2006-07EighthfinalsRound 1
January 30, 2007 CET: 19:30
Local time: 20:30 PAOK SPORTS ARENA

Montepaschi Siena trounced PAOK Thessaloniki

Montepaschi Siena proved that its strong regular season was no mirage by defeating dangerous PAOK 62-79 on the road in Thessaloniki, Greece, in the opener of their two-game eighthfinal series on Tuesday. When they go back to Siena, Italy, for the series finale in two weeks, Montepaschi will be able to advance to the quarterfinals as long as it does not lose by the same 17 points or more. Montepaschi did not trail in the entire game, but PAOK fought back from bigger first-half deficits to within 38-40 midway through the third quarter. Every time PAOK threatened, however, Joseph Forte was around to spark Montepaschi again. Forte led the winners with 25 points and 4 assists. Romain Sato added 15 points and Rimantas Kaukenas 14 off the bench. For PAOK, newly-signed Djuro Ostojic joined another big man, Drago Pasalic, in scoring 12 points each, while Feliks Kojadinovic hit 10 in a reserve role, but otherwise the Montepaschi defense shut down the hosts.

The game got underway with both teams looking a bit rusty on offense and going scoreless for a couple of minutes. Finally, Sato got the scoreboard rolling with a long jumper, only to be followed by Pasalic. While PAOK continued to struggle on the offensive end, having no rhythm, Siena was able to step on the gas and rush ahead 2-7, with Sato and Forte carrying the scoring load. Pasalic and Ioannis Kalambokis hit inside to make it a one-point game, yet Sato sank a three-pointer to keep Siena in charge. The visitors were shooting only 33% so far, however their defense smothered PAOK and allowed them to vault ahead 6-16. Coach Konstantinos Pilafidis was forced to call for a timeout in order to regroup his forces – now without scorer Vlado Scepanovic, who was injured. Accordingly, Darius Washington came off the bench to swish a huge triple that ended a 5-minute drought and pulled the hosts within 9-16 after 10 minutes. Kalambokis opened the second quarter flashing to the basket and then Washington scored on a layup to get his team and the crowd going, but Marco Carraretto nailed a three-pointer to widen the gap to 13-21. PAOK then found a go-to guy in Ostojic, who bullied his way inside to punish the guests’ frontcourt with 5 points that sparked a 7-0 run, as PAOK closed the gap with 6 minutes left. Lonny Baxter could not put a stop on Ostojic, yet Forte picked up the scoring slack for Siena and contributed 7 points, including an “in your face” triple that restored a 24-33 advantage for Siena. Even though PAOK continued to feed Ostojic, who had 3-of-4 from the line, Forte was unstoppable and slashed to the basket to give Siena a 27-35 advantage at halftime. PAOK was clearly struggling offensively, as indicated by the zero assists that its players had dished after 20 minutes of play and its three-point blues (1-out of-8).

The hosts came out determined to shake off a disappointing first half and wipe out the deficit. Jason Parker scored from beyond the arc and moments later Kalambokis stole the ball from Sato and fed Kojadinovic for an easy layup that capped a 7-0 spurt. Montepaschi coach Simone Pianigiani had no other choice but to call a timeout and soon Shaun Stonerook responded from downtown to silence the crowd. Pasalic bettered him with a four-point play to cut the lead to 38-40, but the guests got rolling from downtown and built a 38-46 lead behind three-pointers by Forte and Sato. PAOK did not yield and clawed its way back thanks to the duo of Kojadinovic and Pasalic. However the hosts cooled off in subsequent possessions, while on the other end Forte penetrated the defense to keep the hosts at bay. Moments later Sato connected on another triple to control the momentum. As a result, despite a triple by Dimitrios Verginis, Siena held a 48-54 with 10 minutes to go. Early on in the final quarter, Parker scored a free throw and a basket to keep PAOK hot on Siena’s heels. It would be short-lived though, as down the stretch the guests embarked on yet another three-point shooting display with Terrell McIntyre and Kaukenas to forge a double-digit lead, 51-62, with 6 minutes left. Coach Pilafidis urged his players to switch to a full-court press to ignite a much-needed comeback. Still, Forte was not willing to let the hosts come back and proved his dominance as he first knocked down a triple and then drove to the basket. PAOK failed to keep its composure and soon Siena stretched the gap to 56-72. Eventually, the guests were too good to be stunned by any late heroics and sailed to a resounding 62-79 victory that allows them to start thinking about the quarterfinals.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Danos Tsakalos, Thessaloniki
No results found.
Referees: BRAZAUSKAS, ROMUALDAS; BELOSEVIC, ILIJA; DOZAI, SRDAN
Attendance: 2000
By Quarter1234
PAOK9182114
Montepaschi16191925
End of Quarter1234
PAOK9274862
Montepaschi16355479
PAOK
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 PARKER, JASON LASHAUN 28:45 8 1/7 1/1 3/4 2 3 5   2 2   1 3 2 4
5 MANOLOPOULOS, SOTIRIOS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
6 VERGINIS, DIMITRIOS 6:15 3   1/1             1   1 1    
7 SCEPANOVIC, VLADO 5:00   0/1 0/2     2 2               -1
8 OSTOJIC, DJURO 27:15 12 4/6   4/7 4 3 7 1       2 2 6 17
9 HARITOPOULOS, DIMITRIOS 13:00 3 1/1   1/3 1 8 9     1     4 4 9
10 KALAMPOKIS, GIANNIS 25:45 4 2/4 0/1     2 2 3 2 1     5 2 4
11 KOJADINOVIC, FELIKS 24:45 10 1/2 2/5 2/2           2     2 4 6
13 BREMER, JR 11:15     0/2         1             -1
14 AGADAKOS, LAZAROS 16:45 1 0/1   1/2   1 1     1       2 1
15 PASALIC, DRAGO 23:00 12 4/5 1/2 1/1 1 4 5     2     2 2 13
19 WASHINGTON, DARIUS 18:15 9 2/5 1/4 2/3   4 4     2     2 1 3
Team                                
Totals 200:00 62 15/32 6/18 14/22 8 27 35 5 4 12 0 4 21 23 55
        46.9% 33.3% 63.6%
Head coach: PILAFIDIS, KONSTANTINOS
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
Montepaschi
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 FORTE, JOSEPH 30:45 25 8/15 2/3 3/4 1 1 2 4 2       3 3 24
5 MCINTYRE, TERRELL 32:00 8 0/1 2/6 2/2   1 1 3 2         2 11
6 BAXTER, LONNY 13:45 2 1/2   0/2   4 4   1   1   5 3 3
7 BOISA, VLADIMER 12:00 5 1/3 1/3   2 1 3           1   3
8 EZE, BENJAMIN 25:00 2 0/1   2/2   9 9 1   1 1   3 1 9
9 CARRARETTO, MARCO 7:45 3 0/1 1/2                   2   -1
10 SATO, ROMAIN 24:30 15 2/5 3/4 2/2 1 3 4     3     1 3 14
11 DATOME, LUIGI DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 D'ERCOLE, LORENZO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 KAUKENAS, RIMANTAS 25:00 14 5/7 1/1 1/4 1   1 1   1     3 6 13
18 LECHTHALER, LUCA 1:15           1 1           1    
20 STONEROOK, SHAUN 28:00 5   1/4 2/6 2 4 6 3 2   2   4 3 10
Team             4 4               4
Totals 200:00 79 17/35 11/23 12/22 7 28 35 12 7 5 4 0 23 21 90
        48.6% 47.8% 54.5%
Head coach: PIANIGIANI, SIMONE
This game has no play by play yet

Head Coaches

PILAFIDIS, KONSTANTINOS
PAOK
"Siena proved really tough for our level! We tried to put pressure on them to break their rhythm but they control perfectly the tempo of the game. There was no way for us to take the lead because the guests were able to find always the open man. This is our potential! I wish we would have been acting better. It’s time to work a lot to improve for the next game in order to retain our little, to be honest, possibilities to qualify for the next round. What makes me unhappy is that we continue the same problems both offensively and defensively. My players gave up early. We never know if we were determined to win this game because we show no psychological toughness in the court."
PIANIGIANI, SIMONE
Montepaschi
"I think that my players contributed to a good game. It’s never easy to act on the road especially when playing against a team like PAOK. Scepanovic got injured and it was easier for us to stay focused and control the game. We have worked a lot to be ready to play this kind of game in high level. My players were really concentrated that let them find every time the open man to score. I am happy because we kept our performance in high standards after the strong game in Bologna. Finally, it was very important for us to create such a long distance regarding the second game because we have to stay focused in the Italian Cup next week."

Players

KALAMPOKIS, GIANNIS
PAOK
"We knew that it would be a difficult game for us. To be honest, there is a qualitative distance between us and Siena. As a team, we faced some offensive problems because of their tough defense during all game. Unfortunately, this is a huge loss but we have to work a lot and concentrate on the second game to present ourselves better even on the road."
FORTE, JOSEPH
Montepaschi
"We made a great game on the road against a tough team like PAOK. However, this game stands only for the first half of the series. It's time to be serious and improve in order to win in Siena and qualify for the next round. I believe that we should not underestimate the Greeks and be concentrated during the second game to confirm our potential."
No results found.