EuroLeague's beat: Incredible ASVEL, Fenerbahce's protest, Macon's onslaught, and all-time worst champions / News - Basketnews.com
Credit Panagiotis Moschandreou, Tolga Adanali - Getty Images, D.Lukšta | BasketNews illustration As usual, BasketNews presents 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.
Another ASVEL’s upset, Barcelona’s perfect streak, Fenerbahce’s protest, Zalgiris’ misery, Macon’s 3-point outpour, and the worst start by the champions in history – all of that and more in EuroLeague’s Round 6 beat.
EuroLeague’s beat Round 6
LEADER MISSING.AS Monaco beat Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade on Tuesday, and they did it with their leader Mike James not looking like himself. James finished the game with 8 points (1/3 2PT, 2/8 3PT), 4 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, and 1 PIR.
After the game, he directed EuroLeague’s attention to the officiating regarding his 3-point attempts. James feels like fouls aren’t always called against him.
UNLIKELY HEROES. Despite the lackluster Mike James, Monaco found two other guys to take his spot. Alpha Diallo led the team with 19 points (7/8 2PT, 0/2 3PT, 5/6 FT), 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover, and 28 PIR.
Donatas Motiejunas added 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 21 PIR. He said post-game that this victory was crucial for the team.
“Of course it’s very important for us as a team. All three losses were close, so it was really important to get back on a winning roll in the EuroLeague, so everyone is happy, and we’re happy we could give this to our fans.”
PERFECT STREAK ON THE LINE. FC Barcelona were extremely close to losing their 11-game winning streak. However, in the end, Nikola Mirotic’s acrobatic last-second layup against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul brought Barca their 12th straight victory in the EuroLeague and Spanish Liga ACB.
“Coach Saras made a great timeout play,” Mirotic commented post-game. “They looked for me, and with a little luck, at the end, I was able to score. So I am very happy that we won the game, even though we didn’t play our best game, best performance. But the win is the win. We have to keep grinding.”
100 WINS. Barcelona coach Sarunas Jasikevicius recorded his 100th EuroLeague win as a coach. He became the third-youngest coach to reach 100 victories in the EuroLeague, trailing only to Xavi Pascual and Oktay Mahmuti.
TOUGH WHISTLES. On the opposing side, the mood was much bleaker. Fenerbahce lost their fourth EuroLeague contest this season, three of which were last-second heartbreakers. The Turkish powerhouse lost in Round 2 against Panathinaikos after the Greeks finished the game on a 9-0 run, with all nine points coming from the free throw line.
They also lost against Real Madrid by one point last week, after two free throws by Vincent Poirier with 10 seconds remaining. In this week’s match against Barca, Jan Vesely was charged with an unsportsmanlike foul with two minutes remaining in the game, resulting in five crucial straight points by Barcelona.
After the game, Fenerbahce released a public announcement, criticizing the officiating in the last minutes of these three contests. Whether the EuroLeague will do something about it remains to be seen.
BALANCED EFFORT. Olympiacos Piraeus held off ALBA Berlin at home, with five of their players finishing the game with double figures in efficiency. Tyler Dorsey had 17 PIR, Moustapha Fall and Kostas Sloukas added 16 each, Thomas Walkup supplied 12, and Shaquielle McKissic ended with 11.
3 500. Georgios Printezis surpassed the 3 500-point mark in the EuroLeague with his patented floater against ALBA. He trails only to Nando de Colo (3 642 points), Juan Carlos Navarro (4152 points), and his former comrade Vassilis Spanoulis (4455 points) in the all-time scoring list.
“I didn’t know about [the 3,500 points milestone], but trust me, I prefer this victory because it was a tough game,” Printezis mentioned post-game. “We played a lot of games in a row, so for us in this marathon, it’s a great win, and now we have to continue and improve.”
MAN AMONG BOYS. Despite ALBA’sfourth loss, Luke Sikma played another outstanding game against Olympiacos. He finished with a near triple-double, collecting 9 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, and 22 PIR.
Sikma is averaging 20.5 PIR this season, trailing only to Real Madrid’s center Walter Tavares, who accumulates 23.3 PIR per contest.
BIG 4. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv recorded their fourth victory in this season’s EuroLeague, beating Zalgiris Kaunas at home. Four Maccabi players stood out, scoring 59 of their team’s 76 points.
Derrick Williams finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 23 PIR, Keenan Evans supplied 13 points and 21 PIR, Ante Zizic added 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 20 PIR, while James Nunnally had 15 points and 16 PIR.
ANOTHER LOSS. Zalgiris Kaunas suffered their sixth straight loss in the EuroLeague and are just one loss away from repeating their worst start of the season in the club’s history. They will face the reigning champions, Anadolu Efes Istanbul, on Friday.
FALSE-POSITIVE. Zalgiris’ forward Tyler Cavanaugh was forced to miss the game against Maccabi because his initial Covid test returned positive. Cavanaugh had two rapid antigen tests performed afterward, both of them coming back negative.
However, Zalgiris was informed that according to local regulations, Cavanaugh was not allowed to leave his hotel room until another PCR came back negative. The result of the third PCR test came back negative after the game, and Cavanaugh was allowed to leave Israel. He will be available for the game against Efes.
FIRST SLIP UP. AX Armani Exchange Milan lost their first EuroLeague contest this season, dropping an away contest against FC Bayern Munich. With that in mind, Barcelona is now the only undefeated team this season.
WALDEN’S HEROICS. Corey Walden scored eight straight points for Bayern in the second half of the fourth quarter, giving his team a six-point cushion that proved to be enough to reach a victory against Armani.
“It was a really good atmosphere here for us to turn it around in the last quarter,” Walden said post-game. “We showed some grit, some toughness, and were able to get it done. Our defense and making plays towards the end [were the key factors], players just stepping up and making big shots at the end, just showing toughness.”
LOCKDOWN DEFENSE. UNICS Kazan dominated against Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz on their home floor, sealing the game in the second period. Baskonia were unable to put the ball in the hoop for more than seven minutes in the second quarter and only scored six points in the period, all of which came from Wade Baldwin.
THROWBACK VORONTSEVICH. In a team filled with talented imports, Andrey Vorontsevich stood out, leading UNICS in scoring and efficiency. The 34-year-old Russian forward finished the game with 14 points (1/3 2PT, 4/6 3PT, 0/2 FT), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocs, 1 steal, 0 turnovers, and 21 PIR.
LATE PUSH. Zenit St. Petersburg were holding on against Real Madrid admirably, cutting their deficit to two points in the fourth quarter (59-61). However, that’s when Real went on a 12-2 run to erase the hosts’ hopes of winning and brought home a seven-point victory.
NO CHARITY. Zenit only shot eight free throws in the entire game. Not only that, they only converted two of them. Arturas Gudaitis was the only player to score from the charity stripe (2/4), while Andrey Zubkov missed all four attempts. On the opposing side, Real made 15 of 24 free throws.
FIERCE UNDERDOGS. LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne shocked the EuroLeague with yet another unexpected victory, this time taking down CSKA Moscow at home. ASVEL recorded their fourth victory in six rounds, taking the fifth spot in the standings.
Out of those four wins, ASVEL were considered slight favorites in only one game - the Round 1 match against Zalgiris Kaunas.
REBOUNDING. ASVEL grabbed 50 rebounds against CSKA, setting a EuroLeague season-high. 18 of those rebounds came on the offensive end. In comparison, CSKA only recorded 33 rebounds.
“Rebounds are what we’ve been talking about, they are important,” ASVEL coach TJ Parker mentioned post-game. “I always push them to go to the offensive rebound and today we had 18. Eighteen is huge. That gives you a lot of second chances.”
3-POINT ONSLAUGHT. Daryl Macon Jr. drilled nine 3-pointers on Wednesday, lifting Panathinaikos OPAP Athens over Anadolu Efes Istanbul. He was one long-range shot away from tying the EuroLeague record for most threes in a game by a single player. Only Shane Larkin, Marcus Eriksson, and Andrew Goudelock have hit 10 3-pointers in one game.
Macon finished the game with 34 points and 38 PIR, leading the EuroLeague in both categories this round.
“These are probably one of the best sets of fans I’ve ever experienced,” Macon said post-game. “It was an unbelievable experience tonight. All credit to my teammates, without them, I couldn’t have had a night like this. Playing at OAKA is unbelievable.”
RECORD-WORST START. With a 1-5 record after six rounds, Anadolu Efes mark the worst start for the champions in modern EuroLeague history (since 2000-2001).
In 20 previous years, neither of the EuroLeague champions started the season with such a lousy record. The last EuroLeague champions to start the season with a 1-5 record were Zalgiris Kaunas back in 1999.
Even Efes coach Ergin Ataman couldn’t contain his anger, earning his second technical foul in the third quarter of the match against Panathinaikos and leaving the court.
“Of course, we didn’t plan to play with this low energy, but we could not execute what we prepared on the court,” Efes assistant Yakup Sekizkok spoke after the heavy loss. “We missed all the shots, even open shots, and they played with huge confidence, made all the three-point shots, pushed the ball, scored easy fastbreak points, and they broke the game at the beginning.”
TOP Plays of Round 6
Records of Round 6
PIRDaryl Macon Daryl Macon Jr. (38)
PointsDaryl Macon Daryl Macon Jr. (34)
ReboundsTadas Sedekerskis Tadas Sedekerskis (12)
AssistsKrunoslav Simon Krunoslav Simon (9)
StealsScottie Wilbekin Scottie Wilbekin, John Brown (5 each)
BlocksGeorgios Papagiannis Georgios Papagiannis, Jeremy Evans (3 each)
3-pointers madeDaryl Macon Daryl Macon Jr. (9) Results of Round 6
AS Monaco Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 70-62 Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul FC Barcelona 74-76 Olympiacos Piraeus ALBA Berlin 87-83 Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv Zalgiris Kaunas 76-62 FC Bayern Munich AX Armani Exchange Milan 83-77 UNICS Kazan Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 83-69 Zenit St. Petersburg Real Madrid 68-75 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne CSKA Moscow 70-68 Panathinaikos OPAP Athens Anadolu Efes Istanbul 95-69 Like what we are doing? Support us by becoming BN+ member.Link to this article：https://www.brazilv.com/post/20755.html
