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baldur wrote:

yannisk wrote:

baldur wrote:
What kind of example is that? EuroLeague is an international competition whereas the nba is national, in which European domestic league, the location of the finals is predetermined? Use some logic first. Second, it is quite normal that choosing a city/country which has some basketball culture and team competing in EuroLeague in order not to organise the final four in front of the empty seats. Do you understand my points?

The point is that it has to be fair, I hope you can understand that, it's not that difficult.

it was in my response. you cant organize such a big event in front of empty seats in an irrelevant non-basketball lover country.

First of all F4 is a big event and having four teams involved will get the tickets sold. There was a succesful F4 in London recently, and British people don't give a sh*t about basketball. Is Germany such a basketball lover country that got two F4 recently? Turkey cares about basketball but do they care more than Lithuanians or Ex-Yugoslav countries?

The truth is they go for the big markets, I can understand it, but it does not mean it is fair.

yannisk wrote:

baldur wrote:

yannisk wrote:
The point is that it has to be fair, I hope you can understand that, it's not that difficult.

it was in my response. you cant organize such a big event in front of empty seats in an irrelevant non-basketball lover country.

First of all F4 is a big event and having four teams involved will get the tickets sold. There was a succesful F4 in London recently, and British people don't give a sh*t about basketball. Is Germany such a basketball lover country that got two F4 recently? Turkey cares about basketball but do they care more than Lithuanians or Ex-Yugoslav countries?

The truth is they go for the big markets, I can understand it, but it does not mean it is fair.

you are right. maybe we should assume it as fair as it could be? i mean of course there is no systematic and just way of electing the hosting city. lobbies, money can obviously play important roles in selecting criteria. I am curious as to what solution you would propose to make it fairer?

"Žalgiris" was robbed yesterday. I am objective person, but that was painful. A better team lost in a super emotional thriller. Oh, being poor beggar is no fun in life.
"Žalgiris" has two very important home games against direct rivals coming up: "Maccabi" and "Khimki". 1- 1 would be OK, 2-0 is expected, 0-2 would be ugly, heart crushing.
We just have to be patient and wait.

Sorry, but knowing that Calathes is a very poor shooter and you let him drive to the basket in the last second of the game is very naïve.

That's not robbery, it's stupidity.

burek3 wrote:Sorry, but knowing that Calathes is a very poor shooter and you let him drive to the basket in the last second of the game is very naïve.

That's not robbery, it's stupidity.

Zalgiris choked, that was painful. At least Z fans can be thankful they have Pangos, that guy is one of the biggest steals in entire competition. I thought it was all over on that last Zalgiris possession, but he still managed to create a shot and give them the lead.

In hindsight, that full court press didn't work at all. Its not that they allowed Calathes to drive, but the fact he shattered that press so easily.

The moment of truth for "Žalgiris". Today home game against Maccabi, week later home game against "Khimki". Both teams are direct competition in standings and in fight for the playoffs.
Why I say playoffs? Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz is #9 now. I checked their schedule of 10 remaining games. 6 at home, 4 on the road. At home they will play against "Khimki", "Žalgiris" and "Maccabi". Other 3 home games against teams with losing record: "Crvena Zvezda", "Brose Bamberg", "Anadolu Efes". It's pretty clear, that they are already in the mix, and will make the playoffs. That raises the question, who will be out? If "Žalgiris" wins both - they are almost there. If 1-1, huge headache. If 0-2, oh boy....
Let's take it step by step. A W today for "Žalgiris" would be HUGE.

After first quarter "Žalgiris" 26 - 20 "Maccabi". Keep it up, no turnovers, please.

Refs are unbelievable. Complete insanity.

OK, halftime. "Žalgiris" 53 - 46 "Maccabi". Perfect rebounding job by "Žalgiris" so far - only 1 offensive board for "Maccabi".

20 more minutes of nail biting ahead

Zalgiris is read hot from down town so far.

UcanUwill wrote:Zalgiris is read hot from down town so far.

9/13, while Maccabi is 0/8.

Almost there. After the third "Žalgiris" 76 - 62 "Maccabi".

First job is done. "Žalgiris" took care of business. They looked better, they played better, worked like a well oiled machine. 99-84. And got an advantage in case of a tie-breaker (L in Tel-Aviv was 74-81).
Funny stat for "Žalgiris": 3FG 14/23 (60.9%), FT 13/21 (61.9%)

Barcelona now can fall down to 15th place. wow.

Barcelona is having dirk nowitzki syndrome with juan carlos navarro bottoming out.

Who do you got as DPOY? Main emerging candidates according to sportando are :

Bryant Dunston
Adam Hanga
Kyle Hines
Charles Jenkins
Kostas Papanikolaou
Vincent Poirier
Chris Singleton
Walter Tavares
Brad Wanamaker

UcanUwill wrote:Who do you got as DPOY? Main emerging candidates according to sportando are :

Bryant Dunston
Adam Hanga
Kyle Hines
Charles Jenkins
Kostas Papanikolaou
Vincent Poirier
Chris Singleton
Walter Tavares
Brad Wanamaker

EuroLeague is every bit as awful with this award as NBA is, maybe even worse. Like how Diamantidis was winning it in some years when he didn't even try on defense.

They never even seem to nominate the actual best defenders in the league.

Anyways, out of those players, Dunston is by far the best defender. He won't get the award though, since his team has a bad record.

But I mean...Poirer, Wannamaker....even Tavares can only play defense in the paint seriously stupid how they pick this award. Never mind that a lot of actual defensive stoppers never even get mentioned.

Kostas Sloukas is very underrated. Every time I see him, he looks like a star. Easily NBA caliber

UcanUwill wrote:Kostas Sloukas is very underrated. Every time I see him, he looks like a star. Easily NBA caliber

In talent and skills yes. But he's extremely inconsistent in his play, and his shot is super streaky. He's basically a poor, poor man's Spanoulis. I think he would be better than Calderon though in NBA.

WOW...3.4 seconds left, "Žalgiris" ahead 48-39, foul to give, yet, on offense "Žalgiris" makes a bad pass, out of bounds from CSKA basket play, and Wastermann, ex "Žalgiris" player hits the shot from the mid-court, with two guys covering him... Unbelievable. At least, "Žalgiris" had to have +9, now it's 48-42 during the halftime. Unfreakingbelievable.
20 more minutes to play. If "Žalgiris" will keep the quality of the play (though they didn't do anything extraordinarily, just good execution of the Šaras' game plan) - a W would be good for the final standings of Kaunas team. We'll see.
Good game, two good teams playing hard and smart.