23/24 European basketball discussion: Euroleague/BBL/ACB/LegaA/LNB/TBL..

[LTU_btc]

Have you seen the Anadolu Efes - Milano game? The third quarter was spectacular for the Turkish side. I mean a 30-7 quarter score by saying that. 

They really made me worried in the last quarter despite winning though. The main issue for Anadolu Efes was with defending in this game. They just couldn't defend inside well. I can't say they were good against outside shot attempts either.    It was at least nice to see some progress in set play. I couldn't see it in the previous home game against Monaco much.

What do you think on their chance to reach playoffs stage?

Difficultto say something about Efes now. It was just their first game after coach Can was sacked. It's common that after manager change team gets some moral boost and win few games, but it doesn't always works in long distance. But with their current roster and return of injured players they have potential to fight for play-in spot

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[1714749456]

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[ILuckyGuyI]

Difficultto say something about Efes now. It was just their first game after coach Can was sacked. It's common that after manager change team gets some moral boost and win few games, but it doesn't always works in long distance. But with their current roster and return of injured players they have potential to fight for play-in spot

Yeah it was the first game for Tomislav Mijatovic after the previous coach Erdem Can's departure. It is a good start for Mijatovic honestly but he looks like an interim coach for Anadolu Efes for now. The board want to give him a chance before finding a new coach.

Larkin and Pleiss took a big responsibility in the Monaco game. Darius Thompson needs to improve his game again. He was great in the Bologna and Real Madrid games by scoring 20+ points. If he also makes a bigger effort in the remaining games Anadolu Efes would be more hopeful for playoffs. 

[casperBGD]

~snip
If he also makes a bigger effort in the remaining games Anadolu Efes would be more hopeful for playoffs. 

Efes won this round opener against Maccabi, and it is now 2 loses/wins from entering play-off position (10th place)
again above 100 points, Efes resolved the match in last quarter, and Larkin was on top of his game, with 20+ points contribution

Partizan is playing against Bayern at home, and it can't go without being down in 2nd half, Bayern is currently leading 5 points (25:30) as type this
hopefully, we will turn table around in second half, as usual, really important match to stay in the race for play-off

[LTU_btc]

Efes had to play their home game in Riga, Latvia, but they felt like at home. They got very solid win against direct competitor and now just 2 wins away from play-in zone.
Milan - Real, in 2nd half Milan had 21 point lead, but that's not enough to feel confident because Real is team that never give up. They made strong comeback in 4th quarter, but Milan survives somehow and got very rare win vs Real, just 5th in XXI century if I hear right.
Wow, such painful defeat for Partizan at home. They had chances to close game in 4th quarter, didn't managed to do it and paid huge price. I really can't understand how it happened that Kaminsky was left to defend against Francisco... And still, Punter was so close from winning game in 0.8 seconds

[AHOYBRAUSE]

Is someone watching the woman's olympic qualifiers which are taking place since yesterday?
There are some great games in the books already. Japan made it rain from 3 beating Spain in the "group of death (other teams Canada and Hungary).
Team USA came from behind after being down big against Belgium. After the comeback in the 4th Belgium took the lead again shortly before the end but USA won by 2, really sad because Belgium really deserved it ( they have been a 16 point underdog by the way ) .

Right now is Canada vs Spain which is a tough battle again.
Normally I am not a big fan of woman's basketball, especially WNBA is a joke. Woman's euroleague on the other hand is fun to watch because there is often some nice atmosphere as well.
Anyway, let's see who gets the tickets for the Olympics this year. I'm routing for Germany and Japan, my 2 homes.

[LTU_btc]

Yesterday I forgot to mention one extremely rare thing in Euroleague - Baskonia's Codi Miller-McIntyre achieved triple double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 20 assists. It's just 4th triple double in Euroleague's history. And also, 20 assists is new record.
Looks that Crvena Zvezda will have to play next one or few games without spectators. Even if referees did mistake there, it doesn't gives right you to start throwing stuff to referees and players. While Zalgiris is on fire, they won 4 from 5 recent Euroleague games and getting closer to playins. Coach Trinchieri really changed face of team.
Panathinaikos got nice win vs Fenerbahche, they got advantage in 2nd quarter and didn't let their opponents into striking distance until the end. And Virtus - Monaco, great game between two similar level teams, just someone has to lose it and it was Virtus this time.
No Euroleague next week as we have time dedicated for National Cups.

Is someone watching the woman's olympic qualifiers which are taking place since yesterday?
There are some great games in the books already. Japan made it rain from 3 beating Spain in the "group of death (other teams Canada and Hungary).
Team USA came from behind after being down big against Belgium. After the comeback in the 4th Belgium took the lead again shortly before the end but USA won by 2, really sad because Belgium really deserved it ( they have been a 16 point underdog by the way ) .

Have nothing against womens basketball, but in general, I only watch it when my national team is playing. After watching mens basketball, it's not easy to watch women's basketball with lover speed, less phisicality and other stuff. I didn't even knew that there is Olympic qualification now. Why USA and France is playing there, despite already having spot in Olympics as World Cup winners or hosts?

[LTU_btc]

There is no Euroleague games this and next week, but it doesn't means that we won't have good basketball soon. This week in most countries is dedicated to national cups - Spain, Italy, France, Turkey, Lithuania, Serbia, Germany, Greece and so on. Some have Final 8, some Final 4 tournament, but due to nature of tournament, it delivers plenty of upsets usually.
I'm going to follow Lithuanian cups  for obvious reasons and Spanish cup most closely. But will tune in some games or final at least in Turkey, France or Germany if schedule won't overlap. Also, it's possible to have big derbies like Partizan Crvena Zvezda or Pao - Olympiacos in Serbia and Greece, but watching it comfrtable on big screen will be more difficult as these cups aren't shown on TV in my country.
Gran Canaria playing with Valencia and despite that Valencia is Euroleague team, I wouldn't call them favorites. In other 1/4 final Real vs Murcia, don't see any surprises here.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

There is no Euroleague games this and next week, but it doesn't means that we won't have good basketball soon. This week in most countries is dedicated to national cups - Spain, Italy, France, Turkey, Lithuania, Serbia, Germany, Greece and so on. Some have Final 8, some Final 4 tournament, but due to nature of tournament, it delivers plenty of upsets usually.
I'm going to follow Lithuanian cups  for obvious reasons and Spanish cup most closely. But will tune in some games or final at least in Turkey, France or Germany if schedule won't overlap. Also, it's possible to have big derbies like Partizan Crvena Zvezda or Pao - Olympiacos in Serbia and Greece, but watching it comfrtable on big screen will be more difficult as these cups aren't shown on TV in my country.
Gran Canaria playing with Valencia and despite that Valencia is Euroleague team, I wouldn't call them favorites. In other 1/4 final Real vs Murcia, don't see any surprises here.

Yeah this weekend is not so good in my opinion. I am not really interested in cup games for whatever reason.
In the NBA there is also the all star weekend, so there nothing to watch over there as well. 

Maybe I will play some basketball myself for a change, this week I went for the first time after the winter and it really was fun to enjoy some fresh air while shooting hoops outside.

[LTU_btc]

We already have some upsets in 1/4 finals of cups. In Italy Virtus got eliminated by Reggiana, in France Asvel were beaten by Nanterre. In Spain Gran Canaria managed to send game to overtime with great buzzer-beater https://twitter.com/ACBCOM/status/1758252031540682995, but in overtime Valencia left no chance for them.

Yeah this weekend is not so good in my opinion. I am not really interested in cup games for whatever reason.
In the NBA there is also the all star weekend, so there nothing to watch over there as well. 

Maybe I will play some basketball myself for a change, this week I went for the first time after the winter and it really was fun to enjoy some fresh air while shooting hoops outside.

Personally I like cups, single game elimination means that that underdogs get bigger chance and there is plenty of upsets. NBA, I don't follow regular season, don't even talk about All star weekend, it's boring.
Basketball outside - good for. Here in Lithuania it's still too cold. We have no snow now, but still too cold, I think that we can shoot some hoops outside no earlier than middle of March.

[casperBGD]

-snip
Basketball outside - good for. Here in Lithuania it's still too cold. We have no snow now, but still too cold, I think that we can shoot some hoops outside no earlier than middle of March.

in Serbia one can't usually play outside till mid March as well, but this year is different, almost no winter in Belgrade, just a few snowy days, and you could play in January, but also now as well

regarding Serbian cup, it will be one more big derby in this season final, but I expect us to lose

[LTU_btc]

As expected, cup semifinals delivered many surprising results. Despite it, in few countries we will have traditional finals like El Clasico in Spain and Panathinaikos - Olympiacos in Greece. Both Real and Barca left no chance completely for their opponents, I expected to see close games. Pao and Oly also reached final confidently.
In Germany Alba lost to Ulm, not sure that we can call it as big surprise, Ulm is German champions after all. They will face Bayern in final.
In France no Euroleague teams in the final. In semifinal Monaco lost to Paris in very close game. Will be very surprised if Paris leader TJ Shorts won't be signed by Euroleague team next season. So, we will have Paris - Nanterre in the final.
In Lithuania Zalgiris vs Lietkabelis in the final. My team Rytas failed to reach final 4 year in a row, 3rd time with same coach. I think it's best indicator that time for change already come...
In Italy Olimpia Milano reached final easy and they will face Napoli who won vs Reaggiana after overtime.
EDIT
Forgot Turkey, but nothing unexpected there - Efes vs Fenerbahche in the final.

regarding Serbian cup, it will be one more big derby in this season final, but I expect us to lose

Your fears weren't without a reason as Crvena Zvezda won in the final. Hard to tell something without watching game, just sorry for your team loss...

[AHOYBRAUSE]

snip

Yeah all over Europe there weren't many surprises. France with both EL teams busting out is the exception here.
I followed the Rytas game yesterday as well. Sure it was a surprise but their season is not as solid as usual.
Ulm winning versus ALBA is only a small upset, they have been a 3 point underdog only. Game was in Berlin though, never easy to win away from home.
Well, I'm glad when this weekend is over and the cups are gone. 

Very limited amount of games, not so entertaining for me, haha.

[LTU_btc]

I followed the Rytas game yesterday as well. Sure it was a surprise but their season is not as solid as usual.
Ulm winning versus ALBA is only a small upset, they have been a 3 point underdog only. Game was in Berlin though, never easy to win away from home.

Yeah, Rytas season isn't going well at all, but we are loosing against weaker teams on paper, I see potential in our squad. But with terrible BCL format we simply don't have enough serious games all season long, unlike in Eurocup and lack of experience hurts when it matters most.
Little correction, German final 4 was in Munich, not Berlin, where hosts Bayern beat Ulm in the final.
Biggest upset of weekend was in Italy where huge underdogs Napoli beat Milan in the final.
No interesting games this week as we have Eurobasket qualifiers, what is huge waste of time IMO. It's only strange that Euroleague made window for it, as previously national teams had to play without Euroleague players.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

FIBA Eurobasket qualifiers are on the way and we have already seen a small surprise with Denmark beating Georgia at home. They were down double digit in the 3rd but rallied to come back and win the game.

Actually for me this was not SO surprising since of course Georgia has Shengaila and Shermandini, but that's almost about it.
Most of the players play in some small leagues, nothing worth mentioning. Denmark on the other hand has more international players, so I really thought they have a good chance, and they proved me right.

All other favorites that played yesterday (France, Serbia, Greece) won yesterday.
I am eager to see team Germany after winning the world cup last summer. Obviously they bring back a very changed team since all the NBA players are overseas. Hopefully they can start strong in Bulgaria. We beat Montenegro with ease at home but this is an away game. Now we are world number 3, we have to perform that way.  

[casperBGD]

~snip
All other favorites that played yesterday (France, Serbia, Greece) won yesterday.

Serbia won easily yesterday, and we are in that group with Denmark and Georgia

should be an easy pass for us in this group, especially since 3 teams are going further from 4 teams in the group
can't avoid to say that this qualifications are pretty meaningless on this format, where a lot of teams are passing into next stage, and most stars don't even play on these matches
NBA is playing along, and their stars are not even considered for this qualifications

[LTU_btc]

Serbia won easily yesterday, and we are in that group with Denmark and Georgia

should be an easy pass for us in this group, especially since 3 teams are going further from 4 teams in the group
can't avoid to say that this qualifications are pretty meaningless on this format, where a lot of teams are passing into next stage, and most stars don't even play on these matches
NBA is playing along, and their stars are not even considered for this qualifications

Yeah, this qualification is almost meaningless. We have 4 teams in group and 3 of them directly qualify to Eurobasket and there is 4 teams who already qualified as hosts - Poland, Latvia, Finland and Cyprus. I don't understand why they play in this qualifers.
For the first time sine current format was introduced, we have Euroleague players available to play as Euroleague made a window in their tournament. So, at least we don't see B or C teams playing. Previously some big teams like Slovenia, Latvia or Croatia become victim of such format - they lost biggest stars and they don't have big pool of average level players to replace them. Outcome of this - failing to qualify to major tournaments.

[LTU_btc]

So, Spain ends this window with 2 loses, Germany lost to Bulgaria, Lithuania to Estonia, but c'mon, what kind of basketball we have with results like 58-53 or 64-52.
Don't know how about you, but I hate that rules allow to hire random Anerican to play for national team like it would be club. Like Codi Miller - Mccintyre playing for Bulgaria or Zach Leday for Azerbaijan, it's just ridiculous.
Finally it's over, can't wait for Euroleague to see some proper basketball.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

So, Spain ends this window with 2 loses, Germany lost to Bulgaria, Lithuania to Estonia, but c'mon, what kind of basketball we have with results like 58-53 or 64-52.
Don't know how about you, but I hate that rules allow to hire random Anerican to play for national team like it would be club. Like Codi Miller - Mccintyre playing for Bulgaria or Zach Leday for Azerbaijan, it's just ridiculous.
Finally it's over, can't wait for Euroleague to see some proper basketball.

Yeah Germany really made a fool of themselves yesterday.
I don't know why they didn't use players from ALBA or Bayern. So strange. Not even 30 points in the first half. At that point I thought it can only get better, man how wrong I was, haha.
15-18 point dog Bulgaria showed us how minimalistic basketball can lead to a win, haha.

I am also not a fan of "buying players" and bringing them into the national team. I mean we also did this in the past with Chris Kaman and lately with Nick Weiler-Babb. But at least these guys have some German descent.

[casperBGD]

Don't know how about you, but I hate that rules allow to hire random Anerican to play for national team like it would be club.
~snip

fully agree, and this is in full swing in basketball
when I saw South Sudan on WC, it was all american team

but, Euroleague is back to our plate tomorrow, and Partizan is a host to Efes, each game is important, but this one can put us down from play-off hopes, if we lose it
and we were in really bad shape prior to this break
hope to see a win in Arena tomorrow, odds are on our side, but Efes is rising lately

[AHOYBRAUSE]

Don't know how about you, but I hate that rules allow to hire random Anerican to play for national team like it would be club.
~snip

fully agree, and this is in full swing in basketball
when I saw South Sudan on WC, it was all american team

but, Euroleague is back to our plate tomorrow, and Partizan is a host to Efes, each game is important, but this one can put us down from play-off hopes, if we lose it
and we were in really bad shape prior to this break
hope to see a win in Arena tomorrow, odds are on our side, but Efes is rising lately

It's time the real international basketball is back.
This FIBA window was a snooze fest and outside of that there wasn't really something going on basketball wise (except NBA and NCAA of course).

Tonight there are also some Euroleague and Eurocup woman games which look quite interesting. Since the atmosphere is mostly quite nice in these games I might tune in for a bit.