup champs and of course four
players (Eulis Baez, Kyle Kuric, Albert Oliver and Oriol Pauli) that
remain from Gran Canaria’s trip to the 2015 EuroCup finals. With so
much experience, there will be no meltdown in this series. Read more here.
FC Bayern Munich vs. Unicaja Malaga
FC Bayern Munich and Unicaja Malaga enter the 7DAYs
EuroCup quarterfinals having gone through very different journeys so
far and having already played each other twice, with both victories
going to the Germany powerhouse, which also holds home-court advantage
in this best-of-three series. FC Bayern Munich and Unicaja Malaga enter
their 7DAYs EuroCup quarterfinals series having gone through very
different journeys so far. Unicaja has lost three of its last four
games and now has a 7-7 record this season. Meanwhile, Bayern went
through the Top 16 undefeated and has won nine EuroCup games in a row.
It has lost only two games – both against Zenit St. Petersburg – this
season. The two have already met in regular season Group C, with Bayern
sweeping Unicaja by winning 72-69 on its home floor and beating its
opponents in Malaga 62-74. Read more here.
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar vs. Zenit St Petersburg
What an enticing clash it will be when fellow
Russian clubs Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar and Zenit St. Petersburg meet
for the first time in continental action in the EuroCup Quarterfinals!
It’s great offense versus great defense with only one advancing to the
semis. It’s an all-Russian derby in which Lokomotiv and Zenit not only
know each other well, but have in common that both clubs have changed
locations in recent years. Lokomotiv settled in Krasnodar in 2009,
after playing some 300 kilometers north in Rostov-on-Don for six years,
after which the club rebranded as Lokomotiv Kuban. On the other hand,
Zenit moved to St. Petersburg in 2014-15, after previously being known
as Triumphy Lyubertsy. Read more here.
Valencia Basket vs. Khimki Moscow Region
Valencia Basket and Khimki Moscow Region meet again
in the 7DAYs EuroCup quarterfinals. Valencia is 13-1 in the EuroCup
this season and has won its last 12 games, but Khimki has collected
four road wins thus far. Valencia holds the home-court advantage for
this best-of-three series. It is safe to say that Valencia Basket
versus Khimki Moscow Region is the ultimate EuroCup showdown. Not only
do the two teams combine for five titles, they have met many times on
their respective paths to glory, too. Khimki downed Valencia 73-76 in
the 2008-09 EuroCup Quarterfinals behind 15 points from Mike Wilkinson.
Khimki also beat Valencia 77-68 in the 2012 championship game to claim
its first-ever EuroCup title as Zoran Planinic earned MVP honors. Read
more here.
February 27, 2017 - A field loaded with tradition
The 7DAYS EuroCup playoffs, which begin next week,
could crown a number of previous champions or a brand-new one, but in
either case the playoffs will be loaded with tradition. The new format
that introduces best-of-three series throughout the playoffs brings an
added element of excitement on the road to determine the champion, a
road that will see some of the best teams in competition history
battling hard. From a historical perspective, the EuroCup quarterfinals
have four previous champions and one former runner-up. Valencia Basket,
Khimki Moscow Region, Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem and Lokomotiv Kuban
Krasnodar have all done in the past what the eight quarterfinal teams
dream of doing this season – win it all. Herbalife Gran Canaria Las
Palmas came close two seasons ago when it played in the finals. Read
more here.