Final Four 2009

[kobimel]

Sorry, no time for a great preview like last year's, but this will have to do:

The Final Four marks the end of the Euroleague season. The two matchups are:

CSKA Moscow (defending champs) vs Barcelona

and

Olympiacos vs Panathinaikos

The first game features the defending champs and always one of the favorites to win it all, CSKA, and the Spanish giant Barcelona. I'm picking CSKA to win, 88-77. They're good enough to control the game and handle Barcelona pretty well.

The second game is very interesting, as it features the top two Greek teams in the Euroleague, the bitter rivals Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. They'll be meeting each other in the Final Four for the first time in 15 years, so there is sure to be a lot of tension and some great fans. I'm picking Olympiacos to start slow but eventually win, 78-72.

The semi-final games will be on NBATV on May 1st, at 6:00 and 8:00 PM EST. The final game will be on May 3rd, at 8:00 PM EST.

Key Players:

CSKA- Ramunas Siskauskas (Lithuania), Matjaz Smodis (Slovenia), J.R. Holden (USA/Russia), Trajan Langdon (USA), Erazem Lorbek (Slovenia)

Olympiacos- Theodoros Papaloukas (Greece), Josh Childress (USA), Nikola Vujcic (Croatia), Lynn Greer (USA), Ioaniss Bourousis (Greece)

Panathinaikos- Vassilis Spanoulis (Greece), Mike Batiste (USA), Drew Nicholas (USA), Dimitris Diamantidis (Greece), Nikola Pekovic (Montenegro), Sarunas Jasikevicius (Lithuania)

Barcelona- Jaka Lakovic (Slovenia), Juan Carlos Navarro (Spain), Ersan Ilyasova (Turkey), David Andersen (Denmark), Gianluca Basile (Italy)

Other Familiar Faces:

Zoran Planinic (CSKA Moscow), former Net
Victor Khryapa (CSKA Moscow), former Nets draft pick, traded to Portland

Fran Vasquez (Barcelona), Magic lottery pick
Andre Barrett (Barcelona), Seton Hall graduate
Sasha Kaun (CSKA Moscow), Kansas graduate
Jannero Pargo (Olympiacos), played for Hornets last season

Giorgi Shermadini (Panathinaikos), 2010 draft prospect

[demens]

Familiar names out of the key players, for me atleast
T. Langdon from Duke
Childress obviously.
Sarunas
J.C. Navarro, not sure why
Ilyasova from Bucks, remember him cause he has a girls last name.

[Kid Chocolate]

How does one have a girls last name? wtf?


I got CSKA over Olympiakos (hopefully!) in the finals.

I'm more confident in CSKA making the finals, because the PAO and Olympiakos is gonna be a crazy intense game, but I'm rooting for the Reds (Olympiakos).

[kobimel]

Navarro played for the Grizzlies for one season in 2007-2008 putting up 10.9 ppg and making the All Rookie 2nd Team. He returned to Spain the next year.

[demens]

Thanks for the reminder.

How does one have a girls last name? wtf?

In some languages the endings are different. Dont know about Turkish, but many Eastern European countries have a difference in "OV" for males to "OVA" for females. For example, Aleksiy Pecherov from the Wizards, if he had a wife, her last name would be Pecherova. Or Maria Sharapova fathers last name is Sharapov.

[Kid Chocolate]

Awesome games yesterday.

CSKA came back after being down for 3 quarters to beat Barcelona 82-78 behind 29 points from Ramunas Siskauskas (11 straight at one point, 18 in the 4th quarter). Trajan Langdon was the only other CSKA player in double figures with 15 pts (6-7 fg). Former NBA'er Viktor Khryapa had 9 pts, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, and PG JR Holden had a good all around game with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and only 1 TO.
David Andersen led Barcelona with 24, and JC Navarro chipped in with 13.


Panathinaikos led from the get-go, in an intensely close game, and held on against bitter rival Olympiacos, winning 84-82.
Ioannis Bourousis and Josh Childress had chances to tie the game in the end of regulation, but neither could connect for Olympiacos, giving Panathinaikos the win.
2008 NBA draftee Nikola Pekovic had 20 points in under 20 minutes and Mike Batiste had 19 points in 20 minutes (combined 14-19 fg), proving too much down low for Olympiacos. Vassilis Spanoulis had 18 points for the Greens, also.
Olympiacos was led by former Temple Owl and Milwaukee Buck Lynn Greer's 18 points. Nikola Vujcic added 14, while Bourousis had 10 pts and 7 rebs. Josh Childress added 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals for the Reds.

[kobimel]

Two very fun games. I had no idea Barcelona had that kind of firepower, especially early on in the game...I really underestimated Lakovic. He's an incredible player. I've seen them play a bunch of times, but never that well...despite an off night from Basile.

Saras with a performance that I would have expected from him 5 years ago...very impressive.

Lynn Greer continues to be Olympiacos' man.

Pekovic was dominant right off the bat...Vujcic didn't stand a chance against him.

Andersen showed up when it mattered most, despite a relatively disappointing season with Barcelona.

Finally, CSKA continued to work like a well-oiled machine for the most part. Siskauskas and Langdon never fail to perform in the Final Four. I've got them beating Panathinaikos in the finals...lets say 83-80.

[kobimel]

Well, Panathinaikos won. Saras has now won 4 Euroleague titles with 3 different teams.

[Kid Chocolate]

. CSKA played like poop in the first half.

[MyNetsForLife]

Is "Saras" also a girl's last name?

[Kid Chocolate]

Saras is Sarunas Jasikevicius' nickname.