2008-09 All-Eurocup first, second teams announced
Euroleague Basketball is proud to announce the members of the very first
All-Eurocup teams for the 2008-09 season, which finishes next week, April 2
to 5 in Torino, Italy, when the Final Eight will crown the competition
champion! The All-Eurocup teams, named by in-house experts at Euroleague
Basketball, are part of an expanded awards structure this season that is
meant to enhance the recognition of the finest Eurocup players for their
efforts on the basketball court throughout the season. The first and second
teams are divided by position, each with one point guard, two shooting
guards/small forwards and two power forwards/centers. Not surprisingly, the
All-Eurocup first and second teams are dominated by players who will be at
the Final Eight. Nine of the 10 honored players will be in Torino trying to
lead their teams to the Eurocup title. Perhaps more of a surprise is the
choice at first-team point guard, Chuck Eidson of Lietuvos Rytas. That's
because Eidson, a natural forward, has been filling the point guard role for
Lietuvos Rytas since mid-season, and doing it so well that he led the
competition in assists. He is joined on the All-Eurocup first team by
shooting guards/small forwards Kelly McCarty of BC Khimki Moscow Region and
Bostjan Nachbar of Dynamo Moscow, and by power forward/centers Marko Banic
of iurbentia Bilbao Basket and Todor Gecevski of KK Zadar. The All-Eurocup
second team features Khalid El-Amin of BC Azovmash Mariupol at point guard,
Travis Hansen of Dynamo Moscow and Gary Neal of Benetton Basket Tamoil as
shooting guards/small forwards, and Sandro Nicevic of Benetton and Matt
Nielsen of Pamesa Valencia at the power forward/center positions. All but
El-Amin qualified with their teams for the Final Eight.
All-Eurocup First Team 09
Eidson
McCarty
Banic
Nachbar
Gecevski
All-Eurocup First Team:
Chuck Eidson (201-F-80) of Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius (LTU) Kelly
McCarty (201-F-75) of BC Khimky Moscow Region (RUS)
Marko Banic (204-F-84) of Iurbentia Bilbao Basket (ESP)
Bostjan Nachbar (207-G/F-80) of Dynamo Moscow (RUS)
Todor Gecevski (209-C-77) of KK Zadar (CRO)
All-Eurocup Second Team 09
El-Amin
Neal
Hansen
Nielsen
Nicevic
All-Eurocup Second Team:
Khalid El-Amin (178-G-79) of Turk Telekom Ankara (TUR) Gary
Neal (193-G-84) of Benetton Treviso (ITA)
Travis Hansen (198-G/F-78) of Dynamo Moscow (RUS) Matt
Nielsen (208-F/C-78) of Pamesa Valencia (ESP)
Sandro Nicevic (210-C-76) of Benetton Treviso (ITA)
Source Eurocup
2008-09 Eurocup Coach of the Year: Oktay Mahmuti, Benetton Basket Tamoil
Euroleague Basketball is proud to
announce that Benetton Basket Tamoil head coach
Oktay
Mahmudi (agency:
Beo
Basket ) has been chosen as the 2008-09 Eurocup Coach of the Year, a new
award introduced this season. In just his first full campaign in Treviso,
Mahmuti led Benetton to the Eurocup Final Eight by posting the competition's
third-best record in the first two rounds, 9-3. Benetton qualified to the Last
16 early as possible after winning its first four regular season games. Once in
the second round, Mahmuti's team again won four in a row to qualify first to the
Final Eight, where the team will fight for the title of Eurocup champion from
April 2 to 5 in Turin, Italy. Mahmuti's success in advancing to each step of the
competition so early was all the more impressive since much of his roster was
unacquainted with Europe's second competition before the season started.
Considered one of the great defensive minds in the sport, Mahmuti honored
Benetton's offensive tradition, too, by making his team the third
highest-scoring in the competition. For all those reasons and more, one of the
most accomplished young coaches in basketball,
Oktay
Mahmudi (agency:
Beo
Basket ), emerged as the winning choice to be Eurocup Coach of the Year!
The Eurocup Coach of the Year is part of an expanded awards structure meant to
enhance the recognition of the finest Eurocup players and coaches for their
efforts throughout the season. Earlier this week, Milan Macvan of Hemofarm Stada
was selected as the 2008-09 Eurocup Rising Star Trophy winner. Euroleague
Basketball and its in-house experts will also select players for the All-Eurocup
first and second teams and the Eurocup MVP. The Eurocup Final Eight MVP award
will go the best player at that event as voted by accredited journalists in
attendance during the title game.
Mahmuti, who turned 41 earlier in March, was born in Skopje, FYROM, but moved to
Turkey as a teenager. He started his coaching career at Eczacibasi's junior team
in Turkey before joining Efes Pilsen as the team's assistant coach in 1992.
There, Mahmuti learned from legendary Turkish coach Aydin Ors, who led Efes to
the 1993 Saporta Cup final, losing against Aris in Turin, Italy, and to the 1996
Korac Cup title, downing Stefanel Milano in a two-way final series, the first
continental trophy by a Turkish team. With such accomplishments, Ors and Mahmuti
helped Efes to become a reference point in Turkish basketball. Mahmuti then
worked for Ergin Ataman, helping the team reach the 2000 Euroleague Final Four,
another first for Turkish teams. Mahmuti was promoted to head coach that summer
and led Efes Pilsen to four consecutive Turkish League titles, from 2002 to
2005. He also helped Efes advance to the 2001 FIBA SuproLeague final four and
came within one win of reaching the Euroleague Final Four in 2004 and 2005.
Mahmuti parted ways with Efes in 2007 and joined Benetton. Despite winning its
regular season group, Benetton suffered an early exit in the 2007-08 ULEB Cup.
This season Mahmuti has already led Benetton to the Italian Cup semifinals.
After winning its Eurocup groups so far, in both the regular season and the Last
16 of the Eurocup and, with the best record in the competition, to the Eurocup
Final Eight His basketball philosophy includes strong defense that comes from
playing a physical and intense style that demands full concentration. This award
confirms Mahmuti as one of the best coaches in European basketball.
Courtesy of Eurocup
Lietuvos Rytas wins EuroCup 2009
Lietuvos Rytas-BC Khimki Moscow
80:74 Lietuvos Rytas triumphs in EuroCup Final and gets 2009-10 Euroleague
ticket. Lithuanian powerhouse overcame Russian BC Khimki Moscow 80:74 to lift up
the trophy of EuroCup.
Marijonas Petravicius
(208-F/C-79, college:
S.Carolina) was crowned
as MVP of Final Eight scoring 20 points for the winners.
Steponas Babrauskas
(196-G/F-84) ended up with 18 points, while
Chuck Eidson (201-F-80,
agency:
Court Side, college:
S.Carolina) nailed 14.
Kelly McCarty (201-F-75,
agency:
Avi Zilberman, college:
S.Mississippi) top-scored
for the Russian outfit with 20 points,
Carlos Delfino (199-G-82)
posted 16, whilst
Timofey Mozgov (215-C-86)
and
Vitaly Fridzon (195-G-85)
added 11 each.
Even thought Lithuanian squad opened the game with 5-0 run, Khimki replied with
6-0 later in the quarter taking 9:7 lead. The game was tied three times in the
end of the first period and was knotted at 22:22 at the end of the frame. BC
Khimki Moscow seemed to find their game in the second quarter as
Timofey Mozgov made a
layup for a 30:24. It was him again with an easy dunk that made it a
double-digit game, 40:30. The Russian team won the period 22-13 that gave them
44:35 at the halftime.
Khimki did not think of slow down as Lampe took advantage with a triple that
gave Khimki a new high lead 51:39. That was however a pleasant moment for Rytas
that responded with 8-0 run to reduce to 47:51. Khimki did not panic and bounced
back for 60:49 as McCarty buried another shot.
Steponas Babrauskas kept
their team within 62:53 at the end of the third period. Whatever happened to the
Russian team in the fourth quarter they could not find an answer. Rytas players
came back to the game and shocked the opponents with 13-0 run for 66:62
advantage. Petravicius however scored inside but a three-point play by Delfino
tied it at 71:71. Eidson and
Steponas Babrauskas
scored at the end to seal the winning outcome for Lithuanian team as well as
2009-10 Euroleague ticket.
Eurocup MVP: Chuck Eidson, Lietuvos Rytas
Euroleague Basketball is proud
to announce that
Chuck Eidson (201-F-80, agency:
Court Side,
college:
S.Carolina) of Lietuvos Rytas has been chosen as the 2008-09 Eurocup MVP. In
just his third season in European club competitions, Eidson simply dominated the
Eurocup and led L. Rytas to the Final Eight despite changing position in
midseason. Eidson was unstoppable in his normal role as small forward throughout
the regular season. When the Last 16 loomed and the team was missing its
previous starter at point guard, Eidson took up the rarely used point forward
position and elevated his game to a new level. As an out-of-position playmaker,
Eidson used his creativity and talent to finish the season as the Eurocup's
leader both in performance index ranking, 21.9 per game, and in assists, with
5.3 on average. Eidson also ranked among the competition's best 10 players in
several other statistic categories. He was second in steals (2 spg.), third in
fouls drawn (5.3 per game), seventh in scoring (15.8 ppg.), sixth in defensive
rebounds (4.8 rpg.) and tied for 10th in total rebounds (5.7 rpg.). Indeed, he
was the only player to rank among the best 10 this season in points, rebounds
and assists. Eidson was at his best when it mattered most, too, averaging 17
points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists in the Last 16. His leadership, team-first
mentality and ability to create shots for himself and teammates were some of the
main reasons why Lietuvos Rytas qualified for the Final Eight. Take altogether,
his second-to-none overall performance throughout the season cemented
Chuck Eidson's status as an elite player worthy of being named the 2008-09
Eurocup MVP!
Euroleague Basketball is proud to announce that
Chuck Eidson of Lietuvos Rytas has been chosen as the 2008-09 Eurocup MVP.
In just his third season in European club competitions, Eidson simply dominated
the Eurocup and led L. Rytas to the Final Eight despite changing position in
midseason. Eidson was unstoppable in his normal role as small forward throughout
the regular season. When the Last 16 loomed and the team was missing its
previous starter at point guard, Eidson took up the rarely used point forward
position and elevated his game to a new level. As an out-of-position playmaker,
Eidson used his creativity and talent to finish the season as the Eurocup's
leader both in performance index ranking, 21.9 per game, and in assists, with
5.3 on average. Eidson also ranked among the competition's best 10 players in
several other statistic categories. He was second in steals (2 spg.), third in
fouls drawn (5.3 per game), seventh in scoring (15.8 ppg.), sixth in defensive
rebounds (4.8 rpg.) and tied for 10th in total rebounds (5.7 rpg.). Indeed, he
was the only player to rank among the best 10 this season in points, rebounds
and assists. Eidson was at his best when it mattered most, too, averaging 17
points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists in the Last 16. His leadership, team-first
mentality and ability to create shots for himself and teammates were some of the
main reasons why Lietuvos Rytas qualified for the Final Eight. Take altogether,
his second-to-none overall performance throughout the season cemented
Chuck Eidson's status as an elite player worthy of being named the 2008-09
Eurocup MVP !
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