By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The last week of action in the 7DAYS EuroCup regular season will produce a lot of drama as four tickets are left open in three Groups.
Only in Group D, the four Top 16 spots are already occupied as Unics Kazan has locked the top spot, Unicaja will be second in the standings, Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt is third and Rytas Vilnius fourth.
Here are the last round scenarios as explained by EuroCup’s official portal.
Group A
Group A begins with already-qualified MoraBanc Andorra (5-4) hoping to hold onto second place as it hosts AS Monaco (7-2), which already clinched first, on Tuesday. A home win will accomplish that, but should Andorra lose, it could fall as low as fourth place depending on two Wednesday games. The biggest of those pits Germani Brescia Leonessa (3-6) against visiting ratiopharm Ulm (4-5) in a head-to-head duel for this group’s last Top 16 berth. Ulm can win, lose in overtime, or lose by a point in regulation and still qualify, but a win of two points or more by the hosts in regulation time sends Brescia to the Top 16 instead. The game between eliminated Galatasaray Istanbul and visiting Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade, which has its Top 16 qualification already, will condition the final places. Zvezda could fall to fourth with a blowout loss combined with a blowout win by Ulm, but could rise to second with a victory if Andorra has already lost on Tuesday.
Group B
Group B has one open Top 16 spot that could be decided on Tuesday or Wednesday. Already-qualified Cedevita Zagreb (5-4) hosts Tofas Bursa (3-6) on Tuesday with the visitors needing a win to avoid elimination – at least for one night. If Tofas succeeds, then Limoges CSP (3-6) will know that it must defeat last-place visitor Arka Gdynia (1-8) in order to claim the remaining Top 16 spot. Should Tofas win and Limoges lose, the spot would belong to Tofas. First place in this group will go to the winner of Wednesday’s other game, ALBA Berlin (7-2) vs. Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar (8-1). Cedevita finishes third win or lose to Tofas.
Group C
Group C is likely to feature two nights of drama as three teams – Zenit St. Petersburg (4-5), Turk Telekom Ankara (4-5) and Partizan NIS Belgrade (3-6) – contend for a pair of remaining Top 16 spots. Zenit can claim one of them with a victory when it hosts already-qualified LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne (6-3) on Tuesday. Turk Telekom can claim the other with a win when it visits Partizan on Wednesday. But if one or neither of those things happens, it gets complicated, because if Zenit beats ASVEL and Dolomiti Energia Trento (3-6) defeats group winner Valencia Basket (7-2) on Tuesday, Partizan will be eliminated before it even tips off on Wednesday. In that case, Zenit will finish third and Turk Telekom fourth. However, if either Zenit or Trento lose, Partizan will be alive and can steal one of the Top 16 spots at the last minute. Partizan’s chances will increase if it can avoid overtime and win by 2 points or more in regulation time.