Euroleague 2012-13: Cantu falls at home

The Euroleague 2012-13 season tipped off yesterday with seven contests, the remaining five will be held today as the league experiments with a Thursday-Friday schedule for the first time. The Thursday edition of round 1 consisted of some tight contests, a couple of not so tight games and a upset at home for Cantu, who was playing their fourth Euroleague game, if you count their 3-0 run through the Qualifying Round back in late September.

Group A
Mapooro Cantu – Union Olimpija 71:84
Union Olimpija took their game on the road to open the Euroleague 2012-13 season and came up with a big upset in Cantu. Finishing the 2011-12 regular season 1-9 and in last place in group D last season, on top of Cantu’s impressive showings thus far, especially at home, makes an 84:71 win for Union a fairly substantial event early in the season. This was the first time that these two clubs have ever played each other.

Olimpija got out to an early 20-17 advantage at the end of the first 10-minutes, and while Cantu outscored their visitors in the second quarter, Olimpija head on to a 41-40 lead at the half.

“Tonight Cantu suffered from a lack of concentration and hunger. It’s a normal reaction to a very well started season, but Liubljana did its best. We didn’t have enough energy in the very important part of the game and missed many free throws. We have many players with no experience in a big competition, but we’re going to train harder in order to do our best in the next games,” said Cantu coach Andrea Trinchieri after the contest.

Cantu went ahead 64-63 mid-way through the fourth quarter, but a 21-7 run from there to the end of the game gave Olimpija an early season upset win and a lot of confidence to carry into the coming weeks.

Olimpija coach Saso Filipovski stated at the post-game press conference, “I think we did our best to win this game. We are a young team and we needed this victory to train even harder for the next games. Tonight was our chance to win, because Cantu started its season in the best way and hasn’t lost for a long time. In the first half we didn’t play very well: the defense was weak and we allowed too many points; then we managed to stand up and reach the goal.”

Olimpija was lead by Dylan Page’s 17 points, Aaron Baynes added 16 points and 12 rebounds, Sasu Salin dropped in 15.

Cantu got 16 points and eight rebounds from Pietro Aradori, and 13 points from Manuchar Markoishvili.

Fenerbahce Ulker – BC Khimki Moscow Region 92:80
Fenerbahce, coming off a recent impressive win over the NBA’s Boston Celtics at home during the NBA Europe Live 2012 tour, used a solid second quarter to pick up their first Euroleague 2012-13 win in Group A.

The two clubs were tied at 25 after the first quarter, but the hosts outscored their Russian counterparts 21-11 in the second to head into the locker room at the intermission up by 10, 46-36.

“Great game for us. The first five minutes, and the last five minutes of the game were not good enough, but the rest was pretty good.” Stated Emir Preldzic of Fenerbahce, who scored nine in the second quarter to help his squad build their margin. “So we have to solve those problems that happened in the beginning and at the end of the game, and then I hope we can play even better than what we did tonight.”

The second half was close, with Fenerbahce adding only two points to their advantage in the last two minutes to earn a 92-80 early season win.

“The first half was good for us and after the long break we stopped playing defense well against the pick-and-roll and started to lose under the boards. We are waiting for Paul Davis to recover; he is a very strong cente rand he will help us with rebounds,” commented Khimiki’s Alexey Zhukanenko.

Emir Preldzic led all scorers with 20, including nine for 10 from the free throw line, Bo McCalebb added 17, and Omer Onan dropped in 15.

Zoran Planinic shot seven for 10 from the floor to lead Khimki with 17 points and he added eight assists during the contest. Kelvin Rivers contributed 14 in the win.

Group B
Elan Chalon-Sur-Saone – Asseco Prokom Gdynia 81:74
In their first Euroleague contest, Chalon used an eight point run in the third quarter to provide the needed advantage to down Polish champions Asseco Prokom Gdynia.

It took both teams a quarter to get warmed up, with Asseco coming out of the first 10-minutes of play with a slim 11-10 advantage.

The second quarter was much better, for Chalon, as they grabbed the lead and took it into the intermission, 33-28.

Chalon skipper Gregor Beugnot stated after the contest, “We could have played well and lost the game. We are not in rhythm. It is a good win for Chalon’s first in the Euroleague.”

Asseco got to within one mid-way through the third quarter on a Julian Khazzouh three-ball to make is 41-40, but Chalon then rolled off eight unanswered points to make it 49-40.

In the fourth Asseco could get back to within four mid-way through the frame, but Chalon held on to take the first game of the regular season, 81-74.

Asseco coach Kestutis Kemzura summed it up simply, “We missed too many shots tonight, a lot of free throws, and committed too many turnovers, 25. And with 25 turnovers, you can’t win a Euroleague game.”

Elan Chalon-Sur-Saone got 17 each from Ilian Evtimov and Brion Rush, and Shelden Williams contributed nine rebounds.

Asseco Prokom Gdynia was lead by Lukasz Koszarek’s 14 and Ponitka’s 13. Frank Robinson added 12 and Julian Khazzouh dropped in 11.

Unicaja Malaga – Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 80:85
Euroleague 2011-12 Quarter-Finalist Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv got their first notch in the ‘W’ column with a tough contest on the road agains Unicaja Malaga, 80:85.

“We took good care of the ball. We had many assists and controlled the game. We were the better team, not by a big margin, but enough,” commented Maccabi coach David Platt. “We played really hard all game long and in the right away. It was a very high-level game at this stage of the season. Malaga fans lifted Unicaja in the third and fourth quarters. We managed to get the win. It was a great win in a great game.”

The visitors took a 47-36 advantage into the half, including an 18-point gap mid-way through the second quarter, but Unicaja wiped out that advantage in the third quarter, outscoring their guests 27-18 during the third stanza. With seconds to play in the third Earl Calloway’s deuce effectively wiped out that earlier 18-point deficit his squad faced earlier to tie the score at 63. Maccabi’s David Logan dropped in two from the charity stripe after being fouled at the end of the quarter, to put the visitors back up by two heading into the final 10-minutes.

Maccabi was able to build another 10-point advantage, this time with inside three minutes to play at 81-71. Unicaja pulled back to within four with less than a minute to play, 81-77 on a Marcus Williams three. That was countered by a David Logan jumper and Calloway drained another three with seconds remaining and the score at 83-80. Ricky Hickman iced the game with two free throws for Maccabi.

Jasmin Repesa, coach of Unijan, “I congratulate my team for the energy it had and for being able to bounce back during the game. We had a great effort and found the energy to come back, especially in the third and fourth quarters. Unfortunately, we took some bad decisions in certain moments and we needed a second rally – and rallying twice against teams like Maccabi is always difficult. At this level, losing concentration for two minutes is losing the game. We have to get better in those aspects. Few of my players had good games, but all of them tried hard, some succeeded and some didn’t. I always tell my players that we have to change our attitude to be able to reach a high level. Fran Vazquez is one of our most experienced players. He must help us more, but he tried hard. It is normal for anyone to make mistakes; it is a long season. We will start playing twice a week and that will be good for every player and as a team. The most important thing is that all of my players try hard.”

Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv got 16 points from Hickman, 15 from Kior Eliyahu, and 14 from Logan.

Callaway’s impressive 25 points for Unicaja paced all scorers, Krunoslav Simon contributed 19 points, and Texmi Urtasun added 15.

Group C
Olympiacos Piraeus – Caja Laboral Vitoria 85-81
Euroleague 2011-12 Champions Olympiacos Piraeus got their title defense campaign underway with an 85-81 win at home against Caja Laboral Vitoria.

This contest features some impressive scoring runs and huge advantages by each team in the middle quarters, with everything shaking out in the final 10-minutes of play.

“Congratulations to Olympiacos, because they played well. We didn’t start the game well and we made a lot of mistakes, but after that our team improved its defense against Spanoulis, although he managed to score 16 points. We should have won the game, but we didn’t play the defense needed in the last minutes,” commented Caja leader Dusko Ivanovic.

The visitors took a 23-18 advantage in the first quarter, coming off some sluggish early minutes by Olympiacos. In the second quarter the home squad pulled things together and outscored Caja 30-14 to take a 48-37 advantage into the locker room at the intermission.

Caja erased the deficit mid-way through the third frame and even got up by four late in the quarter, only to have the defending champions grab the lead back with seconds to play. Nemanja Bjelica gave Caja a one-point lead going into the last 10-minutes when he dropped in two free throws with seconds remaining in the third.

Olympiacos used a 9-1 run late in the the final quarter to give themselves an 82-73 advantage with under two minutes to play. Caja’s Thomas Heurtel contributed a three-ball, a lay-up and a free throw in the last 36 seconds to draw them closer, but his six points and four missed free throws by Olympiacos’ Kyle Hines in the final seconds wasn’t enough to keep the win from the home squad.

“This is exactly what we were waiting for. Since we had not played any tough official games, the team had a lot of ups and downs and lacked a good tempo for the game, especially on defense, stated Olympiacos coach Georgios Bartzokas after the game. “I am not worried; it is normal because we are in the beginning of the season. We know that the expectations from the reigning Euroleague champion are very high, but I think that we will improve our performance after every practice and after every game. Acie Law had an injury and he was not ready to play. We decided to play with a lot of switches to defend against the pick and roll and the pick and pop used by Caja Laboral.”

Georigios Printezis paced the winners with 17 points, Vassilis Spanoulis dropped in 16 points, and Stratos Perperoglou added 14.

Maciej Lampe led all scorers with 18 for Caja. Brad Oleson added 13 points and the trio of Andres Nocioni, Fernando San Emeterio and Nemanja Bjelica contributed 11 each to the loss.

Zalgiris Kaunas – Cedevita Zagreb 90-62
Zalgiris got their Euroleague 2012-13 campaign off to a solid start with a 90-62 pounding of visiting Cedevita Zagrab in front of over 15,000 fans.

The hosts won the first three quarters with substantial margins and coasted to the win in the fourth. After the first 10 minutes they were up 27-20, they took a 55-38 advantage into the intermission, was up 79-53 after three frames and closed the contest out winning the final stanza 11-9.

At the post-game press conference, Zalgiris skipper Joan Plaza didn’t sound pleased with the outcome though, “We need to be ambitious until the very end of the game. Although I am happy about the win, we need to be able to keep pushing despite a 30-point lead. Last year’s attitude at Zalgiris has to change. Some moments we had too many turnovers in a row. We cannot let that happen again.”

Key to the contest was the impressive shooting turned in my the hosts, tallying nine for 16 (56.3%) from behind the arc, 25 for 30 (83.3%) at the free throw line and 19 of 32 (59.4%) inside the arc.

“Zalgiris is an extremely tough team at home. We have not seen a crowd like that this year. They are very supportive and surely helped Zalgiris. Our opponents played at a higher level than we did,” commented Cedevita’s Bracey Wright. “Early it was a pretty good game, but in the second quarter Zalgiris got too many offensive rebounds, knocked down a lot of three pointers and got away. The positive for us is that we learn from this experience. When we play on the road in the Euroleague, we have to step our level up. Our next game is at home and hopefully we will achieve a better result.”

Zalgiris got 20 from Paulius Jankunas, 17 from Ksistof Lavrinovic and 15 from Marko Popovic.

Cedevita got 16 points from Mickael Gelabale and 15 from Bracey Wright.

Group D
CSKA Moscow – Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius 75:73
In what would have most likely turned out to be the upset of the Euroleague 2012-13 season, 2011-12 Final Four runner-up CSKA Moscow escaped with a win yesterday when newcomer Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius came eight inches from a road win. With the seconds on the clock, Lietuvos’ Renaldas Seibutis took the in-bounds pass, drove to the arc and launched an uncontested three that came up just short and to the right of the hoop.

Lietuvos, who return to the Euroleague on the strength of finishing second in both the 2011-12 Lithuanian League and the Baltic League (both to Zalgris), came out swinging and took a three-point advantage after the first 10 minutes, 23-20. CSKA got on track and dominated the second frame, getting up by nine at the break on a three by Anton Ponkrashov with two clicks left on the clock.

The visitors fought back during the third quarter, cutting the deficit to two on a couple of occasions before finally knotting the score at 52 with seconds to play in the frame. Moscow got a dunk from Nenad Krstic at the end of the quarter to give the hosts a two-point margin heading into the final 10-minutes.

In the final staza the squads squared off and exchanged scoring runs down to the wire. With CSKA up 67-64, Lietuvos tallied seven unanswered to go up by four, 71-67 with 1:16 to play. Moscow knocked off seven in a row of their own over the next 57 seconds to take a 74-71 advantage with 19 seconds left. Moments later Nemanja Nedovic was fouled by Ponkrashov and converted both charity tosses to bring his squad to within one, 74-73. Sonny Weems was fouled and hit one of two from the line and Katelyna Mindaugas grabbed the rebound and got it up to Nedovic, who drove the lane and had his shot blocked by Ponkrashov. Krstic got the rebound and was immediately fouled, sending him to the line for two, where he failed on both attempts. Leon Radosevic grabbed the board, dished it off to Seibutis, who drove to the arc and launched his attempt at the upset, but it came up short and right to preserve CSKA Moscow’s home win.

Aleksandar Dzikic, Lietuvos Rytas’ coach, stated after the game, “I think it was a very good game for this stage of the season. We were pretty close tonight. We were one or two possessions away from winning the game. I am proud for my players who fought against the favorite.”

“Obviously it was a very difficult game. We can say that the opponents were close to the win due to their team effort and we won the game because of key individual performance. If you look at the stats, you can see that we had five players score 10 points and more and one other player who scored 9,” stated CSKA’s coach Ettore Messina. “Usually that says something about a good team game. We had a better shooting percentage than our opponents. Usually that says something about good quality of the game. But turnovers killed us in the beginnings of the first and second halves. And we played undisciplined at the end of third and start of the fourth quarters. We all know that the teams that are successful at the end of the season don’t allow so many turnovers and don’t allow the opponents so many chances on defense.”

Sonny Weems lead the hosts to victory with 14 points, six of which he tallied in the last two minutes of the game. Krstic and Viktor Khryapa added 12 each, Zoran Erceg contributed 11 and Milos Teodosic dropped in 10.

Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius got 19 from Renaldas Seibutis on eight for 13 shooting inside the arc. Katelynas added 12 and Nedovic tallied 11.

Photos courtesy Euroleague