Anadolu Efes knocks down CSKA

By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net

The 8th gameday of Euroleague ended with Real Madrid winning at home Alba Berlin which gave the Spaniards a scare, Anadolu Efes getting the biggest win of the night over CSKA Moscow and Olympiacos beating Caja Laboral, but not getting the tie breaker advantage.

Real and Efes (7-1) still share the top of group E, CSKA Moscow and Panathinaikos (5-3) follow, Unicaja Malaga (4-4) is fifth, then comes Zalgiris Kaunas (3-5), Alba Berlin (1-7) and Brose Baskets (0-8). In group F, Barcelona is alone on the top (7-1), Siena is second (6-2) with Olympiacos and Khimki being tied in the third place (5-3). Then we have Caja Laboral (4-4), Maccabi Tel Aviv is sixth (3-5), Fenerbahce/ Ulker (2-6) seventh and Besiktas eighth (0-8).

Eurohoops MVP

Roko Leni Ukic

When he was signed by Panathinaikos last summer, a lot of people didn’t know what to expect. A rebuilding team decided to get a big time player in the only position where it had a superstar. The idea of Dimitris Diamantidis and Ukic playing together seemed absurd, until the 78-73 road win of the Greens in Kaunas. They did play together and the Croatian guard was just great with 21 points (5/6 2p., 3/4 3p., 8/10 FT), four rebounds, six assists and not one turnover.

Best five

1. Roko Leni Ukic: He owned Kaunas…
2. Jamon Lucas Gordon: “Mr. Fix it” of Anadolu Efes was the one leading the come back of his team in the win over CSKA, playing great defense against Milos Teodosic and finishing the game with a double double as he had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists
3. Devin Smith: He is the most consistent player of Maccabi and proved it with one more good all around performance in the lopsided win over Siena (19 p., 8 r., 4 as., 1 st., 1 bl.)
4. Luka Zoric: Unicaja almost committed suicide against Brose Baskets, but Zoric did more than hold his ground in the paint with 26 points (9/14 FG, 8/10 FT) and 5 rebounds
5. Paul Davis: What can you do in 15 minutes of playing time? Davis had 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists in the blow out win of Khimki over Besiktas

The best losing performance: Milos Teodosic

Yes, the Serbian did miss two crucial three pointers in the end, but in a bad offensive night for CSKA Moscow he had 26 points on 5/10 three pointers, five assists and also five turnovers and even one block. Yes, If he made those last shots, maybe he wouldn’t be in this paragraph, but still we can’t ignore what he did overall in the game.

The biggest win: Anadolu Efes

After its incredible video that impressed everyone around Europe, Anadolu Efes got its 7th straight Top16 win against one of the heavy favorites to win the Euroleague title, CSKA Moscow. It was a game won in defense as the final 63- 60 imply, some would say it was ugly, but as the team’s song goes “I never seen anything more beautiful” and that’s what they are signing in Istanbul.

No advantage: Olympiacos

The defending champions got the home win against Caja Laboral by 82-74, but didn’t get also the tie breaker advantage. Olympiacos had lost in Vitoria with the final score being also 82-74 and the plot in the race for the play offs spots of group F just got one more twist. The Greeks have a better record at this point, but there’s still a long way to go and in a possible tie between the two teams, the better total Top16 point difference will give the advantage.

The underachiever: Siena

Siena has a 6-2 record, while Maccabi Tel Aviv just 3-5. You wouldn’t guess it, though, if you watched the Thursday’s game between the two of them. Maccabi prevailed 92-61 and Siena seemed lost. The Italian champions are still contenders for the two top spots of their group, but that’s exactly why the bar is now higher for them.

The disappointment: Fenerbahce/ Ulker

Nobody expects miracles at this point by Fener, but also not to lose at home by 39 points (99-60) even from Barcelona. As we wrote, after this game Fener has the worst defense in Euroleague’s Top16 for the last decade and they should do something about it in the remaining games if they want to save at least their prestige.

The last word: Dimitris Diamantidis

He was great against Zalgiris in a game that will be remembered also for one personal milestone. Just before the end of the third quarter Diamantidis became the all time Euroleague leader in steals with 328 in his career. He ended the game with 329 steals, two more than fellow Greek legend Theodoros Papaloukas (327).

Euroleague 2012-2013 – Top16, 8th Day