By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
The return of Dusan Ivkovic in Piraeus and the visit of defending champions Maccabi Tel Aviv to Madrid are the highlights of the 12th Top16 gameday.
Euroleague game of the week: Olympiacos – Anadolu Efes (26/3, 20:45 CET)
It’s a historic game! Dusan Ivkovic returns to the gym he was worshiped and made history as an opponent. The same applies for Stratos Perperoglou. Olympiacos (8-3) needs the win in order to secure the 3rd place and Anadolu Efes (5-6) with a mediocre so far second round is in danger of missing the play offs.
We expect a close game and a tough battle, since both teams have a great motive. The big question still remains if Vasilis Spanoulis will play, or if he will be protected – which seems to most probable scenario – in order to be 100% ready to go next week in the game of Moscow against CSKA. Brent Petway is still out of action.
Honorable mention: Real Madrid – Maccabi Tel Aviv (27/3. 19:00 CET)
The Spaniards (9-2) are hosting Maccabi Tel Aviv (7-4) and both teams have many open scores to settle. Real has the home court advantage and can be considered the favorite. The fact that the Spaniards come from a bad game against Panathinaikos is probably not good news for the defending champions.
Those are two teams that has the uptempo game in their blood, so the key of the game will be the tempo, the shooting efficiency and one on one defense. If the team of coach Laso proves to be in a good night, then it will be hard to lose. If not, Maccabi has the know how for a possible upset.
The question: EA7 Milano – Laboral Kutxa (26/3 21:00 CET)
The team of coach Banchi (3-8) got into some kind of a rhythm lately, but it’s too late for in Top16. Laboral Kutxa (5-6) goes to Milan In order to prove that it’s a better team compared to the regular season. It’s also a game in which shooting efficiency and tempo will decide the outcome, as both teams like to use their offensive talent on isolation plays. EA7 needs only wins until the end of Top16 and also a lot of luck in order to make a miracle entrance to the play offs.
Under the microscope: Nizhny Novgorod – CSKA (27/3, 17.30 CET)
The two opponents know each other more than well. They have already played three times in Euroleague and also met in VTB League. Nizhny (3-8) despite its woes has the fighting spirit needed, like they demonstrated in the previews game against Laboral. CSKA (9-2) is fighting for the home court advantage in the playoffs and that’s more than a great motive.
On paper the team of coach Itoudis is the favorite, because they have more quality and more solutions. On the other side Nizhny likes to be underdog and since the start of the season that’s what this team does.
The rest of the game
Galatasaray – Panathinaikos (27/3. 19.00 CET)
Galatasaray (2-9) plays for its pride against Panathinaikos (6-5) which goes to Turkey in order to make one more step towards the play offs. Ataman has to face at this point many issues and absences and that makes the Greens the favorite. However, Panathinaikos has its own problems on the road, so we have a game after all.
Fenerbahce/ Ulker – Unicaja Malaga (26/3, 19:00 CET)
Fenerbahce/ Ulker has the top spot in the group (9-2), an amazing second round run and produces much better basketball. They host Unicaja (2-9) which is out of the play offs and we expect one way or an other to “lock” their 10th win on the group.
Zalgiris – Barcelona (25/3, 18.45 CET)
The first game of the 12th gameday is a strange one. The hosts (4-7) continue to do damage at home and Barcelona (8-3) after losing in Liga Endesa to Valencia more than need this win, in order to stay on the second spot of the standings. It’s a dangerous game for the Catalans, specially if the Lithuanians are in a good shooting day.
Alba Berlin – Crvena Zvezda (26/3, 20.15 CET)
Sasha Obradovic was hailed as a hero in Belgrade, but on Thursday Alba (5-6) has to beat Crvena Zvezda (3-8) in order to remain on the race for the play offs. The Serbs are two wins behind and they have only mathematical chances at this point. The Berliners have the extra motive.