Phew! Hopefully people were betting big point spreads in the Euroleague’s first game day as Montepaschi Siena, Barcelona, Olympiacos and Zalgiris notched easy victories by an average of more than 27 points. More on Euroleague as well as bigger than Jordan; a new basketball film; new players soon coming to Europe; a German star talent; and why Euroleague did not want to watch Maroussi-CSKA highlights.
Blowout city in the Euroleague!!!
Montepaschi Siena picked up the biggest thrashing with an 85-40 win at Cibona. Siena allowed just 16 points in the second half and what a game by Terrell McIntyre, who had 6 points, 11 assists and 7 steals. Barcelona led 38-21 at halftime on their way to a dominating 82-59 win oat Fenerbahce Ulker.
The other two blowouts came on the road. Linas Kleiza had 23 points and 9 rebounds in his first ever Euroleague game – an 84-72 Olympiacos home victory over Entente Orleans. The other comfortable win saw Zalgiris ease past Asvel Basket 71-52.
Excitement – Euroleague style
The other two games on Wednesday offered plenty of excitement.
German champions EWE Baskets Oldenburg made up for the loss of starting point guard Jason Gardner as Rickey Paulding and Je’Kel Foster combined for 43 points in Oldenburg’s 87-81 victory at Asseco Prokom in their first ever Euroleague game.
And the most thrilling game came in Greece as CSKA Moscow needed a three-pointer at the buzzer by Viktor Khryapa for a 66-65 win at Maroussi.
Better than Jordan?
Talk about high praise … check out Spartak Moscow Region Vidnoje coach Laszlo Ratgeber’s compliment about his superstar Diana Taurasi, recently named WNBA MVP.
“You know what? Michael Jordan is a very lucky and fortunate person.If Diana Taurasi had been born a man, she would have been the best ever basketball player and not Michael Jordan.”
Check out what Ratgeber is talking about
New basketball film – in Germany!?!
Not long after the 2006 World Cup in Germany, a film documenting Germany’s run at the football spectacle drew rave reviews. But now a basketball film is hitting German moviehouses – called “Hangtime”.
Coming soon to Europe?
The NBA teams are making their final cuts. Don’t expect some of these names to come to a European club near you: Maceo Baston, Thomas Kelati, Dan Dickau and Jared Reiner.
Pleiss talks about NBA
German star talent Tibor Pleiss is one of the top center prospects in the European game. And in an interview on heinnews, the 19-year-old Pleiss talks about his final goal of reaching the NBA.
Euroleague leaders turn your heads
And to finish off with Euroleague … EL management cannot have been happy watching the highlights of the Maroussi-CSKA thriller. Of course the game had an amazing finish. But check out the empty stands – attendance was listed as 1,650. Imagine if Alba Berlin had reached the Regular Season and filled the 02 World Arena with 14,000 fans.
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