Euroleague 2012-13: Alba shocks Montepaschi

Round 1 of the Euroleague 2012-13 season wrapped up yesterday with a stunner in Italy as Alba Berlin made the most of their return to Euroleague competition with a solid win over Montepaschi Siena at the Palaestra. The win snapped Alba’s seven game losing streak in the Euroleague, where they haven’t played since the 2008-09 season.

In related news, word was released that Aleksandar Dzikic and Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius were parting ways with assistant coach Darius Maskoliunas stepping in to take his place.

In other games Real Madrid opened their season with an 85-78 win over Panathinaikos Athens, EA7 Emporio Armani Milano downed Anadolu Efes Istanbul 80-75, FC Barcelona Regal stopped Brose Baskets Bamberg 72-60, and Besiktas JK Istanbul took care of Partizan mt:s Belgrade 81-65.

Group B
Montepaschi Siena – Alba Berlin 82:92
The deck was stacked against the Germans when they showed up to play Montepaschi; it was their first Euroleague game since the 2008-09 season; they had to play at what is known as one of the toughest places to play; they came in with a seven game losing streak in Euroleague play dating back to their last win on January 7, 2009, a 79-75 win over DKV Joventut. After that loss they got blanked in the Top 16 round, going 0 for 6.

Fortunately, history doesn’t matter much and regardless of the location the baskets are 10 feet high and the ball goes through the rim all the same. Using scoring runs in the second and third, then maintaining the margins they built, the newcomers were able to score an impressive road win, 92-82.

The first quarter was a wash for both teams as they came out of the first 10-minutes knotted at 25. In the second, Montepaschi built up a six point advantage with just over five minutes left, but Alba used an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to help secure a three-point margin at the half, 42-39.

“It was a very important win for us, especially because we are a new team in the Euroleague and Siena’s tradition in this court is very important and to come and win here is always really difficult. We played very well and we are happy for our start in the Euroleague,” stated Alba’s Nihad Djedovic after the game.

In the first five minutes of the second half the German squad ran off another 15 unanswered points to go up 59-43. The margin was cut to 10 heading into the last 10 minutes.

The last quarter was just like the first, the two played to a tie in the frame with Montepaschi only able to get as close as six points during the final 10 to shoot their vistors to the top of the Group B leader board.

“It was a very important win for us, especially because we are a new team in the Euroleague and Siena’s tradition in this court is very important and to come and win here is always really difficult. We played very well and we are happy for our start in the Euroleague, ” commented Alba’s Nihad Djedovic after the game.

“It was a tough game, but we knew it would be before the game. Berlin played really well, but I liked the way we tried to compete with them, especially in the first part of the game,” remarked Siena coach Luca Banchi We had more precision in shooting and we also could have had a bigger advantage. In the third quarter, Berlin took a very important gap and for us was impossible to recover, even if my team tried to come back in the game with energy, but we didn’t have enough precision to reduce the gap and play a close finish.”

Dashuan Wood lead Berlin with 15 points, Djedovic and Vule Avdolovic added 14 points each, Yassin Idbihi contributed 13.

Siena was lead by David Moss’ 17 points.

Group A
Real Madrid – Panathinaikos Athens 85-78
Two heavy hitters squared off in Madrid on day one of Group A competition with Real Madrid coming off a Top 16 appearance in the Euroleague 2011-12 and Panathinaikos reaching the semi-finals before getting ousted by CSKA Moscow.

For the first four minutes of this contest it was all Madrid as they built an 8-0 lead before their guests got on the board. Near the end of the 10-minutes Panathinaikos ran off nine unanswered to pull to within one. At the end of the frame Real Madrid held a 22-18 margin.

Panathinaikos dominated the second quarter, holding Madrid an early layup and two late jumpers. A Dimitis Diamantidis three-pointer as time ran out in the second half put the hosts down 44-35 at the break.

Madrid tied the score mid-way through the third quarter, going on an 11-2 scoring run in the process. A couple of minutes later they had built a four-point lead, but Panathinaikos fought back and took a one-point advantage into the final 10-minutes.

Panathinaikos was again able to build a four-point margin, but the Real Madrid squad went on a 10-2 run to get the lead for good and eventually walk out with an 85-78 win.

“First of all, I would like to congratulate both teams for a great game. It has been an important win because we managed to beat a good, rebuilt team like Panathinaikos. We lost the advantage we had in the second quarter. We improved our defense when we got back from the locker room and played a more attractive basketball,” stated Real Madrid coach Pablo Laso after the game.

“I have mixed feeling. I am sad because we dominated the game and wouldn’t win in the end, but happy because we played very smart basketball for a big while,” remarked Argiris Redoulakis, Panathinaikos coach. “Everything changed in the third quarter, when Madrid improved its defense playing with three guards. They gave us a lot of trouble and we committed many turnovers. We lost a nine-point lead but learnt a lesson from that. This is just our second official game this season.”

Madrid got 23 from Rudy Fernandez, 18 from Nikola Mirotic, and 15 from Sergio Llull.

Panathinaikos got 23 from Sofoklis Schortsanitis, 13 points from Diamantidis, and 10 each from Andy Panko and Kostas Tsartsaris.

Group C
EA7 Emporio Armani Milano – Anadolu Efes Istanbul 80:75
Milano came into this home contest having lost the last nine of 10 regular season games they have played against Efes. Riding on some impressive stats from behind the arc (15 for 28 – 53.6%) and at the free throw line (13 of 14 – 92.9%) they were able pick up their first Group C win of the Euroleague 2012-13 season.

Milano came out of the first quarter with a slight margin, 18-15. In the second the hosts had extended their cushion to eight before Efes ran off nine straight to take a one-point advantage. Antonis Fotsis knocked down back-to-back triples to help Milano take a 40-34 lead into the break.

The visitors cut the margin to two, 47-45, mid-way through the third quarter, before Milano took control of the contest and ran off 14 unanswered points to get up 61-45 with three minutes to play in the frame. Heading into the final 10 minutes the hosts held a solid 64-50 advantage.

Ioannis Bourousis got the first four points of the final stanza to extend the Milano lead to 18, 68-50, with seven minutes to play, but Efes wasn’t through and knocked down 11 quick unanswered points to cut the gap to 68-61 with over five minutes to play. The Milano duo of Malik Hairton and Omar Cook tallied consecutive three-pointers to push the advantage to 12, 77-65. Jordan Farmar single-handedly got Efes back in the game with a three-ball, then dropping in three free throws after getting fouled on another three attempt, only to cap off his personal eight point scoring run with a breakaway layup with 46 seconds left for another two, cutting their deficit to four, 79-75. Efes got off three shots on their next possession, but couldn’t connect, coming up short on their comeback and dropping their first Euroleague 2012-13 contest, 80-75.

“We lost because of mistakes on defense and because we allowed them too many three-pointers on fast breaks,” noted Efes’ Jamone-Alfred Jucas. “We were able to come back to just 4 points, but then we missed three consecutive shots. We have to learn from this game and this defeat to be ready for the next one at home with the defending champions.”

Milano coach Sergio Scariolo commented after the game, “I’m very happy because we had a great start. Our three-point shooting percentage was decisive; we prepared the game thinking it could be a key. They are big and keep you far from the lane and the basket. Anadolu is a great team and this is the best way to start the Euroleague season, but we have to stay focused and think game by game.”

Bourousis lead all scorers with 23 points for Milano, he also hauled in seven rebounds during the contest. Keith Langford contributed 16 points to the win.

Farmer dropped in 19 in the loss, while Dusko Savanovic tallied 12 points for Efes.

Group D
FC Barcelona Regal – Brose Baskets Bamberg 72:60
Barcelona took care of business early in their first Euroleague 2012-13 contest when they ran off 15 unanswered points in the first quarter en-route to a 72-60 win over Brose Baskets Bamberg.

Bamberg got the first points on the board with a three-ball by Bostjan Nachbar, but between his first and second basket, nearly six minutes later, Barcelona tallied 15 points. By the time the horn sounded to end the first frame Barcelona had a 22-9 advantage and Nachbar had accounted for all nine of Bamberg’s points.

Bamberg got a few more involved in the second quarter and started finding the bottom of the net, playing Barcelona even 17-17 and going into the break down 43-26. The hosts tacked on another three to the margin in the third to head in the final 10 up by 20, 64-44.

Barcelona cruised through the final minutes and despite the Germans increased sense of urgency, the deficit was just too much to overcome and the hosts got their first win of the season.

Said Barcelona coach, Xavier Pascual on the win, “We are happy with this win. It is always difficult to start the Euroleague. It was an important challenge against a team that came here undefeated. We had a good defensive game but also did well on offense, looking for extra passes and playing well.”

“I congratulate the Barcelona team and Coach Pascual on an good performance tonight,” commented Bamberg skipper, Chris Fleming. “I think the story to this game is relatively clear for me. I think in the opening phases, we had good shots that we did not convert. We put our heads down very quickly, I think you could see. Especially our guys who didn’t have much Euroleague experience really struggled in that situation. I thought we fought hard in the second half and gained some respect back, but obviously we’re going to have to play better in the Euroleague to win games.”

Pete Mickeal and Ante Tomic lead the hosts with 12 points each, while Tomic added nine rebounds to his stats. Erazem Lorbek dropped in 11 points and C.J. Wallace contributed 10 to the win.

Nachbar finished the game as the lone Bamberg player in double figures, ending the match with 20.

Besiktas JK Istanbul – Partizan mt:s Belgrade 81:65
Besiktas made the most of their inaugural Euroleague game, picking up a substantial win in Group D over Partizan, 81-65.

Besiktas found themselves down 13-9 mid-way through the first frame, but went on a 10-1 run to close out the first 10 minutes with a five-point margin, 19-14.

Partizan tallied the first four of the second quarter to cut the gap to one, 19-18, but the hosts went on another run, knocking down seven unanswered and extending their lead to 26-18. Vladimir Lucic dropped in four of four free throw attempts for Partizan to cut the margin to two, but those were countered by consecutive three-balls by Besiktas’ Baris Hersek to extend the difference back to eight, 34-26. A Lucic triple and a free throw by Djordje Gagic brought the gap back to four, but a Curtis Jerrells three-pointer and a dunk by Patrick Christopher in the last seconds of the half took the margin back to nine, 39-30.

In the third Partizan got to within six on a couple of occasions, but their hosts had an answer each time to keep the distance between them. They exchanged baskets throughout the third and headed into the final 10 with Besiktas up 61-53.

Besiktas put the game away with a 12-0 run after Gagic opened the scoring in the frame with a tip-in. The next time the visitors would tally was another Gagic tip-in six minutes later. The teams exchanged baskets down the stretch, but in the end the Besiktas fans had plenty to celebrate as their squad had successfully picked up their first Euroleague win and are sitting at the top end of the Group D leader board after Round 1.

Besiktas’ Serhat Cetin noted, “It’s great to start our path with a win in the very first Turkish Airlines Euroleague game. We started bad, but then found our rhythm soon. We were really very good behind the three-point line. We did an excellent job on defense in some critical moments of the game. Our fans were the main reason for our excellent motivation. We will try to keep going in the same way and improve our game.”

“First of all, I want to congratulate Besiktas for their deserved win,” commented Partizan coach Dusko Vujosevic. “We have a very young and inexperienced roster. On the other hand, Besiktas has a very experienced and talented team. Besiktas surprised me with it’s excellent game. When we played with three small guards, Patrick Christopher did a great job scoring. We weren’t able to stop him. Besiktas is playing great and they proved it in the President’s Cup and the Spor Toto Turkish Cup. Besiktas’s undersized centers made trouble for us inside the paint. Anyway, we will try to improve our game in the next matches.”

Christopher lead the hosts with 25 points, while Jerrells contributed 15 to the win.

Partizan got 18 from Lucic, including eight for nine from the line, and 12 from Leo Westermann.

Photos courtesy Euroleague