Round 14, Feb 12, 2003
Panathinaikos 65 - Olimpija 63
Panathinaikos (15+23+12+15): Kalaitzis 14, Alvertis 12, Lakovic 11, Kutluay 9, Buford 9, Fotsis 4, Middleton 4, Tsartsaris 2
Olimpija (19+11+17+16): Boisa 9, Dujmovic 9, Jurak 8, Ilievski 8, Stelmahers 7, Hukic 5, Modric 4, Bazdaric 4, Ozbolt 4, Varda 3, Zagorac 2
Tau Vitoria 79 - Unicaja Malaga 63
Tau (18+25+18+18): Scola 26, Nocioni 12, Vidal 11, Sims 8, Palladino 8, Bennett 8 + 12 as, Foirest 6 
Unicaja (18+14+14+17): Esteller 13, Okulaja 10 + 10 rbs, Sonko 9, Vazquez 7, Wojcik 7, Bullock 6, Kornegay 5, Cabezas 4, Risacher 2
Montepaschi 112 - Buducnost 49
Montepaschi (30+31+33+18): Turkcan 24 + 13 rbs, Ford 24 - 10/10 FG, Chiacig 19, Vuckcevic 13, Stefanov 10 + 6 as, Mitchell 9, Zukauskas 8, Bowdler 4, Maggioli 1
Buducnost (16+8+9+16): Milojevic 16, Cabarkapa 8, Brown 8, Milutin 7, Smiljanic 5, Bakic 4, Bulajic 1
Maccabi Tel Aviv 76 - Zalgiris Kaunas 71
Maccabi (22+19+17+18): Lewis 25, Vujcic 18, Sharp 13, Goree 4 + 9 rbs + 2 bl, Sheffer 4 + 4 as, Shelef 3, Burstein 3, Saffar 2, Besok 2, Ljubin 2
Zalgiris (12+24+16+19): Cota 21 + 8 rbs + 7 as, Beard 14, Stombergas 13, David 8, Einikis 8, Timinskas 5, Salenga 2

  Round 13, Feb 5, 2003
Zalgiris Kaunas 88 - Tau Vitoria 67
Zalgiris (26+17+21+24): Timinskas 18 + 10 rbs, Beard 17 + 13 rbs, Salenga 14 - 4/6 3FG, Cota 12 + 8 as, David 9, Stombergas 8, Einikis 7, Gustas 3
Tau (19+16+18+14): Scola 16 + 6 to, Nocioni 12, Long 10, Palladino 9, Vidal 7, Foirest 6, Calderon 4, Bennett3 - 1/6 FG
Buducnost 80 - Maccabi Tel Aviv 89
Buducnost (24+24+19+13): Bakic 16, Cabarkapa 16 + 8 rbs, Pajovic 13, Brown 11, Bulajic 7, Pavlovic 6, Milojevic 4, Smiljanic 3, Vranes 2, Koljevic 2
Maccabi (22+20+23+24): Lewis 18, Vujcic 17 + 7 rbs, Udrih 12, Besok 11, Goree 11, Sharp 8, Bluthenthal 7, Burstein 3, Shelef 2
Olimpija 94 - Montepaschi Siena 92
Olimpija (20+34+15+25): Hukic 19 - 4/7 3FG + 8 rbs, Stelmahers 16, Jurak 14, Ilievski 12, Dujmovic 11, Modric 9, Poljak 8, Bazdaric 3, Varda 2
Siena (25+18+19+30): Ford 22, Stefanov 14, Turkcan 13, Chiacig 13, Vuckcevic 9, Bowdler 8, Marcaccini 8, Zukauskas 3, Mitchell 2
 

  Round 12, Jan.29, 2003
Maccabi Tel Aviv 69 - Olimpija Ljubljana 60
After 3 home losses this season Maccabi managed to put a few smiles on the faces of it's fans. But not for a long time. Both teams played a very bad game, but Maccabi, who led throughout most of the game by small margins, used a huge 3 pointer by Sharp and some good moves by Goree and Shelef to get back on the winning track, and capture the 5th spot in Group B, after Siena's lost last night. Olimpija lost the 1st spot in the group to Panathinaikos and dropped down to the 3rd.
Maccabi (25+8+10+26): Vujcic 18 + 12 rbs + 4 as, Lewis 11, Saffar 10, Besok 8, Shelef 7, Burstein 4, Lubin 4, Sharp 3, Udrih 2, Goree 2
Olimpija (21+11+9+19): Jurak 13, Boisa 12, Stelmahers 8, Ilievski 8, Poljak 6, Dujmovic 5, Bazdaric 5, Modric 2 + 8 rbs, Varda 1
Zalgiris Kaunas 101 - Buducnost 85
In the first game between the teams Buducnost won after overtime. Tonight Zalgiris got their revenge, but more important stayed close to Siena and Maccabi. Zalgiris is only one game behind them, and all eyes are fixed on the game in Tel Aviv that could decide Zalgiris' future.
Zalgiris (30+23+27+21): Beard 20 - 9/11 FG + 15 rbs, Cota 18 + 8 as, Einikis 17, Stombergas 17, Timinskas 16, Salenga 8, Ginevicius 5
Buducnost (28+21+17+19): Milojevic 20 + 8 rbs, Bakic 14, Brown 13, Koljevic 13, Pavlovic 11, Cabarkapa 11 + 8 rbs, Pajovic 3
Group B
Panathinaikos 86 - Tau Vitoria 83
Like Efes and Idea, Pao as well won the first meeting with Tau on the road by one point, and came to complete the task. For Tau it was the first and only home defeat this season in the Euroleague, and they came Athens with revenge in their eyes, but still with a very short bench.
Pao went to Buford in the first minutes and he scored all the first 8 points of the Greens, but Tau replied with a 2-11 run and took a 10-17 lead after 5 minutes. McDonald made sure Pao will stay close to the visitors and after 10 minutes the scoreboard displayed a 26-26 tie. Four minutes into the 2nd quarter Tau was up by 8, 30-38, but once again McDonald, this time on his own scoring 7 points in a row, tied the gamed. Tau still managed to finish the 1st half with a 45-48 lead.
Foirest scored 10 of Tau's first 12 points in the 3rd, and all of a sudden Tau was up by 9, 51-60, but it takes more than that to scare the Euroleague Champion. Pao managed to tie the game with a 11-2 run till the end of the 3rd. That play broke Tau's spirit and in the last quarter it was all Pao. Fotsis nailed 2 shots from downtown to give Obradovic a 79-71 lead with 3 minutes on the clock, but Tau show they still have a big heart, with Allen and Nocioni cutting the lead down to 2, 81-79, but Pao didn't lose it's head. Allen had a chance to win tie the score with a 3 point shot in the last play, but the ball went out and Pao got their 9th Euroleague win.
Pao (26+19+17+24): Fotsis 17, McDonald 14 + 5 rbs, Middleton 12 + 6 rbs, Buford 10, Alvertis 8, Lakovic 8, Kalaitzis 6, Papadopoulos 3
Tau (26+22+14+21): Nocioni 22 + 10 rbs, Calderon 18, Allen 12, Sims 7, Scola 5
Siena Montepaschi 73 - Unicaja Malaga 79
Unicaja arrived to Italy carrying a 13 point difference from the first game between the teams, but also with Gurovic. It's first target was not to allow Siena to cross the 13 point line, but they ended up with another win, and the ticket to the Top 16.
Just like in the last Euroleague game, Unicaja went to Risacher in the first minutes, and the French forward, who was suppose to sign in Siena at the beginning of the season, scored 8 points in the first 10 minutes, to lead the visitors to a 15-18 lead at the end of the 1st Q. Stefanov showed his best qualities in the first minutes of the 2nd, but Siena kept missing, again and again, from behind the arc, until Zukauskas and Stefanov broke the ice and set the score on 39-36 at half time.
Siena doubled the margin to 50-44 but then Turkcan was hit in the nose and had to leave the court for medical treatment. Unicaja took advantage of that, and kept the locals on no more than 5 points until the end of the Q while scoring 19 on the way to a 55-63 lead. Unicaja added 5 more points and the lead was already on 13, the one Unicaja feared of, but on the other side of the road. Siena woke up and made a 14-4 run with Ford leading the way, but Risacher, last year in Olympiacos with Ford, nailed a 3 and made sure Siena's dreams of a win will come to an end.
Siena (15+24+16+18): Stefanov 21 + 6 as, Ford 19, Turkcan 15 + 10 rbs, Chiacig 7 + 9 rbs, Zukauskas 7, Bowdler 4
Unicaja (18+18+27+16): Bullock 24, Okulaja 15 + 9 rbs, Rodriguez 15, Risacher 13, Kornegay 4, Weis 3, Sonko 3, Wojcik 2

  Round 11, Jan.15, 2003
Unicaja Malaga 76 - Maccabi Tel Aviv 68
Both teams arrived to the game hurt from the last week. Unicaja lost to Zalgiris by 20 points and Maccabi lost a home game for the 3rd time this season.
Maccabi started with good work on defense, and took an 11-17 lead, but Unicaja had Risacher, who forgot what it feels like to miss a shot. The French forward scored the last 15 points of Unicaja in the 1st quarter, and after 10 minutes Maccabi was leading 19-23. The Israeli champion earned good minutes by Goree and Udrih but Risacher's show was still on display. Maccabi tried every trick in the sleeve, but Risacher added 2 more 3 pointers and after 13 minutes he had 21 points with 5/5 from behind the arc. Maccabi enjoyed a very good day from 3 as well, and survived in the game. By the end of the first half Unicaja was leading by 1, 39-38.
Maccabi survived in the game for 5 more minutes, until Gurovic felt like he's Risacher for a few minutes, and hit 2 three pointers and added one from the line. Unicaja opened a 5 point lead, 50-45, but Maccabi was still in the game. Or so it seemed. Bullock and Gurovic went to catch some air on the bench and that's when the Spanish made their run. Vujcic missed twice in a row, and each miss were answered by a 3 pointer of Unicaja. By the end of the 3rd Unicaja took a 61-52 lead and that was the end of the story for Maccabi. Blatt's team couldn't make a comeback in the last quarter. Several turnovers by Unicaja weren't used by Maccabi to close the gap and then came another 3 by Gurovic and a big dunk by Korengay that completed the task for Unicaja.
Unicaja (19+20+22+15): Risacher 29, Gurovic 15, Okulaja 14, Cabezas 8, Bullock 7, Wojcik 6, Kornegay 4
Maccabi (23+15+14+16): Vujcic 17, Lewis 14, Udrih 11, Saffar 9, Goree 9, Burstein 6, Shelef 2
Olimpija Ljubljana 76 - Zalgiris Kaunas 55
Olimpija joins Tau and Pao in the Top 16 after an easy win over Zalgiris. The visitors, surfing on the wave of their big win over Unicaja last week, put a fight for 2 quarters, but couldn't do more than that.
Olimpija made a 0-13 run in the first quarter and took a 19-6 lead, but Zalgiris replied with a 7-0 run and finished the 1st quarter trailing 13-19. Olimpija were unable to score more than 2 points for 8.5 minutes, as Zalgiris completed a 2-22 run, and found itself leading 21-28. Mahoric called a time out and until half time Olimpija took over again, 32-30.
Now it was Olimpija's turn to complete a big run. An 11-0 run in the first minutes of the 3rd set the score on 43-30 and a total of a 22-2 run. This time in favor of Olimpija. By the end of the 3rd Zalgiris was down by 17 points, 54-37, and the last quarter was pure garbage time.
Olimpija (19+13+22+22): Bazdaric 23, Jurak 15 + 8 rbs, Dujmovic 10, Stelmahers 7, Ozbolt 7, Ilievski 3, Boisa 3, Modric 2, Udrih 2, Hukic 2, Zagorac 2
Zalgiris (13+17+7+18): Stombergas 17, David 16 + 10 rbs, Einikis 5, Ginevicius 5, Cota 4, Timinskas 2, Salenga 2
Tau Vitoria 103 - Buducnost 86
Tau had some troubles lately, due to the endless list of injured players, and today had to play without Palladino and Griffith. In order to have 6 reasonable players, Tau registered Lewis Sims on Griffith's foreigner spot. Andres Nocioni, in another brilliant performance, and Lewis, led Tau to an easy win over Buducnost, and secured Tau's spot in the Top 16.
Tau was one small step ahead of the visitors during the first quarter, and after 10 minutes, the score was 32-27. Buducnost managed to take a small lead early in the 2nd, but Tau replied with a 7-0 run, and finished the 1st half leading 55-47.
The big escape came in the 3rd quarter. Sims and Nocioni kept their domination under the boards, and quickly took a 61-49 lead. Buducnost was unable to connect two goals, and before the end of the 3rd, Tau already took a 29 point lead, 86-57. The last quarter was only for the records, and Tau's main target was not to get injured in the garbage time.
Tau (32+23+31+17): Nocioni 32, Foirest 21, Sims 21, Calderon 17, Allen 7, Phillips 5
Buducnost (27+20+10+29): Pavlovic 21, Milojevic 21, Brown 16, Cabarkapa 10, Jordan 9, Koljevic 6, Smiljanic 2, Bakic 1
Panathinaikos 64 - Montepaschi Siena 56
For 3 quarters Siena was controlling the game, although Turkcan and Vukcevic had to miss the game. The visitors were very close to complete a double victory over the Euroleague champion, but once again Pao gave a huge 4th quarter, that turned the game upside-down, and got their 8th Euroleague win.
Pao had a very hard time scoring in the first quarter, and Siena took an 8-18 lead after 10 minutes. Pao cut the margin down to 3, but Stefanov and Marcaccini pushed the gap back to 8. Kutluay scored twice from the line before the half time buzzer, and after 20 minutes Siena was up by 6, 22-28.
Siena kept a nice gap from Pao, and 2 minutes before the end of the 3rd  Seina was still leading 31-40, while Pao was still trying to find the way to connect their first 3 point basket. Fotsis got the honor to be the first to do that, and started an 8-2 run. By the end of the 3rd Siena's lead was cut down to 3, 39-42. After scoring only 39 points in 3 quarters Pao woke up. Kutluay and Alvertis sank 2 three pointers in a row each in the 4th and left Siena behind. Pao took a 53-47 lead, and Alvertis sank Pao's 5th three pointers in the last quarter to seal the deal.
Panathinaikos (8+14+17+25): Alvertis 16, Fotsis 14 + 15 rbs, Kutluay 12, Middleton 6, Tsartsaris 4, McDonald 4 + 5 rbs, Papadopoulos 4, Lakovic 2, Buford 2
Siena (18+10+14+14): Ford 21, Zukauskas 12, Bowdler 6, Stefanov 6, Chiacig 5

  Round 10, Jan.8, 2003
Maccabi Tel Aviv 79 - Panathinaikos Athens 86
Arriel McDonald came back to Yad-Eliyahoo, and received a very emotional standing ovation from 10,000 yellow fans that came to see Maccabi, for a change, win in Tel Aviv, but will have to wait till the next home game of Maccabi.
Obradovic opened with McDonald and Fotsis on the bench but Pao had Alvertis and Lakovic, who led the Greens to a 20-23 lead after 10 minutes. The 2nd quarter is usually the weakest one of Pao, but tonight that was when the visitors made their run. Fotsis and McDonald were already in the game, and together with Lakovic, who made all his 4 shots from 3 in the 1st half, took off to a double-digit lead. Maccabi seemed confused and lost and Fotsis nailed his 2nd 3 pointer right with the buzzer, and gave Pao a 34-46 lead at half time, as the local fans booed his team for their poor performance.
Maccabi had to make some kind of a change but Blatt kept depending on Lewis, who was able to make shots and not a change, and Goree who was everywhere tonight but in the game. Obradovic sent Kutluay and Buford to the court for the first time in the game and the Turk guard led Pao to a 17 point lead after 30 minutes, 54-71.
Everyone in the arena was ready for 10 more minutes of frustration, but right when everything seemed lost Derrick Sharp stepped in and led a huge comeback by Maccabi. It started with a 4 points play (3 pointer + foul) by Sharp, and went on with a big steal by...the same Sharp. Maccabi slowly closed the gap, Bluthenthal, who joined the game only in the 4th quarter, added some aggressiveness on rebound for the locals, and soon Pao's lead could be displayed in one digit. The visitors didn't allow Maccabi easy points, and sent them to the line time after time, but Maccabi didn't miss and Vujcic made it a 5 point game with 2:13 minutes to play. Burstein did an amazing job preventing the ball from McDonald in those minutes, but after another miss by Pao, McDonald did the play of the game with a huge offensive rebound over Burstein, that allowed Pao to kill some more seconds off the clock, and add 2 more points. Maccabi bombed from behind the arc, but missed, and Fotsis, with a huge block on Shelef, made sure Pao will get the win they deserved.
Maccabi (20+14+20+25): Lewis 17, Burstein 13, Sharp 12, Vujcic 12 - 10/10 FT + 7 rbs, Goree 6, Bluthenthal 6, Saffar 5, Shelef 5, Udrih 3
Pao (23+23+25+15): Lakovic 19 - 5/5 3FG, Middleton 6/6 FG, Kutluay 14, Fotsis 13 - 3/3 3FG, Alvertis 9, McDonald 9, Buford 4
Buducnost 81 - Union Olimpija 100
Olimpija (17+31+20+13): Brown 18 + 10 rbs, Milojevic 14, Smiljanic 14, Koljevic 13, Pavlovic 11, Cabarkapa 5, Bakic 3, Walsh 3
Buducnost (27+27+24+22): Jurak 18 + 8 rbs, Boisa 18, Poljak 14, Ilievski 11, Bzadaric 11, Dujmovic 8, Hukic 6, Modric 4, Zagorac 3
Zalgiris 87 - Unicaja 67
Zalgiris had a good start, and pretty fast took a 9-3 lead. This margin was kept during most of the 1st quarter and the locals were up by 8 after 10 minutes, 22-14. The 2nd quarter was ruled by Zalgiris that took an early 10 point lead, 27-17. Unicaja responded with a 0-7 run, but Zalgiris pushed back and took a 35-24 lead. By half time the gap increased to 12, 42-30.
Zalgiris continued to dominate in the 3rd, and another 7-0 run made it 49-34 for the Lithuanians. Okulaja tried to lead Unicaja back in the game, but then came an 11-1 run that made sure the win would stay in Kaunas tonight. With this win, Zalgiris completes a double-win over Unicaja, but still need 2 more wins than Unicaja to pass them.
Zalgiris (22+20+25+20): Einikis 20, David 17 + 10 rbs, Salenga 17, Cota 10 + 10 as, Ginevicius 9, Timinskas 8, Stombergas 6
Unicaja (14+16+16+21): Risacher 14, Bullock 13, Wojcik 9, Gurovic 7, Okulaja 5 + 9 rbs, Rodriguez 5, Cabezas 4, Esteller 3, Kornegay 3, Vazquez 2, Weis 2
Montepaschi Siena 77 - Tau Vitoria 62
After their perfect home record in the Euroleague was broken in the last game day, Siena had to re-enforce their home court dominance. Another loss could also hurt Siena in the race to the Top 16. Lucky for them they met an injured Tau that had only 7 players to present, and even them not 100% healthy.
The teams were close to each other in the first quarter. Nocioni on Tau's side, and Ford for the locals, did the job. Tau finished the 1st quarter with a 15-19 lead, but soon will run out of air and players. Siena made a 17-6 run in the first minutes of the 2nd, and with Turkcan's dominance under the boards (11 Rebounds already in the 1st half) kept the lead till half time, 35-28.
Tau's short bench started to become a problem in the 3rd. Turkcan nailed a 3 pointer, and Zukauskas followed him, as Siena's lead became a double-digit one. Griffith committed his 4th foul, but couldn't leave the court, as Tau didn't have any player to substitute him. Nocioni got frustrated, and was called for a technical after kicking the ball, and Siena was leading 53-36. Allen tried leading Tau back in the game, and the locals was up by 12, 55-43, after 30 minutes. Griffith fouled out 30 seconds in the 4th, and with him outside of the way Siena had a much easier job to keep the margin, that wasn't threaten by Tau.
Siena (15+20+20+22): Ford 19, Turkcan 18 + 21 rbs, Stefanov 15, Vuckcevic 10, Chiacig 7 + 8 rbs, Zukauskas 6, Bowdler 2
Tau (19+9+15+19): Phillips 14, Nocioni 14 + 9 rbs, Calderon 8, Griffith 8, Allen 7 + 5 as + 5 st, Foirest 6, Palladino 5

  Round 9, Dec.18, 2003
Siena 63 - Maccabi Tel Aviv 73
Maccabi landed in Siena after a horrible week. 3 losses in 4 days, all of them in the last seconds, is too much for a team like Maccabi, and coach Blatt's position wasn't the most stable thing during the last weekend. Another lose, 3rd in a row in the Euroleague, could cost Maccabi the 5th place in Group B. But the Israeli champion showed character and became the first Euroleague team ever to win in Siena.
The first half was a big mess for both teams. Quincy Lewis missed one shot after another for Maccabi, while on the other hand Chiacig on the inside and Vukcevic on the outside followed him. Stefanov with a few steals and easy points in fastbreaks gave Siena a 17-14 lead after 10 minutes, but Maccabi was still in the game. Not for long. David Bluthenthal hit a 3 point shot for Maccabi, but soon Ford, who joined the game only in the 2nd quarter, and 2 bombs of Gentile from 3, set Siena with a 32-23 lead after 16 minutes. Blatt went deep to his bench and sent Ljubin and young Halperin on the court, but all they managed to do was more turnovers, and Siena was dominating. Besok scored a bucket with 2 seconds to go and sealed the first half with Siena up by 7, 36-29.
So far, in 8 Euroleague games, whenever Siena won the first half, they also won the game. But this time Maccabi had something else in mind. Blatt found the only player he didn't send on court yet, and opened the 3rd quarter with Yoav Saffar, who didn't play in the Euroleague for 2 months due to an injury. Saffar, together with Vujcic, seemed like the perfect solution on both ends of the court. Siena missed again and again, Saffar hit long shots, and Vujcic under the boards, but Maccabi wasn't able to take the lead, until a 0-6 run by visitors in the last minutes of the quarter put them on top, 46-50.
Blatt gambled on the often misses by Siena from 3, and moved to zone defense, but the big change came on offense. Two big hits from 3 by Vujcic and Sharp in 30 seconds, gave Maccabi a 51-58 lead. Stefanov and Goree exchanged points, but then came Tal Burstein with another 3 that set the gap on 10, less than 5 minutes to go. Then it was Maccabi's big test. After losing a big lead 3 times in a row, and losing 3 games in the last minutes in a row, Maccabi had to show character. Three turnovers and 5 straight points by Stefanov gave the sense Maccabi is about to do it again, but a time out by Blatt, and very important points by Vujcic sealed the win. Sharp hit 4 times from the line in the last minute, and Maccabi is back on the winning track.
Siena (17+19+10+17): Stefanov 18 - 7/7 2FG & 1/8 3FG, Vuckcevic 12 - 0/5 3FG, Ford 10 - 0/3 3FG, Turkcan 9 + 18 rbs, Gentile 6, Zukauskas 5, Chiacig 3
Maccabi (14+15+21+23): Vujcic 19 + 9 rbs, Saffar 9, Burstein 9, Goree 8 + 10 rbs, Besok 8, Sharp 7, Lewis 4 - 2/9 FG, Udrih 4, Bluethenthal 3, Shelef 2
Tau Vitoria 86 - Olimpija 79
The two top teams of Group B met in Vitoria tonight, but Tau showed up without injured Scola, Mottola who left the team after last week game in Tel Aviv and Vidal who's expected back on the court only in 6 weeks from now. It's hard to believe Tau managed to win this one, but if anyone had any doubts, Tau got something more than just a collection of players. Seems like there's a big heart in Vitoria, and its origins come from Argentina. Nocioni with 19 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks did everything on court, and Palladino played the last minutes injured as a Power Forward.
Olimpija had a glamour start, and before Tau could spell Hukic the visitors were up 6-16. Nocioni was the first local to wake up, but Olimpija hit from behind the arc again and again, and by the end of the 1st Tau was 12 points behind, 15-27. Griffith had a very good game, for a change, and with one dunk after another he led a 16-3 run by Tau, on the way to a 33-32 lead. Griffith asked Ivanovic to substitute him to get a few minutes of rest, but his coach didn't follow his will, as he had not so many options on the bench. Two minutes later came the asked substitution, and Olimpija pushed the ball down the paint. Poljak scored the last shot of the first half, and Olimpija was up by 1, 40-41.
Griffith was back on court in the 3rd, and Tau quickly took off to a 53-45 lead. Right when it seemed Tau is about to take a double digits lead Palladino hurt his leg and had to leave the court, as if Ivanovic didn't have enough troubles already. Boisa sealed a 2-13 run by Olimpija, but Nocioni made sure the lead will stay in local hands by the end of the 3rd, 60-55. Griffith's 5th foul forced Ivanovic to send Bill Phillips on the court, and Tau's new player did a pretty good job. The only problem was that Phillips made his 5th foul as well right after he gave Tau a 70-65 lead. Tau had no big men, well no men at all left for the last minutes of the game, so Palladino had to join the game again, although he was still injured, and couldn't step on his foot perfectly. Ivanovic set Palladino as his Power Forward, and Nocioni played the Center, but just when everyone were sure Olimpija will make the deadly move, Tau showed how big their heart is. Nocioni, just like in the 1st game between the teams, was everywhere on court in the last minutes. He scored inside, he scored from behind the arc, he grabbed rebounds, he blocked, and suddenly Tau was up by 12, 78-66, with 3 minutes to play. Olimpija still managed to cut the lead to 5, but Jerome Allen put Tau on top of Group B with a big win over Olimpija.
Tau (15+25+20+26): Nocioni 19 + 16 + 3 bl, Allen 18 + 7 rbs + 6 as + 5 to, Griffith 16, Phillips 14, Palladino 9, Calderon 5, Foirest 5
Olimpija (27+14+14+24): Hukic 15, Jurak 15 + 6 rbs, Bazdaric 14, Ilievski 11, Boisa 9, Poljak 8, Dujmovic 7
Panathinaikos 98 - Zalgiris 84
After the huge home defeat to Siena, not many gave Zalgiris any chance to win Panathinaikos on the road, but for 3.5 quarters the Lithuanians were in the game, and only a big finish of Kutluay and Lakovic assured there will be no surprises tonight in Group B.
Pao took a 17-6 lead with Buford nailing shot after shot from behind the arc. Pao kept the lead till the end of the first quarter, 23-15, but Einikis and Cota added some spice and cut the lead to 1, 30-29 after 16 minutes. The visitors even took a small lead during the 2nd quarter, but the last word was spoken by Alvertis, who put Pao on top, 42-41, with 2 points from the line.
Pao managed to open a 10 point gap during the 3rd, but Zalgiris quickly made its way back to the game, and a 0-5 run cut the Green lead back to one, 71-70, at the end of the 3rd. Zalgiris stayed right behind Pao during the 4th as well, but then came 2 triples by Kutluay and a 3 point play by Lakovic. The lead increased to 10 once again, and from there Zalgiris couldn't come back anymore.
Panathinaikos (23+19+29+27): Buford 24 - 5/5 3FG, Lakovic 17 + 4 as, Kutluay 13, Mcdonald 11, Fotsis 11, Alvertis 11, Tsartsaris 6, Middleton 5
Zalgiris (15+26+29+14): David 21 + 9 rbs, Einikis 14, Stombergas 11, Cota 9, Masiulis 8, Ginevicius 8, Timinskas 7, Gustas 6
Unicaja 87 - Buducnost 75
It took Unicaja a double double by Ademola Okulaja and 6 points in a row by Bullock in the last minutes to earn their 2 points tonight Vs. Buducnost.
The young Yugoslavians had a very good start, and took an early 4-12 lead. Okulaja kept Unicaja in the game, but Buducnost was in control, and the 1st quarter ended with Buducnost leading 19-24. Gurovic warmed his hand, and Unicaja made an 8-0 run late in the 2nd, 40-33. Buducnost scored the last 4 points of the half, and was down by 3 after 2 buzzers.
The lead changed hands a couple of times in the 3rd, but Unicaja was still up by 5, 60-55, when the 3rd quarter came to an end. Unicaja kept the pressure on, and took a 72-61 lead, in what seemed to be the end of Buducnost's story for tonight, but a 0-7 run by the visitors re-opened the game. Then came Bullock with 6 points in a row, and sealed the win for Unicaja.
Unicaja (19+21+20+27): Gurovic 20, Okulaja 19 + 10 rbs, Bullock 14 + 5 as, Kornegay 12, Sonko 7, Risacher 5, Vazquez 4, Cabezas 4, Wojcik 2
Buducnost (24+13+18+20): Brown 19, Cabarkapa 16, Pavlovic 13, Koljevic 11, Milojevic 10, Smiljanic 5, Walsh 1

  Round 8, Dec.11, 2003
Maccabi Tel Aviv 69 - Tau Vitoria 72
Without LuiScola, and in a very bad day of Nocioni, Tau Vitoria managed to complete a 2nd win over Maccabi this season. Mottola, in his last game with Tau, was their best scorer and for many minutes he was the only one in Tau able to score. Maccabi complete a series of 2 home losses the Spanish teams of Group B in close games.
Maccabi made a big run in the 2nd quarter after displaying great defense. 41-26 was the highest place Maccabi visited tonight, and but till half time Tau added 6 more points, and it was an open game, 41-32.
It didn't take Tau more than 3 minutes to close the gap in the 3rd, but Maccabi fought very hard to keep the lead yellow. Tau took the lead back, but Vujcic scored the last bucket of the quarter with only 1.6 to go, and Maccabi was up by 1, 55-54.
The close game continued in the last quarter. Tau was now dominating and Maccabi started chasing after the Spanish champion. Sharp hit a 3 and cut the lead to 1, but Foirest was on the other side of the court, and Tau was leading 66-69 with 2 minutes to go. David Bluthenthal, who was on the floor for the first time in his career in the last minutes of a close Euroleague game, tried too much and missed 2 shots from 3 and an easy dunk. Vujcic made it 68-70 with 50 seconds to go, and Tau missed on the other end. Maccabi had a chance to tie or win the game, but Vujcic missed. The ball landed in Gur Shelef's hands and the new captain of Maccabi was sent to the line to tie the game with 9 seconds on the clock. He missed the first, hit the 2nd, and Tau was able to pass the ball around pretty easily in the last 9 seconds of the game. Maccabi committed the obviously needed foul when it was already 00:00 on the clock, and Calderon sank the last 2 shots of the game.
Maccabi (16+16+22+18): Vujcic 19 + 9 rbs + 5 as, Lewis 13, Sharp 11, Besok 10, Burstein 9, Shelef 3, Goree 2, Bluthenthal 2
Tau (16+16+22+18): Mottola 16, Allen 12, Calderon 12 - 11 minutes, Griffith 10 + 9 rbs, Palladino 8, Nocioni 7, Foirest 7
Zalgiris Kaunas 74 - Montepaschi Siena 100
Say good morning to Alphonso Ford and Mirsad Turkcan. After almost 7 games with a very average and below offense shows, the biggest signing of Siena this season woke up.
After a close 1st quarter, Siena took off in the 2nd, and a 3 pointer by Ford set the lead on 17 by half time, 27-44. Zalgiris cut the lead to 11 in the first minutes of the 2nd half, but Ford and Turkcan didn't have any plans to stop, and the after 30 minutes the lead was set on 19, 50-69. The last quarter was garbage time, but it didn't stop Siena increasing the margin even more. They stopped at 26.
Zalgiris (14+13+23+24): David 21, Einikis 16, Timinskas 11, Ginevicius 10, Stombergas 8, Cota 8 + 9 as
Siena (16+28+25+31): Ford 33 - 7/9 3FG, Turkcan 21 + 13 rbs, Chiacig 14 + 11 rbs, Vuckcevic 10, Stefanov 10, Bowdler 5, Zukauskas 4, Gentile 3
Union Olimpija 83 - Unicaja Malaga 82
Olimpija is by far the hit of the Euroleague. But today the young Slovenian team showed they even know how to win close games. Vlado Ilievski completed for Olimpija a double victory over Unicaja, and it will take a lot now to keep Olimpija outside of the Top 16.
The two teams stayed close to each other during the whole game. Unicaja took a one point lead, 15-16, at the end of the 1st and by half time added 4 points to the lead, 31-36. Okulaja and Risacher pushed the lead over to 37-48, 3 minutes in the 3rd, but then came a 9-0 run by Olimpija and the game was close again.
Olimpija managed to take a 2 points lead in the first minutes of the 4th but Gurovic hit twice from 3 and Unicaja was leading by 4 again, 66-70. Stelmahers and Ilievski fought back and with 2 minutes to go, the locals took the lead back in their hands, 76-75. With 17 seconds on the clock Stelmahers took a very difficult shot over Gurovic but the ball went in and Olimpija was leading 81-80. With 4 seconds on the clock Cabezas was sent to the line, but the young Spanish guard didn't miss, and Unicaja was up by one. Then came Ilievski. The young guard from FYROM went coast to coast and right before the buzzer sank a huge shot over the hands of Gurovic and Bullock to win the game. 83-82 for Olimpija.
Olimpija (15+20+23+25): Ilievski 21, Bazdaric 18, Jurak 14, Stelmahers 11, Poljak 10, Boisa 5, Dujmovic 2, Modric 2
Unicaja (16+25+21+20): Bullock 18, Kornegay 13, Gurovic 10, Rodriguez 9, Okulaja 8, Risacher 7, Cabezas 7, Weis 5, Sonko 5
Buducnost 84 - Panathinaikos 92
After the big win over Siena last week Buducnost wasn't very far from another one, but the Euroleague champion managed to win this one too, after a very tough game. Each team had 5 players in double digits, with Brown leadings Buducnost and Fotsis leading Pao. Both teams went to the free throw line 73 times, and scored in more than 80%.
Buducnost started with a 9-2 play, but Obradovic sent McDonald and Lakovic in the game, and Pao was back in the game, 11-11. Pao couldn't take off, and finished the first quarter up by only one point, 28-29. The locals took advantage of that, and quickly took a 9 points lead, 42-33, with only 2 minutes to go in the first quarter. Kutluay and McDonald saved Pao from a very unpleasant score at half time, and cut the margin to 6, 48-42 at half time.
Fotsis took over the game, and by scoring 7 points in the first minutes of the 3rd put Pao back on top. The lead changed hands over and over, but right before the 3rd buzzer Papadopoulos gave Pao a small lead, 63-65. Obradovic kept his young center on the court, and got his wish. Papadopoulos added 10 more points in the 4th, and Pao took a 68-74 lead. Buducnost nailed three 3 pointers and made a 9-2 run, which set them as the leaders again, 77-76, but Lakovic replied with a 3 point play, and Buducnost went out of focus.
Buducnost (29+13+23+27): Brown 16, Koljevic 15, Kovacevic 13, Milojevic 10 + 10 as + 6 rbs, Cabarkapa 10, Pavlovic 7, Smiljanic 7, Pajovic 6
Panathinaikos (29+13+23+27): Fotsis 25 + 6 rbs, Alvertis 15, Kutluay 14, Mcdonald 14, Papadopoulos 12 + 9 rbs, Lakovic 8, Middleton 2, Buford 2

  Round 7, Dec.4, 2003
Zalgiris 87 - Maccabi 74
Zalgiris, with a brand new coach on the lines, got their 2nd win in the Euroleague over Maccabi Tel Aviv tonight in Kaunas. The Lithuanians took an early lead in the 1st quarter, kept it during the whole game and increased it up to 18 in the last minutes of the game.
Maccabi dominated the rebound during 3 quarters against the best offensive rebound team in the Euroleague, but Zalgiris controlled the pace of the game, and as most of Maccabi's opponents this season, had a very good day from behind the arc (9/16). Maccabi seemed confused, while Einikis and Stombergas again and again made open easy shots. Cota pushed Zalgiris to 1 19-14 lead after 10 minutes of game. Kornel David got in a foul problem early in the 2nd, but Stombergas was the go to guy of Zalgiris in the 2nd quarter, as the lead climbed to 6 by half time, 42-36.
Two 3 pointers by Einikis gave Zalgiris a 10 points lead in the early minutes of the 3rd quarter. Maccabi somehow managed to stay in the game, and trailed by no only 7 at the end of the 3rd quarter, 64-57. Udrih had a very bad game (4 pts - 2/10 FG...) but Blatt kept him in the game anyways. Burstein, who had better games this season as well, nailed a 3 pointer to cut the lead to 4 at the beginning of the 4th, but once again Einikis bombed from 3 and Zalgiris took 9 points lead 6 minutes to go. Maccabi completely lost control of the game, took bad shots, and made too many turnovers and in the next 3 minutes Zalgiris doubled the lead to 81-63. Maccabi scored a couple of 3 pointers to cut the lead a little but couldn't save the game. 87-74 was the final score.
Zalgiris (19+23+22+23): Einikis 20 - 4/4 3FG + 13 rbs, Stombergas 19, David 15 + 7 rbs, Cota 13 + 9 as + 5 rbs, Timinskas 9 + 8 rbs, Ginevicius 6, Gustas 3, Silinskis 2
Maccabi (14+22+21+17): Vujcic 16 + 9 rbs, Lewis 14 - 2/8 3FG, Goree 14 + 6 rbs, Burstein 11 - 3/9 FG, Bluthenthal 6, Sharp 5, Udrih 4 - 2/10 FG, Besok 4
Unicaja Malaga 71 - Tau Vitoria 54
Without injured Nocioni Tau had a very hard time at Malaga. For 3 quarters both teams couldn’t score but Unicaja was the first team to wake up from the scoring nightmare. A big game of Okulaja and Bullock led Unicaja to a big win over Tau who lost Scola as well after the Argentinean fouled out after 12 minutes.
After 10 minutes the scoreboard showed 11-11, and Okulaja already had 8 points. Allen nailed a 3, but Unicaja responded with a 6-0 run and took the lead back. By the end of the 1st half each team had only 27 points, as both teams had a very bad scoring day. Tau took a 5 points lead in the early minutes of the 3rd, but a 10-1 run by Unicaja, led by Konegay and Okulaja, put the locals on top, 41-37, after 30 minutes. Tau was only 2 points behind after 2 minutes in the 4th, but then Unicaja made another 12-2 run and opened a 12 points gap. Tau, who couldn't score more than 16 points in any of the quarters, was obviously unable to close a 12 points gap in less than 5 minutes, and was able to save their pride by passing the 50 points lane in the last minute.
Unicaja (11+16+14+30): Okulaja 24 + 12 rbs, Bullock 17, Gurovic 10, Kornegay 9 + 9 rbs, Sonko 5, Risacher 2, Cabezas 2, Weis 2
Tau (11+16+10+17): Allen 13 + 7 rbs + 5 st, Griffith 10, Palladino 10, Mottola 9 - 30%FG, Scola 6, Foirest 2, Calderon 2, Vidal 2
Olipmija 77 - Panathinaikos 70
A big win for Olimpija who becomes one of the top candidates to qualify to the Top 16 from Group B. Arriel Mcdonald, who came back Ljubljana, where he made his breakthrough in Europe, was very weak and couldn't stop the young Slovenian force.
The first quarter was very equal, and Pao was up by 2 after 10 minutes, 17-19. Hukic led Olimpija to an 8-0 run in the 2nd, and the local team took a 5 points lead. Obradovic took a time out but a technical foul on Kutluay helped Olimpija increase their lead to 11, 37-26. Hukic added 2 more threes before the 2nd quarter was over, and by the 16th minute it was 45-28 to the local team. Pao did reduce Olimpija's led to 11 by half time, 45-34, but that didn't make their feel much better.
Another run by Olimpija, this time a 7-0 one, pushed them back to a double digits lead. Dujmovic bombed the basket from 3 and after 30 minutes Olimpija took a 64-46 lead. Pao made a last effort to come back to the game, and a 7-18 run cut the margin to only 7, but Tomo Mahoric made a stop to the comeback and a 3 pointer by Ilievski sealed the win.
Olimpija (17+28+19+13): Hukic 16, Bazdaric 11, Ilievski 11, Boisa 10, Dujmovic 10, Stelmahers 8, Jurak 6, Poljak 4, Modric 1
Panathinaikos (19+15+14+22): Fotsis 17 + 7 rbs, Kalaitzis 13, Middleton 10 + 7 rbs, Lakovic 8, Alvertis 5, Tsartsaris 4, Mcdonald 4
Buducnost 91 - Montepaschi Siena 75
Buducnost (24+27+14+26): Brown 18, Koljevic 17, Cabarkapa 16, Pavlovic 13, Milojevic 12, Walsh 5, Vranes 4, Kovacevic 4, Bakic 2
Siena (29+13+11+22): Ford 24, Chiacig 13 + 7 rbs, Vuckcevic 11, Zukauskas 9, Turkcan 7 + 14 rbs, Bowdler 6, Stefanov 5

  Round 6, Nov.13, 2003
Tau Vitoria 113 - Zalgiris Kaunas 88
In their last visit to Spain Zalgiris had a big road win over Unicaja, but Tau didn't allow the Lithuanians complete a 2nd win in Spain. Five players in Tau scored 15 points or more, on the way to their 5th Euroleague win. Tau nailed 11 shots from downtown and broke the season scoring record for a team.
Both teams scored from any range in the first minutes, as Cota & Stombergas fought Palladino & Nocioni from outside while Griffith and David battled in the paint. Nocioni made 2 steals in the 2nd quarter to send Tau to a 49-38 lead 3 minutes before half time. Cota and Stombergas woke up before the buzzer and till half time the lead was cut to 7, 55-48 to Tau.
Tau opened the 3rd with a 12-0 run and from that moment on it was obvious this game belongs to the Spanish champion. Cota was still able to fight back, but Tau dominated the game, and finished the 3rd with an 84-66 lead. The last quarter was pure garbage time, but Tau scored enough to set a new season scoring record with 113 points.
Tau (24+31+27+21): Nocioni 23 + 8 rbs, Foirest 18 + 6 rbs, Palladino 17, Scola 16, Griffith 15 + 6 rbs, Allen 9, Vidal 8, Calderon 7
Zalgiris (22+26+18+22): David 25 + 14 rbs, Stombergas 19, Cota 19 + 7 rbs + 6 as, Carrawell 9, Ginevicius 7Einikis 4, Silinskis 3, Masiulis 2
Maccabi Tel Aviv 107 - Buducnost 86
After 2 straight losses in the Euroleague, the Israeli champion, recovered on young Buducnost's account.
Cabarkapa took advantage of the miss-match he had with Quincy Lewis and kept Buducnost in the game, while Goree had a good start on Maccabi's side and after 5 minutes Maccabi was up only by one 15-14. Besok replaced Vujcic and together with Burstein sent Maccabi to a 10-0 run, 2 minutes to the end of the 1st. Sharp got in the game and pushed Maccabi forward on the way to a 31-18 lead after 10 minutes. Two 3 pointers by Sharp in the early minutes of the 2nd quarter, and 6 straight points in a row by Shelef sent Maccabi to another big run, 11-0 this time, and a 45-24 lead after 14 minutes. A shot from downtown by Pajovic sealed the first half, as Maccabi led 55-37.
Maccabi didn't show up to the 3rd quarter, and Buducnost took advantage of that. Brown woke up, and Smiljanic hit from 3 as the lead was cut down to 8, 69-61. That's where it stopped. Vranes the giant (2.28 m') committed his 4th foul and Vujcic swept Maccabi back to a 14 points lead at the end of the 3rd, 75-61. Maccabi opened the last quarter with a big dunk by Vujcic, a three pointer by Sharp and another dunk by Burstein completed a 20-0 run by Maccabi, and after 3 minutes in the 4th Maccabi's lead was 28, and the rest was just for the record.
Maccabi (31+24+20+32): Burstein 22 - 8/9 2FG, Goree 19 + 7 rbs, Sharp 12 - 3/3 3FG + 5 as, Besok 12 + 7 rbs, Udrih 11 + 4 as, Vujcic 9, Shelef 9, Ljubin 8, Bluthenthal 2, Halperin 2, Lewis 1
Buducnost (18+19+24+25): Smiljanic 26, Brown 18 + 7 rbs, Cabarkapa 15, Pajovic 12, Milojevic 7, Kavacevic 6, Koljevic 2
Montepaschi Siena 86 - Union Olimpija 79
Before the season started most people believed that when Siena and Olimpija will meet in the 6th game day the Italians will be on top of Group B and the Slovenians down at the 6th place. Before the tip off that situation was the exact opposite. Siena won the game, but Olimpija gave a very big fight and had a chance to win this one too.
Siena opened with a 6-0 run, and Mahoric took a quick time out. Olimpija was more focused after the time out, but another run by Siena, this time 5-0, gave Ataman's team an 18-9 lead. Ilievski cut it down to 6 right before the buzzer, 23-17. Siena took off again in the 2nd quarter and cruised to a 45-32 advantage, but right before the 2nd buzzer it was Olimpija's turn to make a small 0-6 run, and cut the lead back to 7 at half time, 38-45.
Mirsad Turkcan had a very bad day on offense (only 2 points), but Siena had Ford and Chiacig to hold Olimpija from taking the lead, although the Slovenians cut the difference to only one. Two shots from downtown by Stefanov & Vuckcevic right before the 3rd quarter buzzer set the score on 68-59 to Siena. The Italians made it an 11 points game before Olimpija outscored them 2-12 to cut it back to 1 again. With 4 minutes to go, and a 72-71 game, Ilievski had a chance to give Olimpija the first lead of the game with 2 free throw shots, but he missed them both, and Siena punished on the other side with a 6-0 run that kept the 2 points in Italy.
Siena (23+22+23+18): Chiacig 17 + 11 rbs, Bowdler 15 + 7 rbs, Ford 15 + 5 st, Stefanov 13 + 8 as, Vuckcevic 13, Zukauskas, Turkcan 2 + 10 rbs, McCants 2
Olimpija (17+20+21+20): Bazdaric 23 + 5 as, Stelmahers 12, Ilievski 8, Poljak 8, Dujmovic 7 + 7 rbs, Jurak 6, Boisa 6, Modric 6, Hukic 2, Zagorac 1
Panathinaikos 77 - Unicaja 65
The battle between Pao's Zeljko Obradovic and Unicaja's Bozidar Maljkovic (Ex-coach of Pao) was won by the first who completed a double win over the 2 Spanish teams of Group B in one week.
Pao (19+21+11+26): Kutluay 15, Fotsis 12, Buford 12 - 6/14 FG, Lakovic 9 + 4 rbs, Middleton 8, McDonald 7, Papadopoulos 5, Tsartsaris 3, Alvertis 3, Kalaitzis 3
Unicaja (15+14+24+12): Bullock 16, Gurovic 16 - 4/15 FG, Risacher 14, Kornegay 5, Cabezas 5, Weis 4, Okulaja 3 - 1/5 FG + 8 rbs, Zig 2

  Round 5, Nov.5, 2003
Union Olimpija 81 - Maccabi Tel Aviv 76
Only one month ago the two teams met in Tel Aviv for the opener of the Adriatic league. Maccabi won easily with a big game by Goree and Besok. Today Olimpija was the one in control. Jurak, who didn't play in Tel Aviv, made the difference for Olimpija that shot in very good percentages from 3. Beno Udrih in his home coming game wasn't at his best, while Iliesvki, who took Udrih's spot in the PG position made sure Olimpija's fans won't miss Udrih for too long.
Quincy Lewis was the go-to-guy of the Yellows in the first quarter as he scored 12 of the first 17 Israeli points. Jurak, who had 10 points in the first, and Iliesvki made a nice run at the end of the 1st and Olimpija was up by 6, 24-18, after 10 minutes. Hukic nailed 2 big 3 point shots in the first minutes of the 2nd, and all of a sudden Maccabi was down by 12, 30-18. Jurak made his 2nd foul and went to rest on the bench and Maccabi took care of the chance to reduce the gap. Jurak was sent back to the game and Olimpija took a 42-31 lead after 20 minutes.
The lead of the young Slovenians increased to 16 deep in the 3rd quarter but a big come back by Maccabi, with points by Sharp and Lewis in the last minutes of the 3rd, made it a 5 points game, 63-58, after 30 minutes of game. Maccabi continued to take control over the game, and 3 straight goals from behind the arc gave Maccabi a 70-73 lead. From that moment on Maccabi lost control of the game Iliesvki scored 5 points to give Olimpija the lead back, and Maccabi added only 3 more points till the end, while Boisa nailed a 3 point shot that shut the lights on Maccabi's hopes.
Olimpija (24+18+21+18): Jurak 15, Ilievski 13, Hukic 13, Bazdaric 12, Boisa 11 + 7 rbs, Stelmahers 7, Dujmovic 6, Modric 3, Poljak 1
Maccabi (18+13+27+18): Lewis 29 - 4/8 3FG, Sharp 14 - 4/5 3FG, Goree 11 - 4/4 FG, Vujcic 8, Udrih 7 - 1/6 FG + 4 to, Lubin 5, Burstein 2
Tau Vitoria 75 - Panathinaikos 76
Two free throws by Arriel McDonald 5 seconds to go gave Obradovic a very important win after 2 back-to-back defeats. McDonald, who eliminated Tau from the Final Four in his last visit to Vitoria, ruins Tau's perfect record, and leaves Barcelona as the only perfect team in the Euroleague. At least for the next 24 hours.
The first minutes of the game presented a very confused Tau. Scola with 2 fouls, Griffith with 3 and a total of 7 turnovers in the first 10 minutes allowed Pao to take a 7 points lead at the end of the quarter, 17-24. The 2nd quarter showed a different Tau as the balls went in to Scola and Mottola and 28 seconds before the buzzer Tau took a 38-37 lead.
Nocioni was doing as he wished in the 3rd but Pao's guards - McDonald and Kalaitzis, kept the green in the game. Nocioni scored 12 of Tau's 18 points in the 3rd, but Pao was still only one point behind after 30 minutes, 56-55. With 5 minutes of the clock Tau was up by 3 points, but McDonald nailed a 3 to tie the game. 6 straight points by Scola sent the local fans to the 7th sky, but Buford and Fotsis with another pair of 3's brought them back down to earth. 12 seconds to go Jerome Allen was fouled with Tau down by one, but he didn't miss and now it was Tau's turn to be up by one. 5 seconds to go McDonald penetrated and was fouled by Mottola, and although Tau had only 2 fouls in the quarter, and it didn't seem like McDonald was shooting when the foul was committed, still the refs sent McDonald to the line, and the balls went in. Tau still had a chance to win the game, but not tonight. 75-76 to Obradovic over Ivanovic was the final score.
Tau (17+21+18+19): Nocioni 20, Allen 15 + 4 as, Mottola 13, Scola 11 + 5 rbs, Palladino 10, Foirest 4, Vidal 2
Pao (24+13+18+21): McDonald 15 - 4/7 FG + 4 rbs, Middleton 15 + 5 rbs, Fotsis 12, Kalaitzis 8, Alvertis 6, Zuza 6, Buford 5, Kutluay 4, Papadopoulos 3, Tsartsaris 2
Unicaja 87 - Siena 74
The Spanish team continue its winning streak. Following the big win in Tel Aviv Unicaja had a very good start that decided the game. Siena couldn't make any comeback in the 2nd half, and still can't win a game outside their home court.
Unicaja stormed the floor in the first quarter. Okulaja and Gurovic gave Unicaja 9 points while Siena was still stuck on a round 0. Chiacig, as always, had a good start, and Siena got as close as 12-9, but then came another 9-0 run by Unicaja and after 10 minutes the story teller announced 23-13 to Spain. Zig, who just signed a one week deal with Unicaja a few days ago, added a 3 point of hi own, and Adam Wojcik, in his best euroleague performance this season, doubled Siena's points, 36-18. Ford and Vukcevic bombed from downtown, but Louis Bullock harmed Siena on the other side, and at half time the score was 46-29 to Unicaja.
There is not much to tell about the 2nd half. Siena didn't get closer than a 13 points margin, and another 3 pointer by Wojcik set a round 20 points lead for the locals. Siena could only reduce the gap in the last quarter, but couldn't escape another big lose on the road.
Unicaja (23+23+16+25): Bullock 20 + 7 as, Wokcik 17, Cabezas 11, Gurovic 11 + 8 rbs, Okulaja 9 - 4/12 FG + 9 rbs, Kornegay 7, Zig 6, Vasquez 4, Weis 2 + 9 rbs, Risacher 0 - 0/5 FG
Siena (13+16+16+29): Chiacig 15, Ford 13 + 4 as, McCants 11, Turkcan 10 + 13 rbs, Marcaccini 9 - 3/5 3FG, Zukauskas 8, Vuckcevic 5, Stefanov
Buducnost 106 - Zalgiris 102 OT
It took 5 extra minutes before Buducnost could celebrate its first win in the Euroleague, and tie their record with Zalgiris. After the big game last week Vs. Tau John Brown once again led Buducnost to a big fight in their home court, but this time Buducnost got not only respect but also the first win and 2 points.
Zalgiris took a 27-30 lead at the end of the first quarter, and opened an 8 points margin in the first minutes of the 2nd. Walsh Jordan, that played last years for the biggest rival of Zalgiris, Rytas, and Bakic didn't allow Zalgiris to run away and quickly cut the visitor's lead to 1, with an 8-1 run, 38-39. Kornel David made a jumper right before half time to put Zalgiris ahead 46-48 after 2 quarters.
Brown swept the floor in the 3rd and Buducnost was able to get a 10 points lead, and although Zalgiris made a small comeback, the locals once again replied with a 10-2 run, and by the end of the 3rd it was 74-62 for Buducnost. In the last quarter Zalgiris realized their best option it to give the ball to Stombergas and the Lithuanian shooter was the right choice indeed. Stombergas made sure not to leave any spot on the floor untouched, and a 3 pointer by him tied the game, 86-86. Buducnost took a 2 points lead with less than a minute to play, and after several turnovers and missed shots on both ends David went to shot 2 from the line. He tied the game and sent the teams to overtime.
Zalgiris, once again, had trouble scoring, and with 1:20 to go it was 99-92 to the local team. Stombergas, who else, was still around to nail a 3 pointer and put 104-102 on the scoreboard but Koljevic didn't miss his two shots from the line and gave Buducnost a very sweet win.
Buducnost (26+20+28+14+18): Brown 27 - 12/15 FG, Pavlovic 22, Bakic 19, Koljevic 14, Milojevic 9 + 8 rbs, Walsh 7 + 7 as, Kovacevic 6, Vranes 2
Zalgiris (30+18+14+26+14):Stombergas 33 - 10/15 FG, David 16, Einikis 13 + 7 rbs, Ginevicius 10 - 3/5 3FG + 4 st, Salenga 9, Carrawell 8, Cota 8, Klimaviclus 5

  Round 4, Oct.31, 2003
Buducnost 71 - Tau Vitoria 81
Tau, just like Barca, is still perfect after 4 games. Tonight they had to struggle mostly Vs. John Brown who was everywhere on the court for Buducnost, but Tau had 5 players in double-figures, and that was enough to have the lead in Group B for at least one mroe week.
Buducnost (19+20+16+16): Brown 29 -14/22 FG + 13 rbs, Smiljanic 13, Cabarkapa 9, Walsh 7, Pavlovic 6, Milojevic 4, Pajovic 2, Vranes 1
Tau (20+20+22+19): Scola 18 - 7/10 FG + 6 rbs, Mottola 17 + 6 rbs, Allen 13, Nocioni 11, Griffith 10 + 7 rbs, Palladino 8, Vidal 4
Maccabi Tel Aviv 86 - Unicaja Malaga 89 (OT)
Maccabi (19+18+25+13+11): Lewis 22 - 8/15 FG, Vujcic 18 + 9 rbs + 5 as + 3 bl, Burstein 14 + 5 rbs, Goree 11 + 8 rbs, Saffar 5, Udrih 4, Ljubin 4, Sharp 3, Besok 3, Shelef 2
Unicaja (19+26+17+13+14): Bullock 22 - 5/8 3FG, Gurovic 22 - 11/13 FT + 10 rbs, Okulaja 13 + 6 rbs, Cabezas 12 + 5 rbs + 4 as, Risacher 10, Kornegay 6 + 6 rbs, Wojcik 2, Weis 2
Montepaschi Siena 77 - Panathinaikos 69
Siena (23+14+19+21): Stefanov 20 - 7/14 FG, Turkcan 19 + 16 rbs + 7 st, Vuckcevic 14 - 4/6 3FG, Ford 10 + 7 to, Bowdler 5, Chiacig 4, Zukauskas 3, McCants 2
Panathinaikos (14+20+20+15): Fotsis 17 + 6 rbs, Middleton 17 + 10 rbs, McDonald 13 - 5/14 FG + 6 to, Buford 7, Alvertis 5, Tsartsaris 4, Kalaitzis 2, Papadopoulos 2, Kutluay 2
Zalgiris Kaunas 73 - Union Olimpija 81
Zalgiris (22+15+16+20): Einikis 14 + 7 rbs, Stombergas 13, David 13 + 14 rbs, Salenga 12, Cota 9, Silinskis 6, Carrawell 4, Ginevicius 2
Olimpija (24+19+17+21): Hukic 16, Stelmahers 15, Poljak 14 + 10 rbs, Ilievski 14, Boisa 9, Jurak 6, Dujmovic 5, Modric 2

  Round 3, Oct.22, 2003
Panathinaikos 64 - Maccabi TA 77
Maccabi took the lead in the first possession of the 2nd quarter and didn't drop the lead till the last seconds of the game. The Israeli champion dominated the boards (28-43 in Rebounds), and even a big comeback by Pao in the last quarter, didn't confuse Blatt's players on their way to a big road win in Athens, 64-77.
Panathinaikos (15+16+12+21): McDonald 17 - 7/16 FG, Middleton 13 + 8 rbs, Fotsis 11 - 3/3 3FG, Kalaitzis 6, Papadopolous 4, Lakovic 4, Buford 4, Alvertis 3 - 1/6 FG, Kutluay 2 - 0/3 FG
Maccabi (14+27+11+25): Vujcic 19 - 7/9 FG + 9 rbs, Lewis 14 + 3 st, Goree 11 - 1/9 FT + 9 rbs, Udrih 11 + 6 rbs + 4 as, Burstein 6 + 5 rbs, Besok 5, Sharp 4 - 1/6 FG, Shelef 4, Saffar 3
Olimpija 83 - Buducnost 71
Olimpija decided the game already in the first half. Vladimir Boisa led the Slovenian champion to a 46-28 lead after 2 quarters, and Buducnost could only reduce the gap in the 2nd half.
Olimpija (23+23+17+20): Boisa 18 - 8/12 FG + 7 rbs, Bazdaric 17, Poljak 11, Dujmovic 10, Hukic 9, Ilievski 5, Dryden 4, Stelmahers 3, Udrih 2, Ozbolt 2, Jurak 2
Buducnost (15+13+13+30): Smiljanic 16, Cabarkapa 13, Milojevic 13, Kovacevic 7, Pavlovic 6, Bulajic 4, Walsh 3, Bakic 3, Pajovic 3, Brown 3
Tau Vitoria 90 - Siena 85
Luis Scola and Andres Nocioni scored a total of 55 points for Tau Vitoria and kept the Spanish Champion with a clean 3-0 record. Siena lost 90-85 in Vitoria, and this is their 2nd consecutive lose in the Euroleague. Vukcevic and Chiacig were once again the leaders of the Saporta Cup winner, but the two big stars - Turkcan & Ford, still didn't give a big game for Siena. In the first two games in the Euroleague Tau won only after trailing for 38 minutes. Today they went for something different.
Just like last week Roberto Chiacig had a great start, and Siena took an early 5-14 lead. Palladino came off the bench for Tau, and with a few hits reduced the gap to after 10 minutes, 19-21. Four straight points by Scola and Griffith put Tau on top. Turkcan and Ford made a few buckets, but Scola and Nocioni started their party, and after 2 quarters the game was tied, 37-37.
Scola and Nocioni scored 5 points each in the first minutes of the 3rd, but the guests weren't impressed. Vukcevic once again was the one to keep Siena in the game. Jerome Allen gave a good performance in the PG, with 7 assists, and soon Scola put a 5 points lead on the scoreboard, 61-55. Vukcevic, who else, nailed a 3 pointer just before the buzzer, and the score was set on 61-58 after 3 quarters. Tau kept pushing the balls to Scola & Nocioni. Siena had to pay more attention to Scola, which allowed Tau to nail 3 shots from downtown, and open a 13 points lead, 79-66 5 minutes to go. Siena could only reduce the margin, mostly for the 2nd round match-up in Italy, but didn't put Tau's 3rd win in danger. 90-85 is the final score.
Tau (19+18+24+29): Scola 31 - 12/19 FG, Nocioni 24 - 9/12 FG + 10 rbs, Allen 13 + 7 as, Mottola 7, Palladino 6, Griffith 5 + 5 rbs, Calderon 4 + 5 rbs
Siena (21+16+21+27): Vuckcevic 18 - 4/5 3FG, Chiacig 18, Turkcan 13 + 8 rbs, Marcaccini 11, Ford 11 - 5/14 FG, McCants 8, Zukauskas 6
Unicaja 77 - Zalgiris 78
All 4 of Unicaja's games in the ACB were decided by 1 point. Now they got one in the Euroleague as well, but not the type to be remembered. 2nd home lose for Unicaja in the Euroleague, and once again lost at home to a team that isn't considered a top condidate in the group. A huge offensive rebound followed by a lay-up of Ed Cota (186 cm) in the last possession, gave Zalgiris their first win in the Euroleague, and sent Unicaja to figure out how to recover from such a bad start.
It was a very close game in the 1st quarter. Kornel David was dominating for Zalgiris, while Milan Gurovic was Unicaja's main man. Unicaja took a 20-18 lead after 10 minutes, but Zalgiris took the lead in the first minutes of the 2nd with a 4-12 run on the way to a 26-35 lead (15 Min). Zalgiris made almost every shot, but Gurovic pulled Unicaja on his back to a 9-2 run and the lead was back in Spain by half time, 39-37.
Unicaja increased the lead early in the 3rd, but Zalgiris was dominating the paint, and taking a 62-64 lead after 10 minutes, with Ed Cota staring in the final stages of the 3rd quarter. It took 3 minutes in the 4th before a point was added to either of the teams. Louis Bullock nailed a huge 3 pointer to make it a 72-72 tie, but Zalgiris was able to keep the lead. With less than a minute on the clock the visitors had a 2 points lead and then ball, but then an offensive foul was called on Stombergas. Soon enough Sonko was sent to the line, with a chance to tie the game for Unicaja. First shot went in, but the 2nd went out. Unicaja took control on the ball that went back to Sonko, and this time the French PG was accurate. 77-76 to Unicaja with 23 ticks on the clock. Carrawell was the one to take the big shot for Zalgiris, but he missed, and the 186 c"m Ed Cota had the perfect timing to grab the offensive rebound and nail a winning shot 2 seconds to go.
Unicaja (20+19+23+15): Gurovic 16, Bullock 15, Wojcik 14, Sonko 11, Kornegay 10, Rodriguez 3, Okulaja 2, Risacher 2, Vazquez 2, Cabezas 2
Zalgiris (18+19+27+14): David 20 + 10 rbs, Einikis 15, Cota 13 + 9 as, Carrawell 12, Salenga 12, Stombergas 4, Silinskis 2

  Round 2, Oct.15, 2003
Olimpija 72 - Tau 76
After the first lose of Tau in the ACB Ivanovic said "It's ok to lose if you play bad, but you must not lose the game with bad mentality". Maybe this is the best explanation for the first two wins of Tau in the Euroleague. Another week and another huge come back by Tau on their way to a 2nd win in the Euroleague. Griffith was once again not in the game, and played only 3 minutes, but Tau had Nocioni, who's about to become one of the top forwards in the Euroleague. The Argentinean had 19 points, 15 rebounds and a very important 3 pointer to change the game in the 4th. Tau was behind for 39 minutes, but once again got big buckets from Mottola and won the game.
After 4 minutes in the game Tau was already trailing 14-3. A time out by Ivanovic didn't change much and the teams went down for the first rest with a 22-11 local lead. Poljak and Hukic locked the paint and Olimpija took a 32-17 lead. Nocioni and Palladino finally showed some good rhythm in Tau, and reduced the gap to 6, 32-26, but Olimpija took a 5-0 run to finish the first half with a 37-26 lead. Tau was once again quick in the picture, and we had a game again, 41-38. Or so we thought. Vladimir Boisa nailed 6 straight points and Tau was behind by 9 once again, and by 10 after 30 minutes of play, 58-48. Then came the final come back. Jerome Allen first performance in the Euroleague with Tau was last week, but only now he was truly in the game, and Tau was closing on Olimpija. Nocioni and Mottola added each a 3 pointer, and after 39 minutes of trailing behind, Tau was up. Olimpija's players lost their focus, mind and the game. 72-76 to Tau.
Union Olimpija against Tau Vitoria lost (72:76) like Maccabi last week. Slovenian champion lead from start to only 42 secunds till end of game. In first quarter by 14 points and lest than two minutes before the end by 6. Then Hanno Mottola (208-F-76, college: Utah) scored behind the arc and in next action both free-throws, Olimpija missed some shots and lost.
Olimpija (22+17+19+14): Ilievski 14, Boisa 12, Poljak 10, Hukic 10, Stelmahers 9, Jurak 8, Dujmovic 6, Bazdaric 3
Tau (11+19+18+28): Nocioni 19 + 15 rbs, Allen 14, Mottola 13, Scola 8, Calderon 8, Palladino 7, Vidal 5, Griffith 2
Buducnost 72 - Unicaja 78
Unicaja got their first Euroleague win, but obviously still not in shape. It took a perfect day of Louis Bullock from the land of the 3s to win the weakest team in the group.
Unicaja opened with a 0-10 run, but by the end of the first quarter the lead was cut by half, and Unicaja was up 20-25. Bullock nailed 3 shots from downtown, but Buducnost was still able to stay close and finish the first half 4 points behind Unicaja, 41-45. Just for the sake of variety Bullock added a 4 points play in the 3rd, but Koljevic and Smiljanic didn't allow the visitors to get too far ahead, and tied the score 55-55. But believe it or not, Bullock was the one to put Unicaja on top at the end of the 3rd, 55-58. A 6-13 run by Unicaja opened once again a 10 points margin, but Jordan Walsh was in the right place to cut down the lead and almost tie the game. Louis Bullock once again bombed from 3 point land, and won the game for the Spanish runner-up.
Buducnost (20+21+14+17): Koljevic 14 + 7 as + 6 rbs, Smiljanic 13, Milojevic 12, Pavlovic 10, Brown 9, Cabarkapa 8, Walsh 4, Vranes 2
Unicaja