Week 1 Regular Season update
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The new and bigger version of the ULEB Cup tipped off this week with more games than ever before, providing more excitement throughout Europe. Three former ULEB Cup champions and 14 debutants were among the 27 winers. The stars were out with Michael Wright of Turk Telekom leading his team to a 90-97 road win against Siauliai by scoring 37 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, good for a 49 index – the third best regular-season performance in ULEB Cup history. One game went into overtime and another into double-overtime, with Benetton Fribourg holding off the Antwerp Giants 106-102 in its competition debut.
There were naturally some big upsets too, with traditional Euroleague power Benetton Treviso losing its home opener to BC Kyiv and long-time home-court force Ventspils falling at home to Besiktas ColaTurka 79-87. It all got started with the traditional opening game, which celebrated half a century of European club basketball when ASK Riga trumped Lukoil Academic Sofia in a rematch of the very first Euroleague championship game.
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Who's hot:
Turk Telekom big man Michael Wright had one of the greatest performances
in ULEB Cup history, leading his team to a 90-97 road win at Siauliai.
Wright finished with 37 points on 15-of-17 two-point and 7-of-9
free throw shooting, 10 rebounds and 8 fouls drawn for a 49 index,
the third-best ever in a ULEB Cup regular season game. Wright
wasn't the only guy on his team with a big night, as Khalid El-Amin
added 25 points. The duo had 64% of its team's points.
Toby Bailey joined the Koln 99ers one day before the start of
the ULEB Cup, but still found a way to lead his team to a Week
1 victory. Bailey played all but 34 seconds and drilled 4 of 5
three-pointers on the way to 18 points and 9 rebounds – all ULEB
Cup career highs – as Koln beat Elan Chalon 94-84 at home.
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Who's not:
Todor Stoykov of Lukoil Academic, the alltime ULEB Cup scoring leader,
had his lowest-scoring evening in 47 career ULEB Cup games when
he posted just three points as Academic lost the competition's opening
game at ASK Riga 77-58.
Ilian Evitmov of Deutsche Bank Skyliners missed all 6 three-point
tries, committed 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 23 minutes for a minus-6
index as his team went down 85-63 at Pamesa Valencia in the Wednesday
game.
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Week 1 surprise:
Harold Mrazek is one of the great players in Swiss basketball history
and was one of the best shooters in Europe earlier this decade,
but had become somewhat of a forgotten man since returning to his
native country last year. His former club, Asvel Basket in France,
even brought him back last season t honor him in an NBA Europe Live
game. But Mrazek showed he still has it by returning from an lengthy
injury layoff to post 29 points – making 15-of-16 free throws –
to lead Benetton Fribourg to a 106-102 double-overtime victory over
Antwerp Giants. In what was quite a debut in Europe for a 20-year-old, Radoslav Rancik of CEZ Nymburk exploded for 28 points and 14 rebounds while shooting 11 for 15 from two-point territory in an overtime home loss to Red Star.
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Week 2 Games to watch:
One of the ULEB Cups newest teams will be 2-0 at the end of the
week in Group E after Austrian champion Swans Gmunden hosts Swiss
champ Benetton Fribourg. Neither team was considered a preseason
favorite to advance to the elimination rounds, but after respective
wins over Hapoel Galil Elyon and Antwerp Giants last week, they
both showed that they could be this season's Cinderella.
In Group H, two classic Euroleague teams will clash looking for
their first-ever ULEB Cup victory when Pau-Orthez hosts Benetton
Treviso. Both teams lost their ULEB Cup debuts last week and will
look to use their Euroleague experience to bounce back in what could
be a high-level game.
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Did you know?
There are only two reigning ULEB Cup champs in the competition this
season. Edu Hernandez-Sonseca, now with DKV Joventut Badalona, and
Nedzad Sinanovic (Koln 99ers) both played for Real Madrid last season.
The very first game in ULEB Cup history saw Krka Novo Mesto defeat
Darussafaka 76-89 in Istanbul on October 15, 2002. Six players from
that game also suited up this week for ULEB Cup teams across Europe.
Jamie Arnold (Hapoel Jerusalem) Marton Bader (Panellinios), Dragisa
Drobnjak (Turow) and Marko Maravic (BC Kyiv) represented Novo Mesto
then. Cevher Ozer (Besiktas) and Erdem Turetkin (Galatasaray) played
for Darussafaka.
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Key stat:
Gerrod Henderson of Anwil dished 11 assists in his team's home loss against Azovmash Mariupol. That total was more than 21 other teams in the competition in Week 1.
Unics Kazan dominated the glass with 53 rebounds – 25 on the offensive end – in a 90-87 victory over Zadar. No other team in Week 1 came within 10 rebounds in either category.
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Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Euroleague.net
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