EURO TOP TEN
10- TAU CERAMICA VITORIA (SPAIN)
Lost to Cska Moskow in the main event of last week in Euroleague, the basque have also lost the chance to grab the solo first place of the Group A, and lost on their field after a 30-games winning streak. Anyway, Tau still belong to the Top16.
9- MONTEPASCHI SIENA (ITALY)
Dominating in Poland against Prokom Trefl Sopot (84-59), Simone Pianigiani and his bunch are still in the Euroleague top favourites for the Madrid’s Final Four. They’re still unbeaten in the Italian League (11-0).
8- MACCABI ELITE TEL AVIV (ISRAEL)
Armani Jeans Milan is not the best team in the Euroleague, but winning in the last seconds away from the Yad Eliyahu is always a great thing (this is the first road win for the israeli). A Morris’s basket with 4 seconds remaining gave to Maccabi the 82-81 win.
7- AXA FC BARCELONA (SPAIN)
Back in Catalunya from Rome with a key victory, Axa Barcelona is still searching for the right continuity of their european performances. Blaugrana’s roster is one of the most talented in all the Euroleague, have to prove their are ready for Madrid.
6- OLYMPIACOS PIRAEUS (GREECE)
Another convincing win for Olympiacos, 90-74 at home over Zalgiris Kaunas. The Pinhas Gerson’s Red & White has a solid game from Arvydas Macjiauskas (32 points) and Qyntell Woods (18), leading the game from the first quarter. They’re hot.
5- ARIS TT BANK THESSALONIKI (GREECE)
With a strong game defeating 67-64 the tough turkish Efes Pilsen Istanbul, Aris TT Bank Thessaloniki is still on track to be in a good position for the Top16, improving their record to 4-2, tied with Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius and Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv at the second place of Group B.
4- REAL MADRID (SPAIN)
104-73, an easy win for the Merengues over the always beaten Chorale Roanne, who put the Joan Plaza’s bunch on second place in Group C behind the unbeaten Panathinaikos. Never forget, the Final Four this season will be in Madrid.
3- UNICAJA MALAGA (SPAIN)
Edging Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius with a Carlos Cabezas basket with 3 seconds remaining, Unicaja Malaga confirm their Group B leadership. Coach Sergio Scariolo is still working “in the shadow” of the two big spanish teams (Barcelona and Real Madrid), but having great results.
2- CSKA MOSKOW (RUSSIA)
Without Papaloukas, Smodis, Savrasenko and Siskauskas, practically 50 points of their offense, Cska Moskow gets a convincing win in Vitoria on Tau Ceramica, in the big match of this Euroleague week, a dominant 85-76 for the first place in Group A.
1- PANATHINAIKOS ATHENS (GREECE)
Impressive win in Istanbul for the Greens (83-64, outscored the turkish 22-5 in the third quarter), a strong performance against a good team like Fenerbahce Ulker on its own field. The only unbeaten team of Euroleague, Panathinaikos next week will face Real Madrid, the second team of Group C.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
DEWARICK SPENCER (VIRTUS VIDIVICI BOLOGNA)
A great game for the Alabama’s native in the 101-91 Virtus Vidivici Bologna win against Union Olimpija Ljublijana. 34 points, 12/17 from the field, 8 rebounds and 7 assist, trying to help Virtus to catch the Top16. He’s the Week 6 MVP in the Euroleague.
MICHAEL ANDERSEN & TRAJAN LANGDON (CSKA MOSKOW)
23 points each, a great effort from Australia & Alaska for the Cska’s win in Vitoria. They’ve been the most powerful weapons of the Cska’s offense, driving the Ettore Messina’s russians to the top of Group A.
ARVYDA MACIJAUSKAS (OLYMPIACOS PIRAEUS)
One more time Macijauskas! This week an amazing shooting performance in the Olympiacos 90-74’s win over Zalgiris Kaunas, 32 points, 9/13 from the field (4/5)
DANIELE VECCHI is the author of the Italian language book “Playground in New York.” He also writes a column for the Italian language hoops magazine, American Superbasket.
