And suddenly, the Spanish influence on the Euroleague has been reduced to just one team in the final four – exactly as many squads as Greece, Israel and Italy’ll have. Caja Laboral in the end just didn’t have enough answers for Maccabi Tel Aviv’s depth and star power, while Panathinaikos displayed the blueprint for taking out FC Barcelona in dominating the baseline and constantly playing the aggressor in driving time and again to the basket. (Of course, it helps if you have Dimitris Diamantidis in the lineup as well…)
And kudos to Montepaschi Siena for successfully shrugging off a horrible game one loss in what might have been a disaster for morale while reestablishing the hyperquick-moving, high-scoring offense that had faltered a bit in the Top 16 round.
Real Madrid hosts Power Electronics Valencia on “Wednesday or Thursday” to determine the last entry into the Euroleague Final Four, and – BiE’s repeating it here out of shock – España’s only team to go this far.
Highlights from last night’s games, as well as the officially-selected top five plays, follow.
(Euroleague.net) – Montepaschi Siena completed a historic series win over Olympiacos with an 88-76 victory at the Palaestra to win their Quarterfinal Playoffs series 3-1 and clinch a spot in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four. Siena, who last made the Final Four in 2008, will head to Barcelona after an impressive come-from-behind performance in the series, bouncing back from an embarrassing Game 1 loss in Piraeus to string three straight victories together en route to the Final Four.
Olympiacos will miss the Final Four after making it in each of the past two seasons. The Italian champs capitalized on a 29-18 first quarter to take control and held on the rest of the way thanks to its iron clad defense, which forced 17 turnovers from Olympiacos. The Reds never seemed to get in sync offensively and ended up shooting just 28% from beyond the arc. Malik Hairston paced the winners with 25 points and 7 rebounds and Ksistof Lavrinovic added 19, while Marko Jaric recorded 12 points and Shaun Stonerook tallied 10 points and 5 rebounds. Olympiacos could not overcome its poor start despite Ioannis Bourousis’ 16 points and 5 rebounds. Jamon Gordon also scored 16 and Milos Teodosic and Yotam Halperin added 10 each in defeat…
(Euroleague.net) – Maccabi Electra stormed back to the Final Four for the first time since 2008 by pounding Caja Laboral 99-77 in front of a packed house at Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv. Maccabi won the teams’ best-of-five Turkish Airlines Euroleague Quarterfinal Playoffs series 3-1, despite losing Game 1. The feat was even more impressive given that Maccabi was without star guard Doron Perkins, who was lost for the season with a knee injury in Game 3.
Perkins’ backcourt mate Jeremy Pargo took charge with 26 points and 7 assists to lead the winners, while Guy Pnini, who assumed Perkins’s starting spot, scored a career-high 22 minutes. David Blu added 17 points and Lior Eliyahu scored 12 for Maccabi. It was a brilliant first half that saw both teams playing at their best. Mirza Teletovic’s buzzer beating triple game Laboral a 51-52 lead at the break. However Pargo scored 10 in a 21-2 third-quarter run that saw Maccabi take total control. Laboral never made a serious run after that and Maccabi took the lead as high as 26 in the fourth quarter as the local fans cheered on. Mirza Teletovic paced Laboral with 17 points, Brad Oleson scored 13 – all in the first half – Marcelinho Huertas had 12 and 6 assists and Stanko Barac added 10 in defeat as Laboral ended its 2010-11 Euroleague run…
(Euroleague.net) – Panathinaikos advanced to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four on Thursday and in the process dethroned Regal FC Barcelona with a 78-67 victory in Game 4 of their Quarterfinal Playoffs series in front of a sea of 19,000 green fans at OAKA in Athens, Greece. Panathinaikos won the best-of-five series 3-1 and reached the Final Four for the 10th time in club history. Barcelona lost a chance to become the ninth team to win back-to-back titles in Euroleague history in its own city, home of the 2011 Final Four.
Nick Calathes led the winners with 12 points. Dimitris Diamantidis and Antonis Fotsis each added 11 while Ian Vougioukas and Romain Sato had 10 apiece for Panathinaikos. Fran Vazquez had 14 points to lead Barcelona while Alan Anderson added 13. Barcelona stayed in the game for almost 25 minutes, as a hook shot by Boni Ndong kept the guests within 40-38. Fotsis and Diamantidis shined late in the third quarter to give Panathinaikos a decisive 56-47 margin after 30 minutes. A fast break layup by Diamantidis soon made it a 13-point game, 63-50, an outstanding defense allowed the Green giant to seal a Final Four berth and write a brilliant new page in club history…
(Euroleague.net) – Power Electronics Valencia remained alive for its first-ever Euroleague Final Four by staving off elimination with an 81-72 victory at home over Real Madrid to force a decisive Game 5 in their Quarterfinal Playoffs. Omar Cook collected 16 points, 7 assists and 5 steals to help Valencia knot the series at 2-2, while Dusko Savanovic, Nando De Colo and Robertas Javtokas each scored 12 points and Rafa Martinez added 10. Eight-time champion Real Madrid failed to finish off the all-Spanish affair and book its first Final Four ticket since 1996. Madrid was paced by Ante Tomic with 20 points. Clay Tucker scored 14 points and Pablo Prigioni added 11 points for the Spanish giants. Game 5 will be played in the Spanish capital on Wednesday…
Finally, here’s that ultimate highlight clip, i.e. the Top 5 Plays of the Night, starring among others Nando de Colo, Robertas Javtokas, Romain Sato, Mirza Teletovic and a posterized D’Or Fischer.
