Βy Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
The first week of Top16 is divided between two years. After the wins of Galatasaray and Panathnaikos and on Friday (2/1) we have the main attraction with six games. Every match up has its own story, however the Istanbul meeting of the “best men” and the return of Thomas Heurtal to Vitoria as an opponent are the highlights.
Game of the week: Fenerbahce/ Ulker – CSKA Moscow
It’s one of the biggest games of Top16’s premier in way you look at it. Fenerbahce with Nikos Zisis as a new face will host the only unbeaten team of the season, CSKA Moscow, in a game which may be also the return of Milos Teodosic to action. And on top of that you have as opponents Zeljko Obradovic and Dimitris Itoudis.
It’s master vs student reloaded, since they have already played eacth other two times in last season’s TBL when Itoudis was on the bench of Banvit and got two wins. The hosts are coming from a big game in Efes and Obradovic doesn’t want to lose again by one of his close friends. Still Fenerbahce has to play top level defense in order to respond to the well oiled game of the “army team”. It will be a game of rhythm and shooting efficiency in which the battles in the paint will be decisive for the outcome.
Honorable mention: Laboral Kutxa – Anadolu Efes
The big return of Thomas Heurtal is now a fact, less than a week after being officially released by Laboral Kutxa. The hosts who just made it to Top16, want to defend their home court, having Darius Adams and Ben Hansbrough as new faces. No matter how the fans will react towards Heurtel, it’s still a great game with no clear favorite. Anadolu Efes had more quality, but Laboral Kutxa has “Fernando Buesa Arena”.
The question mark: One more defeat?
Crvena Zvezda hosts Real Madrid at “Kombank Arena” of Belgrade and it will be a battle between one of the best defenses of the league against offensive talent and uptempo style. The Serbs at home have proven stronger than ever, but Real Madrid needs to react after being defeated in Liga Endesa by Barcelona and Unicaja Malaga. Can a third defeat of the Spaniards be the final outcome? Considering their chemistry issues, undefined roles and defensive woes, that can’t be excluded. It will be interesting to see how Marjanovic will do against one loaded front line, in which no player has found a rhythm yet, with the exception of Reyes.
Momentum or fresh legs?
Unicaja is all alone on top of Liga Endesa and hosts Olympiacos being in the best possible condition. Still, on Tuesday the Spaniards needed an overtime in order to beat Real Madrid and the question is if the team of coach Plaza has some more gas in the trunk, fueled by its momentum, or if well rested Olympiacos will have more energy. The Greeks have four straight wins over Unicaja, but this year’s Malaga has more quality and maturity. We expect a battle of the guards as players like Spanoulis, Granger, Toolson and Lojeski and their duels will be more than crucial. Because of the way Olympiacos likes to defend, Kuzminskas may also turned out to be the key of the game.
The favorites
There are two more games in which there’s a clear favorite, even if the first Top16 rule is that anything can happen! Alba hosts Barcelona in Berlin. The Catalans are coming from a defeat in Liga Endesa, they have many back court absences but still they are the most stable and resilient team in Euroleague, getting always the job done, specially when facing opponents with less quality. However, no one can underestimate Alba.
EA7 Milano hosts Nizhny Novgorod. The Italians proven less ready than expected in regular season, but we expect to see their real and better face in Top16. That means also bigger stability in their performance. Nizhny has already overachieved, doesn’t feel any kind of pressure and that’s why it will be a mistake of the hosts to underestimate them. Just ask Unics…
Euroleague Top16 – 1st game
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Alba Berlin |
F.C. Barcelona |
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Real Madrid |
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Unicaja Malaga |
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Laboral Kutxa |
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Fenerbahce |
CSKA Moscow |
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EA7 Milano |
Nizhny Novgorod |
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Galatasaray MP |