Tau Ceramica vs. DKV Joventut - Game - Welcome to 7DAYS EuroCup

2008-09Regular SeasonRound 10

January 15, 2009 CET: 20:15

Local time: 20:15 FERNANDO BUESA ARENA

Tau Ceramica beat DKV Joventut 91-83

Tau Ceramica confirmed its status as the Group C champion by downing DKV Joventut 91-83 in Vitoria, Spain on Thursday night. Tau finished Group C with a 8-2 record and registered its fifth consecutive win. Meanwhile, Joventut was fifth at 4-6 and therefore out of the Top 16. Igor Rakocevic led the winners with 19 points. Tiago Splitter and Mustafa Shakur each added 18, Pete Mickeal had 13 while Sergi Vidal got 12 for Tau. Luka Bogdanovic led Joventut with 13 points. Jan Jagla and Edu Hernandez-Sonseca each added 12, Demond Mallet had 11 while Pau Ribas got 10 for DKV. Joventut led 21-24 after 10 minutes while Bogdanovic and an outstanding Jagla boosted the guests' margin to 39-51 late in the first half. It didn't last long, however, as Rakocevic and Splitter led a 17-0 run that allowed Tau to get a 56-51 edge early in the third quarter. A three-pointer by Ferran Laviña gave the guests their last lead, 58-59. Splitter fueled an 11-0 run that put Tau ahead for good, 69-59. Joventut did not rally in the fourth quarter, allowing Tau to add another home win.

Splitter got Tau going with a driving play, as Joventut struggled to score in the opening 2 minutes. Meanwhile, Mickeal scored in the low post for a 4-0 Tau lead. Henk Norel stepped up with a layup that Splitter erased with free throws. Ribas sank a four-meter jumper while a fast break layup by Simas Jasaitis gave Joventut its first lead, 6-7. Rakocevic found his first points on a driving basket but Jagla answered from downtown to keep his team ahead, 8-10. Rakocevic nailed a jumper off the dribble and soon added free throws to restore a 12-10 Tau edge. Mallet fired in a triple but Mickeal and Rakocevic - who saw his free throw streak stopped at 58 - kept the hosts ahead, 16-13. Hernandez-Sonseca dunked it off a Joventut timeout that Mickeal matched with free throws. Pere Tomas shined with a put-back layup while a long jumper by Hernandez-Sonseca provided another lead change, 18-19. Mallet followed a jumper with a corner three-pointer to make Joventut keep a 21-24 edge after 10 minutes.

Bogdanovic buried a corner triple right at the start of the second quarter but Vidal followed free throws with a driving layup to keep Tau within 25-27. Mirza Teletovic dunked it in transition for a 27-27 tie, after a 6-0 run. Hernandez-Sonseca scored down low but Stanko Barac answered with a put-back layup. Ricky Rubio took over with a driving layup that Bogdanovic followed with a tip-in for a 29-33 Joventut edge. Vidal and Hernandez-Sonseca exchanged baskets while Jagla sank his second triple to boost the guests' lead to 32-38. Ribas nailed another shot while a three-point play by Jagla off a Tau timeout made it a double-digit game, 32-43. Joventut excelled in defense while Ribas scored again to cap a 1-12 run. Shakur shined with a three-point play that Jagla erased with his third bomb from downtown. McDonald stepped up with a tip-in but Mallet bettered that with a triple. Shakur answered from downtown to bring Tau within 42-51 at halftime.

Rakocevic nailed a three-pointer immediately after the break and soon added free throws to bring Tau back to life, 48-51. Joventut could not find the way to the basket now while a layup by Splitter and a fast break basket by Rakocevic completed the hosts' comeback, 52-51. Splitter stepped up with a reverse layup while an outstanding fast break dunk by Mickeal capped a 17-0 Tau run for a 56-51 score. Jerome Moiso shined with a second-chance basket while a three-pointer by Bogdanovic tied it at 56-56. Splitter scored in transition but a three-pointer by Laviña put Joventut back ahead, 58-59. Mickeal answered from downtown while a power layup by Vidal got the crowd involved at 63-59. Joventut kept struggling to score against the hosts' outstanding defense. Teletovic, Splitter and Vidal made free throws while a put-back dunk by Splitter boosted Tau's lead to double digits, 69-59, after an 11-0 run. Another corner triple by Bogdanovic and a jump hook by Splitter fixed the score at 71-62 after 30 minutes.

Tau tried to slow down the game tempo early in the fourth quarter, as Teletovic rolled off the pick to make it an 11-point game, 73-62. A layup by Mickeal sealed the outcome, 75-63, with under 8 minutes to go. Laviña tried to change things for Joventut while Hernandez-Sonseca gave the guests some hope at 75-65. Joventut had improved its defense while Hernandez-Sonseca scored in penetration to bring the guests even closer, 75-67. Rakocevic rescued Tau with free throws, as time was running out for the guests despite some good news coming from Berlin - but not from Istanbul. Rakocevic - who else? - took over with a floating layup that made Joventut call timeout at 79-69. Rakocevic stayed unstoppable as everything was said and done with 3 minutes to go. Tau will keep fighting to win its first Euroleague title while Joventut returns to the Spanish League with the goal to get back to Europe's top competition.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

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Referees: BRAZAUSKAS, ROMUALDAS; CHRISTODOULOU, CHRISTOS; JASEVICIUS, TOMAS

Attendance: 8025

By Quarter	1	2	3	4
Tau Ceramica	21	21	29	20
DKV Joventut	24	27	11	21

End of Quarter	1	2	3	4
Tau Ceramica	21	42	71	91
DKV Joventut	24	51	62	83

Tau Ceramica

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
5	PRIGIONI, PABLO	26:43		0/2			1	3	4	5	2				1		8
8	RAKOCEVIC, IGOR	22:47	19	4/9	1/4	8/11	1	2	3		1	1		1	3	8	15
9	VIDAL, SERGI	23:33	12	3/4	0/2	6/7	1	5	6	3	1	1	1		1	4	21
10	NOCEDAL, MATIAS	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	ESLAVA, ARIEL	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	TELETOVIC, MIRZA	23:20	5	2/5	0/4	1/2	1	3	4			2			3	1	-3
19	SAN EMETERIO, FERNANDO	12:26		0/2				2	2		2			1	1
21	SPLITTER, TIAGO	28:30	18	7/11		4/9	3	5	8	1	2		3			7	30
22	SHAKUR, MUSTAFA	13:17	18	3/3	1/2	9/11	1		1	1	1	3			2	6	19
33	MICKEAL, PETE	26:12	13	4/10	1/1	2/2	2	3	5	1	1	1	1	1	3	1	11
42	BARAC, STANKO	9:18	3	1/2		1/2	1		1			2				1	1
45	MCDONALD, WILL	13:54	3	1/5		1/2	3	4	7			1		1	1	1	3
	Team						2	2	4		1						5
	Totals	200:00	91	25/53	3/13	32/46	16	29	45	11	11	11	5	4	15	29	110
				47.2%	23.1%	69.6%

Head coach: IVANOVIC, DUSKO

Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating

DKV Joventut

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
00	MALLET, DEMOND	23:21	11	1/1	3/11		1	3	4	4	1	2			5	1	6
4	RIBAS, PAU	22:15	10	5/8	0/3					3		1			2		4
6	WRIGHT, BRACEY	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	RUBIO, RICKY	22:21	9	2/5	1/1	2/2	2	4	6	2	2	3		1	2	5	15
10	BOGDANOVIC, LUKA	22:35	13	2/5	3/4		3		3						1		11
13	JASAITIS, SIMAS	25:05	7	2/5	0/3	3/3	1	3	4	2		1	1	2	3	2	4
14	JAGLA, JAN	17:19	12	1/3	3/7	1/1	1	5	6		1	3			4	1	7
16	HERNANDEZ-SONSECA, EDU	19:00	12	5/7		2/2		5	5		2	2			3	3	15
17	NOREL, HENK	8:48	2	1/3	0/1		1	2	3	1		1			2
18	LAVINA, FERRAN	18:20	4	0/1	1/4	1/2		1	1	1				1	4	2	-2
19	TOMAS, PERE	9:36	2	1/1	0/1		1	1	2						1		2
22	MOISO, JEROME	11:20	1	0/2		1/2		3	3				3	1	2	1	2
	Team						2	3	5			1					4
	Totals	200:00	83	20/41	11/35	10/12	12	30	42	13	6	14	4	5	29	15	68
				48.8%	31.4%	83.3%

Head coach: ALONSO, SITO

Head Coaches

IVANOVIC, DUSKO

Tau Ceramica

"It was a two-sided game. Despite the fact that we prepared the game knowing that DKV needed the win while we didn’t, we wanted to do a good job on court, especially on defense. But in the first half we didn’t do what we planned. DKV showed that they are a great team that plays quick, modern basketball. They were able to make a lot of shots, moved the ball pretty well and created a lot of advantages. It was in the third quarter when we were able to improve our defense, putting much more effort in it. We took first place in our group, so now we’ll see how good or bad is the draw for us. We wanted to be as high as we could be, and we achieved it."

ALONSO, SITO

DKV Joventut

"We did knew that Tau is a superb team and they showed it tonight. You can realize how good other coaches like Dusko Ivanovic are when you face them and today Tau demonstrated that they are at an incredibly high level. The clearest example was the third quarter. They showed power, intensity, will, and an excellent defense. We played fine in the first two quarters, taking advantage of their soft approach to the game, but when they reacted after halftime, we faded away. We committed the same mistake in the past. When they were struggling, they focused on defense, while when we struggled we tried to solve everything through our offense. It’s hard to win here when you have 12 free throws and they shot 46. It’s something we have to improve, we must improve our inside game to be able to draw more fouls. We only told the players that Alba Berlin was losing when we noticed the physical energy was going down, so we tried to boost the team mentally. But I think our chance started in Vitoria, we had to win here first, and we couldn’t do it. I don’t think we were eliminated in the last two games of the regular season, we went through a lot of problems during the season."

Players

PRIGIONI, PABLO

Tau Ceramica

"We came out to win the game. It was hard for us in the first half, but I think we played a great third quarter. We felt more confident when we took back the lead and were able to play our brand of basketball. The most important thing is avoiding relaxing and trying to keep going. We have to be ready because a defeat can come at any time and we cannot allow that to make us stop playing the right way."

RAKOCEVIC, IGOR

Tau Ceramica

"It was an important game for us, even though we had already qualified to the Top 16 as the group champions. DKV Joventut is a direct opponent that we can face in the Spanish League playoffs or even in the upcoming Spanish King’s Cup final eight. We must try to win every game we play. We didn’t play very good defense in the first half, while they made several long-distance shots. We improved a lot and played much better after the break."

RUBIO, RICKY

DKV Joventut

"We had a chance to qualify, which was winning here and wait for Alba to lose. Unfortunately, Olimpija won, but we couldn’t cap the night and we missed. We started strong but we lost the grip after the break. You cannot relax a single second against a team like Tau because they never forgive. Although they played for nothing, they showed they are a good and ambitious team. Our goal was to make it to the Top 16, so now we must to review our trajectory so far to try to learn lessons. I think we should have been stronger at home, especially when you are playing in the Euroleague, a competition in which it is very hard to take road wins. I feel fine, although the hand still hurts a bit and I think it will take some time to be at my best level."

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