The Top 16 is getting closer and closer. Which teams do you think will get out of the group stage and in what order? Here are my predictions:
1st Seed: Olympiacos, Tau Ceramica, Barcelona, CSKA
2nd Seed: Unicaja, Siena, Real Madrid, Fenerbahce
3rd Seed: Maccabi, Panathinaikos, Efes Pilsen, Berlin
4th Seed: Cibona, Nancy, Joventut, Panionios
Just for the heck of it, here are my predicted groups:
GROUP E: Barcelona, Fenerbahce, Maccabi, Nancy
GROUP F: CSKA, Real Madrid, Panathinaikos, Joventut (group of death)
GROUP G: Olympiacos, Siena, Berlin, Panionios
GROUP H: Tau, Unicaja, Efes, Cibona
It's a tough question. Knowing that I always fail in predictions I still try to make one
Group D is very tricky with only CSKA having a ticket to Top 16.
1st Seed: Olympiacos, Tau Ceramica, Barcelona, CSKA
2nd Seed: Unicaja, Siena, Real Madrid, Lottomatica
3rd Seed: Maccabi, Panathinaikos, Efes Pilsen, Joventut
4th Seed: Cibona, Asseco Prokom, Fenerbahce, Partizan
Teams in Top 16 so far: Unicaja, Olympiacos, Maccabi, Cibona, Barcelona, Montepaschi, Panathinaikos, TAU Ceramica, Lottomatica, Fenerbahce, CSKA Moscow, Real Madrid.
So far all of them are on my list
I definitely can't see Nancy making the Top 16 when you look at their points differential. Aside from Rugby Union, that stat often tells us a great deal about the quality of the club when it comes to important contests. Sopot or Kaunas will likely get through I bet.
I will tell you guys that I'm very disappointed with Le Mans and especially Olimpija Ljubljana this campaign. Kobi knows how high I was on that team. I expected Olimpija to finish third in their group and they totally bombed.
I expected more from Olimpija as well. Joventut are another team that disappointed me with their quality of play, but then again they were missing Rubio for a long time. Partizan lost some very close games and are better than their record implies.
Olimpija and Badalona didn't meet expectations but Alba Berlin's great performance should not be undervalued. They are hard to beat at their home and made it through with an important away win against Badalona last week. Congratulations to the Germans...
Quote:Olimpija and Badalona didn't meet expectations but Alba Berlin's great performance should not be undervalued. They are hard to beat at their home and made it through with an important away win against Badalona last week. Congratulations to the Germans...
I agree, I honestly did not expect them to do much this season.
Now that we know all the teams in Top 16 we can compare them to our predictions.
1st Seed: Unicaja, Barcelona, Tau Ceramica, CSKA Moscow
2nd Seed: Olympiacos, Montepaschi, Real Madrid, Lottomatica
3rd Seed: Maccabi, Panathinaikos, Fenerbahce, Armani Jeans
4th Seed: Cibona, Asseco Prokom, Alba Berlin, Partizan
Kobi got 12 out of 16 correct. I made 2 mistakes.
Quote:The Top 16 stage will be played from January 28 to March 12, 2009.
The draw will be made on February 19 at ULEB headquarters in Barcelona. The group winners in regular season will be drawn from one pot, the runners up from one pot, the teams in 3rd place from one pot and those in 4th place from one pot. Teams that played in the same group in regular season can't meet again in the Top 16. Also, teams from the same country will not be drawn together if possible.
Source: Wikipedia
Actually the draw takes place next Monday (January 19). The author of that article got the date wrong. Euroleague won't have a month-long break
That's good to know, it seemed a bit excessive. I hate waiting for these types of things to take place, just like how I used to be with the NBA Draft. lol