March 5, 2012 - bwin February MVP: Vassilis Spanoulis, Olympiacos Piraeus
When
February started, Olympiacos had a 0-2 record in the Turkish Airlines
Euroleague Top 16 and its streak of six consecutive playoff appearances
was in danger. In fact, the Reds were still in rebuilding mode, having
just added two more players to a roster that has seen 12 newcomers
since last season. There was one rock in the middle of that roster,
however, on whom all the Reds could rely. Four weeks later, having won
every game needed by the point difference necessary, Olympiacos is
headed for the playoffs and veteran guard Vassilis Spanoulis is
Euroleague Basketball's choice as bwin MVP for February. Read more here.
March 2, 2012 - Top 16, Week 6 bwin MVP: Manuchar Markoishvili, Bennet Cantu
Bennet
Cantu and Manuchar Markoishvili completed magical return seasons in the
Euroleague this week. In their last games of the Turkish Airlines
Euroleague season, Cantu beat Zalgiris on the road 71-77 and
Markoishvili set career highs in performance index rating and points en
route to Top 16, Week 6 bwin MVP honors. The swingman, who burst onto
the scene as a 16-year-old rising star with Benetton Treviso, but had
not played in Europe’s premier competition in the past four seasons,
produced the finest game of his career Wednesday with 32 points, 2
rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. He made 5 of 10 three-pointers and
was perfect from the foul line in 9 attempts in racking up an index
rating of 35, which was not only the best of the week, but the third
best of the Top 16 and tied for the eighth best this season. Read more here.
March 1, 2012 - Week 6
Olympiacos 88 - 81 Galatasaray Medical Park
Olympiacos
Piraeus advanced to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs with an
88-81 victory over Galatasaray Medical Park on Thursday. Vassilis
Spanoulis dominated to the tune of 20 points, 8 assists and 4 steals to
lead the Reds to victory. The Reds improved to 3-3 and finished in
second place in the group over Galatasaray on a tiebreaker. Next
Olympiacos faces Italian champion Montepaschi Siena in the best-of-five
playoffs for the second year in a row. Olympiacos led from start to
finish after opening the game with a 7-0 run. It was 24-14 after 10
minutes and 43-35 at halftime. The hosts went ahead 11 early in the
third quarter. Read more here.
Unicaja 55 - 59 Gescrap BB
Gescrap
BB reached the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs in its debut season
in the continent’s premier competition by edging past Unicaja 55-59 in
in Malaga, Spain, on Thursday. Bilbao finished the Top 16 with a 4-2
record in Group F, which placed it second behind Montepaschi Siena on a
tiebreaker. The men in black will next face CSKA Moscow in the
best-of-five playoffs. For the second straight week, Raul Lopez hit the
key shots down the stretch – a three-pointer to put Gescrap ahead 51-53
and the foul shots to keep it there. Marko Banic and Aaron Jackson led
the winners with 10 points apiece, Lopez finished with 9 and Dimitrios
Mavroeidis added 8 points, while Axel Hervelle grabbed 10 rebounds.
Read more here.
Montepaschi Siena 90 - 102 Real Madrid
In
a decisive Group F duel in Siena on Thursday night, Real Madrid managed
to pull a prestige road win by 90-102, but was eliminated from the
playoffs race due to the earlier Gescrap BB win at Unicaja, which
forced the Whites to win by 23 points if they wanted to advance. As
such, Group F is sealed with a three-way 4-2 tie in which Montepaschi
Siena emerges as first, Gescrap BB second and Real Madrid third due to
point-difference. Unicaja stayed winless in the Top 16 with a 0-6. A
huge Tomas Ress pushed Siena ahead with his threes but in the second
half, Nikola Mirotic, Mirza Begic and Felipe Reyes put the guests ahead
for good, but in the end it was not enough to advance. Read more here.
Anadolu Efes 65 - 82 CSKA Moscow
CSKA
Moscow rounded the 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 in style
by downing Anadolu Efes 65-82 in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday. CSKA won
Top 16 Group E with a 5-1 record and will have the home court advantage
in the upcoming playoffs. Anadolu Efes was mathematically out before
the game and was fourth in Group E at 1-5. Therefore, it was also the
last Euroleague game to be played at Sinan Erdem Arena before the 2012
Final Four. Andrei Kirilenko led the winners with 15 points. Jamont
Gordon added 14, Nenad Krstic had 13 while Alexey Shved got 11 for
CSKA. Sasha Vujacic led Efes with 17 points. Dusko Savanovic added 16
while Esteban Batista had 10 for the hosts. Read more here.
February 29, 2012
FC Barcelona Regal 70 - 67 Maccabi Electra
FC
Barcelona Regal became the only team to finish the Top 16 with a
perfect record by downing Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 70-67 in a battle of
playoffs-bound teams at Palau Blaugrana on Wednesday night. Barcelona
won its seventh straight game and improved to 15-1 overall. Its next
challenge will be Unics Kazan in the playoffs. Maccabi dropped to 3-3,
but still finished second place in Group H. The Israeli champs will
face Group G winner Panathinaikos in the playoffs in a rematch of last
season’s Euroleague title game. Richard Hendrix dominated early and
finished the first half with 21 points to keep Maccabi within 34-33 at
the break. Read more here.
Zalgiris Kaunas 71 - 77 Bennet Cantu
Bennet
Cantu finished an impressive Turkish Airlines Euroleague season with a
71-77 road win over Zalgiris Kaunas at Zalgirio Arena on Wednesday.
Manu Markoishvili scored a career-high 32 points to pace the winners,
who improved to 3-3 in Top 16 Group H. Though both teams had been
mathematically eliminated from the playoff race the week before, the
game was close throughout. The hosts led 62-59 after Marko Popovic free
throws midway through the fourth quarter. But Markoishvili knotted the
score with a triple and then Giorgi Shermadini scored the game’s next 5
points as Cantu pulled away to record the victory. Read more here.
EA7 Emporio Armani 85 - 72 Fenerbahce Ulker
EA7
Emporio Armani Milan effectively ended Fenerbahce Ulker’s Turkish
Airlines Euroleague season with an 85-72 victory on Wednesday at
Mediolanum Forum in the fashion capital. Malik Hairston poured in a
career-high 27 points to lead Armani, which finished its Turkish
Airlines Euroleague season on a high note with three straight wins and
third place in Group G with a 3-3 record. The Turkish champs would have
advanced to the playoffs from second place in the group with a win, but
the loss sent Unics Kazan to the playoffs instead. After a close first
quarter, Armani took a modest lead in the second and surged ahead in
the third. Read more here.
Unics 63 - 68 Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos
BC became the Top 16 Group G champion by downing Unics 63-68 in Kazan,
Russia on Wednesday night. Panathinaikos was first in Group G with a
4-2 record and will have the home court advantage against Maccabi
Electra in the upcoming Turkish Airlines Euroleague Quarterfinal
Playoffs. Unics finished Group G with a 3-3 record and made it to the
playoffs due to its tie-break advantage against EA7 Emporio Armani
Milano. Unics now faces a best-of-five playoff series against Group H
champion FC Barcelona Regal. Mike Batiste paced the winners with 12
points. Sarunas Jasikevicius added 10 for Panathinaikos. Read more here.
February 29, 2012 - Top 16, Week 6: it's crunch time!
The
2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 - the last with a six-game
round robin format - comes to an end this week with several decisive
games all around the competition. Two teams - CSKA Moscow in Group E
and FC Barcelona Regal in Group H - are already Top 16 group champions
and earned the right to get the home court advantage in the upcoming
Playoffs. Maccabi Electra will be second in Group H and Panathinaikos
has also qualified to the Playoffs. Four other spots are up for grabs
and 7 teams are ready to fight to get to the next round. Action starts
in Group G, as its both games are scheduled on Wednesday at 18:30 CET.
Don't miss the action. Read more here.
TOP 16, Week 6: February 29 - March 1, 2012
GROUP E
Anadolu Efes vs. CSKA Moscow 65:82
Olympiacos vs. Galatasaray Medical Park 88:81
GROUP F
Unicaja vs. Gescrap BB 55:59
Montepaschi Siena vs. Real Madrid 90:102
GROUP G
Unics vs. Panathinaikos 63:68
EA7 Emporio Armani vs. Fenerbahce Ulker 85:72
GROUP H
Zalgiris Kaunas vs. Bennet Cantu 71:77
FC Barcelona Regal vs. Maccabi Electra 70:67
February 24, 2012 - Top 16, Week 5 bwin MVP: Omar Cook, EA7 Emporio Armani
With
his team’s season on the line, Omar Cook stepped up with his finest
game of the season in leading EA7 Emporio Armani Milan to a 58-67 road
win over defending champion Panathinaikos in Athens. Unfortunately for
Cook and co., the result was not enough to keep Milan in the playoffs
hunt. However the veteran playmaker can take comfort in two
achievements along the way. Cook not only set a club Euroleague record
with 12 assists, but his performance index rating of 22 also helped him
snatch Top 16, Week 5 bwin MVP honors. Cook did most of his scoring
early with a pair of first-quarter three pointers that helped Milan
take a small lead. Read more here.
February 23, 2012 - Week 5
Bennet Cantu 62 - 63 FC Barcelona Regal
Bennet
Cantu 62-63 FC Barcelona Regal. FC Barcelona advanced to the
Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs by winning a tough battle at
Bennet Cantu 62-63 to remain undefeated at 5-0 in the Top 16 Group H
and eliminate Cantu. Barcelona came back from a 6-point fourth quarter
deficit for the win, which also carried Maccabi Electra into the last
eight. Boniface Ndong scored 13 points and all-time leading scorer Juan
Carlos Navarro hit for 12 points, including the game-winning free
throws with 26 seconds remaining for Barcelona. Read more here.
Panathinaikos 58 - 67 EA7 Emporio Armani
EA7 Emporio Armani
Milan outplayed Panathinaikos to grab a 58-67 victory at OAKA, but
despite the result Panathinaikos advanced to the playoffs and Milan was
eliminated. That comes as a result of the 21-point win the Greens
recorded over Armani in the fashion capital last month. Panathinaikos
dropped to 3-2, but can still win first place in the group and
home-court advantage for the playoffs with a road win at Unics Kazan
next week. Other than an early lead, the hosts found themselves
trailing the entire game. Panathinaikos pulled to within 1 point in the
second and third quarters, but never turned the corner.
Real Madrid 86 - 65 Unicaja
Real
Madrid managed to stay alive in the Top 16 thanks to a 86-65 home win
over Unicaja on Thursday night. Unicaja started like a hurricane with a
3-14 burst, but little by little, the hosts managed to climb back from
the well and prevail at the end. With the win, Real Madrid improves to
3-2 and ties for second place with Gescrap BB. The two Playoff berths
from this group will be decided in the final week as the three teams
still have options to advance. Unicaja, winless with a 0-5, is out of
the race. Nikola Mirotic led the winners with his 18 points including 4
of 9 threes, Sergio llull added 15 and Jaycee Carroll posted 13. Read
more here.
Maccabi Electra 70 - 66 Zalgiris Kaunas
Maccabi
Electra Tel Aviv rallied back from a 17-point second-quarter deficit to
beat Zalgiris Kaunas 70-66 in a thriller at Nokia Arena on Thursday
night. Keith Langford scored 17 points, including a clutch layup with
24 seconds remaining and Richard Hendrix totaled 11 points – including
a free throw to ice the game with 7 seconds left – plus 9 rebounds and
2 blocks as Maccabi swept the season series from the Lithuanian champs.
Zalgiris rolled from the start. A 0-8 start to the game grew to an
11-25 lead after 10 minutes thanks to a red-hot Sonny Weems and a
17-point gap early in the second quarter. Theo Papaloukas sparked a
12-0 run to bring Maccabi back to 33-37 by halftime. Read more here.
Fenerbahce Ulker 94 - 87 Unics
In
arguably one of the most exciting games in Top 16 history, Fenerbahce
Ulker rallied from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to edge Unics
94-87 in overtime in front of almost 12,000 fans at Ulker Sports Arena
in Istanbul, Turkey in Group G on Thursday. FB Ulker needed to win by 6
points or more to stay alive, regardless of other results. Bojan
Bogdanovic paced the winners with 20 points but Roko Ukic became the
game hero with a buzzer-beating floating jumper to send the game to
overtime. Ukic added 18 points, Emir Preldzic had 13, Gasper Vidmar got
10 while Mirsad Turkcan pulled down 13 rebounds for FB Ulker. Read more
here.
February 22, 2012
GS Medical Park 64 - 56 Anadolu Efes
Galatasaray
Medical Park knocked out rival Anadolu Efes with a 64-56 victory on
Wednesday in Turkish Airlines Euroleague Group E. The victory lifted
Galatasaray to 3-2 in the standings, but head coach Oktay Mahmuti’s men
must win next week at Olympiacos to reach the playoffs. Efes dropped to
1-4 and saw its dream of playing in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague
Final Four on its home court disappear. It was a bruising, hard-fourth
game throughout, though the hosts raced out to an 8-2 start and never
trailed again. Efes had the ball down 6 a number of times in the
closing minutes, but was denied every time. Luksa Andric paced the
hosts with 15 points and 7 rebounds, while Jaka Lakovic, Josh Shipp and
Jamon Lucas added 9 each. Read more here.
Gescrap BB 60 - 59 Montepaschi Siena
Gescrap
BB improved its chances to reach the Turkish Airlines Euroleague
Playoffs by edging Montepaschi Siena 60-59 in Top 16 Group F in Bilbao,
Spain on Wednesday. Montepaschi dropped to 4-1 but is all but
mathematically into the Playoffs. Gescrap improved to 3-2 in Group F
and will clinch a Playoffs spot with another win or if Real Madrid
loses any of its remaining Top 16 games. Raul Lopez became the man of
the night with the game-winning jumper right at the buzzer. Marko Banic
paced the winners with 16 points. Lopez added 15 while Alex Mumbru got
10 for Gescrap. Igor Rakocevic led Montepaschi with 14 points. Read
more here.
CSKA Moscow 96 - 64 Olympiacos
CSKA
Moscow thoroughly dominated Olympiacos Piraeus 96-64 on Wednesday in
the Russian capital to become the first team to reach the Turkish
Airlines Euroleague Playoffs this season and clinching first place in
Group E in the process. The victory marked CSKA’s 10th straight at home
as it bounced back from its first loss of the season in convincing
style. All 12 players score for CSKA, which simply dominated from the
tipoff. Andrey Vorontsevich scored 5 during a 10-0 start and he had
three three-pointers as the hosts made their first 10 shots from
downtown in building a 47-20 lead midway through the second quarter.
The scoreboard showed 54-26 at halftime and the lead peaked at 86-52
midway through the fourth quarter as CSKA cruised to victory. Read more
here.
February 22, 2012 - Top 16, Week 5: The best drama in basketball!
Week
5 of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 promises to have finality
for many of the teams competing for the eight playoffs tickets.
Entering the week, all 16 teams are still alive, but as many as seven –
or in theory none at all – could secure playoffs berths this week.
However one way or another, by the end of the action there will be
several teams whose fats have been sealed – either playoff-bound or
homebound. The week begins in the Russian capital where CSKA Moscow
(3-1) hosts Olympiacos (2-2) Wednesday at 17:15 CET. CSKA, which
suffered its first loss of the season in its last outing, will clinch a
ticket to the playoffs and first place in Group E if it beats
Olympiacos. Read more here.
TOP 16, Week 5
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22
CSKA Moscow vs. Olympiacos 96:64
Gescrap BB vs. Montepaschi Siena 60:59
GS Medical Park vs. Anadolu Efes 64:56
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23
Fenerbahce Ulker vs. Unics 94:87
Maccabi Electra vs. Zalgiris Kaunas 70:66
Real Madrid vs. Unicaja 86:65
Bennet Cantu vs. Barcelona Regal 62:63
Panathinaikos vs. EA7 Armani 58:67
February 10, 2012 - Top 16, Week 4 bwin MVP: Aaron Jackson, Gescrap BB
In
a week full of surprises, Aaron Jackson of Gescrap BB was at the center
of one of the biggest. Just one week after his team was battered by 16
points in a loss at Real Madrid, the men in black turned the tables en
route to a 93-69 victory. And no man was more responsible for the
turnaround than Jackson, the Top 16, Week 4 bwin MVP. The point guard,
who had 2 points and a 0 performance index rating in Madrid, collected
5 points and 4 assists in the first quarter alone as Gescrap raced out
to a 34-14 start and never looked back. He finished the impressive
outing with season-highs of 15 points and 10 assists. Read more here.
February 9, 2012 - Week 4
Panathinaikos 72 - 62 Fenerbahce Ulker
Panathinaikos
took a big step towards the playoffs by dominating Fenerbahce Ulker
72-62 at OAKA Arena in Athens. The Greens are now tied for first place
in Group G with a 3-1 record. Panathinaikos led from start to finish,
using tough defense to hold the visitors to 27 points in the first half
and force many of Fenerbahce’s 21 turnovers. Despite spotty play, the
visitors never gave up and managed to cut the lead to 9 points in the
fourth quarter. Veteran Kostas Tsartsaris, starting for the injured
Steve Smith, paced the winners with 21 points, while Mike Batiste
knocked down 11 and grabbed 6 rebounds, and Ian Vougioukas and Romain
Sato each contributed 9. Read more here.
Maccabi Electra 75 - 60 Bennet Cantu
Maccabi
Electra boosted its playoffs chances significantly by beating Bennet
Cantu 75-60 at Tel Aviv’s Nokia Arena on Thursday. The result not only
lifted Maccabi to a 2-2 record in Group H, but gave the Israeli champs
the potential tiebreaker over Cantu, which also sports a 2-2 record.
Hot shooting from Gianluca Basile gave Cantu a 39-41 edge at halftime,
but the hosts locked up the Cantu attack in the third quarter as the
visitors failed to score a basket, Maccabi went on a 13-1 run at one
point and pulled away to a 17-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
Cantu never quit, but was unable to close the gap to 8 – its winning
margin from last week – the rest of the way. Read more here.
GS Medical Park 68 - 64 CSKA Moscow
Galatasaray
Medical Park sent a message that echoed all around the continent by
downing previously undefeated CSKA Moscow 68-64 in Top 16 Group E in
front of an unbelievable sellout crowd of 11,300 fans in Istanbul,
Turkey on Thursday. Galatasaray improved to 2-2 and tied with
Olympiacos BC Pireaus for second place in Group E. CSKA dropped to 3-1
and still leads Group E but saw its 14-0 Turkish Airlines Euroleague
winning streak come to an end. Josh Shipp led the winners with 22
points. Luksa Andric added 16 for Galatasaray. Sasha Kaun and Alexey
Shved led CSKA with 11 points apiece. Andrei Kirilenko added 10 for the
guests, that used an 0-11 run in which Ramunas Siskauskas struck twice
from downtown to get a 20-26 lead midway through the second quarter.
Read more here.
Zalgiris Kaunas 58 - 67 FC Barcelona Regal
Zalgiris
started the game really strong at home on Thursday night, but once FC
Barcelona Regal regrouped and managed to gain its first lead in the
second quarter, the guests never looked back and took an almost
decisive 58-67 road in in Kaunas, Lithuania. The win keeps Barca
undefeated atop Group H with a 4-0 record and practically a Playoffs
ticket. In fact, if Bennet Cantu defeats Maccabi Electra, the Spanish
and the Italian teams will already advance tonight. Meanwhile, Zalgiris
drops to 0-4 and is practically out of the race for the next phase.
Zalgiris stayed in the game thanks to Tomas Delininkaitis, but three
fatal minutes in the last period with no points and some turnovers
allowed the guests to build the definitive margin through Chuck Eidson
and Juan Carlos Navarro. Read more here.
February 8, 2012
Montepaschi Siena 84 - 69 Unicaja
Montepaschi
Siena remained undefeated in the Top 16 by beating Unicaja 84-69 in
Group F action, but missed a chance to advance to the Playoffs already
this week when Bilbao Basket blasted past Real Madrid. Montepaschi used
a 12-1 run in the fourth quarter to take control of the game and
allowed just one basket in the final period to improve to 4-0 in the
group. A victory in either of its remaining games or a loss for either
Real Madrid or Gescrap BB will send Siena through to the next stage.
Five players scored in double digits for Montepaschi, led by Bo
McCalebb’s 18 points. Ksistof Lavrinovic hit for 13 points while David
Moss and Igor Rakocevic both had 11 points and David Andersen chipped
in 10 points for Siena, which forced 19 Unicaja turnovers. Read more here.
EA7 Emporio Armani 63 - 58 Unics
EA7
Emporio Armani Milan registered its first Top 16 victory and handed
Unics Kazan its first Top 16 loss with a 63-58 result in the fashion
capital on Wednesday. The hosts enjoyed great efforts from several
players to register the win. Antonis Fotsis made 4 of 5 three-pointers
for 16 points, J.R. Bremer led the way early and finished with 13
points in his first Euroleague game in many years, Leon Radosevic
started in place of the injured Ioannis Bourousis and responded with 11
points and Omar Cook ran the offense effectively and dished 7 assists.
The result improved Armani to 1-3, but it will still need to win both
its remaining games and to get some help to have a chance of reaching
the Playoffs. Read more here.
Gescrap BB 93 - 69 Real Madrid
Gescrap
BB sent a message that echoed all around the Turkish Airlines
Euroleague by downing Real Madrid 93-69 in front of a sellout crowd of
over 9,000 fans in Bilbao, Spain on Wednesday. Gescrap and Madrid tie
for second place in Top 16 Group F each with a 2-2 record. Gescrap,
however, got the tie-break advantage if both teams remain tied at the
end of the Top 16. Gescrap will advance to the Top 16 if it beats
Montepaschi at home and Unicaja downs Madrid in the Spanish capital.
Kostas Vasileadis paced the winners with 19 points. Alex Mumbru added
16, Aaron Jackson had 15, D'or Fischer got 11 while Axel Hervelle got
10 for Gescrap. Jackson added 10 assists for a double-double. Nikola
Mirotic led Madrid with 18 points. Read more here.
Anadolu Efes 65 - 67 Olympiacos
Olympiacos
Piraeus took charge of all-important second place in Group E with a
dramatic 65-67 victory over Anadolu Efes on Wednesday at Sinan Erdem
Arena in Istanbul, pushing that city's dream of a Turkish team on the
same floor at the 2011 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four this
spring somewhat further away. A furious Efes rally erased all of an
11-point deficit with 2:30 to play as Sasha Vujacic buried a game-tying
triple at 65-65 with 16 seconds left. Efes put Kostas Sloukas on the
foul line, but he buried both his free throws before a game-winning
three-point try by Efes guard Oliver Lafayette missed as time ran out.
Olympiacos broke their tie for second place and now has a 2-2 record,
with Efes falling to 1-3 with just two Top 16 games to play. Read more here.
February 8, 2012 - Top 16, Week 4: First playoffs tickets up for grabs!
The 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16
enters a truly pivotal week in which as many as seven teams can access
the playoffs. Only one of them - CSKA Moscow - fully depends on its own
game to clinch a playoff spot. Three pairs of teams in Groups F, G and
H can advance to the next round if - and only if - both squads win
their respective games. Action starts with four games on Wednesday.
Read more here.
GROUP E
Anadolu Efes vs. Olympiacos 65:67
Galatasaray Medical Park vs. CSKA Moscow 68:64
GROUP F
Montepaschi Siena vs. Unicaja 84:69
Gescrap BB vs. Real Madrid 93:69
GROUP G
EA7 Emporio Armani vs. Unics 63:58
Panathinaikos vs. Fenerbahce Ulker 72:62
GROUP H
Zalgiris Kaunas vs. FC Barcelona Regal 58:67
Maccabi Electra vs. Bennet Cantu 75:60
February 3, 2012 - Top 16, Week 3 bwin MVP: Nenad Krstic, CSKA Moscow
One
of the central figures in what is shaping up to be a season for the
record books for CSKA Moscow is center Nenad Krstic. The big man added
to his stellar campaign this week by picking up Top 16, Week 3 bwin MVP
honors and thus joining teammate Andrei Kirilenko among only three
players to claim that title twice this season. Krstic was worth maximum
production in minimum time in Thursday’s 85-70 home win over GS Medical
Park. He came off the bench for 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and added
9 rebounds, an assist and a steal en route to a performance index
rating of 31, which ironically was the same index rating he achieved
when he was previously named bwin MVP after Week 9. Read more here.
February 2, 2012 - Week 3
Unicaja 68 - 91 Montepaschi Siena
Montepaschi
Siena notched its second consecutive road victory by overwhelming
Unicaja 68-91 to take a 3-0 record and sole possession of first place
in Group F. Unicaja’s record fell to 0-3. Montepaschi could potentially
qualify to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs as soon as next
week if it beats Unicaja in Siena. David Moss paced the winners with 20
points on 4-of-6 shooting from downtown plus 7 rebounds. Ksistof
Lavrinovic added 18 points, David Andersen 15 and Bo McCalebb and
Bootsy Thornton each scored 13 for the winners. Joel Freeland led the
hosts with 14 points and 9 rebounds, while Tremmell Darden contributed
13 and Luka Zoric and Earl Rowland added 11 apiece. Read more here.
FC Barcelona Regal 94 - 80 Zalgiris Kaunas
Despite
having serious problems in the second and third quarters, FC Barcelona
Regal stepped up and got its third Top 16 win on Thursday night at home
against Zalgiris Kaunas, 94-80. The hosts started controlling the game,
but after leading 28-18, the guests came back strong and even managed
to forge a 36-41 lead. However, in the last period, Barca stormed on
the court and jumped ahead for good. The win allows Barca to claim full
control of Group H with a 3-0 record, while Zalgiris drops to 0-3 and
cannot afford more false steps in the next games. Erazem Lorbek led the
winners with his 19 points, Juan Carlos Navarro added 16 and Marcelinho
Huertas added 14. Read more here.
Bennet Cantu 82 - 74 Maccabi Electra
Bennet Cantu protected
its home court with an 82-74 victory over Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv on
Thursday at Pala Desio that sets the stage for huge rematch next week
in Israel. Vladimir Micov shined with 17 points and 9 assists and
Ginaluca Basile buried 4 big three-pointers en route to 14 points for
the hosts, who could potentially advance to the playoffs with a win
next week. Cantu led practically all night – Maccabi’s only lead lasted
a matter of seconds in the second quarter. Maccabi kept it close much
of the game and was within 1 late in the third quarter before Giorgi
Shermadini helped Cantu push ahead 70-60 early in the fourth. Maccabi
rallied again and Demond Mallet’s three-point attempt that went in and
out would have made it 72-71. Read more here.
Fenerbahce Ulker 56 - 77 Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos
BC Athens took a pivotal showdown in Top 16 Group G by downing
Fenerbahce Ulker 56-77 in front of almost 12,000 fans in Istanbul,
Turkey on Thursday. Panathinaikos improved to 2-1 and will qualify to
the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs if it beats FB Ulker next week
and Unics downed EA7 Emporio Armani Milano. FB Ulker dropped to 1-2 and
may need a road win against the Greens to stay in the playoffs race.
Kostas Kaimakoglou paced the winners with 19 points - a new Top 16
career high. Mike Batiste added 15 while Romain Sato had 12 for
Panathinaikos. Curtis Jerrells led FB Ulker with 12 points. Roko Ukic
added 11 while Kaya Peker had 10 for the hosts. Read more here.
CSKA Moscow 85 - 70 GS Medical Park
CSKA
Moscow stayed undefeated in the Top 16 - and in the 2011-12 Turkish
Airlines Euroleague season - by downing Galatasaray Medical Park 85-70
in the Russian capital in Group E on Thursday. CSKA leads Group E with
a 3-0 record and had the chance to clinch a Playoffs spot if it beats
Galatasaray in Istanbul, Turkey next week. Galatasaray dropped to 1-2
but keeps chances to make it to the playoffs. Nenad Krstic led the
winners with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Milos Teodosic added 12,
Ramunas Siskauskas and Viktor Khryapa each added 11 while Alexey Shved
got 10 for CSKA. Jamon Lucas led Galatasaray with 15 points. Read more here.
February 1, 2012
Real Madrid 89 - 73 Gescrap BB
Real
Madrid bounced back from its first home loss in this Turkish Airlines
Euroleague season by downing Gescrap BB 89-73 in Top 16 Group F in the
Spanish capital on Wednesday. Madrid improved to 2-1 in Group F while
Gescrap dropped to 1-2. Both teams meet again in Bilbao next week.
Sergio Rodriguez led the winners with 20 points on 6-of-6 shooting and
7 assists. Ante Tomic added 15 points, Mirza Begic had 12, Jaycee
Carroll got 11 while Kyle Singler contributed 10 for Madrid. Marko
Banic led Gescrap with 18 points. Alex Mumbru had 17 while Kostas
Vasileadis had 13 for the guests. Rodriguez and Singler shined early to
lead Madrid to a 26-16 margin. Read more here.
Olympiacos 83 - 65 Anadolu Efes
Olympiacos
dominated the fourth quarter en route to a convincing 83-65 victory
over Anadolu Efes on Wednesday at the Peace and Friendship Stadium in
Piraeus, Greece. The result gives the Reds their first win of the Top
16 and tied them with Efes at 1-2 with a possibility of being tied for
second place in Group E depending on Thursday’s game. The score was
tied at 53-53 through three quarters, but Kostas Sloukas led the way as
the hosts started the quarter 24-5 and put the game away. A big
difference in the game was three-point shooting as Olympiacos made 9 of
19 (47.4%) compared to 1-of-8 shooting (12.5%) for Efes. Read more here.
Unics 59 - 44 EA7 Emporio Armani
Unics
Kazan dominated on the defensive end and got strong efforts from its
trio of guards in slamming EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 59-44 on Wednesday
to stay atop Group G with a 3-0 record. Henry Domercant paced the
winners with 16 points, Petr Samoylenko scored 12 and Terrell Lyday 10
for the winners. Vladimir Veremeenko grabbed 11 rebounds as the host
outrebounded Milan 46-31. The end result was the fewest points Milan
has scored in a Turkish Airlines Euroleague game. Domercant got off to
a red-hot start as the hosts took a double-digit lead in the first
quarter. A 12-0 charge led by Lyday to start the second quarter put
Unics ahead 32-12 and Milan never got closer than 10 the rest of the
way. Nicolo Melli paced Armani with a career-high 17 points. Read more here.
February 1, 2012 - Top 16, Week 3: High hopes heading into halfway point!
The
Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 is about to reach its halfway mark
with four undefeated teams eyeing early qualification to the playoffs,
another four - one per group - looking first victories and eight teams
with 1-1 records aiming for second place or higher. Action starts with
three games on Wednesday. At 17:00 CET, Unics (2-0) takes EA7 Emporio
Armani Milan (0-2) in Group G in Kazan, Russia. Unics has won eight of
its last nine Euroleague games and its superstar Henry Domercant was
chosen the bwin MVP for January. Milan won two regular season games on
the road and needs another now to rejoin the playoff race. Read more here.
GROUP E
Olympiacos vs. Anadolu Efes 83:65
CSKA Moscow vs. Galatasaray Medical Park 85:70
GROUP F
Real Madrid vs. Gescrap BB 89:73
Unicaja vs. Montepaschi Siena 68:91
GROUP G
Unics vs. EA7 Emporio Armani 59:44
Fenerbahce Ulker vs. Panathinaikos 56:77
GROUP H
Bennet Cantu vs. Maccabi Electra 82:74
FC Barcelona Regal vs. Zalgiris Kaunas 94:80
January 30, 2012 - January MVP: Henry Domercant, Unics Kazan
If
one team is a surprise to be seen standing alone with a 2-0 record atop
its Top 16 group, it is Unics Kazan of Russia, a rookie in the Turkish
Airlines Euroleague. And if there is one player who has everything to
do with that startling success, it is veteran guard Henry Domercant,
who is Euroleague Basketballs choice as bwin MVP for January. In the
first month of the new year and its first Top 16 games ever, Unics not
only became the only team so far to defeat two group opponents that
were seeded higher at the recent Top 16 Draw. It also became the first
Euroleague newcomer since 2003 to win its first two Top 16 games. Read
more here.
January 27, 2012 - Top 16, Week 2 bwin MVP: Bo McCalebb, Montepaschi Siena
The
brilliance of Bo McCalebb could be seen time and time again on
Wednesday night. The Montepaschi Siena playmaker powered his team to an
impressive 69-88 victory over Real Madrid at the Community of Madrid
Sports Palace with one of his finest performances in an already
brilliant Euroleague career. McCalebb established career highs with 25
points and a performance index rating of 36, which netted him Top 16,
Week 2 bwin MVP honors. McCalebb scored 10 points and dished 2 assists
in the first quarter alone as the visitors jumped out to an 18-point
lead and never looked back. By the time the game was over, he had made
9 of 10 two-point shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers and all 4 free throws he
attempted. Read more here.
January 26, 2012 - Week 2
Maccabi Electra 57 - 71 FC Barcelona Regal
FC
Barcelona Regal pulled away late to crush Maccabi Electra 57-71 in the
Turkish Airlines Euroleague Game of the Week on Thursday at Nokia Arena
in Tel Aviv. The win was Barcelona’s fifth in a row over Maccabi and
put it in pole position in Top 16 Group H with a 2-0 record. Erazem
Lorbek starred for the winners with 18 points – 9 of which came in the
final 5:12 of the game. Maccabi started strong and led by 7 after 10
minutes, but Barcelona came back quickly and the game remained close
through the end of the half, 29-29. Maccabi took a 51-49 lead early in
the fourth quarter, but Barcelona dominated the rest of the way. Read
more here.
GS Medical Park 78 - 77 Olympiacos
In
one of the most exciting games so far in this 2011-12 Turkish Airlines
Euroleague season, Galatasaray Medical Park registered its first-ever
Top 16 win by downing Olympiacos BC Pireaus 78-77 in overtime in front
of a sellout crowd at Abdi Ipecki Sports Hall in Istanbul, Turkey in
Group E on Thursday. Galatasaray improved to 1-1 in Group E while
Olympiacos dropped to 0-2. Jamon Gordon led the winners with 17 points,
including the go-ahead shot, against his former team. Jaka Lakovic
added 16 while Luksa Andric and Cehver Ozer each had 10 for
Galatasaray. Vassilis Spanoulis led Olympiacos with 24 points. Georgios
Printezis added 14, Kyle Hines had 11 while Kostas Sloukas got 10 for
the Reds, that trailed 57-43 late in the third quarter. Read more here.
January 25, 2012
Bennet Cantu 79 - 78 Zalgiris Kaunas
Bennet
Cantu came back from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Zalgiris
Kaunas at home 79-78 in a Top 16 thriller in Group H of the Turkish
Airlines Euroleague. The game went to the wire and was decided when
Georgi Shermadini went to the line with 3.2 seconds left and the score
tied. He made the first, missed the second intentionally and Zalgiris’s
desperation heave at the buzzer missed. Gianluca Basile paced the hosts
with 15 points, Shermadini had 12 points and five other Cantu players
had at least 7 points as the host team improved to 1-1 in the group.
Read more here.
Fenerbahce Ulker 65 - 63 EA7 Emporio Armani
Fenerbahce Ulker took a
narrow lead into the fourth quarter and held on to beat EA7 Emporio
Milan 65-63 in the opening game of Ulker Sports Arena in Istanbul on
Wednesday. The hosts earned a critical first victory in Group G, while
Milan dropped to 0-2. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 17 points for the
winners, while Roko Ukic returned from injury to score 16 and Marko
Tomas added 8. Kaya Peker contributed 6 points, along with 10 rebounds
and 2 steals. Antonis Fotsis and Mason Rocca paced Armani with 16
points apiece, while Stefano Mancinelli added 13 and Drew Nicholas 9.
Omar Cook dished out 8 assists. Read more here.
Panathinaikos 83 - 89 Unics
Unics Kazan put its
name among the contenders to reach the Turkish Airlines Euroleague
Playoffs by taking down defending champion Panathinaikos 83-89 on the
road in Athens on Wednesday to seize first place in Group G of the Top
16. Unics won its fifth road game out of six this season and its eighth
game overall out of the last nine to go 2-1 in the group, while
Panathinaikos dropped into a 1-1 tie for second place with Fenerbahce
Ulker. A 4-15 run that ended with a Henry Domercant triple early in the
final quarter gave Unics the game's first double-digit lead, which held
at 76-87 with 48 seconds left before Panathinaikos trimmed points down
the stretch. Read more here.
Real Madrid 69 - 88 Montepaschi Siena
Montepaschi
Siena sent a message that echoed all around the Turkish Airlines
Euroleague by downing Real Madrid 69-88 in the Spanish capital in Top
16 Group F on Wednesday. Montepaschi improved to 2-0 and became the
only undefeated team in Group F, handing Madrid its first Euroleague
home loss this season. Bo McCalebb paced the winners with 25 points, a
new Euroleague career-high, on 9-of-10 two-pointers and 6 assists.
Ksistof Lavrinovic added 16 points, David Andersen had 11 while David
Moss got 10 for Montepaschi. Felipe Reyes led Madrid with 17 points and
15 rebounds. Jaycee Carroll added 12 points for the hosts. A
three-pointer by Carroll gave Madrid its last lead, 8-6. Moss and
McCalebb fueled a 0-14 run that put Montepaschi ahead for good, 8-20.
Read more here.
Gescrap BB 85 - 70 Unicaja
Gescrap
BB registered its first ever Turkish Airlines Top 16 victory by pulling
away to beat Unicaja 85-70 at Bilbao Arena. The result lifted Gescrap
into a tie for second place in Group F with Real Madrid. Those teams
meet next week in the Spanish capital. The game was close for three
quarters. Unicaja led 49-50 late in the third quarter, but Bilbao’s
outside shooters heated up during a 27-6 charge that extended into the
middle of the fourth and decided the game. Kostas Vasiliadis paced the
men in black with 19 points, Alex Mumbru added 18, Aaron Jackson scored
14 and Dimitrios Mavroeidis tallied 11 points and 11 rebounds. Joel
Freeland, who was not expected to play due to injury, came off the
bench to score 18 for Unicaja. Read more here.
CSKA Moscow 96 - 68 Anadolu Efes
CSKA
Moscow extended its unbeaten Turkish Airlines Euroleague run by
overpowering Anadolu Efes 96-68 in the Russian capital on Wednesday.
Efes kept it close for one quarter before Nenad Krstic dominated in
an18-2 second-quarter run that made it 48-36 at halftime and then Milos
Teodosic and Viktor Khryapa took charge in a 16-2 blitz to open the
third quarter as CSKA marched to its eighth straight Euroleague home
victory. Andrei Kirilenko shined brighter than the rest with 15 points
and just 1 missed shot plus 8 rebounds. Krstic finished with 14 points,
Teodosic had 13 and Khryapa tallied 11 points and 8 assists. Sasha
Vujacic paced Efes with 21 points and Stanko Barac added 15 as the
visitors dropped to 1-1 in Group E. Read more here.
January 25, 2012 - Top 16 Week 2: Four clashes will produce four 2-0 group leaders!
Turkish Airlines Euroleague fans know that anything
can happen in the Top 16 to always expect the unexpected. Top 16, Game
2 comes with an extraordinary circumstance - all eight winners in Game
1 face each other in four outstanding showdowns. At the same time, all
eight losers in Game 1 go against each other to avoid falling to 0-2.
Action resumes on a busy Wednesday that features six games in all Top
16 groups. It all starts at 17:15 CET, when CSKA Moscow hosts Anadolu
Efes. CSKA is the only undefeated team left in the competition, but
Efes has stolen three road wins until now. Efes, however, has not
beaten CSKA in Moscow since 1999. Read more here.
GROUP E
CSKA Moscow vs. Anadolu Efes 96:68
Galatasaray Medical Park vs. Olympiacos 78:77
GROUP F
Real Madrid vs. Montepaschi Siena 69:88
Gescrap BB vs. Unicaja 85:70
GROUP G
Fenerbahce Ulker vs. EA7 Emporio Armani 65:63
Panathinaikos vs. Unics 83:89
GROUP H
Bennet Cantu vs. Zalgiris Kaunas 79:78
Maccabi Electra vs. FC Barcelona Regal 57:71
January 20, 2012 - Top 16, Week 1 bwin MVP: Vladimir Veremeenko, Unics Kazan
In
what is already a groundbreaking season for Unics Kazan, Vladimir
Veremeenko helped the club to another monumental moment in Top 16, Week
1. The debut season in Europe’s premier basketball competition has been
quite successful for both player and club. On Wednesday, the big man
had his best game in the Euroleague yet to help Unics start the Top 16
with a tough 76-71 home win over Fenerbahce Ulker. His performance in
doing so earned him Top 16, Week 1 bwin MVP honors and also made him
the first Unics player to ever claim the Euroleague player of the week
distinction. Veremeenko produced 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting in
addition to 11 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks and 11 fouls drawn in
amassing a performance index rating of 32, which was the best among all
players on winning teams in the first set of Top 16 games. Read more here.
January 19, 2012 - Week 1
EA7 Emporio Armani 57 - 78 Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos Athens
blew away EA7 Emporio Armani Milan on the road 57-78 in the teams’ Top
16 Group G opening game. With solid execution on both ends of the
court, the visitors never let Milan get a foothold in the game. David
Logan led all scorers with 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting from two-point
range, all of them coming in the second half, while Romain Sato had 11
and Mike Batiste added 10 for the winners. Four other players had at
least 5 points. Antonis Fotsis knocked down 10 points for Milan against
his former team. Alessandro Gentile added 7 points, but also committed
5 of Milan’s 24 turnovers as Panathinaikos smothered Milan defensively.
Read more here.
Unicaja 80 - 81 Real Madrid
Nikola
Mirotic dropped in a frantic shot with 0.5 seconds remaining to give
Real Madrid a thrilling 80-81 victory over fellow Spanish league club
Unicaja in the teams’ Top 16 Group F opener on Thursday at Martin
Carpena Arena. The last two minutes saw two ties and three lead changes
in a true nail-biter that wasn’t settled until Berni Rodriguez’s
desperation heave at the buzzer missed. It was a back-and-forth game
all night that featured plenty of highlights and unending drama.
Mirotic, the Euroleague’s December MVP, finished with 12 points, 6
rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Kyle Singler paced los Blancos with 13
points, Ante Tomic tallied 12 points and 7 boards, Sergio Rodriguez
registered 11 points and 9 assists and Felipe Reyes added 10 for the
winners. Read more here.
Anadolu Efes 68 - 62 GS Medical Park
Anadolu
Efes had a strong start in the 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top
16 by downing Galatasaray Medical Park 68-62 in Istanbul, Turkey in
Group E on Thursday. Efes joined CSKA Moscow atop the standings, with
Galatasaray and Olympiacos just one win away. Sasha Vujacic paced the
winners with 17 points. Dusko Savanovic added 16 - all in the first
quarter - and a Euroleague career-high 17 rebounds while Stanko Barac
had 12 points for Efes. Luksa Andric led Galatasaray with 14 points.
Jaka Lakovic added 13 while Jamon Gordon had 10 for the guests.
Savanovic took over in the first quarter, downing four three-pointers
to make Efes get a 29-19 margin after 10 minutes. Read more here.
Zalgiris Kaunas 76 - 84 Maccabi Electra
Maccabi
Electra scored an important 76-84 road win over Zalgiris Kaunas on
Thursday at Zalgirio Arena on Thursday to open Group H. The visitors
got a pair of triples from new signing Demond Mallet to take the lead
in the first quarter and never trailed. The Israeli champs led by as
many as 15 in the second quarter and seemed poised to run away with the
game. But a strong Milovan Rakovic helped the hosts creep back and in
the fourth quarter the deficit got down to 2 points. However whenever
Zalgiris had the chance to tie the game or even take the lead, Maccabi
stood tall – particularly Richard Hendrix who had 2 of his 3 blocks in
the closing minutes to help seal the victory. Mallet finished with 15
in his first Macccabi Euroleague game. Read more here.
FC Barcelona Regal 65 - 60 Bennet Cantu
FC Barcelona Regal registered its first win in Top
16 Group H by edging Bennet Cantu 65-60 at home on Thursday. Barcelona
and Maccabi tie for first place in Group H, with Zalgiris and Cantu
right behind them. Chuck Eidson led the winners with 18 points. Erazem
Lorbek added 13 and 9 rebounds while Marcelinho Huertas had 11 for
Barcelona. Vladimir Micov and Gianluca Basile led Cantu with 13 points
apiece. Basile, who played for Barcelona for six consecutive seasons
from 2005 to 2011, was honored in a pre-game ceremony and fans sang his
name before, during and after the game. Cantu led 15-18 after 10
minutes and kept a 28-30 edge at halftime. A jumper by Manuchar
Markoishvili gave Cantu its last lead, 50-51, early in the fourth
quarter. Read more here.
January 18, 2012
Montepaschi Siena 81 - 67 Gescrap BB
Montepaschi
Siena pieced together a 17-0 run that bridged the second and third
quarters to crawl out of an early hole and march to an 81-67 home win
over Gescrap BB in the teams’ Top 16 Group F game opener. David
Andersen and Bo McCalebb scored 18 points apiece to pace the winners.
Gescrap started strong and led by 10 midway through the second quarter.
Tomas Ress evened the score at 32-32 with a triple in the final minute
of the first half and McCalebb and Marco Carraretto took charge in the
third as Siena took control. Bilbao never quit and after trailing by 12
late in the third, rallied behind Kostas Vasiliadis to within 6 in the
fourth, but Siena finished strong to notch its fifth straight
Euroleague win. Read more here.
Olympiacos 78 - 86 CSKA Moscow
CSKA
Moscow had a solid start in the 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top
16 by edging Olympiacos 78-86 in the Pireaus, Greece in Group E on
Wednesday. CSKA became the first team to register a win in this group
and remained the only undefeated team in the Euroleague this season.
Nenad Krstic paced the winners with 18 points on 10-of-12 free throws.
Viktor Khryapa added 16 on 8-of-8 free throws, Ramunas Siskauskas had
12, Andrei Kirilenko got 11 while Jamont Gordon contributed 10 for
CSKA. Martynas Gecevicius led Olympiacos with 14 points. Kyle Hines and
Pero Antic each added 13 while Vassilis Spanoulis had 11 for the Reds.
Read more here.
Unics 76 - 71 Fenerbahce Ulker
A
dominant second half from Unics Kazan saw the hosts storm back from 17
points down to top Fenerbahce Ulker 76-71 71 in the team’s Top 16 Group
G opener on Wednesday. Petr Samoylenko starred with career highs of 18
points and 9 assists and Vladimir Veremeenko delivered 17 points, 11
rebounds and 2 blocks for the winners. It looked to be the Turkish
champs’ night early, especially after Bojan Bogdanovic reeled off 13
unanswered points in the second quarter that helped stake FB ulcer to a
24-41 halftime lead. But Kazan, which scored just 9 second-quarter
points, came alive after the break and Samoylenko and Terrell Lyday
combined to bring the hosts within 1. Then Henry Domercant took over
early in the fourth quarter to give Kazan the lead and more en route to
an impressive victory. Read more here.
Turkish Airlines Euroleague top 16 2012
With three games today, Wednesday, January 18, and
five games tomorrow, Thursday, January 19, Turkish Airlines Euroleague
top 16 phase will start. For all Basketball fans around the world, and
especially in Europe, it is a big day, day that they were waiting. Even
I am sad that my team, Partizan mt:s Belgrade will not compete in this
phase I am glad that I will be able to watch the best Basketball in
Europe. Expectations are big. Only 4 teams will qualify for Final four
and fight for Turkish Airlines Euroleague title. A lot of money is
invested and many clubs expect to qualify at Final four at least. Read
more here.
January 17, 2012 - Top 16 Week 1: Stage is set for Top 16 thrills!
The 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague season
returns with the Top 16, which will feature a six-game, round-robin
competition for the last time. The Top 16 Draw divided all 16 surviving
teams into 4 groups. As always, only the best two squads in each group
will advance to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs. Every game
counts and most showdowns will go down to the wire, so expect even more
drama, action and thrillers all around the competition. Action starts
with three games on Wednesday. The Top 16’s first game tips off at
17:00 CET in Group G, as reigning Eurocup champion Unics hosts
Fenerbahce Ulker as these teams meet for the first time since 2004.
Unics has won its last three Euroleague games but FB Ulker grabbed that
many road wins in the regular season. The other two Wednesday showdowns
are scheduled at 20:45 CET. In Group F, Montepaschi Siena welcomes
Gescrap BB. Read more here.
Top 16 Week 1 schedule:
GROUP E
Olympiacos Piraeus vs. CSKA Moscow 78:86
Anadolu Efes vs. Galatasaray Medical Park 68:62
GROUP F
Montepaschi Siena vs. Gescrap BB 81:67
Unicaja vs. Real Madrid 80:81
GROUP G
Unics vs. Fenerbahce Ulker 76:71
EA7 Emporio Armani vs. Panathinaikos 57:78
GROUP H
Zalgiris Kaunas vs. Maccabi Electra 76:84
FC Barcelona Regal vs. Bennet Cantu 65:60
January 6, 2012 - Euroleague Top 16 profiles, Group H
Two
weeks away from the start of the Top 16, Euroleague.net looks at four
players from each group that are expected to be crucial names in their
teams. Finishing with Group H, let's take a look at Pete Mickeal FCB
Regal, Keith Langford of Maccabi Electra, Vladimir Micov of Bennet
Cantu and Mantas Kalnietis of Zalgiris. For a natural-born winner,
getting the sweet taste of winning the Euroleague is reason enough to
be extremely motivated to try to lift the trophy again. If you add that
Pete Mickeal comes off an injury-plagued season in which some even
doubted that he would ever play again at this level, the challenge –
and the opportunity - is even bigger. Read more here.
January 5, 2012 - Euroleague Top 16 profiles: Group G
Two
weeks away from the start of the Top 16, Euroleague.net looks at four
players from each group that are expected to be crucial names in their
teams. Starting with Group G, let's take a look at Curtis Jerrells of
FB Ulker, Nick Calathes of Panathinaikos, Vladimir Veremeenko of Unics
and Stefano Mancinelli of EA7 Emporio Armani. There is no denying the
tremendous impact Curtis Jerrells has had on Fenerbahce Ulker’s season
thus far. As the team’s sixth man, his spark helped carry the Turkish
champs through Group A from first place and into the Top 16. But now
the road gets tougher. Especially with the news that starting point
guard Roko Ukic has broken a finger and will miss the start of the Top
16. Read more here.
January 4, 2012 - Euroleague Top 16 profiles: Group F
Two
weeks away from the start of the Top 16, Euroleague.net looks at four
players from each group that are expected to be crucial names in their
teams. Starting with Group F, let's take a look at Sergio Rodriguez of
Real Madrid, Pietro Aradori of Montepaschi, Luka Zoric of Unicaja and
D'Or Fischer of Gescrap BB. Real Madrid was the been the
highest-scoring team in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season
and one of the main reasons for that has been starting point guard
Sergio Rodriguez, whose court vision and dynamism helped the Whites win
Group C in style. In his second season with the club, Rodriguez is much
more confident and comfortable with head coach Pablo Laso's run-and-gun
style, where he fits right in. Read more here.
January 3, 2012 - Euroleague Top 16 profiles: Group E
Two
weeks away from the start of the Top 16, Euroleague.net looks at four
players from each group that are expected to be crucial names in their
teams. Starting with Group E, let's take a look at Alexey Shved of
CSKA, Georgios Printezis of Olympiacos, Dusko Savanovic of Anadolu Efes
and Luksa Andric of GS Medical Park. Always seen as an up-and-coming
talent, Alexey Shved has fulfilled his potential this season and
confirmed his status as one of the best young combo guards in Europe.
Despite making his Euroleague debut with CSKA back in the 2007-08
season, Shved did not see solid minutes until Jonas Kazlauskas joined
the team last season. Now Shved is making the most of this opportunity,
becoming not only one of CSKA's pillars this season, but also one of
the most exciting players to watch in the competition. Read more here.
December 28, 2011 - Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 Draw results
The 16 teams still alive in the Turkish Airlines
Euroleague learned what the road they must travel to fight for European
basketball’s ultimate prize looks like on Wednesday at the Top 16 Draw
in Barcelona, Spain. Representatives for the teams that survived the
grueling regular season watched as their clubs were drawn into four
groups of four teams that were headed by the regular season group
winners: Fenerbahce Ulker, CSKA Moscow, Real Madrid and regal FC
Barcelona. And they all have the same goal; Arriving in Istanbul in May
with the chance to win two more games and enter the history books as
European champions! Every group will feature six games per team in a
round-robin setup from January 16 through March 1. Read more here.
December 28, 2011 - Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four 2012 Istanbul logo unveiled
The
Top 16 Draw on Wednesday featured the unveiling of the logo for the
2012 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four in Istanbul, the city where
a champion will be crowned in five short months. The logo is inspired
by the geographic location of the city, its graphic identity, and the
art and culture of the country. The design focuses on two special
concepts, the water and the undulating shapes of two of the most
important buildings in Istanbul, the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia,
merged with basketball. Read more here.
December 28, 2011 - CEO and President Jordi Bertomeu Top 16 Draw speech
Good
afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to all the members of the
clubs, leagues and a special welcome to the president of the Turkish
Basketball Federation, Mr. Turgay Demirel. Thank you very much for
being here today for this Top 16 Draw. We have reached this point after
two and a half months of competition. Two and a half months in which we
have enjoyed great basketball. As in previous seasons, we have also had
drama until the very last minute to know the teams that will be here
today at this draw. I would like to take advantage of this opportunity
to remind all that we are doing this Top 16 draw for the last time.
Next season we will have a different format in this phase. Our fans
tell us that they want more Turkish Airlines Euroleague games and the
figures confirm that because the in-arena attendance grows every year.
Read more here.
When
February started, Olympiacos had a 0-2 record in the Turkish Airlines
Euroleague Top 16 and its streak of six consecutive playoff appearances
was in danger. In fact, the Reds were still in rebuilding mode, having
just added two more players to a roster that has seen 12 newcomers
since last season. There was one rock in the middle of that roster,
however, on whom all the Reds could rely. Four weeks later, having won
every game needed by the point difference necessary, Olympiacos is
headed for the playoffs and veteran guard Vassilis Spanoulis is
Euroleague Basketball's choice as bwin MVP for February. Read more 
Bennet
Cantu and Manuchar Markoishvili completed magical return seasons in the
Euroleague this week. In their last games of the Turkish Airlines
Euroleague season, Cantu beat Zalgiris on the road 71-77 and
Markoishvili set career highs in performance index rating and points en
route to Top 16, Week 6 bwin MVP honors. The swingman, who burst onto
the scene as a 16-year-old rising star with Benetton Treviso, but had
not played in Europe’s premier competition in the past four seasons,
produced the finest game of his career Wednesday with 32 points, 2
rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. He made 5 of 10 three-pointers and
was perfect from the foul line in 9 attempts in racking up an index
rating of 35, which was not only the best of the week, but the third
best of the Top 16 and tied for the eighth best this season. Read more 
Olympiacos
Piraeus advanced to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs with an
88-81 victory over Galatasaray Medical Park on Thursday. Vassilis
Spanoulis dominated to the tune of 20 points, 8 assists and 4 steals to
lead the Reds to victory. The Reds improved to 3-3 and finished in
second place in the group over Galatasaray on a tiebreaker. Next
Olympiacos faces Italian champion Montepaschi Siena in the best-of-five
playoffs for the second year in a row. Olympiacos led from start to
finish after opening the game with a 7-0 run. It was 24-14 after 10
minutes and 43-35 at halftime. The hosts went ahead 11 early in the
third quarter. Read more 
Gescrap
BB reached the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs in its debut season
in the continent’s premier competition by edging past Unicaja 55-59 in
in Malaga, Spain, on Thursday. Bilbao finished the Top 16 with a 4-2
record in Group F, which placed it second behind Montepaschi Siena on a
tiebreaker. The men in black will next face CSKA Moscow in the
best-of-five playoffs. For the second straight week, Raul Lopez hit the
key shots down the stretch – a three-pointer to put Gescrap ahead 51-53
and the foul shots to keep it there. Marko Banic and Aaron Jackson led
the winners with 10 points apiece, Lopez finished with 9 and Dimitrios
Mavroeidis added 8 points, while Axel Hervelle grabbed 10 rebounds.
Read more 
In
a decisive Group F duel in Siena on Thursday night, Real Madrid managed
to pull a prestige road win by 90-102, but was eliminated from the
playoffs race due to the earlier Gescrap BB win at Unicaja, which
forced the Whites to win by 23 points if they wanted to advance. As
such, Group F is sealed with a three-way 4-2 tie in which Montepaschi
Siena emerges as first, Gescrap BB second and Real Madrid third due to
point-difference. Unicaja stayed winless in the Top 16 with a 0-6. A
huge Tomas Ress pushed Siena ahead with his threes but in the second
half, Nikola Mirotic, Mirza Begic and Felipe Reyes put the guests ahead
for good, but in the end it was not enough to advance. Read more 
CSKA
Moscow rounded the 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 in style
by downing Anadolu Efes 65-82 in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday. CSKA won
Top 16 Group E with a 5-1 record and will have the home court advantage
in the upcoming playoffs. Anadolu Efes was mathematically out before
the game and was fourth in Group E at 1-5. Therefore, it was also the
last Euroleague game to be played at Sinan Erdem Arena before the 2012
Final Four. Andrei Kirilenko led the winners with 15 points. Jamont
Gordon added 14, Nenad Krstic had 13 while Alexey Shved got 11 for
CSKA. Sasha Vujacic led Efes with 17 points. Dusko Savanovic added 16
while Esteban Batista had 10 for the hosts. Read more 
FC
Barcelona Regal became the only team to finish the Top 16 with a
perfect record by downing Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 70-67 in a battle of
playoffs-bound teams at Palau Blaugrana on Wednesday night. Barcelona
won its seventh straight game and improved to 15-1 overall. Its next
challenge will be Unics Kazan in the playoffs. Maccabi dropped to 3-3,
but still finished second place in Group H. The Israeli champs will
face Group G winner Panathinaikos in the playoffs in a rematch of last
season’s Euroleague title game. Richard Hendrix dominated early and
finished the first half with 21 points to keep Maccabi within 34-33 at
the break. Read more 
Bennet
Cantu finished an impressive Turkish Airlines Euroleague season with a
71-77 road win over Zalgiris Kaunas at Zalgirio Arena on Wednesday.
Manu Markoishvili scored a career-high 32 points to pace the winners,
who improved to 3-3 in Top 16 Group H. Though both teams had been
mathematically eliminated from the playoff race the week before, the
game was close throughout. The hosts led 62-59 after Marko Popovic free
throws midway through the fourth quarter. But Markoishvili knotted the
score with a triple and then Giorgi Shermadini scored the game’s next 5
points as Cantu pulled away to record the victory. Read more 
EA7
Emporio Armani Milan effectively ended Fenerbahce Ulker’s Turkish
Airlines Euroleague season with an 85-72 victory on Wednesday at
Mediolanum Forum in the fashion capital. Malik Hairston poured in a
career-high 27 points to lead Armani, which finished its Turkish
Airlines Euroleague season on a high note with three straight wins and
third place in Group G with a 3-3 record. The Turkish champs would have
advanced to the playoffs from second place in the group with a win, but
the loss sent Unics Kazan to the playoffs instead. After a close first
quarter, Armani took a modest lead in the second and surged ahead in
the third. Read more 
Panathinaikos
BC became the Top 16 Group G champion by downing Unics 63-68 in Kazan,
Russia on Wednesday night. Panathinaikos was first in Group G with a
4-2 record and will have the home court advantage against Maccabi
Electra in the upcoming Turkish Airlines Euroleague Quarterfinal
Playoffs. Unics finished Group G with a 3-3 record and made it to the
playoffs due to its tie-break advantage against EA7 Emporio Armani
Milano. Unics now faces a best-of-five playoff series against Group H
champion FC Barcelona Regal. Mike Batiste paced the winners with 12
points. Sarunas Jasikevicius added 10 for Panathinaikos. Read more 
The
2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 - the last with a six-game
round robin format - comes to an end this week with several decisive
games all around the competition. Two teams - CSKA Moscow in Group E
and FC Barcelona Regal in Group H - are already Top 16 group champions
and earned the right to get the home court advantage in the upcoming
Playoffs. Maccabi Electra will be second in Group H and Panathinaikos
has also qualified to the Playoffs. Four other spots are up for grabs
and 7 teams are ready to fight to get to the next round. Action starts
in Group G, as its both games are scheduled on Wednesday at 18:30 CET.
Don't miss the action. Read more 
With
his team’s season on the line, Omar Cook stepped up with his finest
game of the season in leading EA7 Emporio Armani Milan to a 58-67 road
win over defending champion Panathinaikos in Athens. Unfortunately for
Cook and co., the result was not enough to keep Milan in the playoffs
hunt. However the veteran playmaker can take comfort in two
achievements along the way. Cook not only set a club Euroleague record
with 12 assists, but his performance index rating of 22 also helped him
snatch Top 16, Week 5 bwin MVP honors. Cook did most of his scoring
early with a pair of first-quarter three pointers that helped Milan
take a small lead. Read more 
Bennet
Cantu 62-63 FC Barcelona Regal. FC Barcelona advanced to the
Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs by winning a tough battle at
Bennet Cantu 62-63 to remain undefeated at 5-0 in the Top 16 Group H
and eliminate Cantu. Barcelona came back from a 6-point fourth quarter
deficit for the win, which also carried Maccabi Electra into the last
eight. Boniface Ndong scored 13 points and all-time leading scorer Juan
Carlos Navarro hit for 12 points, including the game-winning free
throws with 26 seconds remaining for Barcelona. Read more 
Real
Madrid managed to stay alive in the Top 16 thanks to a 86-65 home win
over Unicaja on Thursday night. Unicaja started like a hurricane with a
3-14 burst, but little by little, the hosts managed to climb back from
the well and prevail at the end. With the win, Real Madrid improves to
3-2 and ties for second place with Gescrap BB. The two Playoff berths
from this group will be decided in the final week as the three teams
still have options to advance. Unicaja, winless with a 0-5, is out of
the race. Nikola Mirotic led the winners with his 18 points including 4
of 9 threes, Sergio llull added 15 and Jaycee Carroll posted 13. Read
more 
Maccabi
Electra Tel Aviv rallied back from a 17-point second-quarter deficit to
beat Zalgiris Kaunas 70-66 in a thriller at Nokia Arena on Thursday
night. Keith Langford scored 17 points, including a clutch layup with
24 seconds remaining and Richard Hendrix totaled 11 points – including
a free throw to ice the game with 7 seconds left – plus 9 rebounds and
2 blocks as Maccabi swept the season series from the Lithuanian champs.
Zalgiris rolled from the start. A 0-8 start to the game grew to an
11-25 lead after 10 minutes thanks to a red-hot Sonny Weems and a
17-point gap early in the second quarter. Theo Papaloukas sparked a
12-0 run to bring Maccabi back to 33-37 by halftime. Read more 
In
arguably one of the most exciting games in Top 16 history, Fenerbahce
Ulker rallied from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to edge Unics
94-87 in overtime in front of almost 12,000 fans at Ulker Sports Arena
in Istanbul, Turkey in Group G on Thursday. FB Ulker needed to win by 6
points or more to stay alive, regardless of other results. Bojan
Bogdanovic paced the winners with 20 points but Roko Ukic became the
game hero with a buzzer-beating floating jumper to send the game to
overtime. Ukic added 18 points, Emir Preldzic had 13, Gasper Vidmar got
10 while Mirsad Turkcan pulled down 13 rebounds for FB Ulker. Read more
Galatasaray
Medical Park knocked out rival Anadolu Efes with a 64-56 victory on
Wednesday in Turkish Airlines Euroleague Group E. The victory lifted
Galatasaray to 3-2 in the standings, but head coach Oktay Mahmuti’s men
must win next week at Olympiacos to reach the playoffs. Efes dropped to
1-4 and saw its dream of playing in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague
Final Four on its home court disappear. It was a bruising, hard-fourth
game throughout, though the hosts raced out to an 8-2 start and never
trailed again. Efes had the ball down 6 a number of times in the
closing minutes, but was denied every time. Luksa Andric paced the
hosts with 15 points and 7 rebounds, while Jaka Lakovic, Josh Shipp and
Jamon Lucas added 9 each. Read more 
Gescrap
BB improved its chances to reach the Turkish Airlines Euroleague
Playoffs by edging Montepaschi Siena 60-59 in Top 16 Group F in Bilbao,
Spain on Wednesday. Montepaschi dropped to 4-1 but is all but
mathematically into the Playoffs. Gescrap improved to 3-2 in Group F
and will clinch a Playoffs spot with another win or if Real Madrid
loses any of its remaining Top 16 games. Raul Lopez became the man of
the night with the game-winning jumper right at the buzzer. Marko Banic
paced the winners with 16 points. Lopez added 15 while Alex Mumbru got
10 for Gescrap. Igor Rakocevic led Montepaschi with 14 points. Read
more 
CSKA
Moscow thoroughly dominated Olympiacos Piraeus 96-64 on Wednesday in
the Russian capital to become the first team to reach the Turkish
Airlines Euroleague Playoffs this season and clinching first place in
Group E in the process. The victory marked CSKA’s 10th straight at home
as it bounced back from its first loss of the season in convincing
style. All 12 players score for CSKA, which simply dominated from the
tipoff. Andrey Vorontsevich scored 5 during a 10-0 start and he had
three three-pointers as the hosts made their first 10 shots from
downtown in building a 47-20 lead midway through the second quarter.
The scoreboard showed 54-26 at halftime and the lead peaked at 86-52
midway through the fourth quarter as CSKA cruised to victory. Read more
Week
5 of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 promises to have finality
for many of the teams competing for the eight playoffs tickets.
Entering the week, all 16 teams are still alive, but as many as seven –
or in theory none at all – could secure playoffs berths this week.
However one way or another, by the end of the action there will be
several teams whose fats have been sealed – either playoff-bound or
homebound. The week begins in the Russian capital where CSKA Moscow
(3-1) hosts Olympiacos (2-2) Wednesday at 17:15 CET. CSKA, which
suffered its first loss of the season in its last outing, will clinch a
ticket to the playoffs and first place in Group E if it beats
Olympiacos. Read more 
In
a week full of surprises, Aaron Jackson of Gescrap BB was at the center
of one of the biggest. Just one week after his team was battered by 16
points in a loss at Real Madrid, the men in black turned the tables en
route to a 93-69 victory. And no man was more responsible for the
turnaround than Jackson, the Top 16, Week 4 bwin MVP. The point guard,
who had 2 points and a 0 performance index rating in Madrid, collected
5 points and 4 assists in the first quarter alone as Gescrap raced out
to a 34-14 start and never looked back. He finished the impressive
outing with season-highs of 15 points and 10 assists. Read more 
Panathinaikos
took a big step towards the playoffs by dominating Fenerbahce Ulker
72-62 at OAKA Arena in Athens. The Greens are now tied for first place
in Group G with a 3-1 record. Panathinaikos led from start to finish,
using tough defense to hold the visitors to 27 points in the first half
and force many of Fenerbahce’s 21 turnovers. Despite spotty play, the
visitors never gave up and managed to cut the lead to 9 points in the
fourth quarter. Veteran Kostas Tsartsaris, starting for the injured
Steve Smith, paced the winners with 21 points, while Mike Batiste
knocked down 11 and grabbed 6 rebounds, and Ian Vougioukas and Romain
Sato each contributed 9. Read more 
Maccabi
Electra boosted its playoffs chances significantly by beating Bennet
Cantu 75-60 at Tel Aviv’s Nokia Arena on Thursday. The result not only
lifted Maccabi to a 2-2 record in Group H, but gave the Israeli champs
the potential tiebreaker over Cantu, which also sports a 2-2 record.
Hot shooting from Gianluca Basile gave Cantu a 39-41 edge at halftime,
but the hosts locked up the Cantu attack in the third quarter as the
visitors failed to score a basket, Maccabi went on a 13-1 run at one
point and pulled away to a 17-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
Cantu never quit, but was unable to close the gap to 8 – its winning
margin from last week – the rest of the way. Read more 
Galatasaray
Medical Park sent a message that echoed all around the continent by
downing previously undefeated CSKA Moscow 68-64 in Top 16 Group E in
front of an unbelievable sellout crowd of 11,300 fans in Istanbul,
Turkey on Thursday. Galatasaray improved to 2-2 and tied with
Olympiacos BC Pireaus for second place in Group E. CSKA dropped to 3-1
and still leads Group E but saw its 14-0 Turkish Airlines Euroleague
winning streak come to an end. Josh Shipp led the winners with 22
points. Luksa Andric added 16 for Galatasaray. Sasha Kaun and Alexey
Shved led CSKA with 11 points apiece. Andrei Kirilenko added 10 for the
guests, that used an 0-11 run in which Ramunas Siskauskas struck twice
from downtown to get a 20-26 lead midway through the second quarter.
Read more 
Zalgiris
started the game really strong at home on Thursday night, but once FC
Barcelona Regal regrouped and managed to gain its first lead in the
second quarter, the guests never looked back and took an almost
decisive 58-67 road in in Kaunas, Lithuania. The win keeps Barca
undefeated atop Group H with a 4-0 record and practically a Playoffs
ticket. In fact, if Bennet Cantu defeats Maccabi Electra, the Spanish
and the Italian teams will already advance tonight. Meanwhile, Zalgiris
drops to 0-4 and is practically out of the race for the next phase.
Zalgiris stayed in the game thanks to Tomas Delininkaitis, but three
fatal minutes in the last period with no points and some turnovers
allowed the guests to build the definitive margin through Chuck Eidson
and Juan Carlos Navarro. Read more 
Montepaschi
Siena remained undefeated in the Top 16 by beating Unicaja 84-69 in
Group F action, but missed a chance to advance to the Playoffs already
this week when Bilbao Basket blasted past Real Madrid. Montepaschi used
a 12-1 run in the fourth quarter to take control of the game and
allowed just one basket in the final period to improve to 4-0 in the
group. A victory in either of its remaining games or a loss for either
Real Madrid or Gescrap BB will send Siena through to the next stage.
Five players scored in double digits for Montepaschi, led by Bo
McCalebb’s 18 points. Ksistof Lavrinovic hit for 13 points while David
Moss and Igor Rakocevic both had 11 points and David Andersen chipped
in 10 points for Siena, which forced 19 Unicaja turnovers. Read more 
EA7
Emporio Armani Milan registered its first Top 16 victory and handed
Unics Kazan its first Top 16 loss with a 63-58 result in the fashion
capital on Wednesday. The hosts enjoyed great efforts from several
players to register the win. Antonis Fotsis made 4 of 5 three-pointers
for 16 points, J.R. Bremer led the way early and finished with 13
points in his first Euroleague game in many years, Leon Radosevic
started in place of the injured Ioannis Bourousis and responded with 11
points and Omar Cook ran the offense effectively and dished 7 assists.
The result improved Armani to 1-3, but it will still need to win both
its remaining games and to get some help to have a chance of reaching
the Playoffs. Read more 
Gescrap
BB sent a message that echoed all around the Turkish Airlines
Euroleague by downing Real Madrid 93-69 in front of a sellout crowd of
over 9,000 fans in Bilbao, Spain on Wednesday. Gescrap and Madrid tie
for second place in Top 16 Group F each with a 2-2 record. Gescrap,
however, got the tie-break advantage if both teams remain tied at the
end of the Top 16. Gescrap will advance to the Top 16 if it beats
Montepaschi at home and Unicaja downs Madrid in the Spanish capital.
Kostas Vasileadis paced the winners with 19 points. Alex Mumbru added
16, Aaron Jackson had 15, D'or Fischer got 11 while Axel Hervelle got
10 for Gescrap. Jackson added 10 assists for a double-double. Nikola
Mirotic led Madrid with 18 points. Read more 
Olympiacos
Piraeus took charge of all-important second place in Group E with a
dramatic 65-67 victory over Anadolu Efes on Wednesday at Sinan Erdem
Arena in Istanbul, pushing that city's dream of a Turkish team on the
same floor at the 2011 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four this
spring somewhat further away. A furious Efes rally erased all of an
11-point deficit with 2:30 to play as Sasha Vujacic buried a game-tying
triple at 65-65 with 16 seconds left. Efes put Kostas Sloukas on the
foul line, but he buried both his free throws before a game-winning
three-point try by Efes guard Oliver Lafayette missed as time ran out.
Olympiacos broke their tie for second place and now has a 2-2 record,
with Efes falling to 1-3 with just two Top 16 games to play. Read more 
One
of the central figures in what is shaping up to be a season for the
record books for CSKA Moscow is center Nenad Krstic. The big man added
to his stellar campaign this week by picking up Top 16, Week 3 bwin MVP
honors and thus joining teammate Andrei Kirilenko among only three
players to claim that title twice this season. Krstic was worth maximum
production in minimum time in Thursday’s 85-70 home win over GS Medical
Park. He came off the bench for 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and added
9 rebounds, an assist and a steal en route to a performance index
rating of 31, which ironically was the same index rating he achieved
when he was previously named bwin MVP after Week 9. Read more 
Montepaschi
Siena notched its second consecutive road victory by overwhelming
Unicaja 68-91 to take a 3-0 record and sole possession of first place
in Group F. Unicaja’s record fell to 0-3. Montepaschi could potentially
qualify to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs as soon as next
week if it beats Unicaja in Siena. David Moss paced the winners with 20
points on 4-of-6 shooting from downtown plus 7 rebounds. Ksistof
Lavrinovic added 18 points, David Andersen 15 and Bo McCalebb and
Bootsy Thornton each scored 13 for the winners. Joel Freeland led the
hosts with 14 points and 9 rebounds, while Tremmell Darden contributed
13 and Luka Zoric and Earl Rowland added 11 apiece. Read more 
Despite
having serious problems in the second and third quarters, FC Barcelona
Regal stepped up and got its third Top 16 win on Thursday night at home
against Zalgiris Kaunas, 94-80. The hosts started controlling the game,
but after leading 28-18, the guests came back strong and even managed
to forge a 36-41 lead. However, in the last period, Barca stormed on
the court and jumped ahead for good. The win allows Barca to claim full
control of Group H with a 3-0 record, while Zalgiris drops to 0-3 and
cannot afford more false steps in the next games. Erazem Lorbek led the
winners with his 19 points, Juan Carlos Navarro added 16 and Marcelinho
Huertas added 14. Read more 
Panathinaikos
BC Athens took a pivotal showdown in Top 16 Group G by downing
Fenerbahce Ulker 56-77 in front of almost 12,000 fans in Istanbul,
Turkey on Thursday. Panathinaikos improved to 2-1 and will qualify to
the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs if it beats FB Ulker next week
and Unics downed EA7 Emporio Armani Milano. FB Ulker dropped to 1-2 and
may need a road win against the Greens to stay in the playoffs race.
Kostas Kaimakoglou paced the winners with 19 points - a new Top 16
career high. Mike Batiste added 15 while Romain Sato had 12 for
Panathinaikos. Curtis Jerrells led FB Ulker with 12 points. Roko Ukic
added 11 while Kaya Peker had 10 for the hosts. Read more 
CSKA
Moscow stayed undefeated in the Top 16 - and in the 2011-12 Turkish
Airlines Euroleague season - by downing Galatasaray Medical Park 85-70
in the Russian capital in Group E on Thursday. CSKA leads Group E with
a 3-0 record and had the chance to clinch a Playoffs spot if it beats
Galatasaray in Istanbul, Turkey next week. Galatasaray dropped to 1-2
but keeps chances to make it to the playoffs. Nenad Krstic led the
winners with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Milos Teodosic added 12,
Ramunas Siskauskas and Viktor Khryapa each added 11 while Alexey Shved
got 10 for CSKA. Jamon Lucas led Galatasaray with 15 points. Read more 
Real
Madrid bounced back from its first home loss in this Turkish Airlines
Euroleague season by downing Gescrap BB 89-73 in Top 16 Group F in the
Spanish capital on Wednesday. Madrid improved to 2-1 in Group F while
Gescrap dropped to 1-2. Both teams meet again in Bilbao next week.
Sergio Rodriguez led the winners with 20 points on 6-of-6 shooting and
7 assists. Ante Tomic added 15 points, Mirza Begic had 12, Jaycee
Carroll got 11 while Kyle Singler contributed 10 for Madrid. Marko
Banic led Gescrap with 18 points. Alex Mumbru had 17 while Kostas
Vasileadis had 13 for the guests. Rodriguez and Singler shined early to
lead Madrid to a 26-16 margin. Read more 
Olympiacos
dominated the fourth quarter en route to a convincing 83-65 victory
over Anadolu Efes on Wednesday at the Peace and Friendship Stadium in
Piraeus, Greece. The result gives the Reds their first win of the Top
16 and tied them with Efes at 1-2 with a possibility of being tied for
second place in Group E depending on Thursday’s game. The score was
tied at 53-53 through three quarters, but Kostas Sloukas led the way as
the hosts started the quarter 24-5 and put the game away. A big
difference in the game was three-point shooting as Olympiacos made 9 of
19 (47.4%) compared to 1-of-8 shooting (12.5%) for Efes. Read more 
Unics
Kazan dominated on the defensive end and got strong efforts from its
trio of guards in slamming EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 59-44 on Wednesday
to stay atop Group G with a 3-0 record. Henry Domercant paced the
winners with 16 points, Petr Samoylenko scored 12 and Terrell Lyday 10
for the winners. Vladimir Veremeenko grabbed 11 rebounds as the host
outrebounded Milan 46-31. The end result was the fewest points Milan
has scored in a Turkish Airlines Euroleague game. Domercant got off to
a red-hot start as the hosts took a double-digit lead in the first
quarter. A 12-0 charge led by Lyday to start the second quarter put
Unics ahead 32-12 and Milan never got closer than 10 the rest of the
way. Nicolo Melli paced Armani with a career-high 17 points. Read more 
The
Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 is about to reach its halfway mark
with four undefeated teams eyeing early qualification to the playoffs,
another four - one per group - looking first victories and eight teams
with 1-1 records aiming for second place or higher. Action starts with
three games on Wednesday. At 17:00 CET, Unics (2-0) takes EA7 Emporio
Armani Milan (0-2) in Group G in Kazan, Russia. Unics has won eight of
its last nine Euroleague games and its superstar Henry Domercant was
chosen the bwin MVP for January. Milan won two regular season games on
the road and needs another now to rejoin the playoff race. Read more 
The
brilliance of Bo McCalebb could be seen time and time again on
Wednesday night. The Montepaschi Siena playmaker powered his team to an
impressive 69-88 victory over Real Madrid at the Community of Madrid
Sports Palace with one of his finest performances in an already
brilliant Euroleague career. McCalebb established career highs with 25
points and a performance index rating of 36, which netted him Top 16,
Week 2 bwin MVP honors. McCalebb scored 10 points and dished 2 assists
in the first quarter alone as the visitors jumped out to an 18-point
lead and never looked back. By the time the game was over, he had made
9 of 10 two-point shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers and all 4 free throws he
attempted. Read more 
FC
Barcelona Regal pulled away late to crush Maccabi Electra 57-71 in the
Turkish Airlines Euroleague Game of the Week on Thursday at Nokia Arena
in Tel Aviv. The win was Barcelona’s fifth in a row over Maccabi and
put it in pole position in Top 16 Group H with a 2-0 record. Erazem
Lorbek starred for the winners with 18 points – 9 of which came in the
final 5:12 of the game. Maccabi started strong and led by 7 after 10
minutes, but Barcelona came back quickly and the game remained close
through the end of the half, 29-29. Maccabi took a 51-49 lead early in
the fourth quarter, but Barcelona dominated the rest of the way. Read
more 
In
one of the most exciting games so far in this 2011-12 Turkish Airlines
Euroleague season, Galatasaray Medical Park registered its first-ever
Top 16 win by downing Olympiacos BC Pireaus 78-77 in overtime in front
of a sellout crowd at Abdi Ipecki Sports Hall in Istanbul, Turkey in
Group E on Thursday. Galatasaray improved to 1-1 in Group E while
Olympiacos dropped to 0-2. Jamon Gordon led the winners with 17 points,
including the go-ahead shot, against his former team. Jaka Lakovic
added 16 while Luksa Andric and Cehver Ozer each had 10 for
Galatasaray. Vassilis Spanoulis led Olympiacos with 24 points. Georgios
Printezis added 14, Kyle Hines had 11 while Kostas Sloukas got 10 for
the Reds, that trailed 57-43 late in the third quarter. Read more 
Bennet
Cantu came back from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Zalgiris
Kaunas at home 79-78 in a Top 16 thriller in Group H of the Turkish
Airlines Euroleague. The game went to the wire and was decided when
Georgi Shermadini went to the line with 3.2 seconds left and the score
tied. He made the first, missed the second intentionally and Zalgiris’s
desperation heave at the buzzer missed. Gianluca Basile paced the hosts
with 15 points, Shermadini had 12 points and five other Cantu players
had at least 7 points as the host team improved to 1-1 in the group.
Read more 
Gescrap
BB registered its first ever Turkish Airlines Top 16 victory by pulling
away to beat Unicaja 85-70 at Bilbao Arena. The result lifted Gescrap
into a tie for second place in Group F with Real Madrid. Those teams
meet next week in the Spanish capital. The game was close for three
quarters. Unicaja led 49-50 late in the third quarter, but Bilbao’s
outside shooters heated up during a 27-6 charge that extended into the
middle of the fourth and decided the game. Kostas Vasiliadis paced the
men in black with 19 points, Alex Mumbru added 18, Aaron Jackson scored
14 and Dimitrios Mavroeidis tallied 11 points and 11 rebounds. Joel
Freeland, who was not expected to play due to injury, came off the
bench to score 18 for Unicaja. Read more 
CSKA
Moscow extended its unbeaten Turkish Airlines Euroleague run by
overpowering Anadolu Efes 96-68 in the Russian capital on Wednesday.
Efes kept it close for one quarter before Nenad Krstic dominated in
an18-2 second-quarter run that made it 48-36 at halftime and then Milos
Teodosic and Viktor Khryapa took charge in a 16-2 blitz to open the
third quarter as CSKA marched to its eighth straight Euroleague home
victory. Andrei Kirilenko shined brighter than the rest with 15 points
and just 1 missed shot plus 8 rebounds. Krstic finished with 14 points,
Teodosic had 13 and Khryapa tallied 11 points and 8 assists. Sasha
Vujacic paced Efes with 21 points and Stanko Barac added 15 as the
visitors dropped to 1-1 in Group E. Read more 
In
what is already a groundbreaking season for Unics Kazan, Vladimir
Veremeenko helped the club to another monumental moment in Top 16, Week
1. The debut season in Europe’s premier basketball competition has been
quite successful for both player and club. On Wednesday, the big man
had his best game in the Euroleague yet to help Unics start the Top 16
with a tough 76-71 home win over Fenerbahce Ulker. His performance in
doing so earned him Top 16, Week 1 bwin MVP honors and also made him
the first Unics player to ever claim the Euroleague player of the week
distinction. Veremeenko produced 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting in
addition to 11 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks and 11 fouls drawn in
amassing a performance index rating of 32, which was the best among all
players on winning teams in the first set of Top 16 games. Read more 
Nikola
Mirotic dropped in a frantic shot with 0.5 seconds remaining to give
Real Madrid a thrilling 80-81 victory over fellow Spanish league club
Unicaja in the teams’ Top 16 Group F opener on Thursday at Martin
Carpena Arena. The last two minutes saw two ties and three lead changes
in a true nail-biter that wasn’t settled until Berni Rodriguez’s
desperation heave at the buzzer missed. It was a back-and-forth game
all night that featured plenty of highlights and unending drama.
Mirotic, the Euroleague’s December MVP, finished with 12 points, 6
rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Kyle Singler paced los Blancos with 13
points, Ante Tomic tallied 12 points and 7 boards, Sergio Rodriguez
registered 11 points and 9 assists and Felipe Reyes added 10 for the
winners. Read more 
Anadolu
Efes had a strong start in the 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top
16 by downing Galatasaray Medical Park 68-62 in Istanbul, Turkey in
Group E on Thursday. Efes joined CSKA Moscow atop the standings, with
Galatasaray and Olympiacos just one win away. Sasha Vujacic paced the
winners with 17 points. Dusko Savanovic added 16 - all in the first
quarter - and a Euroleague career-high 17 rebounds while Stanko Barac
had 12 points for Efes. Luksa Andric led Galatasaray with 14 points.
Jaka Lakovic added 13 while Jamon Gordon had 10 for the guests.
Savanovic took over in the first quarter, downing four three-pointers
to make Efes get a 29-19 margin after 10 minutes. Read more 
Maccabi
Electra scored an important 76-84 road win over Zalgiris Kaunas on
Thursday at Zalgirio Arena on Thursday to open Group H. The visitors
got a pair of triples from new signing Demond Mallet to take the lead
in the first quarter and never trailed. The Israeli champs led by as
many as 15 in the second quarter and seemed poised to run away with the
game. But a strong Milovan Rakovic helped the hosts creep back and in
the fourth quarter the deficit got down to 2 points. However whenever
Zalgiris had the chance to tie the game or even take the lead, Maccabi
stood tall – particularly Richard Hendrix who had 2 of his 3 blocks in
the closing minutes to help seal the victory. Mallet finished with 15
in his first Macccabi Euroleague game. Read more 
Montepaschi
Siena pieced together a 17-0 run that bridged the second and third
quarters to crawl out of an early hole and march to an 81-67 home win
over Gescrap BB in the teams’ Top 16 Group F game opener. David
Andersen and Bo McCalebb scored 18 points apiece to pace the winners.
Gescrap started strong and led by 10 midway through the second quarter.
Tomas Ress evened the score at 32-32 with a triple in the final minute
of the first half and McCalebb and Marco Carraretto took charge in the
third as Siena took control. Bilbao never quit and after trailing by 12
late in the third, rallied behind Kostas Vasiliadis to within 6 in the
fourth, but Siena finished strong to notch its fifth straight
Euroleague win. Read more 
CSKA
Moscow had a solid start in the 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top
16 by edging Olympiacos 78-86 in the Pireaus, Greece in Group E on
Wednesday. CSKA became the first team to register a win in this group
and remained the only undefeated team in the Euroleague this season.
Nenad Krstic paced the winners with 18 points on 10-of-12 free throws.
Viktor Khryapa added 16 on 8-of-8 free throws, Ramunas Siskauskas had
12, Andrei Kirilenko got 11 while Jamont Gordon contributed 10 for
CSKA. Martynas Gecevicius led Olympiacos with 14 points. Kyle Hines and
Pero Antic each added 13 while Vassilis Spanoulis had 11 for the Reds.
Read more 
A
dominant second half from Unics Kazan saw the hosts storm back from 17
points down to top Fenerbahce Ulker 76-71 71 in the team’s Top 16 Group
G opener on Wednesday. Petr Samoylenko starred with career highs of 18
points and 9 assists and Vladimir Veremeenko delivered 17 points, 11
rebounds and 2 blocks for the winners. It looked to be the Turkish
champs’ night early, especially after Bojan Bogdanovic reeled off 13
unanswered points in the second quarter that helped stake FB ulcer to a
24-41 halftime lead. But Kazan, which scored just 9 second-quarter
points, came alive after the break and Samoylenko and Terrell Lyday
combined to bring the hosts within 1. Then Henry Domercant took over
early in the fourth quarter to give Kazan the lead and more en route to
an impressive victory. Read more 
Two
weeks away from the start of the Top 16, Euroleague.net looks at four
players from each group that are expected to be crucial names in their
teams. Finishing with Group H, let's take a look at Pete Mickeal FCB
Regal, Keith Langford of Maccabi Electra, Vladimir Micov of Bennet
Cantu and Mantas Kalnietis of Zalgiris. For a natural-born winner,
getting the sweet taste of winning the Euroleague is reason enough to
be extremely motivated to try to lift the trophy again. If you add that
Pete Mickeal comes off an injury-plagued season in which some even
doubted that he would ever play again at this level, the challenge –
and the opportunity - is even bigger. Read more 
Two
weeks away from the start of the Top 16, Euroleague.net looks at four
players from each group that are expected to be crucial names in their
teams. Starting with Group G, let's take a look at Curtis Jerrells of
FB Ulker, Nick Calathes of Panathinaikos, Vladimir Veremeenko of Unics
and Stefano Mancinelli of EA7 Emporio Armani. There is no denying the
tremendous impact Curtis Jerrells has had on Fenerbahce Ulker’s season
thus far. As the team’s sixth man, his spark helped carry the Turkish
champs through Group A from first place and into the Top 16. But now
the road gets tougher. Especially with the news that starting point
guard Roko Ukic has broken a finger and will miss the start of the Top
16. Read more 
Two
weeks away from the start of the Top 16, Euroleague.net looks at four
players from each group that are expected to be crucial names in their
teams. Starting with Group F, let's take a look at Sergio Rodriguez of
Real Madrid, Pietro Aradori of Montepaschi, Luka Zoric of Unicaja and
D'Or Fischer of Gescrap BB. Real Madrid was the been the
highest-scoring team in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season
and one of the main reasons for that has been starting point guard
Sergio Rodriguez, whose court vision and dynamism helped the Whites win
Group C in style. In his second season with the club, Rodriguez is much
more confident and comfortable with head coach Pablo Laso's run-and-gun
style, where he fits right in. Read more 
Two
weeks away from the start of the Top 16, Euroleague.net looks at four
players from each group that are expected to be crucial names in their
teams. Starting with Group E, let's take a look at Alexey Shved of
CSKA, Georgios Printezis of Olympiacos, Dusko Savanovic of Anadolu Efes
and Luksa Andric of GS Medical Park. Always seen as an up-and-coming
talent, Alexey Shved has fulfilled his potential this season and
confirmed his status as one of the best young combo guards in Europe.
Despite making his Euroleague debut with CSKA back in the 2007-08
season, Shved did not see solid minutes until Jonas Kazlauskas joined
the team last season. Now Shved is making the most of this opportunity,
becoming not only one of CSKA's pillars this season, but also one of
the most exciting players to watch in the competition. Read more 
The
Top 16 Draw on Wednesday featured the unveiling of the logo for the
2012 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four in Istanbul, the city where
a champion will be crowned in five short months. The logo is inspired
by the geographic location of the city, its graphic identity, and the
art and culture of the country. The design focuses on two special
concepts, the water and the undulating shapes of two of the most
important buildings in Istanbul, the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia,
merged with basketball. Read more 
Good
afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to all the members of the
clubs, leagues and a special welcome to the president of the Turkish
Basketball Federation, Mr. Turgay Demirel. Thank you very much for
being here today for this Top 16 Draw. We have reached this point after
two and a half months of competition. Two and a half months in which we
have enjoyed great basketball. As in previous seasons, we have also had
drama until the very last minute to know the teams that will be here
today at this draw. I would like to take advantage of this opportunity
to remind all that we are doing this Top 16 draw for the last time.
Next season we will have a different format in this phase. Our fans
tell us that they want more Turkish Airlines Euroleague games and the
figures confirm that because the in-arena attendance grows every year.
Read more 
