Euroleague 2009-10, Regular Season, Group A analysis

REGAL FC BARCELONA
Regal FC Barcelona comes off its best season in recent years looking to do 
even more in 2010. A Spanish championship and Euroleague Final Four berth 
proved that coach Xavi Pascual’s men are indeed among the European elite. 
With the majority of those players returning this year, the sky is truly the 
limit for Barcelona.

MONTEPASCHI SIENA
Perennial Italian champion Montepaschi Siena has established itself among 
the best teams in Europe over the past several years, but head coach Simone 
Pianigiani and company are not ready to rest on their laurels. Last year 
Montepaschi beat three Final Four teams – including eventual champ 
Panathinaikos twice. Now the trick is to stack those wins at the right time 
and get back to the Final Four.

CIBONA
Croatian champion Cibona Zagreb comes off a strong Euroleague campaign in 
which a team based on homegrown talent started red hot and reached the Top 
16. Head coach Velimir Perasovic returns with many of those players and 
their local pride. Cibona’s mix of tradition, talent and passionate fans 
could be just what it needs to catapult back to the cream of the Euroleague 
crop.

FENERBAHCE ULKER
After coming ever so close to the Final Four in 2008, injuries decimated 
Fenerbahce Ulker’s chances last year. However that has only strengthened the 
resolve of head coach Bogdan Tanjevic’s men. This deep squad is full of 
rising stars and seasoned vets, a mix that could prove lethal to some 
opponents as FB Ulker aims to make a big impact on the 2010 season.

ZALGIRIS
Zalgiris Kaunas missed the Top 16 last year despite a strong finish to the 
Euroleague regular season and finished the 2009 campaign without any titles. 
Nevertheless, there is hope at the club since new management and determined 
head coach Gintaras Krapikas have the team poised to break through this 
season.

ASVEL BASKET
Asvel Basket is back in the Euroleague after four seasons away following a 
solid 2009 season in which the club regained the French League crown. 
Leaving nothing to chance, head coach Vincent Collet and management have 
been very active so far this summer, re-signing the core of last year’s team 
and adding Euroleague-ready players to the mix as Asvel looks to make some 
noise in its Euroleague return.


Euroleague 2009-10, Regular Season, Group B analysis
OLYMPIACOS
After returning to the Euroleague Final Four for the first time in a decade, 
Olympiacos Piraeus showed last season that it is ready to return to its 
rightful place as a perennial Euroleague challenger. Head coach Panagiotis 
Giannakis and his charges fell short in the semifinal, but are back hungry 
and determined for another run at the ultimate title, which the Reds have 
not lifted since 1997.

PARTIZAN BELGRADE
Led by freshly crowned Alexander Gomelskiy Coach of the Year Trophy winner 
Dusko Vujosevic, Partizan Belgrade has made back-to-back appearances in the 
Quarterfinal Playoffs. A new crop of rising stars seem to step up every year 
and that is the plan again in 2010 as the Serbian powerhouse looks to 
continue knocking at the Final Four door with some of the best prospects in 
the game.

UNICAJA
Unicaja has established itself as one of the most consistent clubs in 
European basketball as it makes its ninth straight Euroleague appearances. 
Coaching great Aito Garcia Reneses enters his second season at Unicaja – and 
first with a full summer to prepare – which only raises the already high 
expectations of the passionate supporters in Malaga.

EFES PILSEN
The new Turkish champs are eager to bounce back after a disappointing 
Euroleague campaign ended in the regular season. Head coach Ergin Ataman 
will have one of the game’s best scorers at his disposal this season after 
Efes Pilsen made a big summer splash by signing Igor Rakocevic. His addition 
to the squad that came together at the end of last year makes Efes a 
contender to go far in 2010.

LIETUVOS RYTAS
Eurocup champion Lietuvos Rytas is back in the Euroleague and looking to do 
even better than the last two times, though the Lithuanian champs were quite 
impressive then – reaching the Top 16 both years After a season in which L. 
Rytas won five titles, it will take head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis’s men 
making at least the Euroleague quarterfinals to top an incredible 2009 run.



"gidas" <a@b.lt> wrote in message news:h31q12$d17$1@trimpas.omnitel.net...
> cia krepseliai, nejuokauk taip :)
>
>
> "dino" <dino@takas.lt> wrote in message 
> news:h31pt0$crh$1@trimpas.omnitel.net...
>>
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