The Euroleague Top 16 starts today, with five matches scheduled and the last three on Friday in the first week of 14. Group F contains Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv (Group B winner), FC Barcelona Regal (Group D winner), BC Khimki Moscow Region (Group A 2nd), Olympiacos Piraeus (Group C 2nd), Montepaschi Siena (Group B 3rd), Besiktas JK Istanbul (Group D 3rd), Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul (Group A 4th), and Caja Laboral Vitoria (Group C 4th). Here’s a roundup of Group F and some thoughts on how it’ll all look at the end of the 14 weeks of competition.

Olympiacos Piraeus finished 2nd Group C at 8-2 behind Zalgiris Kaunas, who also finished 8-2, with their two losses coming in Weeks 2 and 3. They are also currently sitting at the top of the Greece A1 League at 10-0. They last game they lost was on Oct. 25 against Zalgiris, meaning that they’re on a 16-game winning streak. The defending champions also have the extra motivation to bring the title back to Greece and the first step towards that goal will be to win Group F.

Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv finished in first in Group B with an 8-2 record and are currently 9-1 in the Israel Winner League and in 1st place. They’ve won their last seven matches in the Winner League. Maccabi will challenge Olympiacos for the group title.

FC Barcelona Regal finished at the top of Group D with a 9-1 record, their last loss coming on the last day of Regular Season competition when CSKA Moscow took a tough one from them in Barcelona, 75:78. Regal was the only undefeated team in the Regular Season at the time and seemed fairly invincible, since then they’ve also lost three straight Spain ACB games and are sitting in 8th place in the league with a 7-7 record. Barcelona is going through some rough times, but they’ll get it back and finish in the top four moving on.

Montepaschi Siena was third in Group B with a 5-5 record, losing their last two contests in overtime to Elan Chalon and Asseco Prokom. In the Italy SerieA they are second with a 10-2 record having won their last six games. Siena is led by Bobby Brown, who earned two MVP awards during the 10 week regular season. The Italian club started the Euroleague season with three straight loses, then won five straight before dropping the last two. Montepaschi should contend to move on, but will be in a dog fight with Khimki and Regal for the spot. Their game with Regal in Week 13 could prove to be pivotal.

BC Khimki Moscow Region was second in Group A at 6-4, is currently in 2nd in the Russian PBL at 6-2 and is 1st in the VTB League at 7-2. They lost some tough games in the Euroleague regular season to Real Madrid (101:81) and Fenerbahce (92:80), but they also beat Panathinaikos in Greece (67:79) and Real Madrid (86:85). They’ve had a solid month of December and should continue playing well through the Top 16 round. They’ll battle Siena and Regal, but will finish just out of the Top 16.

Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul finished 4th in Group A with a 5-5 record and currently leads the Turkish TBL with an 11-1 mark. They were less than consistent in the regular season of the Euroleague, losing to Cantu by 24 on the road, but then beating them by 8 at home. They lost to Panathinaikos on the road by 14, but won by 9 at home. They’ve been beating up on their opponents in Turkey, but will continue to struggle in the Euroleague.

Caja Laboral Vitoria finished 4th in Group C at 4-6 and are 2nd in the Spanish ACB at a solid 11-3 record. They’ve won six in a row in the ACB, beat Regal by 11 and lost to Real Madrid in OT. They’ve also lost to Zalgiris by 37 and Olympiacos by 17. They start out with Olympiacos and Maccabi, so the tone will be set for Caja early in the Top 16, but they’ll finish out of the contention for moving on.

Besiktas JK Istanbul finished 3rd in Group D at 5-5 and are currently in 6th in the Turkey TBL at 7-5. They’ll finish in the bottom half of Group F, out of contention, but will put up a couple of solid games.

Euroleague Group F Matches

Game 1 – Group E & F[matches league_id=20 match_day=1 template=sumnoscore dateformat=”M. j, Y”]

Game 2[matches league_id=20 match_day=2 group=F template=sumnoscore dateformat=”M. j, Y”]

Game 3[matches league_id=20 match_day=3 group=F template=sumnoscore dateformat=”M. j, Y”]

Game 4[matches league_id=20 match_day=4 group=F template=sumnoscore dateformat=”M. j, Y”]

Game 5[matches league_id=20 match_day=5 group=F template=sumnoscore dateformat=”M. j, Y”]

Game 6[matches league_id=20 match_day=6 group=F template=sumnoscore dateformat=”M. j, Y”]

Game 7[matches league_id=20 match_day=7 group=F template=sumnoscore dateformat=”M. j, Y”]

Game 8[matches league_id=20 match_day=8 group=F template=sumnoscore dateformat=”M. j, Y”]

Game 9[matches league_id=20 match_day=9 group=F template=sumnoscore dateformat=”M. j, Y”]

Game 10[matches league_id=20 match_day=10 group=F template=sumnoscore dateformat=”M. j, Y”]

Game 11[matches league_id=20 match_day=11 group=F template=sumnoscore dateformat=”M. j, Y”]

Game 12[matches league_id=20 match_day=12 group=F template=sumnoscore dateformat=”M. j, Y”]

Game 13[matches league_id=20 match_day=13 group=F template=sumnoscore dateformat=”M. j, Y”]

Game 14[matches league_id=20 match_day=14 group=F template=sumnoscore dateformat=”M. j, Y”]