The regular season is over and the best 16 teams will find out their opponents soon in Top 16 campaign. Madrid will host the Draw of Top 16 on Monday, February 4, at the Real Casa de Correos in the famous Puerta del Sol.
CSKA ended their Euroealgue regular season campaign with yet another confident victory. The Russian favorites overwhelmed Italian La Fortezza to complete a 12-2 record on top of Group A. La Fortezza on the contrary suffered 12th defeat and completed the action at the bottom of the group. The crowd in Bologna warmly welcomes the local native Ettore Messina . He however was not about to give away presents for La Fortezza. CSKA silenced the fans with a stunning 19:3 lead early in the game. The visitors extended the gap to 24:5 after the opening stanza. Moscow team continued to stroll in the second quarter as Marcus Goree and Nikos Zisis ensured a 35:8 advantage. Finally La Fortezza remembered about the hosts' status and ignited a 12:3 run to trim the gap to 18 points. Alexey Shved hit a three-pointer and Artem Zabelin dunked the ball to cap the first half with CSKA leading by 27 points.
Messina rotated the squad allowing his young reserves to get more playing practice. They stood up for the challenge and kept the home team at a safe distance. Dewarick Spencer (193-G-82, agency: Higher Vision Sports, college: Arkansas St.) hit a trey and Fabio Di Bella added a couple of jumpers to see the gap cut to 23 points. Nikita Kurbanov and Trajan Langdon quickly responded with an offensive outburst to build a 24-point margin heading into the fourth period. Kashirov and Siskauskas widened the margin to 30 points at the start of the fourth period and the game simply flew to an obvious result. David Andersen scored 15 points for CSKA. Nikos Zisis and Marcus Goree secured 12 points apiece for the winners. Dewarick Spencer answered with 20 points for La Fortezza. Alan Anderson notched 19 points in defeat.
Tau beat Zalgiris 84:66 to clinch the third place with a 9-5 record. With both teams having their Top 16 birth guaranteed the things were not forced early in the game. Zalgiris used two long bombs from De Juan Collins and Paulius Jankunas to enjoy a 10:3 lead early in the game. Tau continued to stay sloppy both offensively and defensively and did not rush things. Neven Spahija called for timeout but it never helped as Paulius Jankunas and Michael Bradley allowed the visitors to gain a 24:11 lead late in the starting stanza. However Zoran Planinic scored a trey and Splitter hit a jumper as Spanish team cut the gap to 8 points after 10 minutes. Tau toiled on their way back in the second quarter with Igor Rakocevic (191-G-78) and Mirza Teletovic sinking important buckets. The hosts fueled a 13:0 rally midway through the frame to step in front 37:33. Tau kept Zalgiris scoreless for about 5 minutes before Marcus Brown hit a trey and Zalgiris trailed by 5 points at the end of the first half. Now it was Zalgiris turn to fall into some kind of offensive slumber as they continued to miss open shots and Tau reached a 9-point advantage early in the third frame. Spanish side kept a firm hold of the lead and finished the third stanza with an 8-point cushion. The fourth term brought another scoring draught for Zalgiris as they unable to post a single point for 5 minutes and fell too far away from Tau to hope for a positive result.
Tau were led by Tiago Splitter with 23 points. Igor Rakocevic dropped 20 points, while Mirza Teletovic had 9 points and 7 boards for the winners. Jonas Maciulis accounted for 17 points for Zalgiris. Paulius Jankunas had 12 points in a losing effort.
Montepaschi Siena had a big road win over Olympiacos 73:80. The victory sealed second place in Group A for Montepaschi, which finished the regular season with a 10-4 record. Meanwhile Olympiacos finishes the regular season on a three-game losing streak, which dropped their record to 7-7.
Prokom won over Union Olimpija 79:68 at home as both teams finished Group A tied for the sixth place with a 4-10 record and out of the Top 16. Milan Gurovic paced the winners with 22 points, 7 rebounds. Jasmin Hukic (204-G/F-79, agency: Beo Basket) had 16 points for Olimpija while Boris Gorenc added 10.


Cibona finished Euroleague campaign sixth in Group B with 4-10 record. In the last game of the group Croatian team lost to Lietuvos Rytas that became the Group B champion. Rytas finished Group B ahead with a 11-3 record upsetting Cibona 79:86. Kenan Bajramovic (206-F-81, agency: Beo Basket) led the winners with 19 points. Hollis Price netted 16 points, while Chuck Eidson chipped in 13. Tre Kelley (183-G-85, college: S.Carolina) finished the game with 18 points for the hosts. The last game is always a show for the spectators and many of them just come to support their team. Thanks to that Cibiona spurted with 8-0 run in the opening tip of the game. Vedran Princ buried a three-pointer for a 18:5 Cibona lead, but Rytas reduced to 23:17. The top-scorer Tre Kelley stroke from downtown to make it 37:22 in the second. At that time it was a moment to think that Croatian squad played better that the champion of the group. Slezas however kept shining with his three-pointers to get the guests within single digits at halftime. In the third quarter Sam Hoskin restored a 50:40 Cibona margin. Right after that the guests answered with 0-11 run. Jomantas kept Rytas ahead with 61:64 before the final quarter. In the last period Cibona recovered well and took 71:66 lead. Price gave his team 77:80 with a bit more than a minute to play. Rytas then never looked behind and reached 11-3 record to win the group.
Maccabi Tel Aviv clinches second place in Group B. An overtime thriller in Greece saw 94:101 road win over Aris TT Bank. Marcus Fizer (203-F-78, college: Iowa St.) was unstoppable with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Terence Morris supported him with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, while Esteban Batista scored 12 points. Jeremiah Massey produced 22 points and 11 rebounds in the losing effort. The Israeli champs finished the regular season with an 11-3 record. Aris fell to 7-7 and finished fifth in Group B. The opening quarter was the most offensive in the game as the spectators saw 51 points from both squads. The hosts were managed to take 27:24 lead thanks to Bracey Wright and Massey hit shots. In the second quarter it was Esteban Batista who kept Maccabi in front, 38:41. Sharp beat the halftime buzzer to let his team enter the locker rooms one step ahead of the hosts 43:45. With another 17:20 in the third the guests had 5 points before the final stanza. Castle fixed the final outcome of the quarter with a pair of free throws. In the end of the fourth Marcus Fizer kept his team ahead 80:84. Massey send the game into an extra period with a tip-in, 86:86. In overtime Maccabi proved the superiority being one of the top teams in the group. A 8:15 in it was a good proof for the 11th win.
Unicaja won over Efes Pilsen 87:77 to finish third in the group. With the victory, Unicaja finishes the regular season with 10-4 record, the best among the third placed teams in the competition. Marcus Haislip led Unicaja with a season-high 23 points, Carlos Cabezas added 14 and Boniface NDong had 11.
Le Mans outgunned Armani Jeans Milano 63:83 on the road in Group B. Luka Bogdanovic (206-F-85, agency: Beo Basket) top-scored for Le Mans with 17 points, while Phil Ricci added 16. Stefano Gentile and Dusan Vukcevic chipped in 12 points each for Milano.

Real Madrid won overtime thriller against Euroleague defending champion Panathinaikos 95:87 and become a top-seeded team in the Top 16. Madrid improved to 11-3 and finished second the Group C. Louis Bullock (186-G-76, college: Michigan) led the winners with 22 points. Raul Lopez and Lazaros Papadopoulos each added 14, while Vassilis Spanoulis led Panathinaikos with 22 points.
Barcelona beat Brose Baskets Bamberg 65:69 on the road to improve to 9-5 in Group C. Jaka Lakovic (186-G-78) top-scored with 15 points, while Jordi Trias collected 9 points, 20 rebounds and 6 assists. Darren Fenn added 10 points and 8 rebounds in a losing effort for the German champion.
Chorale Roanne overcame Lottomatica Roma 67:74 in Italy. The French champs improve to 4-10 and finish the regular season in seventh place in Group C. Roma dropped to 6-8, finishes the regular season in sixth place and will be a fourth-level seed at Monday's Top 16 Draw in Madrid. Pape Badiane (208-F/C-80, college: Cleveland St.) led the winners with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Marc Salyers (205-F-79, college: Samford) had 13 points and 8 rebounds and Rush finished with 10 points.
Partizan Igokea proved that the team deserves a place in Top 16 defeating Fenerbahce Ulker 86:91 in Istanbul. Nikola Pekovic (210-C-86, agency: Beo Basket) led the winners with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Will Solomon (187-G-78, college: Clemson) finished with 22 points and 6 assists in the losing effort.

Korisliiga, Round 29-30: Only one game tonight. Torpan Pojat (Helsinki) visiting KTP (Kotka) and once again Torpan Pojat winning the close game with three
Americans, two Finnish adults and three juniors. Five players out of eight finally in double figures. Tyson Patterson (175-G-78, college: Appalachian St.) led ToPo with 25 pts and giving 10 assists. Jerald Fields (201-F-82, agency: Edge Sports, college: E.Tenn.St.) (last season on KTP roster) added 17 pts and grabbing 13 rbs. Elias Kajander (196-F-80) netted 16 pts. Steve Smith (200-F-81, agency: CAA Sports, college: Iona) (KTP) had game high 34 pts. Jari Vekkila (192-G-75) scored 17 and Jermaine Spivey (189-G-72, agency: Warren Sports, college: New Orleans) 11 pts. Torpan Pojat on the top with 26-3 record.

KTP - Torpan Pojat 95-99 (47-57) (Steve Smith 34/12, Jari Vekkila 17, Jermaine Spivey 11 - Tyson Patterson 25/10a, Jerald Fields 17/13, Elias Kajander 16).

Even though this week was not the most feasible one for the three Greek teams in Euroleague, that didn't stop any of them in participating in the Top 16 European teams for 2007-2008. In regards to the games in details:

Olympiakos lost another European game, this time at home against the Italians from Siena. Gershon's position is more difficult than ever, after losing in Thessaloniki and all the hopes for the first position of the regular time in the Greek league, there is now the fifth place in his Group with all the home disadvantages which will follow.

An amazing fourth quarter from Terrell McIntyre helped the Italian champs become the first team to beat Olympiacos at home this season, 73-80. Olympiacos used a big second period to take control, leading by as many as 12 points ending the halftime with 31-41. In the third period, Olympiacos with a 14-3 tie the game and went ahead early in the fourth. Marc Jackson and Lynn Greer put the hosts up 62-55. However that's when McIntyre took over, going for 4 three-pointers and 15 points to put Montepaschi in control. Shaun Stonerook iced the game with a critical triple that made it 71-77 with less than a minute to go as the visitors swiped a nice road win. McIntyre led Montepaschi with 19 points, Ksistof Lavrinovic scored 16, Vlado Ilievski 13 and Stonerook added 11. Jackson was Olympiacos's best player with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, Greer added 14 points and Yiannis Bourousis had 10.

Real Madrid's beat the triple crowner of 07, team of Panathinaikos in a game which needed an overtime to judge the winner. The final score was 95-87.
In front of 15,000 fans in the Spanish capital, the basketball friends watched a very balanced game but Panathinaikos was hurt without three important players (Winston Tsartsaris and Alvertis) and with Prkcin having less than a week in the team.

Defense was the key to this game and Real Madrid proved to be made of steel, as Joan Plaza did a good job in Vistalegre. Real Madrid's players were much more motivated than the Greeks and they proved it on the court. The amazing Bullock's 60 seconds where he scored 9 consecutive points and finished the game. Papadopoulos, Reyes and Bullock were great, especially the American, he was amazing in the overtime and he was definitely the MVP of the game as he proved against Spanoulis's defense that he still remains a scoring machine, he was the player to kill all the green dreams in less than a minute.

Bullock led the winners with 22 points on 8-for-8 free throws. Raul Lopez and Lazaros Papadopoulos (210-C-80) each added 14. Alex Mumbru had 12 while Felipe Reyes got 10 for Madrid. Vassilis Spanoulis led Panathinaikos with 22 points. Mike Batiste added 16, Sarunas Jasikevicius had 13 while Nikos Hatzivrettas and Sani Becirovic each got 10 points for the Greens, that rallied from a double-digit margin to get a 80-81 with a minute to go. A triple by Lopez and a tip-in by Batiste sent the game to overtime, as Mumbru missed free throws with 3.6 seconds to go in regulation. Bullock simply took over in the extra period to make Madrid the best second-ranked team in the competition.

In the third European court, where a Greek team was trying to move further to the fourth spot of the Group, in Alexandreion Melathron, Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv hung on for a thrilling 94-101 overtime victory over Aris TT Bank to clinch second place in Group B. Jeremiah Massey's tip-in with 10 seconds to go in regulation forced, overtime but Maccabi regained its momentum quickly and held on to win it as Will Bynum iced the game with 2 free throws with 14.1 seconds remaining. Marcus Fizer led six Maccabi scorers in double figures with season-highs of 28 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out in the extra period. Terence Morris came through with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, while Esteban Batista added 12 points, Yotam Halperin 11 and Derrick Sharp and Vonteego Cummings scored 10 each. Jeremiah Massey paced Aris with 22 points and 11 rebounds, Dimitris Tsaldaris scored 19 and dished 5 assists, Bracey Wright netted 17 and Darius Washington posted 11 points and 7 assists.

According to most of the Greek Sports newspapers and most of the sports sites, the Head coach of the Greek National Team Panagiotis Giannakis is the new Head Coach of Olympiakos replacing the Israeli Head Coach Pini Gershon . Giannakis will remain in the Hellenic National team too as he already spoke to Mr. Vassilakopoulos confirming him about the new situation. According to the same sources, Panagiotis Giannakis will keep the two out of the three assistant coaches as Giannis Sferopoulos and Chris Marmarinos will remain in the Red team. Furthermore, there will be some changes in tehe rosters as there is a small possibility that Greer will not remain with the Reds.

It is more than obvious that these news are changing totally the overall picture of the Greek league as the psychology and the passion of the Greek head coach will be transmitted to the red players.

In some other news Jurica Golemac (209-F-77) agred terms with Panellinios