By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
With one week to go in Top16, five teams are still fighting for the three last play offs spots. Those are the defending champions Maccabi Tel Aviv, Panathinaikos, Alba Berlin, Laboral Kutxa and Anadolu Efes.
Here you can read the last week scenarios and here are the standings so far. In Group E Real Madrid and Barcelona (10-3) have secured the home court advantage, while one of Maccabi Tel Aviv (8-5), Panathinaikos (7-6) and Alba (7-6) will miss the play offs. Zalgiris Kaunas (5-8), Crvena Zvezda (3-10) and Galatasaray (2-11) are already out.
In Group F, CSKA Moscow (11-2) and Fenerbahce/ Ulker (10-3) have also secured the home court advantage, Olympiacos is third (9-4), while Laboral Kutxa (6-7) and Anadolu Efes (6-7) will duel for the last spot. EA7 Milano (5-8), Nizhny Novgorod (3-10) and Unicaja Malaga (3-10) are out.
MVP
He gave us an excellent interview and he also had an excellent game against Panathinaikos at OAKA. With 16 points, 6/10 shots, 9 assists and 4 rebounds he led Alba to victory which is without a doubt their biggest in their recent history. Renfroe himself proved that he is currently having the most mature season of his career and that he belongs to the high standard of the Euroleague.
Best five
- Alex Renfroe: a worthy MVP
- Thomas Heurtel: He demonstrated why he was signed. He had 26 points on 6/8 threes, turn around almost by himself the game and led Anadolu Efes to the win over EA7 Milano.
- Devin Smith: All Maccabi players were good but Smith was the best with 22 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals against Galatasaray.
- Paulius Jankunas: He was a real captain with 19 points, 9 rebounds and big plays in the end. Yes, Zalgiris played only for pride against Crvena Zvezda, but got the win.
- Vladimir Golubovic: In 22 minutes he was one rebound short to reach a double double (17 p., 9 r.). Unfortunately for him Malaga’s win over Nizhny does not change the fact of elimination for the Spaniards.
Best losing performance: Rudy Fernandez
Everyone loves to hate him, but after a mediocre start, Rudy is playing his best basketball in this stretch of the season. In a prestigious defeat on the one hand but without any real consequences for Real on the other, he finished the game with 20 points, 8/16 shots, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in Barcelona. He remains the Madrilenos’ greatest hope to give that little extra when the games with no tomorrow come.
The biggest win: Alba Berlin
Alba was fighting to stay alive against Panathinaikos, on a court where only Barcelona has won and managed to escape with the away triumph. Accolades belong to everyone, to Renfroe the MVP, but an honourable mention should go out to Reggie Redding who turned the game around, as to coach Sasa Obradovic who won Dusko Ivanovic on points.
The favorites: CSKA Moscow
Against the team that beat them in the 2012 final, CSKA sealed the home court advantage in the play offs. You may argue that Spanoulis wasn’t playing, but the fact that Andrei Kirilenko had his first good game is making the rest of the league even more scared of the Russian bear.
The fighters: Laboral Kutxa
They needed a big win against the top team of their group and got it. Laboral Kutxa despite making a tone of roster changes will fight until the last Top16 week for a spot in the play offs after beating Fenerbahce/ Ulker, proving that “character Baskonia” is not something left in the past.
The final word: Repeated coincidence
For yet another season the Euroleague did not make sure to arrange it so the last round – when the crossing of paths between all the teams and even the qualification to the playoffs for some will be decided – for all the games to start at the same time on the same day. After all, even if Caesar’s wife is honourable, this might not always be so readily apparent…
Euroleague 2014-2015 – 23th Day
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EA7 Milano |
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CSKA Moscow |
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Zalgiris |
Crvena Zvezda T. |
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F.C. Barcelona |
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Nizhny Novgorod |
Unicaja Malaga |
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Panathinaikos |
Alba Berlin |
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Laboral Kutxa |
Fenerbahce |
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Maccabi Tel Aviv |
Galatasaray MP |