2013-14Top 16Round 5
January 31, 2014 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 FERNANDO BUESA ARENA

With defense on the road, Efes makes it two in a row

A week after getting a first Top 16 win in miraculous fashion, Anadolu Efes took its momentum on the road and made it two in a row by locking down host Laboral Kutxa Vitoria to win 66-72 on Friday. Efes raised its Group E record to 2-3, good for a fifth-place tie with Unicaja Malaga. Laboral fell to 1-4 and tied for seventh place with Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul. Efes trailed by as many as 11 points, 13-24, midway through the first quarter, but locked down its defense and held Laboral to just 39 points in the game's last 30 minutes to control the scoreboard to the end. Former Laboral center Milko Bjelica scored 15 points off the bench against his old team, as did Kostas Vasileiadis, who had 12 of his after halftime. Jamon Gordon and last week's hero, Zoran Planinic, scored 12 each, while Dusko Savanovic had 8 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Tibor Pleiss led Laboral with 14 points and Thomas Heurtel had 13, but 19 of their points came in the game's first 8 minutes. Lamont Hamilton was Laboral's only other double-figure scorer, with 10 points.

First quarter: Huertel, Pleiss push Laboral early

Pleiss easily dropped the game's first shot in close, and after Vasileiadis answered by stroking a corner triple, Heurtel did the same for the hosts. When Heurtel then dished to Pleiss, Laboral was ahead 7-3. Savanovic fed Dogus Balbay on the break and Gordon hit a floater for Efes to tie 7-7. Pairs of free throws by Fernando San Emeterio and Pleiss preceded the latter's next hook shot for a 13-7 Laboral lead. Out of a timeout, Efes was able to get within 15-11 on a basket and an assist by Savanovic. But no sooner did that happen than Huertel unleashed 2 three-pointers around another by David Jelinek, pushing Laboral ahead 24-13. Gordon, Bjelica and Birkan Batuk hustled down the next 7 points for Efes to cut the difference to 24-20. But Jelinek finished a break and Hamilton added a free throw to keep Laboral up 27-20 after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Gordon, Planinic completes Efes comeback

Bjelica got the first basket of the second quarter inside and Batuk broke loose for a fastbreak to make it 27-24 and force a Laboral timeout. The timeout helped Efes even more as Planinic posted up for a bank shot and drilled a transition three-pointer for a sudden 27-29 Efes advantage. Guiseppe Poeta stopped Laboral's slide with a tough layup, but when Pleiss banked in an alley-oop pass, Bjelica came the other way and scored twice. Then Gordon spun on the run to score and Savanovic imitated him, but faded away for a swish. Efes now had a 4-17 run and a 31-37 lead, marking an 18-point swing on the scoreboard since the middle of the first quarter. After another Laboral timeout, Heurtel beat the shot clock with a solid lane jumper, while Giuseppe Poeta worked for a free throw as the second quarter ended 34-37 in favor of the visitors.

Third quarter: Vasileiadis joins the Efes party

Vasileiadis started the third quarter as he did the first, with a three-point strike that Savanovic followed with a jumper as Efes raced ahead 34-42. Jelinek finally got Laboral's first basket of the half, after 3 minutes, on an open fastbreak. When Vasileiadis got fouled on a triple, however, and made all 3 free throws, Efes had a double-digit lead, 36-46. Gordon upped it with a nifty baseline runner. Pleiss got 2 points back in close before Fabien Causuer flew along the baseline for a layup-plus-free throw combo to get Laboral within 41-48. Gordon and Pleiss exchanged tough layups before San Emeterio spun for another. But Bjelica answered that with a three-pointer and Planinic beat the shot-clock buzzer to restore a 10-point lead, 45-55, for Efes. A layup by Vasileiadis made it a 12-point difference again, and when Hamilton tried to spark Laboral with a bomb from the arc, Planinic matched it. A huge block by Gordon sent Vasileiadis the other way for a fastbreak triple as Efes rolled to the 30-minute mark with the game's highest lead, 50-63.

Fourth quarter: Efes's defense faces down Laboral comeback try

Hamilton's free throws got the scoreboard ticking in the direction Laboral needed, but Kerem Gonlum got 3 points in a row to keep Efes ahead 53-66. Poeta came up with a big steal and 2 free throws on an unsportsmanlike foul. When Nocioni finished that four-point possession witha driving layup, Laboral was back within single digits at 57-66. Planinic and Hamilton traded baskets as the hosts got closer at 60-68. Poeta's free throws were matched by Savanovic's turnaround, but then the scoring stalled for more than 2 minutes that hurt Laboral more than Efes. Soon, Nocioni, at the foul line, cut the difference to 64-70. After a timeout, however, Planinic lobbed to Bjelica for a layup that, with 1 minute left, put Efes in complete control, 64-72, on its way to a solid road win.

Zoran Planinic - Anadolu Efes - EB13
Friday, January 31, 2014
Euroleague.net
Referees: LAMONICA, LUIGI; PATERNICO, CARMELO; PAPAPETROU, PETROS
Attendance: 9324 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria2771616
Anadolu Efes Istanbul2017269
End of Quarter1234
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria27345066
Anadolu Efes Istanbul20376372
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 MAINOLDI, LEO 6:58           1 1           2   -1
5 NOCIONI, ANDRES 33:02 5 1/4 0/4 3/4   8 8 1   3 1   2 2 4
6 POETA, GIUSEPPE 18:49 9 1/1 0/1 7/8 2 3 5   1       2 5 16
7 VAN OOSTRUM, DEVON DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11 HAMILTON, LAMONT 18:37 10 2/5 1/1 3/4 2 3 5     5 2   3 3 8
12 DIOP, ILIMANE 4:06     0/1     1 1                
15 HODGE, WALTER DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 SAN EMETERIO, FERNANDO 30:05 5 1/3 0/4 3/4 2 4 6 3   2   1 1 5 8
21 PLEISS, TIBOR 15:25 14 6/10   2/2 3 1 4     2     2 4 14
22 HEURTEL, THOMAS 29:17 13 2/4 3/5         4 1 2         12
25 JELINEK, DAVID 20:44 7 2/4 1/4     2 2 1 1 1     5    
55 CAUSEUR, FABIEN 22:57 3 1/2 0/2 1/1   2 2 2         1 2 5
Team             4 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 66 16/33 5/22 19/23 9 29 38 11 3 16 3 1 18 21 69
        48.5% 22.7% 82.6%
Head coach: SCARIOLO, SERGIO
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
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 BALBAY, DOGUS 24:10 2 1/3     3 4 7   2 3     4 1 3
6 OSMAN, CEDI 1:43       0/2                   1 -1
7 VASILEIADIS, KOSTAS 23:39 15 1/4 3/7 4/4   2 2   1 2   1   2 10
8 BATUK, BIRKAN 18:47 5 2/3 0/3 1/1 3 1 4   1       3 2 5
12 GONLUM, KEREM 13:36 3 1/2   1/2           2     2 2 -1
13 KILICLI, DENIZ DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
20 SAVANOVIC, DUSKO 33:50 8 4/9 0/2 0/2 1 8 9 5 1       3 3 14
21 ULUBAY, OKBEN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
22 GORDON, JAMON 26:51 12 6/10       2 2 3 1 1 1   2 1 13
34 PLANINIC, ZORAN 26:33 12 3/5 2/7     4 4 4 1       3 4 15
41 KOSUT, EMIRCAN 4:20   0/1               2   1 1   -5
51 BJELICA, MILKO 26:31 15 5/8 1/2 2/2 1 3 4   2 1   1 3 1 13
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 200:00 72 23/45 6/21 8/13 10 25 35 12 9 11 1 3 21 17 69
        51.1% 28.6% 61.5%
Head coach: ANGELOU, EVANGELOS

Head Coaches

SCARIOLO, SERGIO
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria
"We had an excellent beginning to the game; we played a great first quarter. But after that Anadolu Efes improved, through their physical strength, their experience and lucidity, and we lost our grip. We started playing with anxiety, our ball circulation wasn’t good. We made 6 assists in the first quarter and just 5 the remainder of the game, which is a very significant fact, and very negative. We withstood, through effort, heart and desire, but without lucidity. We weren’t accurate either, and missed some open shots that could have brought us back into the game. "
ANGELOU, EVANGELOS
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"I want to give congratulations to our players and staff for this good win tonight. If I have to explain the reasons why we won, I would stress that it all came from our defense. We tried to stop their most important players and did a good job. The team and the players have grown up during the game and I think that if Gordon wouldn’t have had to leave with injury, we could have won more comfortably. I also want to specially congratulate Batuk and Balbay, who played very good defense putting a lot of pressure on them, and also helping on the offensive rebounding with 6 boards. I wish very good luck to Laboral Kutxa in the Spanish King’s Cup and the remainder of the Euroleague Top 16."

Players

NOCIONI, ANDRES
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria
"It’s getting harder for us, it’s obvious. It is not going to be easy, but it is not impossible, though we must improve much our game and the face we are showing lately. We are not playing solid at home, we are unable to protect our court and that is bringing us to a very difficult situation in the Top 16 so far. We could say our defense was good tonight, but we missed a better offense, something which we don’t find so many problems. But when things don’t go as they are planned, I think we feel the pressure and the results are not good. "
VASILEIADIS, KOSTAS
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"I think we did a good job, especially after a slow start in the beginning of the game. We are in good shape now; we improved a lot over the past two weeks. I think we have found our momentum, we are working very well during the week. We won against Milan thanks to a miracle shot by Zoran, but also won important games in the Turkish League. We have changed some things both in offense and in defense and the results have been good. I think this team can go further than just the Top 16. We are playing better now and we like this way."