Xavi Pascual and David Blatt have to be the happiest of all Euroleague coaches right now.
With two teams going through to the quarter-finals, Barcelona and Maccabi Electra drew surprise package Bennet Cantu and Zalgiris in Group H, with the other three pools equally balanced.
It was a fantastic achievement for Bennet Cantu and Zalgiris that they qualified for the Top 16, more-so the Lithuanians due to their off-court problems at the start of the campaign and advancing despite losing five of their first six games.
While good on the defensive end, Cantu struggle for major scoring threats, illustrated by their averages. Only one player is scoring in double-digits as we head into the Top 16 (Vladimir Micov – 10.5ppg). They need other players desperately to step-up and keep the scoreboard ticking, as I just don’t see them hanging on defensively against Euroleague veteran sides like Barca and Maccabi.
Zalgiris deserve our respect for qualifying, their win at home to Unicaja Malaga in week seven gave them so much confidence and belief that they could reach the Top 16 and an 87-76 success over KK Zagreb ensured their progress. Overcoming the sacking of Illas Zouros after the first week, Ty Lawson’s outburst on Twitter about the team’s training sessions and DeJuan Collins being sent back to Kaunas after partying in Moscow less than 24 hours before the game at CSKA. Zalgiris have remained focused on the court.
But how much in the tank do Zalgiris truly have? They have mainly been led by ex-Toronto Raptors forward Sonny Weems, who has carried the load on the scoring front, and the addition of Dainius Salenga after a one-year break will help too. But Zalgiris is a team that hasn’t really gelled properly. Switching coaches, losing Lawson to the NBA and acquiring new players may boost team chemistry, but it doesn’t happen right away.
Group F promises to be an exciting group as Montepaschi Siena might as well re-locate to Spain for six weeks as they face three ACB sides which is unusual for a Top 16 group to say the least.
They will be tested against Real Madrid, but should be able to best Bilbao and Unicaja. Let’s make no mistake though, they won’t be easy.
Going to break my neutral Euroleague stance and highlight who I think will qualify to the quarter-finals. We will preview the Top 16 in our first podcast of 2012 which will be up in the first weeks of January.
Group E – CSKA Moscow, Olympiacos, Anadolu Efes, Galatasaray.
Group F – Real Madrid, Montepaschi Siena, Unicaja, Gescrap Bilbao.
Group G – Fenerbahce, Panathinaikos, Unics Kazan, Emporio Armani Milano.
Group H – Barcelona, Maccabi Electra, Bennet Cantu, Zalgiris.
