Khimki and Unicaja in the game

By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net

As Unicaja concluded an almost miracle come back against Panathinaikos in the last Friday game, this season’s long Top16 is getting in its most crucial stage. This win, together with the triumph of Khimki over Siena gave new life to the race for the play offs in both groups.

To be exact, after 10 gamedays in group E Real Madrid (9-1) and Anadolu Efes (8-2) are still leading, followed by CSKA Moscow (7-3) and then you have Panathinaikos (6-4), Unicaja (5-5) which has the tie breaker advantage over the Greeks and Zalgiris Kaunas (4-6) which can still hope. That doesn’t apply to Alba Berlin (1-9) and Brose Baskets (0-10).

In group F Barcelona (9-1) is the boss, Siena (7-3) is hunted by Khimki (6-4) and Olympiacos (6-4), while Maccabi Tel Aviv (5-5) and Caja Laboral (5-5) are just one win behind. Fenerbahce/ Ulker (2-8) and Besiktas (0-10) are just waiting for the torture to end.

Eurohoops ΜVP

Μarcus Williams

It was a close call between Pete Mickeal and him. However, Williams is probably one of the best individual players in Euroleague and the chaos in Unicaja helps him showcase his talents. That’s what he did with 22 points on 5/7 threes, 15 of them in the last quarter. He practically defeated himself Panathinaikos (66-60), scoring 9 straight points without answer in the last two minutes with three daggers.

Best five

1. Jordan Farmar: Anadolu Efes played with fire in Berlin, but managed to get the 91-86 win over Alba with its point guard scoring 23 important points and being present in every crucial part of the game.
2. Marcus Williams: After CSKA Moscow, he “killed” also Panathinaikos…
3. Pete Mickeal: He was almost our MVP, before Williams’ explosion, and we preferred him over his teammate Erazem Lorbek, because Sneaky Pete not only he had 20 points on 9/12 shots, but also destroyed with his defense the game of Papanikolaou in the 90-77 win of Barca in Piraeus.
4. Nicola Mirotic: A new FT record in the competition (18/18), 31 points and 11 rebounds in the overtime road win of Real over Zalgiris (105-104). He would be our MVP, if he hadn’t 5/15 shots.
5. Nenad Krstic: A safe choice in the 78-58 win of CSKA Moscow over Brose Baskets. He put up his usual numbers with 17 points, 8 rebounds and – surprise! – 4 assists.

Best loosing performance: Bojan Bogdanovic

Fenerbahce/ Ulker is still losing (94-85 this win at home by Maccabi Tel Aviv) but the Croatian forward is in his own mission. He had 26 points on 11/15 shots, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. His quest? Probably a contract with the Brooklyn Nets next season, but in the meantime he might also win the Turkish league.

Τhe biggest win: Barcelona

The Catalans practically locked the top spot of group F after the road win in Piraeus. No other team can challenge the players of coach Pascual in Top16 and they can start worrying about the play offs and the possible trip to London. It was the test they needed in order to prove on the court that they can take the Euroleague crown.

The rise: Khimki

Not only they defeated Siena, but also have the tie breaker advantage over the Italians after beating them by seven points. That means they can even make a last minute run for the second place of their group and the home court advantage in the play offs. It’s a break out season for Khimki and nobody should underestimate them at this point.

The upset: Unicaja Malaga

For three quarters Panathinaikos had the control of the game and a win would give the Greens a huge advantage in the play offs race. Not even the fans of Unicaja, who didn’t exactly flock to the gym for the game, expected a home win. However, in the nick of time Marcus Williams started a come back that it was concluded with a great six point difference win, a number that gives Malaga the tie breaker advantage over the Greeks.

The underachiever: Olympiacos

The Reds had the chance against Barcelona to send the message that the champs are not going to be dethroned easily. They didn’t, as their defeat proves. However, they will have one more chance to get on the race for the home advantage in the play offs next week on the road against Siena. That would be a very interesting game.

The disappointment: Besiktas

Besiktas shocked every one in the regular season with its Top16 qualification, but at this point the Turkish champions are the most likely team to finish the second phase of Euroleague without a win. You have to respect their effort, but a 0-10 record is a hard pill to swallow, specially when your roster just can’t measure up to the competitions of Top16 as it was evident once more in the 83-73 road win of Caja Laboral.

The last word: The twins

Two cult figures of Lithuanian basketball, the “celebrity” fans Nauris and Normuds Macius, are now notorious all over Europe. Being drunk Nauris allegedly punched Rudy Fernandez who had his share of incidents against Zalgiris, both brothers were arrested on Thursday night and were released on Friday. “We wanted to defend Lithuanian basketball” was their reaction, before getting one more beer. Well, we don’t know about you, but our preferred cult figure of Lithuanian basketball fandom remains Sekla…

Euroleague 2012-2013 – Last16, 10th Day