By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
It was the first game between Euroleague champion Olympiacos and finalist CSKA Moscow, four months after the Istanbul’s final. The result was again a win for the Reds (83-76), but the situation was completely different.
The gym at Cagliari was half full at best and the Russian team didn’t had in its roster Nenad Krstic, Milos Teodosic, Zoran Erceg and Sasha Kaun. Vasilis Spanoulis with 19 points and Pero Antic with 12 were the top scorers of Olympiacos. At the other side, newcomer in CSKA Sonny Weems had a big game with 26 points and four made three pointers, Andrey Vorontsevich added 16 points and American guard Aaron Jackson had 9 points.
In the same tournament in Cagliari, Italy, Siena demolished Union Olimpija from Slovenia (70-51) and the host team, Dinamo Sassari defeated Fenerbahce Uiker (85-69). The Turkish team which on paper is one of the favorites to reach the Euroleague Final Four has still a long way to go.
Also, Barcelona without Juan Carlos Navarro beat Bulgarian champions Lukoil Academic 71-69 and will play against Panathinaikos in the final of Sofia tournament, in Bulgaria. The Greeks without Dimitris Diamantidis and Roko Leni Ukic won the game against Serbian side Czverna Zvezda 70-64.
In Turkey, Besiktas beat Anadolu Efes 80-77 in Rixos Cup, Antalya, in a Turkish clush of two Euroleague teams. In the same tournament, Galatasaray, a Eurocup team from Turkey, didn’t face any problem against Unics Kazan from Russia (70-55).