2010-11Top 16Round 3
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 104
Union Olimpija Ljubljana 67
February 03, 2011 CET: 20:00
Local time: 21:00 NOKIA ARENA
Chuck Eidson - Maccabi Electra - EB10

Maccabi Electra crushed Union Olimpija 104-67

Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv registered a pivotal win in Top 16 Group F by thrashing Union Olimpija 104-67 in front of a sellout crowd at Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv, Israel on Thursday night. Jeremy Pargo led the winners with 21 points. Lior Eliyahu added 20 on 10-of-10 two-pointers, tying a Turkish Airlines Euroleague record with three other players for most shots made in a game without a miss. Tal Burstein and Sofoklis Schortsianitis each had 10 for Maccabi. Giorgi Shermadini led Olimpija with 15 points. Kenny Gregory and Damir Markota each added 14 for the guests. Maccabi dominated the boards and made 11 of 13 two-pointers in the first quarter as Eliyahu and Pargo led the hosts to a 28-10 lead after 10 minutes. A layup by Schortsianitis capped a 16-0 run that broke the game open at 37-10. Olimpija tried to change things with a 0-10 run, but an outstanding Eliyahu allowed Maccabi to keep a 49-26 halftime edge. Nothing changed after the break, as Maccabi boosted its margin to 71-39 late in the third quarter and kept a safe lead all the way until the final buzzer.

Both teams struggled to score in the early going until Chuck Eidson split free throws. Schortsianitis soon added a layup for a 3-0 Maccabi lead. Olimpija was held scoreless for more than two minutes until Gregory hit a foul shot. A driving layup by Vlado Ilievski tied things at 3-3. Eliyahu dunked off the baseline and added a fast break layup to give the hosts a 7-3 lead. Maccabi had fully adjusted its man-to-man defense and Eliyahu scored again, but free throws by Shermadini kept the guests within 9-5. Richard Hendrix took over with a power slam and Eidson fed Eliyahu for a huge dunk that forced Olimpija to call timeout at 13-5. Eidson shined with a fast break dunk that Ilievski bettered with a three-pointer to keep his team within 15-8. Pargo stepped up with 4 points in a 6-0 run that boosted the hosts' lead to 21-8. Goran Jagodnik sank a fallaway jumper that Pargo matched with a wild basket off a spin move. A put-back layup by Doron Perkins and a seven-meter bomb by David Blu gave Maccabi a 28-10 margin after 10 minutes.

An uncontested layup by Hendrix made it a 20-point game early in the second quarter. Olimpija could not find the way to the basket, so it tried twin point guards with Ilievski and Marque Perry together on court to improve its ball circulation. Guy Pnini sank free throws and a layup by Schortsianitis broke the game open. A free throw by Perkins and a power layup by Schortsianitis capped a 16-0 run for a 37-10 lead. Gregory shined with an acrobatic basket and free throws by Shermadini got Olimpija going. Ilievski and Markota nailed back-to-back triples to cap a 0-10 Olimpija run, 37-20. Perkins answered from downtown and a follow-up layup by Eliyahu kept Maccabi out of trouble at 42-20. Eliyahu stayed on fire with a wild dunk that Markota improved with a circus shot from downtown. Eidson and Gregory traded free throws and Eliyahu scored again for a 47-24 Maccabi lead. A layup by Jagodnik and a running basket by Pargo fixed the halftime score at 49-26.

Olimpija improved its defense after the break, as Maccabi started to run the game clock down. Schortsianitis scored in the paint but Markota answered with a backdoor layup. Kevinn Pinkney found his first points on free throws but a dunk by Eliyahu kept Maccabi way ahead, 53-30. Pargo nailed a baseline shot that Gregory matched with a step-back jumper but Olimpija only managed to trade baskets now. Perkins shined with an alleyoop layup and Eliyahu scored in transition for a 27-point Maccabi lead, 59-32. Pargo followed free throws with a three-pointer and Eidson soon added a layup to boost Maccabi's lead to 66-34. Pargo sent the crowd to their feet with a bomb from downtown and even when Gregory scored in the other end, an easy basket by Eliyahu restored a 71-39 Maccabi lead. Ozbolt joined the three-point shootout and Gregory added a floating layup off a timeout. Shermadini dunked it and Ozbolt buried a rainbow triple to get Olimpija within 71-49 after 30 minutes.

Pnini downed a corner three-pointer early in the fourth quarter, as Maccabi's defense made the guests go scoreless for almost 2 minutes. Shermadini made free throws but a second-chance layup by Blu gave the hosts a 76-51 lead. Ozbolt found Markota for an alleyoop layup, as Olimpija kept fighting to trim its deficit. Blu and Shermadini traded baskets but a fallaway jumper Milan Macvan made Maccabi keep an 80-55 margin. Burstein followed a stop-and-pop jumper with free throws and a layup by Schortsianitis boosted Maccabi's lead to 86-55 with over 4 minutes left. Olimpija did not give up but everything was said and done already. Maccabi pleased its fans with a very convincing home win by a wide margin - a critical issue in the Top 16. Olimpija must bounce back right away, safe in the knowledge that the basketball atmosphere will be very different when both teams meet again at Stozice Arena in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Thursday, February 3, 2011
Euroleague.net
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Referees: ARTEAGA, JUAN CARLOS; CEREBUCH, GUERRINO; MAESTRE, NICOLA
Attendance: 11500 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv28212233
Union Olimpija Ljubljana10162318
End of Quarter1234
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv284971104
Union Olimpija Ljubljana10264967
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 PARGO, JEREMY 33:44 21 6/9 2/3 3/4   5 5 6   3     2 3 25
5 HENDRIX, RICHARD 16:25 7 3/3   1/2   5 5   3 1 2   4 1 12
6 SHARP, DERRICK 0:37 2     2/3                   1 2
7 BLU, DAVID 19:19 9 3/6 1/2   2 2 4           3   6
8 ELIYAHU, LIOR 20:41 20 10/10     3 3 6 2 1       1 2 30
10 PNINI, GUY 18:10 7 1/1 1/3 2/2   1 1 2   1     4 1 4
11 BURSTEIN, TAL 13:58 10 1/1 2/2 2/4   2 2 2 1         1 14
13 EIDSON, CHUCK 25:43 8 2/2 0/3 4/6   4 4 6 3 1     1 4 18
14 MACVAN, MILAN 9:54 2 1/2           1   1   1 1 1  
15 PERKINS, DORON 27:48 8 2/5 1/4 1/4 1 6 7 3 2 2 1 1 2 4 11
21 SCHORTSANITIS, SOFOKLIS 13:41 10 5/8     2   2   1 4   1 2   3
Team           1 1 2     1       1 2
Totals 200:00 104 34/47 7/17 15/25 9 29 38 22 11 14 3 3 20 19 127
        72.3% 41.2% 60%
Head coach: BLATT, DAVID
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
Union Olimpija Ljubljana
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 PERRY, MARQUE 5:39   0/2               1     1   -4
6 ILIEVSKI, VLADO 38:52 9 1/3 2/8 1/2 1 3 4 3 1 6     3 4 3
7 BOISA, VLADIMER 1:37                              
9 GREGORY, KENNY 34:45 14 6/13 0/1 2/4 2 2 4 3   2     2 4 11
10 SALIN, SASU DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11 MURIC, DINO 5:37   0/1       1 1                
12 JAGODNIK, GORAN 9:26 4 2/4             1 2     4   -3
16 SHERMADINI, GIORGI 24:31 15 4/7   7/8 2 3 5 2   1 2 2 3 8 22
21 PINKNEY, KEVINN 13:03 2 0/1 0/1 2/2       1 1   1     2 5
22 MARKOTA, DAMIR 32:46 14 3/6 2/5 2/2 5 3 8 1 1 2     2 1 15
25 LORBEK, KLEMEN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
31 OZBOLT, SASO 33:44 9 0/4 3/5         5 4 2   1 3 1 7
Team           1 1 2     1     1    
Totals 200:00 67 16/41 7/20 14/18 11 13 24 15 8 17 3 3 19 20 56
        39% 35% 77.8%
Head coach: ZDOVC, JURE

Head Coaches

BLATT, DAVID
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv
"We were very focused and serious to the game. We knew that we're going to play against a team that it's very hard to beat and then it's also hard to beat them by a big margin as the games so far showed. It's very important to be consistent and not to expect it's going to be over in the first moment. We were up by 18 already in the first quarter, but it's the type of things that can happen with Olimpija and then they come back like they did last week, so we knew we have to push and be aggressive. I think Olimpija is an excellent team, and so our win and the way we did it says a lot of things. I salute my players who don't let go for one second. Lior Eliyahu didn't play 40 minutes today only because other players need to play too. Lior took it well and these are the kind of things that make a team. I think Lior is one of best power forwards in Europe and he proves it every day. We're so happy to have him back here. Maccabi and I are lucky that he's here, but he must keep working hard and act the way he is, so everyone will enjoy an Israeli player in the highest levels. We played extraordinary defense and it's not the first time we do it. But we still make mistakes and we can work on these things and make them better. We don't want to stop here. We're still fighting for a spot in the Quarter-finals. We didn't make it there yet despite the big win today. Our defense brought us here, and it will continue to lead us to where we want to go. We will stay humble and professional and let the others talk. I'll buy any one point win in any road game, but here we have the fans and the energy and it helps us to win by bigger margins here."
ZDOVC, JURE
Union Olimpija Ljubljana
"Congratulations to Maccabi for the win. We knew Maccabi would put pressure right from the start and prepared for this, but we didn't execute things as planned. We lost by too big a margin and I'm very disappointed. We had a bad day but we must keep our heads up and keep fighting. Qualifying to the Top 16 isn't enough for me. I want to go further than this. I don't care who is against us. We must play much stronger and better than we did today. When we scouted Maccabi we were optimistic and thought that we can win here, but they play in high rhythm and we stepped back. We made too many mistakes. One thing is to talk on the meeting in front of the video, and another is to do it on court. Things aren't over yet. There are still three games left and anything can happen. We're going to win in the next game against Maccabi for sure."

Players

ELIYAHU, LIOR
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv
"The fact we won by a big margin doesn't mean that we had an easy game. We worked very hard to get this big gap. We did a great job from the start and knew to use that to open a big difference already in the first quarter, and from there we surfed the wave of momentum. I don't want to talk about the first place for now. We still have two very difficult road games, and for sure in Ljubljana it's going to be very hard and a totally different story."
PERKINS, DORON
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv
"Our intensity makes the difference. It does everything much easier. We have a very athletic team and we take advantage of it. I'm not surprised because every time we start strong it looks like that. Only when we hesitate we got problems. We'll try to play the same on the road as well. If we force our style we could wear them down."
PERRY, MARQUE
Union Olimpija Ljubljana
"There's not much to say after such a loss. We were ready for this game, but they just jumped on us from the first moment and didn't let go. Whenever we tried to come back and managed to cut on the gap they attacked again and didn't allow us to execute the things we wanted."
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