EuroLeague's beat: Record-breaking Greek derby and Ergin Ataman's sponsorship / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: ZUMAPRESS.com - Scanpix, D.Repečka, Panagiotis Moschandreou - Getty Images | BasketNews illustration Credit ZUMAPRESS.com - Scanpix, D.Repečka, Panagiotis Moschandreou - Getty Images | BasketNews illustration

BasketNewscontinues the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague beat edition. Here, you'll be able to find all the info you need about what happened in the latest EuroLeague round.

One-sided Greek derby, vintage Rudy Fernandez, reviving Baskonia, Dante "Usain Bolt" Exum, and Ergin Ataman's jokes in a press conference - that and much more in this week's EuroLeague Round 30 beat.

EuroLeague's beat Round 30

GREEK DERBY TURNS RED. Olympiacos Piraeus proved anything but hospitable against archrivals Panathinaikos OPAP Athens, treating them with a record-breaking 101-73 hammering. The Reds went full throttle in the first 16 minutes, leading by as many as 32 (50-18).

When PAO somehow managed to show signs of a potential comeback, reducing the deficit to 14 (60-46), Sasha Vezenkov and Kostas Sloukas forced a crowd of 9,000 fans to stand up in exaltation. By all means, the most ecstatic night of the season so far for Olympiacos and their die-hard supporters.

WALK OF SHAME. Dimitris Priftis described the way Panathinaikos entered the derby in Piraeus in one word: shameful.The Greek tactician was very disappointed after the end of the game, stressing that his team's performance in the first quarter was embarrassing, before uttering, "Shame on us all."

Center Giorgos Papagiannis apologized on camera, "on behalf of everyone", adding that "there's only one feeling right now - anger."

DINO AND PERO HAVING A NIGHT OUT. Dino Radja was a visit everyone in the Peace and Friendship Stadium was expecting since his presence in Greece had been known for days. The FIBA and Naismith Memorial Hall-of-Famer took numerous photos with fans, court seat holders, stewards, police officers, and, of course, old acquaintances like Panathinaikos's trainer, Savas Aronis with whom he coincided between 1997 and 1999.

Radja, who had been one of PAO's leaders in their Greek championship title win in 1999 against Olympiacos, played for the Reds in the 2000-01 season.

Pero Antic, on the other hand, won the EuroLeague with Fenerbahce in 2017 against Olympiacos, but it was with the Greek side that he had the most success in his career, lifting back-to-back continental titles in 2012, 2013. A declared fan of the team, Antic paid one of his customary visits to Greece, in contrast to the man sitting next to Radja, former Olympiacos guard-forward Dusan Vukcevic.

Credit Vangelis Stolis IN THE BACK OF THE NET. In Greek derbies, the net surrounding every corner of the arena is commonplace. But this time, a double layer was used in order to protect not only athletes and team members from flying objects but also for press reps to do their job without any distractions. For security reasons, when Olympiacos players (McKissick, Martin) came out of the locker room to do mixed zone interviews, the stadium had been almost evacuated. For the first time this season, the visiting coach (Dimitris Priftis) visited the press room after the host coach (Giorgos Bartzokas) and almost 40 minutes after the final buzzer. VINTAGE RUDY. Rudy Fernandez scored a season-high 17 points in the solid Real Madrid'swin against LDCL ASVEL Villeurbanne on Thursday night. The veteran forward finished the game with 17 points, including a 4/6 from beyond the arc. He added 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Once again, he looked fresh. A vintage version of one of the most prolific guys in this century. Pablo Laso praised his veteran in the post-game conference."He led us to win. He read exactly what we needed in each moment. Sometimes you don't notice how important he is in the court. Today he was effective", he said.

OKOBO'S BACK. ASVEL's season leader Elie Okobo had missed six weeks of EuroLeague action, starting from early February, due to a cyst in his right shoulder. Against Real, the former NBA guard was back, scoring 8 points on 3/9 from the field in 19 minutes. While he was absent, the French champions suffered five straight defeats which further added to their woes.

Three-week absentee Chris Jones did much better with a team-high 17 points.

MICIC RISING. In his customary return to Kaunas to face his former team Zalgiris, Vasilije Micic led the route for Anadolu Efes with 20 points and 7 assists. The Turkish side were coming off of an ugly 21-point blowout to AS Monaco and a win over the Lithuanian champs was much needed in order for them to stay alive for the top 4 spots.

"I think we finally realized how important defense is after the last two games. We stepped on the court with a good attitude, we had a good approach, first of all defensively. And then in the third quarter, we knew that they were going to try and come back in the game," Micic spoke post-game.

ATAMAN ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM. "Last season, we had a big contribution from Sertac Sanli when Pleiss and Dunston were injured. Unfortunately, this season, we didn't get the same contribution from our young player Petrusev," Efes' coach Ergin Ataman commented on his team's ups and downs.

"Especially in the center position, we didn't find our main guy. In some games, like tonight, Pleiss was great, in others, Bryant Dunston was better," the Turkish coach stressed, among other things, after the game.

WRONG VOTER. Ataman also touched on the topic of EuroLeague standings format. Clubs with A license voted that the results against Russian teams should be voided, and such format was beneficial to Efes since the Turkish club rose from eighth to the fifth position.

His position is clear: It should have been the EuroLeague's decision.

"I think it's (unfair) to ask for clubs to take voting. I think it's very funny. Every club voted for its own advantage. I believe that in this situation, EuroLeague should have taken more power and taken the decision, so nobody could say anything," he said.

ZALGIRIS RETURN TO BAD HABITS. A neck pain kept Zalgiris' big man Joffrey Lauvergne out of the game, depriving coach Jure Zdovc of the player who contributed more than anyone to his team's recent improvement. Contrary to what happened in their previous loss to Olympiacos in Kaunas, Zalgiris were not able to compete against the reigning EuroLeague champions. Things couldn't have turned out otherwise for the team that had downed both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid at home a few weeks ago. Only 40 points scored in the first three quarters left Zalgiris 25 points behind (40-65) and the contest was over long before the buzzer sounded. NO MERCY. Rokas Giedraitis registered a season-high 22 points (6/8 2PT, 3/8 3PT, 1/2 FT), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, and 23 PIR in a win against his former team ALBA Berlin. "There are some feelings since I played with ALBA for two years. It's nice to see them and I wish them only the best," Giedraitis spoke post-game. SHARING IS CARING. Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz dished out 24 assists in total. Wade Baldwin delivered 10 assists to go along with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Simone Fontecchio had 4 dishes and six other players were credited with at least one each. "That is the way to play basketball; to share the ball among the guys and make everybody happy," Neven Spahija said after the victory. The 24 assists were third-most for Baskonia this season and the Spanish squad has collected at least 19 assists in each of its five games this month, averaging 22.2 assists per game. USAIN BOLT. Dante Exum was once again a key factor for Barca, this time, in the victorious effort over Crvena Zvezda. Since Higgins was sidelined due to his surgery, the Australian guard has stepped up. After a difficult beginning, he is essential for Sarunas Jasikevicius.

Exum scored 13 points against the Red Star, 11 of those in an insane last quarter. In the post-game conference, Jasikevicius compared his player with iconic athlete Usain Bolt.

"We are always talking about Dante's first step, but for me, it's his strength on his third and fourth step. It's crazy", he began.

"He reminds me of Usain Bolt. He always has lost in the first 15-20 meters, but you could not win against him. Exum is like him. If you let him run, you can't stop him. We have never seen something like this here," the Lithuanian mastermind added.

ROLLER COASTER OF NUMBERS. Per the official EuroLeague website, Barcelona lost the battle of the boards by 25-33, allowing Zvezda to pull down 16 offensive rebounds. The Catalans only grabbed 4 boards under Zvezda's rim, its lowest mark on offensive rebounds since head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius joined the team. However, Barca circulated the ball better and finished the game with 25 assists. Their playmakers, Nick Calathes and Rokas Jokubaitis, combined for 12 of those. Zvezda was limited to just 15 dishes and picked up as many as 15 turnovers. GAME TO FORGET. Nikola Kalinic was locked up with Barca's defense. Zvezda's leader finished the duel with 5 points (2/5 2PT, 0/3 3PT, 1/2 FT), 2 assists, 4 turnovers, and -3 PIR. It was his worst game this season.

TOP Plays of Round 30

Records of Round 30

PIR Wade Baldwin

Wade Baldwin (29)

Points Daryl Macon

Daryl Macon (23)

Rebounds Vincent Poirier

Vincent Poirier (12)

Assists Wade Baldwin

Wade Baldwin (10)

Steals Bryant Dunston

Bryant Dunston, Rokas Giedraitis, Dante Exum, Sergi Martinez (3 each)

Blocks Steven EnochCredit ACB

Steven Enoch (3)

3-pointers made Rudy Fernandez Rudy Fernandez,Daryl Macon, Simone Fontecchio (4 each)

Results of Round 30

Zalgiris Kaunas Anadolu Efes Istanbul 71-85 Olympiakos Piraeus Panathinaikos Athens 101-73 Real Madrid LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 70-58 Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz ALBA Berlin 85-68 FC Barcelona Crvena Zvezda Belgrade 82-70 Thank you for reading us! Help us even more.