I feel like that title is really going to draw the eyeballs to this video. Who wouldn’t want to see two ex-NBAers making pizza zings to each other (I am guessing) while they’re sitting in a hot tub and one of them is learning Russian from a lady in a bikini? That is pretty much the American dream at this point. Enjoy it.
(via Ball in Europe)
As we take a step back to look at week four’s Euroleague action, it is safe to say that things are heating up. Not only have the games been fantastic and competitive, another eight games last week were decided by less than 10 points. As the regular season continues, we are starting to see a lot of teams bunching together — group A’s first place and last place teams are separated by just one game in the loss column — meaning each game and each moment is all the more important. Here, we are going to take yet another look at two key plays from week four of the Euroleague.
Josh Shipp’s Smart Cut Helps Seal the Game
Up six points with about two-and-a-half minutes left in their game against Olimpija, Galatasaray Medical Park were looking for a basket to clinch the game. A lot of player movement by Galatasaray was able to set up Josh Shipp and put him in a position to make a smart cut off his defender to get open for the basket that effectively ended the game.
We pick up the play at the top of the key near halfcourt after Galatasaray inbounded the ball from the baseline. Once the ball gets near halfcourt, Shipp and his teammate interchange with Shipp going from the block to the wing while his teammate replaces him.
Week 3 in the Euroleague is where things really started to heat up, as six of the week’s 12 games were decided by single digits. Even better, two of these six games were decided by a late possession, requiring the team that had just pulled ahead to get a stop. In this week’s edition of Savvy/Shabby, we are going to look at one team who did a good job of getting a stop and another who couldn’t finish the possession and ended up losing because of it.
Caja Laboral’s Team Defense Gets a Stop
After a basket that gave Caja Laboral a 2-point lead with 1.7 seconds left, they found themselves trying to stop Olympiacos in a sideline out of bounds situation.
On a pretty well run set, Olympiacos is trying to get the ball to one of three players, all set up on the weak side of the court.
Until at least late November, the world’s best professional basketball is being played overseas. Perhaps the most competitive is Euroleague, a league where the top teams in Europe face off against each other once a week. With real basketball going on, it makes sense to bring back Savvy/Shabby with a focus primarily on the Euroleague.
CSKA Moscow’s Zone Offense
Euroleague 2011-2012 kicked off on Monday as CSKA Moscow faced off against Zalgiris Kaunas. During their first defensive possession of the second quarter, Zalgiris tried to throw a zone at CSKA Moscow but CSKA was able to counter with some fantastic player moving, stretching the zone, and creating a wide-open jump shot.
We pick up CSKA Moscow’s set right after the ball gets sent to the wing. Once that happens, you have all five players off the basketball taking off and moving. You first have the offensive player on the weakside block flashing to the basketball. As that happens, Alexey Shved comes from the opposite wing and heads to the strong side corner. Once Shved leaves, Milos Teodosic replaces him, creating space and allowing the fourth and final player off of the ball to fill his spot at the top of the key. Once that top of the key spot is filled, the ball gets swung around.
If you were wondering if the Macarena was still popular anywhere on Earth, the answer is yes. But only in Russia.
And Andrei Kirilenko is pretty bad at it.
(via Monilogue)
You guys, not only does Adam Morrison look really great playing for Red Star Belgrade, he is also really good at basketball again, I guess. 30 points, in a game that actually matters? He hasn’t scored that many points in almost five years, since Stephen Jackson and Sarunas Jasikevicius were Pacers and Jake Voskuhl and Sean May were in the league.
Good for him. Can you even imagine if Adam Morrison played himself back in to an NBA contract by dominating the Euroleague? It’s mindbogglingly to even consider.
(via Jose3030)
The EuroLeague is a club basketball competition that mimics the Champions’ League in soccer. Basically, this league takes the 16 best teams in Europe (mostly league champions with some leagues getting two or three spots) and allows them to play each other to determine Europe’s club champion. While the regular season for EuroLeague doesn’t start until October 17th, last week had 16 teams fighting for the final two spots (14 teams automatically qualify, two teams have to fight through qualifying rounds) in a single elimination tournament. Here is the best and the worst from that tournament.
Lietuvos Rytas’ Quick Hitter to Close the Quarter
Up by six points with the third quarter winding down, Lietuvos Rytas had the ball looking to get a big bucket to extend the lead. Opting not to go for two, Rytas made sure they worked the clock and got a really good look out of it.
Once the ball gets to the top of the key, Predrag Samardziski sets a screen for Simas Buterlevicius, allowing him to pop out on the wing and make himself available for the basketball. In this set, Samardziski is basically your designated screener.
