David and Goliath

By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net

On the occasion of Buducnost VOLI Podgorica’s recent win over the previously-undefeated CSKA Moscow, Eurohoops presents six cases of David defeating Goliath in the EuroLeague regular season.

FC BARCELONA 73-77 PERISTERI
2001-02, Round 3

DAVID: That season was Peristeri’s second and last in the EuroLeague and the win over FC Barcelona was its first of a total of three in 14 games (3-11).

GOLIATH: Barcelona had already lost its first home game right before and knew well that another home defeat would set it back. It suffered as many defeats in the first three rounds as it did in the remaining eleven of the regular season (10-4).

SLING: Peristeri no longer had the late Alphonso Ford on its roster, but Adam Wojcik and Byron Dinkins were just as unstoppable with 28 and 23 points, respectively.

STONE: Barcelona completed the season shooting 37.1% on three-point field goals, but only made 19.2% (5 of 26) in this game.

UNION OLIMPIJA 74-72 CSKA MOSCOW
2007-08, Round 3

DAVID: Union Olimpija had a consistent presence in the EuroLeague until 2013, but without any major accomplishments. In the 2007-08 season, it could only boast that one of its four wins (4-10, even though it started 2-1) was against CSKA.

GOLIATH: CSKA only had two losses in the regular season (12-2) and just five in total (20-5) en route to claiming the trophy in Madrid.

SLING: Olimpija shot 50% on two-point field goals, the same percentage Marko Milic had until his game-winning layup 0.8 seconds before the buzzer. After that, he went up to 54.5% (6 of 11).

STONE: The time that remained was not enough for CSKA to react and Ramunas Siskauskas could only throw the ball from well behind the center circle.

SPIROU CHARLEROI 67-49 REAL MADRID
2010-11, Round 5

DAVID: Spirou Charleroi has appeared in the EuroLeague four times and the 2010-11 season was the club’s third. Before that game, it had four losses from the first four rounds and completed the season 3-7.

GOLIATH: Real Madrid – winner of 10 European trophies (1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1995, 2015, 2018) – had one defeat in the previous rounds. After this second one, it reached the Final Four in Barcelona.

SLING: With 66.7% shooting on two-point field goals (24 of 36) plus Madrid’s poor shooting percentages, Charleroi didn’t have to wait any longer for its first win in the competition since 2002.

STONE: Madrid had 21 offensive rebounds but couldn’t convert them (16 of 55 on two-point field goals, 1 for 15 on three-point field goals). That offensive output of only 49 points remains the lowest in Madrid history.

MACCABI ELECTRA TEL AVIV 73-83 CEDEVITA ZAGREB
2014-15, Round 4

DAVID: Cedevita Zagreb had three losses in the first three rounds of its return to the EuroLeague, as many as its appearances in the competition (2012-13, 2014-15, 2015-16).

GOLIATH: Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv had just returned to the top of Europe (1977, 1981, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2014).

SLING: Cedevita had a third of Maccabi’s free throws (18 of 22; 5 of 7), but twice as many threes (7 of 27; 14 of 39).

STONE: The game was tied five times (the last was 49-49 at the 24th minute) and for the remainder Cedevita was ahead.

STRASBOURG 91-70 FENERBAHCE ISTANBUL
2015-16, Round 2

DAVID: Strasbourg was in its third and final season in the EuroLeague (it would be knocked out in the group stage at 3-7) and coming off a tough loss at Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade in the opening game.

GOLIATH: Fenerbahce Istanbul was coming off its first appearance in the Final Four and were planning to return as soon as possible in order to compete for more.

SLING: Strasbourg had five players who scored double digits and a total of 59.4% shooting on field goals.

STONE: Fenerbahce made 30.8% of its field goals in the fourth quarter (26-12 score) and a total of 40.3%.

BUDUCNOST VOLI PODGORICA 93-92 CSKA MOSCOW
2018-19, Round 9

DAVID: Buducnost returned to the EuroLeague after 15 years and only had one win in the first eight rounds.

GOLIATH: CSKA – with seven European trophies (1961, 1963, 1969, 1971, 2006, 2008, 2016) and as many consecutive appearances in the Final Four – was undefeated.

SLING: Aside from the 14-for-23 shooting on three-point field goals that allowed it to come back from a 17-point deficit (27-44 in the 17th minute), Buducnost also had 21 offensive rebounds. As a result of one of those rebounds, Danilo Nikolic scored the game-winning basket with a reverse layup with 5.4 seconds remaining.

STONE: CSKA shot an impressive 65% on two-point field goals and it could have been even higher if Cory Higgins had found the target on the last shot of the game.

Photo credit: Getty Images

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