By Niki Bakouli
On the 25th of the month, Germany will complete the list of this year’s domestic Cup Winners of Europe. And here is what the winners of Brose Baskets Bamberg-Ratiopharm Ulm and of Telecom Baskets Bonn-Phantoms Braundschweig (semi-finals are at 24th) are going to fight for -after they do whatever they can to win the trophy!
We checked the numbers of Israel’s, France’s, Spain’s, Poland’s, Slovenia’s, Israel’s, Serbia’s, Italy’s, Lithuania’s and Greece’s finals and here are the best at each category. Of course everything has to do with winning teams.
It’s a team sport
Best offence
Zalgiris managed to keep the trophy, by having the best offence of all cup holders -till now: they reached to 99 points, 8 more than Real Madrid (the No2 of this list).
Best defense
Partizan didn’t allow Red Star to score more than 51 and they have the best defense -the second one is Zalgiris Kaunas, with Pasvalio Pieno žvaigždės scoring just 62 points.
Free throws (%)
Panathinaikos had more free throws than everyone else (23 -at No2 is Trefl Sopot with 22), but their percentage (18/23 78.2%) was not also the best one. Besiktas’ 94% (with 16/17 foul shots made) gave them the first place (No2 is Real Madrid with 89% of 8/9).
2p(%)
Zalgiris Kaunas had 49 two poing field goals attempts (most of anybody else). Maccabi Tel Aviv was at 2nd place (with 48), but Lithuania’s cup holder had also the best percentage (36/49=73% vs. 24/48=50% of Maccabi‘s).
Field Goals (%)
Montepasch Siena is -by far- the best in Field Goals Percentage: they had 61.8% (34/55) and they left behind Zalgiris Kaunas (57.9% of 40/69). Lithuanians had the most field goals attempts (69), three more than Maccabi Tel Aviv (31/66, 46.9%), which is second.
3p.(%)
Chalon-sur-Saône and Cedevita had an obsession with shooting from downtown: both of them tried 24 times to score from 6,75 m. and both of them succeed to have 7 three-pointers. Trefl Sopot with Partizan are tied at second place (with 22). The best percentage… goes to Montepasch Siena, which had 47.1% (8/17). Real Madrid was 2nd with 45% (9/20).
Αssists
Zalgiris Kaunas had the most productive night and it’s not a mistery they had most assists (23), with Panathinaikos, Cedevita and Besiktas having the second best record (with 16).
ΤΟ
More prone to turnovers was Partizan, who lost 20 possessions. Serbians had… a big company following at second place: Trefl Sopot, Union Olimpija, Montepasch Siena and Besiktas stopped at 16 TO.
Steals
As a well-known master of defense, its only natural Panathinaikos had 15 steals at Greek Cup Final and they are the best -with Zalgiris Kaunas, Partizan and Chalon-sur-Saône having 12 (each one)
The value of each unit
Minutes
The finalist who played more than everyone else (so far) is Steed Tchicamboud, who was on the floor for 37′ at France’s final. So, he left behind him Carlos Arroyo who played for 36.21 at Turkey’s final.
Best scorer
Matjaz Smodis (Cedevita) contributed to his team’s victory with 27 points and he was the most productive player. He won Lukasz Koszarek, of Trefl Sopot, by two points, with Llull, Langford and Andersen having 23 points, at Spain, Israel and Italy.
Free throws (%)
The guy who tried more than everyone else, his luck from free throw line, was Blake Schilb (Chalon-sur-Saône) who had 13 free throws and he scored 4 of them. The best percentage -in more than 4 shots- is 100% and it belongs to Tal Burstein (Maccabi Tel Aviv, 6/6).
2p (%)
At Slovenia’s final, Deon Thompson got 14 shots for 2 points and he saw 5 of them go in. So now, lets see who had better luck: Paulius Jankunas counted 7/7 2 points shots, at Lithuania’s final. They had something in common. Both of them were the MVPs.
Field Goals
Keith Langford was the one who executed more than everyone else. He had 15 shots at Israel’s final and he scored 8 of them. So, he reached 53.3%, which was better than 40% of Filip Dylewicz (Trefl Sopot), who had 6/16 at polish final. Those two were the cup holders who had the most field goals. But, Sergio Llull (Real Madrid) was the one who had the best average, from the list of the players who had more than 14 field goals (9/14, 64.2%).
3p.(%)
Ilian Evtimov (Chalon-sur-Saone) is the player who… stuck at 6,75 meters. He tried 10 times to score and he actually did it 4 times. Matjaz Smodis (Cedevita) had the best percentage -at the long list of players they had at least 5 three-pointers: with 4/5 he reached 80% and he is at the top of the list. Sergio Llull (Real Madrid) is second with 71.4% (5/7).
Assists
Dimitris Diamantidis (Panathinaikos) didn’t reach double digits, at Greece’s finals (he had 1/8 field goals), but he gave more assists than every other finalist in Europe. He had 7, one more than Carlos Arroyo to Besiktas’s triumph in Turkey.
TO
When a cup is on the line, its easy to carried away by emotions and have turnovers. Goran Jeretin (Union Olimpija) was the most emotional from all cup winners, with 5 TO. McCalleb, Andersen (Italy) together with Schilb and Delaney (France) were all together at No2-with 4.
Rebounds
Pops Mensah Bonsu (Besiktas) is the best rebounder, with 12… pieces in total (10 def.-2 of.). But, he is not the best in offence’s rebounds, with Milan Macvan (Partizan) and Richard Hendrix (Maccabi Tel Aviv) grabbing from 7 -each one.
Steals
Dimitris Diamantidis (Panathinaikos) had almost double steals from… the No2 of the list: he stole 7 times the ball, three more than with Blake Schilb (Chalon-sur-Saône).
The finals
(Date, Country, Finalists, Result)
16/2, Israel, Maccabi Tel Aviv-Maccabi Rishon-Lezion, 82-69
16/2, Croatia, Cedevita-KK Zagreb, 74-72
18/2, Turkey, Banvit-Besiktas, 74-78
18/2, Lithuania, Ζalgiris Kaunas-Pasvalio Pieno žvaigždės, 99-62
19/2, France, Gravelines-Chalon-sur-Saône, 66-73
19/2, Slovenia, Union Olimpija-Krka, 68-63
19/2, Spain, Barcelona-Real Madrid, 74-91
19/2, Poland, Zastal Zielona Gora-Trefl Sopot, 73-77
19/2, Italy, Montepaschi Siena-Tisettanta Cantu, 88-71
19/2, Serbia, Partizan-Red Star, 64-51
10/3, Greece, Olympiacos-Panathinaikos, 70-71