By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
The devil’s round is about to start! The new Top16 with 14 gamedays, tenths of great battles and 8 big games every week is starting and it will end on the start of April! Only 16 contenders are left in Euroleague, but only half of them will be part of the play offs in order to get to London’s Final Four after best of five series! Here we go!
Game of the week: Panathinaikos – Zalgiris
Every Top16 premier could be get this title. We chose the encounter between two clubs with great tradition who have many more motives to get the win, besides the obvious. Six time Euroleague champion Panathinaikos wants the best possible debut for new additions James Gist and Jason Kapono in Euroleague. Zalgiris on the other hand, after an impressive regular season seems to have financial problems according to the open letter of owner Vladimir Romanov, pleading the fans for their economic support, and everyone wants to see how the team will react. It’s an all Green battle without a favorite!
HONORABLE MENTION, CSKA M. – Anadolu Efes: One of the favorites to win the title is hosting Anadolu Efes, which after an impressive start encountered many problems last month. It’s time for the unit of coach Messina to prove its worth and on the other side Efes must show better chemistry on the court and more efficiency in its game. The favorites are the hosts, who also gave to most successful foreign player in their history, Theo Papaloukas, the chance to finish his career with one more final four.
Unknown war: Barcelona – Fenerbahce/ Ulker
Not exactly a war, but a very intriguing behind the scenes story! If the break between regular season and Top16 was bigger, Mike Batiste could be the… host of Simone Pianigiani’s team. Fener is still trying to get some consistency and was ready to add Chalon’s Shelden Williams. But this scenario also meant that Mike Batiste should get an other team and be released. Barcelona made its move, because Australian center Neithan Jawai is injured. It was not enough and Mike will travel in Catalonia as an opponent. Who will win? Who knows, with Barcelona having a 7-7 record in Liga Endesa and a terrible last month.
The big chance: Alba Berlin – Real Madrid
In the majestic O2 Arena of Berlin, Alba hosts Real who finished on top of its regular season’s group and remains undefeated in Liga Endesa with a 14-0 record. This story could have two different endings. If the uptempo style of Real dominates the game, then it will be an easy win for the Spaniards. But if Alba manages to impose a slow pace then everything goes! The Germans have only to win from this game and the pressure is on Real.
The transformation: Caja Laboral – Olympiacos
The risk of Caja to sign as its coach Zan Tabak was rewarded, the team qualified to Top16, added a top class guard (Omar Cook) and wants revenge from defending Euroleague champions after losing two games to them in the regular season. The hosts have a 3-0 streak and Olympiacos a 7-0 streak! It will be a completely different game compered to the 89-72 win of Olympiacos in the 16th of November.
New face: Unicaja Malaga – Brose Baskets
Unicaja just defeated Barcelona, has a high moral and also former Liga Endesa’s MVP Andy Panko. The match up between him and Bostjan Nachbar is a duel that no one should miss. The Slovenian forward together with Anton Gavel are evolving into the two most important players of Brose Baskets while Panko will make his… second Euroleague debut on the same season with a different team.
The outsiders: Besiktas – Khimki
Both teams have to overachieve in order to get to the play offs. Besiktas in order to be competitive in Top16 level has to add a more efficient offense to its good defense. In this specific game the hosts have to be creative and also have answers for Khimki’s creativity, something that means cutting off Zoran Planinic’s passing lanes.
Same old story: Siena – Maccabi T.A.
We know that there is a big risk in predicting the winner in this game! It’s the third time the two teams are facing each other this season and we just remind you the story so far. Maccabi beat the Italians in Tel Aviv 70-68 and Siena got the home win just by two points (89-87). Benjamin Eze is returning from his injury and coach Blatt will have in his bench Darko Planinic, instead of Giorgi Shermadini.