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When it comes to ULEB Cup results, Dynamo Moscow power forward Antonis Fotsis sets the bar high. In just his third ULEB Cup season, Fotsis has a chance to reach his third final, a feat unmatched by anyone else. Fotsis has been a key part of his team’s success in each of those previous runs, helping Real Madrid to the 2004 final and lifting the trophy with Dynamo in 2006. He is only 3 points away from scoring his 500th in the competition and ranks among the top 10 all-time in both rebounds and blocked shots. Only 27 years old, Fotsis boasts plenty of big-game experience to help Dynamo prepare for the Final Eight. In addition to his two ULEB Cup Finals, Fotsis won the Euroleague as a teenager with Panathinaikos in 2000. Fotsis has also been a European champion and runner-up at the world championships with the Greek national team. With all that success, it’s easy to see why Fotsis would be so calm and prepared for the Final Eight. In this ULEBcup.com interview, Fotsis talks about his season with Dynamo, what it’s like to live in Moscow and looks ahead to the Final Eight. "What I can be certain about is that the most capable team will win the trophy in Italy," a confident Fotsis told ULEBcup.com, adding "I am optimistic that we can return home with the ULEB Cup trophy."
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Unics Kazan
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Listed as 1.98 meters tall, he says that's an exaggerated by a couple centimeters. The difference hardly changes the fact that Unics Kazan swingman Tariq Kirksay - who is even playing backup point guard these days - has been the ULEB Cup's rebounds leader for the last two seasons.
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Galatasaray Cafe Crown
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Galatasaray Cafe Crown is in the midst of its most successful European season to date and it couldn't have done it without one of its unsung heroes, sixth man Cuneyt Erden. The 30-year-old point guard, participating in his third ULEB Cup season, has played his best basketball at the most important times.
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PGE Turow
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In his second season with PGE Turow Zgorzelec, point guard Andres Rodriguez is not surprised in the least that his team will be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with better known ones with much longer histories at the ULEB Cup Final Eight in Turin, Italy next month.
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Zadar
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In just four seasons, Zadar guard Corey Brewer has made his mark on the ULEB Cup in more than one way. Brewer has scored the second-most points among all players in the history of the competition, 828, as well as compiling the seventh-most assists and steals. More impressive is how far he has brought his teams - one of them to two semifinals, and another to the title game.
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Azovmash Mariupol
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On the verge of setting the record most career ULEB Cup appearances, Azovmash Mariupol forward Yahor Meshcharakou knows a thing or two about the ULEB Cup elimination rounds. This season, Meshcharakou helped Azovmash reached the Last 32 in its debut ULEB Cup season, marking his fifth consecutive year of post-season play.
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Spirou Charleroi
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It might take a worldwide search to find any basketball player anywhere who can say he is al competition's all-time leader in three different statistical categories, but as of last week, Andre Riddick of Spirou Charleroi certainly can.
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PGE Turow
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PGE Turow Zgorzelec is one of the most pleasant surprises in the ULEB Cup this season and one of the main reasons to its success is small forward Thomas Kelati, who comes off his best game this season. Kelati helped Turow to register a 70-77 road win against EiffelTowers Den Bosch with 26 points, most of them in the final 15 minutes of the game.
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Besiktas Cola Turka
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One of the best European big men of his generation, center Kaya Peker, has a lot to do with the early success of Besiktas. While averaging at least 5 fewer minutes per game than any other Besiktas starter, Peker leads his team in rebounds and is second in scoring.
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BC Kalev/Cramo
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Of the 11 undefeated teams through two weeks of the ULEB Cup regular season, perhaps the least expected among them is BC Kalev/Cramo, the first-ever Estonian representative in the competition.
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Lietuvos Rytas
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Aleksandar Trifunovic has taken the road less traveled to reach Charleroi and the ULEB Cup final as head coach of Lietuvos Rytas. Trifunovic only joined the club midseason and wasn't handed the reins as the head coach until shortly before the quarterfinals.
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Real Madrid
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Joan Plaza more than paid his dues before getting his chance to coach Real Madrid. Almost 30 years' worth of dues, in fact.
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Real Madrid
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He is a reigning world champion with the Spanish national team, and now, after leading Real Madrid to its second ULEB Cup Final appearance, power forward Felipe Reyes plans to lift his first continental trophy, too.
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Lietuvos Rytas
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One of the most decorated players in Lithuanian basketball, and one of the few with both Euroleague and European Championships trophies to his name, almost didn't play professionally at all.
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BC FMP
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BC FMP has exceeded even its own expectations by reaching the ULEB Cup semifinals this season and it couldn't have done so without the outstanding play of big man Zoran Erceg.
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Real Madrid
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One of the biggest clubs in European basketball history is ready to again challenge for one of the few pieces missing in its trophy case. Real Madrid has unveiled a new-look team this season for the tasks at hand, though it does have some big names back, too.
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Strasbourg
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SIG Strasbourg forward Chuck Eidson swooped up back-to-back MVP of the week awards in leading Strasbourg over Sluc Nancy in the ULEB Cup eighthfinals to become the first French team to reach the quarterfinals.
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Ventspils
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When a pair of classic ULEB Cup teams meet with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line, Ventspils center Dusan Jelic will try to guide the Latvian champions to a big victory over a former ULEB Cup champ.
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PAOK
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One of the great basketball towns in Europe - Thessaloniki, Greece - is living heady days again, with PAOK qualified early for the ULEB Cup elimination rounds from difficult Group D.
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Lietuvos Rytas
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In just his first season as a professional, Lietuvos Rytas forward Joao Paolo Batista has gone from being virtually unknown in European basketball to being one of the players to watch for the near future.
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SLUC Nancy
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Tariq Kirksay stands only 1.98 meters, but he plays a lot bigger than that. The Sluc Nancy small forward is a big reason that his team boasts a 4-2 record and is tied for first place in Group A in their first season in the ULEB Cup.
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Gran Canaria
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One of the most unique teams on the European basketball scene, Gran Canaria of Spain, is off to a fine start in the ULEB Cup thanks in part to a great shooting night on the road last week by the longest-lasting player on its roster, Jim Moran.
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Pivovarna Lasko
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Whether it reaches the ULEB Cup elimination rounds on Tuesday or not, Pivovarna Lasko can walk tall. A missed free throw in one overtime loss and a unclaimed rebound in another are all that separate Lasko from the best record in the regular season so far.
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