2002-03FinalsGame 1
April 15, 2003 CET: 00:00
Local time: 00:00 SPORTHALL "LEON STUKELJ"
Nacho Rodilla - Pamesa Valencia - ULEB Cup finals 2003 - EC02

An orange wave rolled over Slovenia on Tuesday night.

Pamesa Valencia took a clear upper hand in the ULEB Cup Finals by invading Novo Mesto for a 78-90 victory over Krka in Game 1 of their two-game series. The first ULEB Cup champion will be decided on Thursday, April 24 in Valencia, Spain where Pamesa has not lost in eight previous ULEB Cup games this season. A wild first half saw Krka lose all of a 9-point first-quarter lead and Pamesa lose an even bigger one, 13 points, in the second. Late in the third quarter, however, Pamesa broke the game open for good behind a pair of three-pointers by Alejandro Montecchi and another by Jose Antonio Paraiso that beat the buzzer. Nacho Rodilla led five Pamesa scorers in double figures with 15 points, all but 2 of those in the first half. Fabricio Oberto added 14 points, Pedro Robles and Bernard Hopkins 12 each, and Paraiso 10. Oberto's 7 rebounds led a 32-19 Pamesa advantage on the boards. In the face of such inside strength, neither low turnovers (9) nor fine foul-shooting (19 for 20, 95%) could save Krka. The locals were led again by Jamie Arnold, who finished with 28 points. Aleksandar Capin added 20 and Marko Maravic 17, but apart from them and Boris Gnjidic, who had 7 points, the rest of Krka's team accounted for 6 points altogether.

Oberto opened the Finals by rebounding and putting back his own miss. His basket stood almost 2 minutes until Maravic nailed a three-pointer. After a Pamesa miss, Capin took the rebound the length of the floor and launched from the arc for a 6-2 Krka lead. Another scoreless minute passed for Valencia and was punctuated by Krka's third triple, by Arnold. Rodilla broke the spell for Pamesa, and Oberto added another to make it 11-6, but now Krka started answering inside. Marton Bader shot close in for 2 points, then Arnold added his own in the post for a whopping 17-8 Krka advantage after 5 minutes. But Pamesa was about to prove it could rattle off points, too. Rodilla and Dejan Tomasevic teamed up for 2 scores each in a 4-12 scoring run to take a 19-20 lead. But the best was yet to come for the guests. Robles lifted and drained his first three-point attempt, and after a layup by Arnold, Rodilla punctuated the comeback with a buzzer-beater, also from behind the arc, for a 21-26 Pamesa lead.

Pamesa's orange wave kept rolling into the second quarter. Oberto and Rodilla made layups, then Robles quickly added a pair of baskets as the visitors' lead shot up to 21-34. That amounted to a 4-26 swing since midway through the first quarter. Capin finally hit a shot for Krka almost 3 minutes into the quarter. Then, after a scoreless 60 seconds, he tried to put his team back in the game completely with back-to-back triples that got the hosts within 29-36. Tomasevic responded with a layup inside against a new zone by Krka, but Arnold and Capin made the next two baskets and the battle was joined again, 33-38, with 4 minutes left until the half. Hopkins added inside shot for Pamesa, but the momentum belonged to Krka. Maravic drilled his second triple and then came back downcourt and got 3 more points the hard way, on a layup and foul shot, to cut the Pamesa lead all the way down to 39-40. After a Hopkins layup, Boris Gnjidic stepped up and buried his own shot from downtown for a 42-42 tie. Pamesa kept going inside, however, to Hopkins again and then Brian Cardenal, for a 44-48 lead at the half. Capin had 15 points to lead all scorers after 20 minutes while Rodilla led Pamesa with 13.

A pair of free throws by Federico Kammerichs and a triple by Robles, giving him 12 points, put Krka's back to the wall again, down 44-53. That could only mean one thing: another comeback. Arnold's three-point play inside started this one, then he and Maravic bagged 2 free throws each and Capin drove for a layup. Only a Rodilla layup in the middle of all that saved Pamesa a two-point advantage, 53-55, after 25 minutes. But Krka and its crowd were pushing hard. Capin drew a foul and made 1 of 2 free throws for 54-55, but after Oberto's basket gave Pamesa some breathing space, Krka missed two shots in one possession and Hopkins make it pay at the other end, putting the visitors up 54-59. Gnjidic and Arnold got to the hoop to bring Krka within a point again, 58-59, but Alejandro Montecchia found himself free on the perimeter and connected for a triple and a 58-62 Pamesa lead after 27 minutes. Victor Luengo and Maravic exchanged free throws, but then Montecchia was left alone again. He detonated another triple for 60-67. Even when Maravic and Arnold added 4 points from the foul line to give the local fans hope at 64-68, it disappeared fast. There was still time for another Pamesa shot, and this time Montecchia assisted Jose Antonio Paraiso, who made it from downtown for a 64-71 Pamesa lead after 30 minutes.

Arnold's triple to open the final quarter and bring Krka within 67-71 stood as the only points for 2 minutes. Again, it was Montecchia who prevented further damage for Pamesa. His layup cancelled out one to follow by Maravic, whose foul then gave Paraiso the chance to hit 2 free throws for a 69-75 scoreboard. Oberto with a turnaround jumper to beat the shot clock and Luengo from further out put the handwriting on the wall as the guests' lead reached double-digits again, 69-79. Now it was less a question of winning for Krka than cutting away from the big Pamesa advantage. Arnold kept Krka's hopes alive with his hook over Tomasevic, 71-79, but Hopkins was unstoppable again in the paint, making it 71-82 with less than 2 minutes to go. Arnold emerged again with a shot from the arc and Capin gave a final word by hitting the mid-range jumper for 76-84. But with seconds to go, Luengo hit a providential three that broke the game open at 76-87. It was too late for Krka to make up. The last points by Oberto and another free throw by Luengo sealed Pamesa's victory at 78-90, earning the Spaniards a 12-point advantage to defend at home next week.

Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Jernej Tisu, Novo Mesto - ULEBCup.com
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Referees: PITSILKAS, NIKOLAOS; DORIZON, PASCAL; JOVCIC, MILIVOJE
Attendance: 2000
By Quarter1234
KRKA Novo Mesto21232014
Pamesa Valencia26222319
End of Quarter1234
KRKA Novo Mesto21446478
Pamesa Valencia26487190
KRKA Novo Mesto
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 IVASKOVIC, IGOR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5 GNJIDIC, BORIS 26:00 7 1/4 1/3 2/2   1 1 2 1 1   1 3 3 4
6 CAPIN, ALEKSANDAR 36:00 20 5/7 3/6 1/2   4 4 2 1       3 5 23
7 MATHIS, DONTE 8:00               1             1
8 PARAVINJA, MILOS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 ARNOLD, JAMIE 37:00 28 7/13 3/5 5/5 2 3 5   2 4 2 1 2 5 27
10 DUSCAK, SLAVKO 25:00 4 0/1 0/3 4/4               1 4 4 -1
11 DROBNJAK, DRAGISA 13:00   0/3     1 1 2     2 1   2 1 -3
12 MUCIC, SASA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 MARAVIC, MARKO 36:00 17 2/5 2/2 7/7 5   5 1 2 2     4 5 21
14 BADER, MARTON 11:00 2 1/1 0/2   1 1 2 1           1 4
15 BALAZIC, JURE 8:00     0/1         1         4   -4
Team                                
Totals 200:00 78 16/34 9/22 19/20 9 10 19 8 6 9 3 3 22 24 72
        47.1% 40.9% 95%
Head coach: SPAHIJA, NEVEN
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
Pamesa Valencia
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 HOPKINS, BERNARD 19:00 12 5/8   2/2 2 4 6 2       1 2 4 18
5 CARDINAL, BRIAN LEE 4:00 2 1/1 0/1   1   1 2   1       1 4
6 MONTECCHIA, ALEJANDRO 20:00 8 1/1 2/5   1   1 2   2     5   1
9 ROBLES, PEDRO 19:00 12 3/4 2/3     1 1 1 1 4     2 2 9
10 KAMMERICHS, FEDERICO 12:00 2   0/1 2/2 2 1 3           1 1 4
11 RODILLA, JOSE IGNACIO 20:00 15 4/5 1/2 4/4   2 2 2         3 4 18
12 PARAISO, JOSE ANTONIO 31:00 10 2/4 1/1 3/4 1 3 4 2   1   1 3 3 11
13 GARCIA, ASIER DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
14 OBERTO, FABRICIO 30:00 14 7/11     3 4 7 3 2 1 2 1 3 2 21
15 LUENGO, VICTOR 18:00 9 1/2 1/1 4/6   2 2   1   1   4 4 10
18 TOMASEVIC, DEJAN 27:00 6 3/6     2 3 5 1 2 3     1 1 8
Team                                
Totals 200:00 90 27/42 7/14 15/18 12 20 32 15 6 12 3 3 24 22 104
        64.3% 50% 83.3%
Head coach: OLMOS, FRANCISCO
This game has no play by play yet

Head Coaches

SPAHIJA, NEVEN
KRKA Novo Mesto
"First of all I must congratulate Pamesa players on their performance tonight and their win. And I must also congratulate all my players for the performances they made this season and in the ULEB Cup. But unfortunatley all my predictions came true tonight. Mostly about Pamesa's power. Pamesa is a team which belongs into the top five European clubs. They proved that tonight and they will show it in the Spanish league, too. I really don't know how my colleague Olmos decided to change his players when he had the ideal five players on the ground during almost the 40 minutes. If I look into statistics, the only one thing clear is that we lost in rebounding mainly under our basket beacuse Pamesa didn't allow that to us with their precision. When they started to shoot from long-distance we hardly managed to stop them. But then they started to play agressive under the basket. We'll go to Valencia to show our best possible performance. But we have a high tempo in the domestic championship and we don't have much time to prepare the second game. But we will try to do what we can."
OLMOS, FRANCISCO
Pamesa Valencia
"I congratulate both teams for a great games. Both defenses were intense, as was the concentration on offense by both teams. The difference was the rebounding. There, we had a clear advantage. Krka is a difficult opponent because it always plays the same rhythm without regard to what the scoreboard says. Joventut was ahead 4 points at halftime here and ended up losing by a lot. For that reason, I thank my players for keeping up the same pace for 40 minutes. We had good shot selection and made good offensive choices in general. We have taken an important first step, but it is only a first step. There are 40 minutes left. We will need the same concentration as tonight. I recognize being satisfied right now, because it could have gone worse for us, but I hope that there will not be too much euphoria in Valencia in the next 10 days. We have to work steadily and keep both feet on the ground, because Krka is a dangerous team."

Players

ARNOLD, JAMIE
KRKA Novo Mesto
"Pamesa played a really great game tonight. They also have a great team and every one of them was a hard opponent. But they won with a collective performance. It's hard to say where were our mistakes. We have to focus again on tonight's game, go back and watch it over and over and try to improve our tactic for the next game in Valencia. Not that I'm saying that our tactic was bad, but Pamesa is a really hard opponent. Of course we didn't give up. We still have a chance in the next 40 minutes and we will do our best to pull out the next game. Pamesa sure has a pretty comfortable advantage. But that's the way finals are played on two games. So everything is still open and we will be a hard adversary to Pamesa in Valencia."
GNJIDIC, BORIS
KRKA Novo Mesto
"I must say that I'm a little bit disappointed by having lost by 12 points at home. We hope that we could have played better and showed harder resistance to Pamesa. But they have the center position really well-covered and their 5-on-5 defense performance was a real slasher for us. Under that perspective, Pamesa is a real Euro basketball giant. We looked for our chances in the transition but they suprised us with a zone defense. We tried to chase them for almost the whole game but in the end we lost some strenght. Anyway, we will go to Valencia willing to take revenge and with a desire to take a win. A success for us would only be just one win. But there is the matter of the first ULEBCup crown, of course. And I promised that we will do our best."
MARAVIC, MARKO
KRKA Novo Mesto
"Pamesa has great players who really know how to play basketball. They don't care if they play at home or if they are on the road. They realy have great players on all positions. They played great under the basket and had no problems with the long-distance shooters. They also outrebounded us tonight with 19-32 and this was a key to their victory. But I must say that we will not travel to Valencia as tourists. As always, we'll go to take the win. But a win is hard word when you play against a team like Valencia. I'm sure that we will work on our mistakes that we made tonight and try to get the best possible score."
OBERTO, FABRICIO
Pamesa Valencia
"The rebounding, both on offense and on defense, was our main weapon tonight. Now, we have to maintain the same concentration and rhythm in the second game. We want to be able to celebrate a title with our fans, but we have to be prudent and make sure to finish the job before we can do that."
RODILLA, JOSE IGNACIO
Pamesa Valencia
"Krka started the game better than we did, but when we adjusted our defense, we controlled the pace and did not lose that control the rest of the game. The 12-point margin makes it seem an easy victory, but it wasn't. We had to work hard and in that way, it ended up being a bigger difference than it had been all game, 5 to 7 points. In a final, nothing is decided until it is over. But I have to admit that if you asked us before the game, any one of our team would have gladly taken a 12-point victory leaving Novo Mesto tonight."
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