By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Eurohoops presents the complete review of the best European leagues (Spanish, Turkish, German, VTB, Greek, Italian and French) this weekend highlighting the Top 5 scorers, the top 5 wins, 5 bad losses, 5 falls and 5 tips.
5 Top Scorers
1. Erving Walker (Dijon, France)
43 points (12/15 free throws, 8/11 2ps, 5/10 3ps) in Dijon’s defeat by Bourg (117-113)
2. Jamal Shuler (Nanterre, France)
33 points (5/5 free throws, 5/8 2ps, 6/12 3ps) in Nanterre’s victory vs Chalons-Reims (115-96)
3. Jordan Theodore (Bourg, France)
31 points (18/18 free throws, 5/12 2ps, 1/5 3ps) in Bourg’s victory vs Dijon (117-113)
3. Tony Mitchell (Trento, Italy)
31 points (4/5 free throws, 9/14 2ps, 3/9 3ps) in Trento’s vixtory over Sassari (94-82)
3. Chris Wright (Pesaro, Italy)
31 points (3/5 free throws, 11/16 2ps, 2/5 3ps) in Pesaro’s defeat by Vanoli (89-74)
5 Top Wins
Bamberg‘s win over Tubingen 100-59 (Germany)
Bamberg will compete with a boost in confidence in the Cup’s Final Four after their huge win with a 41-point margin over Tubingen.
UNICS Kazan’s win over Khimki 75-73 (VTB League)
In this week’s big derby UNICS defeated Khimki in a game ‘thriller’ with 12 changes in the lead and 10 ties.
Trento’s win over Sassari 92-84 (Italy)
Trento, the most pleasant surprise of the Italian league, with another surprise winning away from home Dinamo Sassari. The newcomers are following the same style of basket as Sassari and can be proud of their great scouting by discovering promising American players.
Banvit’s win over Fenerbahce 82-77 (Turkey)
Since last year Banvit belongs in the elite of Turkish teams, but the win over front runners Fenerbahce demonstrated that this year they can once again lay claim to having a great run.
Bayern’s win over Ulm 87-76 (Germany)
Bayern were victorious in the derby away from home against Ulm, prevailing 87-76.
5 Worst Defeats
Efes by Eskishehir 79-81 (Turkey)
The Turkish league has gotten so competitive that Eskishehir who were lagging behind, defeated the until recenlty second placed Efes without this being considered a surprise of the first order. Duda’s players were obviously thinking about the battle against Fener in the Euroleague.
Obradoiro by Sevilla 60-86 (Spain)
True, Sevilla is very strong at home with 5 wins in the last 7 games in their arena. However, the 26-point deficit is quite heavy for Obradoiro, even if they do feel more secure having avoided relegation.
Oldenburg by Bonn 59-70 (Germany)
A few days before the new clash between these teams in the Cup’s Final Four in Oldenburg, Bonn won easily. The home team got only two points in the last quarter…
Fuenlabrada by Malaga 75-78 (Spain)
Once more Fuenlabrada lost by a small margin and are now making it harder on themselves to stay in the division. Hugo Lopez left after 12 games and his assistant Jesus Sala took over.
Konyaspor by Darussafaka 57-84 (Turkey)
Darussafaka is a newcomer but they have one of the best rosters in the Turkish league. However, Konyaspor’s loss with a 27-point deficit after nine wins in a row, was quite heavy.
5 Falls
Injuries of the top players in Spain
The stars of the leading Spanish teams were injured. Real’s Rudy Fernandez walked off the court with a back pain, while Romain Sato suffered a sprain. However, both are expected to stay out of action for only a week.
Laboral defeated by Tenerife 56-91 (Spain)
Tenerife got their biggest win in their history with a 35-point margin over an opponent that is currently trying to advance to the best eight of Europe. The shock for Laboral was huge and the players had to apologise to those working in the team.
Defeat and change of coaching staff in Limoges
Limoges was disqualified from the Cup and a few days later was defeated by Rouen who are low on the table. Jean-Marc Dupraz was let go from the coaching staff and Philippe Herve took over.
Julyan slipped, Kaukenas scores
In the derby for the second place in Italy, Reggio Emilia defeated Venezia 70-67 thanks to a three-pointer by Kaukenas 3 seconds before the finale. Venezia was the last to defend with four players as Stone Julyan slipped immediately after the throw in.
Manresa’s streak comes to an end, in danger once again
After defeating Malaga, Gran Canaria and Canarias, Manresa looked like they would be able to stay out of the danger zone. However, they lost with a 19-point deficit to Joventut (82-63) and got themselves in trouble again.
5 Interesting Points
57th title for Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos won the 57th title of their history after they prevailed in the Cup’s final against Apollon Patras 68-53 inside the OAKA. Dimitris Diamantidis celebrated the 21st trophy of his career!
Saratov is on fire!
After defeating Krasnye Krylia 97-80, in the last five games Saratov managed to have an amazing offensive output, as they’re scoring an average of 103,8!
Fair play in Turkey
In a gesture of solidarity after the murderous attack on Fenerbahce’s football team, Banvit raised a banner before the game between the two teams in Bandirma.
55-minute game!
The game between Bourg and Dijon ended afer 55 minutes of play as it was decided in its third overtime with Dijon defeating Bourg 117-113.
De Colo-Teodosic, a fiery pair!
CSKA defeated Nizhny 83-75 in the big derby of the VTB League with Nando de Colo getting 27 points and 5 assists and Milos Teodosic 23 points and 4 assists. Which means they scored 60% of their team’s points and if we take into account the assists too, they contributed to 82% of all points scored!