February 9, 2017 - 7DAYS EuroCup, Top 16 Round 6 MVP: Royce O'Neale, Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas
As
expected, the last round of the 7DAYS EuroCup brought loads of drama
with it, and when the dust settled eight teams - Lokomotiv Kuban
Krasnodar, Zenit St. Petersburg, FC Bayern Munich, Unicaja Malaga,
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem, Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas,
Valencia Basket and Khimki Moscow Region - were happy to have their
quarterfinal tickets. One of those teams, Gran Canaria, only advanced
in this very last round led by the individual performance of Royce
O'Neale, who was the weekly MVP thanks to his performance index rating
of 34, the highest this week. O'Neale led the way for Granca with 19
points in almost perfect shooting - 5 of 7 twos, 2 of 2 threes and 3 of
3 free throws -, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. He had personal
records in PIR, assists and steals in his second EuroCup season. David
Logan of Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius was second in line this week with his
PIR of 30 to lead his team to a dramatic win that was not enough to
advance to the next phase. Read more here.
February 8, 2017 - Round 6
It all comes down to the final game for four teams
fighting for the last two remaining tickets to the quarterfinals.
Likewise, four teams remain in contention for first place in two
different groups. In fact, not a single quarterfinal matchup is set
going into Round 6 of the Top 16 and only in Group H are both first and
second place settled. While the games are important for the teams
battling for those spots, the final Top 16 standings will also
determine home-court advantage going forward in the semifinals and
finals, so even those teams that are secure for the next stage, such as
Valencia Basket in Group H and Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar in Group E,
will seek wins that could pay dividends down the road. Get ready for a
big night! Read more here.
Here is the schedule for Round 6:
GROUP E
Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas vs. Montakit Fuenlabrada 100-76
UCAM Murcia vs. Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 77-85
GROUP F
ratiopharm Ulm vs. Lietkabelis Panevezys 81-86
Khimki Moscow Region vs. FC Bayern Munich 74-96
GROUP G
Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius vs. Zenit St Petersburg 86-84
Nizhny Novgorod vs. Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 73-81
GROUP H
Cedevita Zagreb vs. Unicaja Malaga 74-71
ALBA Berlin vs. Valencia Basket 73-99
February 2, 2017 - 7DAYS EuroCup, Top 16 Round 5 MVP: Tarence Kinsey, Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem
After
Round 5 in the Top 16, six of the eight teams that will fill the
playoffs are already known. One of the teams that qualified this week
was Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem, whose Tarence Kinsey earned weekly MVP
honors thanks to a performance index rating of 33, the highest this
week. Kinsey led his team to a home win over Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius
with a EuroCup-best 23 points (4 of 6 twos, 3 of 6 threes and 6 of 6
free throws), 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in a great all-around
performance. Kinsey was followed this week by UCAM Murcia's Nemanja
Radovic, who had a PIR of 31 that was not enough to avoid elimination
for his team. Radovic netted 26 points and pulled 6 rebounds in his
best game of the season. Completing the top individual performances of
the week were last week's MVP, Khimki Moscow Region's Alexey Shved (PIR
30), Cedevita Zagreb's Miro Bilan (29) and Evgeny Valiev of Zenit St
Peterbusrg (27). Read more here.
January 31, 2017 - Round 5
Round 5 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Top 16 could see as
many as four more teams – Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas, Khimki
Moscow Region, Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem and Unicaja Malaga – join
the three teams that advanced to the quarterfinals last week. Likewise,
Jerusalem, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar and FC Bayern Munich will be
looking to clinch first place in their respective groups, which
Valencia Basket did last week. Regardless, not all of the quarterfinals
tickets could be decided in Round 5, so many teams are just looking to
set themselves for Round 6 success. The action begins with three
Tuesday contests.
Here is the schedule for Round 5:
GROUP E
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar vs. Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas 66-68
Montakit Fuenlabrada vs. UCAM Murcia 85-69
GROUP F
Lietkabelis Panevezys vs. Khimki Moscow Region 77-89
FC Bayern Munich vs. ratiopharm Ulm 101-98
GROUP G
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem vs. Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius 84-77
Zenit St Petersburg vs. Nizhny Novgorod 90-66
GROUP H
Unicaja Malaga vs. ALBA Berlin 83-77
Valencia Basket vs. Cedevita Zagreb 71-58
January 26, 2017 - 7DAYS EuroCup, Top 16 Round 4 MVP: Alexey Shved, Khimki Moscow Region
Round
4 of the 7DAYS EuroCup produced the first three qualifiers for the
quarterfinals - Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, FC Bayern Munich and
Valencia Basket - and got a few others closer to their goal. One of
these teams was Khimki Moscow Region, whose Alexey Shved earned weekly
MVP honors thanks to a performance index rating of 37, the highest this
week. Shved pushed Khimki to a 85-84 home win over ratiopharm Ulm with
his best EuroCup game ever. He set some new personal records at points
(32), assists (8), three-pointers made (8) and PIR. To those impressive
numbers Shved also added 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 6 fouls drawn. Next in
line this week was Hapoel Yahav Jerusalem's Amaré Stoudemire with a PIR
of 33. Stoudemire netted 26 points (including 10 of 12 free throws),
pulled 9 boards and drew 10 fouls for his best game yet this season.
Read more here.
January 24, 2017 - Round 4
The first teams into the EuroCup quarterfinals could
come as soon as this week. Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, FC Bayern Munich
and Valencia Basket simply need to win to go through. There is so much
to play for, including potential tiebreakers, as all eight games are
essentially return legs from Top 16 Round 3, just on last week's
visitors' home floors. Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar (3-0) visits Montakit
Fuenlabrada (1-2) in a game that is crucial for both. A Lokomotiv win
not only sends it into the next stage with a good chance to get
home-court advantage there too, but also depresses Fuenlabrada’s
chances. However a win for the hosts would put Fuenlabrada in a great
spot to challenge for a quarterfinal berth too.
Here is the schedule for Round 4:
GROUP E
UCAM Murcia vs. Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas 67-83
Montakit Fuenlabrada vs. Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 87-91
GROUP F
Lietkabelis Panevezys vs. FC Bayern Munich 72-78
Khimki Moscow Region vs. ratiopharm Ulm 85-84
GROUP G
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem vs. Zenit St Petersburg 97-81
Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius vs. Nizhny Novgorod 99-73
GROUP H
Cedevita Zagreb vs. ALBA Berlin 99-83
Valencia Basket vs. Unicaja Malaga 86-62
January 19, 2017 - 7DAYS EuroCup, Top 16 Round 3 MVP: David Logan, Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius
The
7DAYS EuroCup Top 16 is through its first half with teams that stayed
alive thanks to first wins in the phase. One of them was Lietuvos Rytas
Vilnius, led by David Logan, whose 38 performance index rating earned
him weekly MVP honors. Logan stepped up big time on the road during the
33 minutes he was on court against Nizhny Nobgorod, getting 30 points,
3 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals to amass the best individual
performance in Round 3, while also raising his new personal mark in PIR
to 38. The win put Rytas with a 1-2 record in Group G to retain options
in the race for the next phase. The second best individual performance
of the week came from ALBA Berlin's Peyton Siva and his PIR of 35. Siva
was just three rebounds shy from the triple-double with 16 points, 7
rebounds, 10 assists and 5 steals in ALBA's home win for his best
performance ever in the competition. He had personal records in PIR,
rebounds, assists and steals. Two more players had PIR's of 30 or
higher this week. Read more here.
January 17, 2017 - Round 3
Round 3 of the EuroCup Top 16 starts with a pair of
Tuesday encounters to begin the first of the middle-two rounds of the
six-game stage. All the visiting teams in Round 3 will host their same
opponents next week in Round 4, so this is where the serious battles
for playoff implications take place. There is a possibility for first
place to change hands in every group, especially in Group H, where the
two undefeated teams tied for first place, Unicaja Malaga and Valencia
Basket, meet head to head.
Here is the schedule for Round 3:
GROUP E
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar vs. Montakit Fuenlabrada 86-61
Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas vs. UCAM Murcia 94-85
GROUP F
ratiopharm Ulm vs. Khimki Moscow Region 90-95
FC Bayern Munich vs. Lietkabelis Panevezys 85-69
GROUP G
Zenit St Petersburg vs. Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 101-81
Nizhny Novgorod vs. Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius 63-97
GROUP H
ALBA Berlin vs. Cedevita Zagreb 93-76
Unicaja Malaga vs. Valencia Basket 70-78
January 12, 2017 - 7DAYS EuroCup, Top 16 Round 2 MVP: Janis Timma, Zenit St Petersburg
The
7DAYS EuroCup Top 16 is already in full swing and five teams still
remain undefeated after two rounds. Others got their first win this
week, like Zenit St Petersburg whose Janis Timma stepped up for another
big individual performance that earned him weekly MVP honors for the
second time this season. Timma led his team with 27 points - including
5 of 9 threes -, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks (a
EuroCup career record for him) for a performance index rating of 31,
the highest this week among winning players. Shawn Jones of Hapoel Bank
Yahav Jerusalem followed with a PIR of 29 in his team's win. Jones
netted 21 points (8 of 9 two-pointers), pulled 9 boards and drew 5
fouls. Read more here.
January 10, 2017 - Round 2
The quest for early momentum in the short, six-game
Top 16 continues into Round 2 with first-place battles in three groups
where winless teams also play each other, thus guaranteeing some new
teams in the win column, too. The action starts with a rare Tuesday
game before the other seven battles take place on Wednesday, as usual.
To open the round on Tuesday, two Spanish teams that lost their Top 16
openers look for a first Group E victory as Montakit Fuenlabrada (0-1)
hosts Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas (0-1) in their first meeting
every outside of domestic competition.
Here is the schedule for Round 2:
GROUP E
Montakit Fuenlabrada vs. Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas 85-75
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar vs. UCAM Murcia 70-60
GROUP F
FC Bayern Munich vs. Khimki Moscow 90-74
Lietkabelis Panevezys vs. ratiopharm Ulm 86-84
GROUP G
Zenit St Petersburg vs. Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius 88-79
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem vs. Nizhny Novgorod 98-76
GROUP H
Valencia Basket vs. ALBA Berlin 85-80
Unicaja Malaga vs. Cedevita Zagreb 73-59
January 5, 2017 - 7DAYS EuroCup, Top 16 Round 1 MVP: DeAndre Kane, Nizhny Novgorod
The
new year started on a high note with the 7DAYS EuroCup Top 16 opening
round. Eight exciting duels across the continent berought the first
wins of this decisive phase and when the dust settled, DeAndre Kane of
Nizhny Novgorod emerged as weekly MVP thanks to his performance index
rating of 39, the highest among winning players. Kane had his best
performance so far in the season to lead his team to a home win over
Zenit St Petersburg. He netted 31 points - including 10 of 12 2-point
shots -, pulled 9 rebounds, dished 2 assists and drew 2 fouls. His PIR
and scoring registers are both career records for him. After Kane was
Devin Booker of FC Bayern Munich, who led his team to a road win with a
PIR of 33, thanks to 19 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 6
drawn fouls. It was his best game yet in the EuroCup. Read more here.
January 4, 2017 - Round 1
Four new groups get the 7DAYS EuroCup Top 16 started
on Wednesday with the first of what is sure to be a competitive
six-game phase in which anything could happen. A pair of former EuroCup
champions face off in Group G, while national derbies are featured in
that and two other groups. All teams start anew with 0-0 records so
every team has the same chance to shine as the Top 16 tips off! One of
the top teams from the regular season, Herbalife Gran Canaria Las
Palmas, hosts resurgent former champ Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar on
Wednesday.
Here is the schedule for Round 1:
GROUP E
UCAM Murcia vs. Montakit Fuenlabrada 87-75
Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas vs. Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 71-86
GROUP F
Khimki Moscow Region vs. Lietkabelis Panevezys 88-80
ratiopharm Ulm vs. FC Bayern Munich 57-68
GROUP G
Nizhny Novgorod vs. Zenit St Petersburg 113-105
Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius vs. Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 76-80
GROUP H
ALBA Berlin vs. Unicaja Malaga 69-77
Cedevita Zagreb vs. Valencia Basket 86-89
January 2, 2017 - Top 16 Group analysis
Group E
Top 16 Group E is headed by Herbalife Gran Canaria
Las Palmas of Spain, which was last season's runner-up and the co-owner
of this regular season's best record at 7-1. Gran Canaria is joined by
fellow Spanish sides Montakit Fuenlabrada and UCAM Murcia and 2013
EuroCup champion Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar of Russia. Few teams have a
tradition in the 7DAYS EuroCup like Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas,
which is playing its 11th season in the competition. The club reached
the 2014 finals and 2015 semifinals, and no team has won as many games
over the past three seasons as Gran Canaria. Actually, no one has even
come even close. Gran Canaria has 44-10 record since 2014, while the
second-most wins in that span is Zenit St. Petersburg’s 27. To put it
in perspective, Gran Canaria has the most wins in the competition since
2013, despite not even participating in the 2013-14 campaign. Read more
here.
Group F
The four teams competing in Group F run the EuroCup
gamut from two-time champion Khimki Moscow Region of Russia to EuroCup
debutant Lietkabelis Panevezys of Lithuania. In between are two German
clubs, FC Bayern Munich and ratiopharm Ulm, which are both taking part
in their fourth EuroCup campaigns. Bayern achieved its best finish by
reaching the quarterfinals last season. Ulm’s best finish was the
quarterfinals in 2013. The four teams that compromise Group F all went
through some streaks en route to clinching spots in the Top 16. Both
Khimki and Bayern roll into the Top 16 on three-game winning streaks,
while Ulm won three in a row earlier in the regular season. Lietkabelis
started the season with back-to-back wins, but enters the Top 16 on a
three-game losing streak. Read more here.
Group G
Group G features two former EuroCup champions,
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem of Israel and Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius of
Lithuania, in addition to Group C winner Zenit St. Petersburg and
Nizhny Novgorod, both from Russia. If we look at 15 clubs with the most
games played in the competition since 2013, nine of those teams are
featured in the Top 16 this season. Among them are all four from Group
G. Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius is a two-time champion, with titles in 2005
and 2009, and Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem is the 2004 champion. Both
teams have another semifinals appearance to boot, as does Nizhny
Novgorod which reached that stage in 2014. Zenit might never have
gotten past the eighthfinals, but its 27-17 EuroCup record over the
past four seasons, including this one, says plenty about the company it
keeps. Read more here.
Group H
Group H will have Valencia Basket, one of the two
teams that posted the 7DAYS EuroCup regular season's best, 7-1 record.
Valencia is joined in the new group by Cedevita Zagreb of Croatia, ALBA
Berlin of Germany and fellow Spanish side Unicaja Malaga. Group H
boasts plenty of EuroCup tradition, not only by its teams but also
because of the players who will fight to make it to the playoffs.
Valencia won the EuroCup title three times, in 2003, 2010 and 2014, and
some of its players have made history in the competition. Bojan
Dubljevic, Romain Sato and Sam Van Rossom won the EuroCup with Valencia
in 2014 along with Oliver Lafayette, who now plays for Unicaja Malaga.
Rafa Martinez is a two-time EuroCup champion, winning it with Valencia
in 2010 and 2014. He could become the first player to lift the EuroCup
trophy three times - only a coach, Rimas Kurtinaitis, has done so, with
Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius in 2009 and with Khimki in 2012 and 2015. Read
more here.
As
expected, the last round of the 7DAYS EuroCup brought loads of drama
with it, and when the dust settled eight teams - Lokomotiv Kuban
Krasnodar, Zenit St. Petersburg, FC Bayern Munich, Unicaja Malaga,
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem, Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas,
Valencia Basket and Khimki Moscow Region - were happy to have their
quarterfinal tickets. One of those teams, Gran Canaria, only advanced
in this very last round led by the individual performance of Royce
O'Neale, who was the weekly MVP thanks to his performance index rating
of 34, the highest this week. O'Neale led the way for Granca with 19
points in almost perfect shooting - 5 of 7 twos, 2 of 2 threes and 3 of
3 free throws -, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. He had personal
records in PIR, assists and steals in his second EuroCup season. David
Logan of Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius was second in line this week with his
PIR of 30 to lead his team to a dramatic win that was not enough to
advance to the next phase. Read more 
After
Round 5 in the Top 16, six of the eight teams that will fill the
playoffs are already known. One of the teams that qualified this week
was Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem, whose Tarence Kinsey earned weekly MVP
honors thanks to a performance index rating of 33, the highest this
week. Kinsey led his team to a home win over Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius
with a EuroCup-best 23 points (4 of 6 twos, 3 of 6 threes and 6 of 6
free throws), 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in a great all-around
performance. Kinsey was followed this week by UCAM Murcia's Nemanja
Radovic, who had a PIR of 31 that was not enough to avoid elimination
for his team. Radovic netted 26 points and pulled 6 rebounds in his
best game of the season. Completing the top individual performances of
the week were last week's MVP, Khimki Moscow Region's Alexey Shved (PIR
30), Cedevita Zagreb's Miro Bilan (29) and Evgeny Valiev of Zenit St
Peterbusrg (27). Read more 
Round
4 of the 7DAYS EuroCup produced the first three qualifiers for the
quarterfinals - Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, FC Bayern Munich and
Valencia Basket - and got a few others closer to their goal. One of
these teams was Khimki Moscow Region, whose Alexey Shved earned weekly
MVP honors thanks to a performance index rating of 37, the highest this
week. Shved pushed Khimki to a 85-84 home win over ratiopharm Ulm with
his best EuroCup game ever. He set some new personal records at points
(32), assists (8), three-pointers made (8) and PIR. To those impressive
numbers Shved also added 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 6 fouls drawn. Next in
line this week was Hapoel Yahav Jerusalem's Amaré Stoudemire with a PIR
of 33. Stoudemire netted 26 points (including 10 of 12 free throws),
pulled 9 boards and drew 10 fouls for his best game yet this season.
Read more 
The
7DAYS EuroCup Top 16 is through its first half with teams that stayed
alive thanks to first wins in the phase. One of them was Lietuvos Rytas
Vilnius, led by David Logan, whose 38 performance index rating earned
him weekly MVP honors. Logan stepped up big time on the road during the
33 minutes he was on court against Nizhny Nobgorod, getting 30 points,
3 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals to amass the best individual
performance in Round 3, while also raising his new personal mark in PIR
to 38. The win put Rytas with a 1-2 record in Group G to retain options
in the race for the next phase. The second best individual performance
of the week came from ALBA Berlin's Peyton Siva and his PIR of 35. Siva
was just three rebounds shy from the triple-double with 16 points, 7
rebounds, 10 assists and 5 steals in ALBA's home win for his best
performance ever in the competition. He had personal records in PIR,
rebounds, assists and steals. Two more players had PIR's of 30 or
higher this week. Read more 
The
7DAYS EuroCup Top 16 is already in full swing and five teams still
remain undefeated after two rounds. Others got their first win this
week, like Zenit St Petersburg whose Janis Timma stepped up for another
big individual performance that earned him weekly MVP honors for the
second time this season. Timma led his team with 27 points - including
5 of 9 threes -, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks (a
EuroCup career record for him) for a performance index rating of 31,
the highest this week among winning players. Shawn Jones of Hapoel Bank
Yahav Jerusalem followed with a PIR of 29 in his team's win. Jones
netted 21 points (8 of 9 two-pointers), pulled 9 boards and drew 5
fouls. Read more 
The
new year started on a high note with the 7DAYS EuroCup Top 16 opening
round. Eight exciting duels across the continent berought the first
wins of this decisive phase and when the dust settled, DeAndre Kane of
Nizhny Novgorod emerged as weekly MVP thanks to his performance index
rating of 39, the highest among winning players. Kane had his best
performance so far in the season to lead his team to a home win over
Zenit St Petersburg. He netted 31 points - including 10 of 12 2-point
shots -, pulled 9 rebounds, dished 2 assists and drew 2 fouls. His PIR
and scoring registers are both career records for him. After Kane was
Devin Booker of FC Bayern Munich, who led his team to a road win with a
PIR of 33, thanks to 19 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 6
drawn fouls. It was his best game yet in the EuroCup. Read more 
