In case you don’t have enough hoops to watch today – there’s the Nike International Junior Tournament, the Real Madrid-Montepaschi Siena Euroleague third-place game, the Euroleague championship, the Chicago Bulls-Atlanta Hawks playoff game, and the Los Angeles Lakers going out like chumps and ending the brilliant career of Phil Jackson rather ignominiously playing the Dallas Mavericks – Adi Micinic of TotalBaschet.ro reminds BallinEurope that the Romanian league wraps its semifinal playoff round with a game five decider.
Micinic also reports below on Romania’s relegation series and the continuing conflict over the number of foreign players to be allowed per team in the league for the 2011-12 season. Read on for some Romanian ballin’!
CSU Asesoft Ploiesti wrapped up its series against Steaua Turabo Bucharest, three games to one. Game 3 was won by Steaua, 88-84 in overtime (75-75 after regulation), on Wednesday night. This marked the first loss for CSU Asesoft in a playoff game in exactly two years by the calendar. The following day, Asesoft won Game 4 by a score of 85-81 to advance to its eighth consecutive final, including a run of championship wins from 2004 to 2010.
In the other semifinal, the series heads back to Cluj-Napoca for a decisive fifth game on Sunday. On Wednesday, Gaz Metan Medias took Game 3 by a score of 83-77, while Game 4 finished with 84-78 in favour of U Mobitelco BT Cluj-Napoca.
In the relegation series, SCM Universitatea Craiova swept CSU Cuadripol Brasov, 3-0, meaning Brasov are relegated to Divizia B for 2011-12.
Meanwhile, BC Perla Harghitei Miercurea Ciuc and Politehnica Iasi will play a decisive fifth game to determine which squad will stay in Divizia A next season. Both teams were promoted to Divizia A last summer. The first four games were decided in favour of the home team, and Game 5 is scheduled for Sunday in Miercurea Ciuc. The loser of this game will be relegated to Divizia B for the next season.
Meanwhile, club managers remain in disagreement with the national federation regarding the maximum number of foreign players allowed to play for a team in a game in Divizia A.
Through the last two seasons, each team roster could carry a maximum of five foreign players in a game during the regular season and only four during the playoffs. Another rule dictated that a minimum of one Romanian player had to be on the court per team at all times in every game.
The national federation’s current proposal would change the latter requirement so that a minimum of two Romanians would be required on the court throughout each game.
