C.C. Marousi and Orleans advance to Euroleague regular season - Oct 12, 2009 (by Eurobasket News) ALBA Berlin - C.C. Marousi 75-70
C.C. Marousi made it! Despite this 75-70 defeat in Berlin, the Greek squad managed to reach Euroleague regular season thanks to 79-70 win in Game 1 in Athens. This is a historical success for Marousi, as they never played in Euroleague before. Julius Jenkins (187-G-81, agency: Pro One Sports, college: Georgia Southern) was totally the best player in ALBA draining 32 points (5 triples). Immanuel McElroy (193-G-80, college: Cincinnati) had 13 and Adam Chubb (207-F/C-81, agency: Pro One Sports, college: Pennsylvania) added 10 pts. In Marousi, Billy Keys (188-G-77, college: N.Mexico St.) netted 17 points. Marios Batis (188-G-80) had 15 and Dimitrios Mavroeidis (208-C-85) helped with two points less. Marousi was slightly better team in the first quarter taking 19-21 lead. That was after Dimitrios Mavroeidis lay-up. Adam Chubb shined at the beginning of the next period lifting ALBA to 7-0 run. The host jumped to 33-27 soon after that, but Marousi quickly came to 33-32. Julius Jenkings was unstoppable and he paced ALBA to 43-38 lead at the half time. The hosts touched plus 10 couple of times in third period and it seemed they are on the right way to eliminate the Greek squad. However, Marousi players did not give up. Marios Batis stepped up for the guests and together with his teammates closed third period with 2-12 run for 56-55. Midway through the last quarter the score was tied to 62-62, but ALBA jumped to 73-66 soon after that. Dojcin and McElroy shined at that time. Julius Jenkins lifted his team to 75-67 in the finish, but then hero of the game Marios Batis drained a crucial three-pointer for a big joy and historical success of Maroussi Athens!
Orleans suffered 80-82 home loss against Benetton in Game 2, but thanks to 82-73 victory in Italy the French squad booked a spot for Euroleague regular season. This is already great success for Orleans, who opened 2009/10 season in style and will have a chance to spend at least following four months in this prestigious competition. Gary Neal (193-G-84, college: Towson) was on fire for Benetton with 29 points. He made 5 of 8 attempts from behind the arc. Sandro Nicevic (210-C-76, agency: Beo Basket) scored 16 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, while Daniel Hackett (196-G-87, college: USC) and Jasmin Hukic (204-G/F-79, agency: Beo Basket) added 10 points each. On the other side, Orleans got 15 points from Austin Nichols (198-G/F-82, agency: ACMT, college: Humboldt St.), as well as from Adrien Moerman (204-F/C-88). Cedrick Banks (190-G-81, college: Ill.-Chicago) had 14 and Ryvon Covile (206-C-84, agency: ZAG Advocates, college: Detroit Mercy) contributed with 10 pts. Orleans goes to Regular Season Group B, alongside classic Euroleague teams like Olympiacos, Partizan, Unicaja and Efes Pilsen. Orleans entered to this game better taking 20-14 lead after 10 minutes. Later, the hosts reached plus 10, but Benetton immediately answered creating 2-9 run for 29-26. Still, Austin Nichols and his teammates were strong enough to jump on plus 9 again. Benetton was good in finish and thanks to triple by Jasmin Hukic succeeded to close the gap on 38-33, what still was something what Orleans wanted. Benetton made impressive 0-10 run in third period and later managed to end it with 51-59. The hosts were in trouble as they could not find a solution how to stop Gary Neal today. Benetton jumped to 58-71 in the last quarter and that was the result which could lead them to Regular Season, but Austin Nichols paced his team to 9-0 run soon after that. It was 69-73 and later 72-79 for Benetton with less than 2 minutes to go. The bet was huge, but Cedrick Banks was calm and he drained a crucial triple in the finish for the big joy of Orleans fans.
Zalgiris once again were left without head coach. Ramunas Butautas resigned from the head coach position after a string of poor results in LKL and Euroleague. The teams owner Vladimir Romanov also cut sport manager Algirdas Brazis . Ramunas Butautas started the season in Ukaine. He guided BC Donetsk but left the team in December. Ramunas Butautas was at the helm of the Lithuanian National Team at the 2009 EuroBasket in Poland [read more]
Zalgiris once again were left without head coach. Ramunas Butautas resigned from the head coach position after a string of poor results in LKL and Euroleague. The teams owner Vladimir Romanov also cut sport manager Algirdas Brazis . Ramunas Butautas started the season in Ukaine. He guided BC Donetsk but left the team in December. Ramunas Butautas was at the helm of the Lithuanian National Team at the 2009 EuroBasket in Poland. Zalgiris will be led by Darius Maskoliunas and Gwidonas Markevicius in their next game.
Batiste: Nothing is over; we still have more fighting to do - Feb 9, 2010 (by Kostas Papadopoulos)
Mike Batiste (203-F-77, college: Arizona St.) wrote interesting things for one more time at his blog at the Greek sports site gazzetta.gr. And what distinguishes mostly is his ambition and perspective that he and his team Panathinaikos have a lot more to do during the current season:
'Hi my friends!
Nothing is over. We still have more fighting to do. Against Maroussi, I honestly think we played good [read more]
Mike Batiste (203-F-77, college: Arizona St.) wrote interesting things for one more time at his blog at the Greek sports site gazzetta.gr. And what distinguishes mostly is his ambition and perspective that he and his team Panathinaikos have a lot more to do during the current season: 'Hi my friends! Nothing is over. We still have more fighting to do. Against Maroussi, I honestly think we played good. We had 10 points lead, but then we started to be impatient, we had some turnovers, some missed shots and Maroussi got back into the game; before William Keys (188-G-77, college: N.Mexico St.) executed two very big shots! From 9 meters, with hands on his face. What can you do? This result got us in a really deep hole at TOP16. But we have 4 more games to fight. And WE ARE GOING TO FIGHT till the end. Against Maroussi we didn't execute well from the perimeter. Something that happened also against Panellinios, but on Sunday we had the patience, along with the energy, to find the best solution. Of course you are going to shoot open shots; but this time once we got the lead all of us wanted to play smarter, to take care of the ball and the game. There are many games we had a lead and lost it. For example, against Maroussi we were ten points ahead, which is a big lead when it comes at TOP16. Even a six point lead, is a big lead. But at Panellinio's court, we played smart. Which means, we learnt a lot from last week's defeat: to be patient, not to rush things or want to do anything so fast. Our defence was great, so we wanted to play smart at offense. Usually when we get a lead we are like... 'hm its ok' and we take shots we don't need to take; we make things in a way we must not do. And all of these hurt us at the past. Mostly turnovers and quick shoots and by that way me miss the chance to recover from defence; cause there was no time to do our job right at the other end. Yesterday we didn't do that.a lot! I have to say we understood a lot last Friday, when our fans came to visit and show their support, their belief in us. To be honest, at first, when I saw them I didn't know it was for a good purpose cause I have seen many things in this life. So I was worried. I didn't know what to expect. In my mind... I was ready for everything. But when I understood what was going on, I appreciated the moment. Their support gave as an extra motivation to play hard on Sunday. Hopefully we'll take some of this motivation to Barcelona. You see at sports there are victories and defeats. The only sure thing is that we are going to fight at Barcelona and to win. It's the kind of games which can turn the season around; like last year against Malaga. We will see... Anyway, what our fans did, was to make me want to fight ever harder at next games. I don't know if we are gonna go down; but I am sure that good things happen if you are fighting with all your power for what you want. The trip to Barcelona is too long; but this time we are leaving one day earlier, because of the strike at the airport. So we'll have the time to get some rest, to get ready for this big game. We still have life and games to play! As for Barca's appeal, you've got to understand the rules. You cannot touch the ball after it goes to the rim and the time has been expired. The ball was touched and even if I agree with the ref''s decision (he said it wasn't going in, anyway), you have to follow the rules. And this rule is in the book. So; if you don't follow this one, then you might as well not follow the rest of them! I hope the judge rules what is in the book. To count the basket. And... you can understand why, right?'
Round 15: Marousi did it again!! - Feb 7, 2010 (by Chris Mammides)
Marousi beat Olympiakos S.F.P. Pireus and is now figuring in the second position of the Greek league. After last Thursday's thriumph over the triple crowners, team of Panathinaikos, Head Coach Giorgos Bartzokas check mate head Coach Panayiotis Yiannakis and beat him easily with 82-74 in a game which finished a couple of hours ago. Marousi proved once more that is a Euroleague great team and this seazon will not be an easy task for Panathinaikos and Olympiakos to win the trophy without a fight [read more]
Marousi beat Olympiakos S.F.P. Pireus and is now figuring in the second position of the Greek league. After last Thursday's thriumph over the triple crowners, team of Panathinaikos, Head Coach Giorgos Bartzokas check mate head Coach Panayiotis Yiannakis and beat him easily with 82-74 in a game which finished a couple of hours ago. Marousi proved once more that is a Euroleague great team and this seazon will not be an easy task for Panathinaikos and Olympiakos to win the trophy without a fight. Top scorer and top performer was Konstantinos Kaimakoglou (206-C/F-83) who scored 19 points and dashed down 8 rebounds, not to mentio the very good defense over the the NBAers of Olympiakos S.F.P. Pireus who couln't help the teams as both Linas Kleiza (203-F-85, college: Missouri) and Josh Childress (203-G/F-83, college: Stanford) were in a bad day. Very good performance from Gordon Lukas (191-G-84, college: Virginia Tech) 14 points, 9 assists and 5 stolen balls in his best game since he arrived in Greece, William Keys (188-G-77, college: N.Mexico St.) scored 12 points, Dimitrios Mavroidis (208-C-85) 11 points and 8 rebounds and Pat Kalathis (208-G/F-85, college: St.Joseph's) who added 11 points and 5 rebounds showing that he is in a very good shape the last few weeks.
Copyright (c) 1998-2010 Eurobasket Inc. Disclaimer
WARNING:
Do not copy, redistribute, publish or otherwise exploit information that you download from the site !
Do not encumber, license, modify, publish, sell, transfer or transmit, or in any way exploit, any of the
content of the site, nor will you attempt to do so.
