• Home
  • FIBA
  • EuroLeague
  • NBA/NCAA
  • National Leagues
  • Podcast
  • Features
  • More
  • Contact

Grimag

  • FIBA
  • EuroLeague
  • NBA/NCAA
  • National Leagues
  • Podcast
  • Features
  • More

Fearless Predictions™: Lietuvos Rytas v. Galatasaray, Spirou Basket v. CEZ Nymburk

October 2, 2011

Songaila: Best hope for Galatasaray upset?

Just enough time to get in a couple of Fearless Predictions™ before the final two teams to participate in Euroleague 2011-12 are determined, BallinEurope thinks … So let’s get to it!

Lietuvos Rytas vs. Galatasaray Café Crown Galatasaray looked impressive in dispatching Asvel Villeurbanne (O, Tony Parker, où êtes-vous?) and putting up 93 points, the highest total registered in qualifying round games thus far. Better yet, the high-profile additions to the already solid Turkish team’s roster appear to be working perfectly: Jaka Lakovic and Darius Songaila contributed a whopping 40 points combined in the win.

On the other side of the court, Lietuvos Rytas has taken care of business against both opponents faced – KK Buducnost and Cibona Zagreb – with their margins of victory 19 and 16 points, respectively. L.Rytas started the match with the intriguing and somewhat unexpectated combination of Jonas Valanciunas and Vilmantas Dilys at the forward spots, showing the depth this team brings; security they’ll surely need against the long roster of Galatasaray – heck, on paper, the Turkish team may actually have *more* talent man for man.

But there’s no way BiE can go against a Lithuanian side after the heartbreak of EuroBasket 2011; the Official BallinEurope Fearless Prediction™ here has Lietuvos Rytas 90, Galatasaray 87 … but another performance like yesterday’s by Songaila and Galatasaray might just sneak past.

Spirou Basket v. CEZ Nymburk. Is Nymburk ready to make the step up to the big league? After holding Banvit BK to a qualifying-round low point total of 57, the Czech side handily beat frequent Euroleague participants BC Khimki Moscow Region, 86-79, in what the EL official site calls “the biggest upset of the season so far.”

Or was it? Against Khimki, Nymburk simply showed its strengths while keeping the battle for the boards irrelevant. A nice barrage of jumpshots from the likes of Tre Simmons and Pavel Pumprla got the team off to a 21-3 lead, a deficit few teams (including the so-cold Khimki) could overcome. Nymburk showed amazing ball movement and displayed excellent judgment in finding the open man – more often than not, one of the aforementioned deadshots.

Spirou Basket, meanwhile, has the distinct home-court advantage; indeed, after surviving quite a scare against BC Donetsk, the Belgians are now 5-0 in the Euroleague Qualifying Round in the past two seasons on their home floor. And luckily for them, they found their game against Alba Berlin in the final 25 minutes or so of yesterday’s 74-63 win – the defense was solid, the experience players shone, and it all without Mickael Gelabale – to appear ready against the Czech Republic’s plucky underdogs. Official Fearless Prediction™: Don’t call it boring, call it stoic. Hometown Spirou wins, 73-67.

Oct 2, 2011ballineurope
Powered by Sidelines
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
This post was published on October 2, 2011
FC Barcelona, Montepaschi Siena take national cupsEuroleague Qualifying Round: Galatasaray, Spirou Basket fill final two spots
You Might Also Like
 
European basketball: "something between college basketball and NBA"
 
Ramunas Siskauskas gets a new T-shirt
Comments: 0
Pingbacks: 2
  1. BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site » Blog Archive » Euroleague Qualifying Round: Galatasaray, Spirou Basket fill final two spots
    12 years ago
  2. Galatasary Upset Lietuvos Rytas To Qualify For Euroleague
    12 years ago

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

ballineurope
12 years ago 2 Comments EuroLeague, MoreALBA Berlin, ASVEL Villeurbanne, BC Donetsk, BC Khimki Moscow region, CEZ Nymburk, Cibona Zagreb, Darius Songaila, EuroLeague, Euroleague qualifying round, fearless predictions, Galatasaray Cafe Crown, Jaka Lakovic, Jonas Valanciunas, KK Buducnost, Lietuvos Rytas, Mickael Gelabale, Pavel Pumprla, Spirou, Tre Simmons, Vilmantas Dilys
Recent Posts
Jordan Loyd and Mike James are back for Sasa Obradovic, while Kemba Walker has arrived, but can AS Monaco claim glory in Euroleague Basketball?
AS Monaco are good but can they be great? – Euroleague season preview
6 hours ago
Alex Mumbru has veteran Victor Claver back but it looks like it will be a long season for Valencia in Euroleague Basketball
Valencia is in a boring holding pattern – Euroleague season preview
1 day ago
Georgios Bartzokas and Olympiacos will hope that Kostas Papanikolaou can lead them back to the summit of Euroleague Basketball.
Olympiacos bring stability to the top of the pile – Euroleague season preview
2 days ago
Categories
Recent Posts
AS Monaco are good but can they be great? – Euroleague season preview
Valencia is in a boring holding pattern – Euroleague season preview
Olympiacos bring stability to the top of the pile – Euroleague season preview
Tags
EuroLeagueNBAYouTubeCSKA MoscowFC BarcelonaReal MadridFIBAOlympiacosZalgiris KaunasPanathinaikosACBSpainMaccabi Tel AvivTeam SpainRicky RubioLos Angeles LakersMontepaschi SienaLithuaniaPartizan BelgradePau GasolGermanyItalyTeam LithuaniaIrelandTurkeyTeam FranceCaja Laboral BaskoniaLietuvos RytasFenerbahce ÜlkerJuan Carlos NavarroGreeceSerbiaTony ParkerSan Antonio SpursFranceMinnesota TimberwolvesDirk Nowitzkibasketball highlightsTeam RussiaALBA BerlinTeam USAEuroBasket 2011EuroCupBrose Baskets BambergDallas Mavericks
Share
0
Facebook
ABOUT
BallinEurope.com was founded in September 2007 by Christophe Ney (who now runs the excellent scouting-themed website European Prospects) and Tobias Seitz, both then bloggers for FIBA.com with over 10 years’ worth of experience in the professional basketball world each. The mission then was to “provide a very unique perspective of Basketball in and about Europe.”
Most Commented
Why Andrei Kirilenko and CSKA Moscow must win the Euroleague
11 years ago
180 Comments
Euroleague Transfers Table 2008/2009
15 years ago
168 Comments
A week in highlights: Spanish block party, mighty Milos, Utah rap and some dude dunking in L.A.
12 years ago
139 Comments
Archives
Get In Touch

Email: emmetryan@gmail.com

Name: Emmet Ryan

2014 © BallinEurope. Join JCI Dublin