So the first night of the playoffs is played in the Euroleague. While CSKA lost its first home game of the season in the Euroleague, it was the only win on the road and opened up a possibility for Olympiacos to join the Final Four.
Is it he magic of Panagiotis Yannakis that transformed a team that was nothing special during the season into a serious contender for the ultimate goal? In fact, yesterday, it was one of the most beautiful games played by the Reds (the Greek Reds, not the Russian ones) for a long time. Just check out the nice Alley-oop by Qyntel Woods and you see what I mean when I mention that there were more such plays in the first 35 minutes.
CSKA managed to come back into the game somehow behind some big shots and strange foul calls giving them some advantages but in the end, it was Lynn Greer, who we featured as a possible match winner for Olympiacos already before the season that sealed the deal and made the big shot.
And the Red Empire is now ready to host the Red Army in their Peace and Friendship Stadium where it will be a war. And the Greek supporters are ready to make some noise like in the good old days.
The other games did not came up with surprises as all the home teams won. Ball in Europe covered the game between Montepaschi and Fenerbahce Ülker and the clash between TAU Ceramica and Partizan Belgrade via the already traditional Live Blog.
The good thing for TAU is the return of James Singleton who came up with some nice athletic plays and got also rewarded by the Euroleague Block of the night against the Serbian giant Slavko Vranes (yes, he had an NBA career).
Well for the last game of the night, even a boiling hot Gianluca Basile could not win the game for Barcelona in the Tel Aviv Nokia Arena. The Italian, who once killed Stephon Marbury and the USA with his shooting was not not enough against the team effort of the Yellows from Israel where Terence “Poster” Morris and Yotam “Wizard” Halperin again came up with MVP performances.
I can’t wait until tomorrow for Day 2 of the Playoffs and maybe some decisions or surprises in some of the best atmospheres of Europe.
