Pre-Season 2012: NBA 3 – Euroleague 1
Saturday was a busy day in the Pre-Season 2012 NBA vs. Euroleague series as the schedule included three contests, two in the US and one in Europe. After Friday night’s upset win by Fenerbahce Ulker over the Boston Celtics, the Euroleague squads faltered Saturday, going 0-3 against the NBA squads.
Dallas Mavericks – Alba Berlin 89-84
Dirk Nowitski returned to his native Germany with the 2011 NBA Champions the Dallas Mavericks to face eight-time German Basketball Bundesliga champions, Alba Berlin. In front of a crowd of 14,504, Nowitski and his squad downed the Berlin contingent 89-84 in a contest that was tight from start to finish. Dallas showed some pre-season rust as they turned the ball over 26 times. Alba had a rough night shooting, hitting only 33 for 83 (39.8%) from inside the arc and 4 of 23 (17.4%) outside the arc. By comparison, Dallas was 35 of 66 (53.0%) inside the arc and 8 of 20 (40.0%) outside.
“We’ve got a team with a bunch of new guys, and that was evident tonight,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle lamented. “My job is to get these guys playing together better, and that’s what we’ve got to do in the next couple of days before the next game, because the games aren’t getting any easier.”
Alba came out up by one after the first quarter, 23-22, but the Mavs controlled the second stanza and headed into the intermission up by six 45-39.
Dallas guard Rodrigue Beaubois went down hard in the third quarter after coming down on Alba center Albert Miralles’ and rolling his ankle. He left the court under assistance and didn’t return to the contest.
The American squad extended their lead to 11 mid-way through the third, but the hosts reeled them back in to head into the final 12 minutes only down by four. In the final frame Alba was able to pull to within two with 14 seconds to play on a lay-up by Nihad Djedovic, but the Mavericks were able to hit three of four free throws down the stretch to extend the final margin to five.
Chris Kaman, Darren Collison and Vince Carter each scored 14 points to lead the Mavericks. Deon Thompson dropped in 20 for Alba Berlin and Djedovic added 15.
Said Alba Berlin head coach Sasa Obradovic after the game, “It was a big pleasure for all of us to play a big team like Dallas. I am happy that we played the game until the end, controlling the tempo, also. We can be proud of this, but we should not have a wrong picture about us or about them. Our season already started, we already have a certain game rhythm and they don’t. Not to underestimate the effort of my players, but we have to stay on the ground, because for us right now starts the big competition in the Euroleague.”
Dallas will travel to Barcelona for their next contest when they face 17-time Spanish champion FC Barcelona Regal on Tuesday.
Memphis Grizzlies – Real Madrid 105-93
Memphis Grizzlies big man, Marc Gasol, welcomed the Real Madrid squad to the US and Memphis, by tallying 16 points and 16 rebounds in their pre-season contest in front of a crowd of 10,242 at FedEx Arena yesterday.
Said Gasol after, “There are a lot of guys I played with on the national team, and a lot of guys that I played against in my time overseas six or 7 years ago. So I know most of them. It’s really fun to beat them. It’s also an honor to be an ambassador of the city of Memphis and show the guys around, and taking them out to dinner and showing them what the city of Memphis is about.”
Rudy Gay scored 27 points, including going 11 for 18 from the field.
Memphis led by as many as 16 in the game, including 87-71 entering the fourth. Real Madrid cut the lead to five on two occasions, the last time coming at 93-88 with 4:35 left. Memphis then went on a 12-1 run to seal the game.
The Grizzlies built a margin as high as 16 during the contest and Madrid cut that margin to five with just 4:35 to play. A 12-1 run in the closing minutes put the game away for the locals.
Rudy Fernandez led Real Madrid with 16 points, while Nikola Mirotic had 14 points and seven rebounds, Jaycee Carroll added 11 points, and Sergio Rodriguez had eight points and 10 assists.
The Grizzlies will take tomorrow off to attend the funeral of former VP of Operations Dana Davis, who passed away recently of natural causes. Said guard Mike Conley, after an 18 point, eight assist performance, “It will be tough tomorrow. Dana Davis was such a big part of this organization, a part of my life and a lot of the guys lives. Tomorrow we are going to take a day off from practice and go to the funeral as a team to honor him. It’s going to be tough for all of us. It seems like everyone is lost. He was always the guy you looked to when you needed something or direction. It was tough not to see him out there watching me warm up like he normally does; giving me a high-five after the starting lineup, a few things he does every single night. We are going to miss him.”
Real Madrid guard Rudy Fernandez commented, “It is a good experience for the Spanish team to play in Memphis against one of the best teams in this country. It was a hard game. I think we did good in the last half. It was a real tight game. Memphis had a good starting line-up. They played very good in the last minutes. The Euroleague is a good competition. It is one of the best in Europe. In the last two games, Fenerbahce beat Boston. Dallas beat Alba Berlin by four or five. I think it is a good experience for European teams, and it is a good experience for us.”
Real Madrid will fly to Toronto to square off with the Raptors on Monday.
San Antonio Spurs – Montepaschi Siena 106-77
The San Antonio Spurs had 18 players see court time in their 106-77 victory over visiting Euroleague squad Montepaschi Siena. The key to the Spurs victory was defense as they were able to hold Montepaschi to 35 points at the half and under 30% shooting from the field.
Spurs guard Manu Ginobili summed up the theme, “We played pretty well, especially defensively. We tried different types of defenses and the guys followed.”
Ginobili and Gary Neal scored 11 points apiece for San Antonio, DeJuan Blair and Corey Joseph added 10 each in the win. Siena got 20 from Bobby Brown and 15 from Benjamin Eze.
Montepaschi Siena head coach Luca Banchi on the contest, “As we had imagined, it was a special night. Everything that happened before the game was fantastic. The presentation, emotional moments. Then in the game we ran into challenges, but did a good job of overcoming them by adjusting our game a little to a level of intensity and athleticism that we were not used to facing. However, it was nice to see the team compete in this context and improve their performance over the 48 minute span.”
Montepaschi will hit the road and travel North to Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers on Monday.