By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The season started in VTB league with Astana of Kazakhstan hosting Lietuvos Rytas and the – almost – unthinkable happened. Lietuvos, a Euroleague team, lost 72-71 to Astana with American guard Rawle Marshall (photo) scoring 17 points and grabbing 9 rebounds and Greek center Andreas Glyniadakis, who last season was a member of Euroleague champion Olympiacos, adding 11 points. The man of the match was Jerry Johnson who made two free throws and sealed the win of Astana.
In Adriatic league, Union Olimpija started the 2nd gameday with an easy win against Split (82-73) with 22 years old guard Jaka Blazic scoring 22 points, but the story of the day is the second defeat in two games of Crvena Zvezda. Veteran guard Igor Rakocevic scored 23 points for the ambitious Belgrade club which lost to Zadar (98-81) in Croatia. Goran Vrbanc had 22 points for the winners.
In Turkey for the domestic cup, Fenerbahce/ Ulker had an easy mission against Erdemir (91-59) with guard Omer Onan scoring 21 points and Galatasaray beat Olin Erdine (62-48) with former Barcelona center Boni Ndong leading the charge with 15 points.