It did not take long for Nico Brussino to set the tone for an excellent personal performance as Gran Canaria breezed past Slask Wroclaw, 87-60, on Wednesday night.

Gran Canaria boosted by Brussino’s long bombs

The guard scored the first points of the game with his team’s opening possession by sinking a transition three-pointer. And less than a minute later he did it again, netting his second triple for a 6-0 lead that let everyone inside Gran Canaria Arena know that the hosts were fully prepared to take charge of the contest.

Brussino added another pair of three-pointers in the third quarter to ensure that Gran Canaria’s lead would not be threatened and he finished with a team-high 15 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting as well as 8 rebounds. 

It was the ninth time in 17 appearances in this season’s EuroCup that Brussino has struck multiple triples and ended a run of two games which saw him fail to score on 6 attempts from deep. With that kind of long-range shooting combined with the inside dominance provided by Khalifa Diop and Artem Pustovyi, Gran Canaria has a potent package that it hopes can lead it all the way to the title.


Nicolas Brussino - Gran Canaria (photo Gran Canaria) - EC21-EF

Gran Canaria v Slask Wroclaw (2022-04-20T19:00:00.000Z)

Valencia Basket has a collection of big men that would make some Turkish Airlines EuroLeague teams be jealous. And the four-time 7DAYS EuroCup champion pushed that weight around on Wednesday against debutant Hamburg Towers for a 98-80 victory to reach the EuroCup Quarterfinals.

Valencia's size was too imposing for Hamburg

A day after ratiopharm Ulm surprised Joventut Badalona, Valencia was not going to suffer a similar fate against another German team. Coach Joan Penarroya made sure his Valencia troops used their impressive size advantage.

Rebounding was the biggest thing that stood out in Valencia’s win as the hosts grabbed 38 boards to 23 for Hamburg, including corralling 16 offensive rebounds while Hamburg could only get 12 defensive boards.

It was more than just rebounds though as Valencia’s centers Bojan Dubljevic, Jasiel Rivero, Jaime Pradilla and Mike Tobey combined for 52 points on 20-of-25 two-point shooting (80.0%), 2 three-pointers, 20 rebounds - 11 of them on the offensive end – and 5 steals. And Victor Claver chipped in 9 points and 3 rebounds from the power forward spot. 


Rivero could not be stopped by Hamburg

“The key factors of the game were clear - the rebounding, especially the offensive boards for Valencia and finishing at the rim. We couldn’t stop Valencia and its points in the paint,” Hamburg coach Pedro Calles said.

Hamburg just did not have anything close depthwise to challenge that, even though Maik Kotsar was quite productive with 23 points on 10-of-11 shooting while also collecting 6 rebounds and 2 steals.


Victor Claver - Valencia Basket (photo Miguel Angel Polo - Valencia) - EC21-EF

Valencia Basket v Hamburg Towers (2022-04-20T18:30:00.000Z)

Virtus Segafredo center Mam Jaiteh had an impressive performance on Wednesday against Lietkabelis Panevezys in the first do-or-die game for his team in the 7DAYS EuroCup.

Jaiteh’s great shooting keyed Virtus

The French center finished the game as his team’s top scorer, posting 20 points with 9-of-10 two-point shooting. He started by hitting his first 6 field goals; his only miss came late in the third quarter when Virtus was leading 50-39.

This was not the first time Jaiteh displayed such good “marksmanship.” He was perfect against Frutti Extra Bursaspor (9 for 9) in Round 10 and shot 8 for 9 against Buducnost VOLI Podgorica in Round 12. Overall, Jaiteh averaged a very strong 68.9% from two in the regular season, which made him one of the most reliable scorers in the competition.


Jaiteh was nearly perfect for Virtus in the eighthfinals 

“These games are very special, do-or-die, I think we did our best to be very strong and very serious”, Jaiteh said after the game. “It was not easy and I’m very proud of my team. It’s one step, there's a lot more to go and hopefully we can reach our goal.”

Mam Jaiteh - Virtus Segafredo Bologna (photo Matteo Marchi - Virtus) - EC21

Virtus Segafredo Bologna v Lietkabelis Panevezys (2022-04-20T18:45:00.000Z)

Frutti Extra Bursaspor looked down and out in the final seconds of regulation, but the long-range shooting that served it so well the entire night came through once again and sent the team into the EuroCup Quarterfinals where it will face Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana.

Bursaspor shot its best when needed most

Bursaspor's outside shooting made the big difference in its 95-103 overtime upset win over Partizan NIS Belgrade. The visitors made just 2 more triples than the hosts, but on 52.0% shooting (13 for 25), compared to Partizan making 11 three-pointers, but needing 36 attempts.

Four of those shots came in the final minute of regulation and in overtime.
Derek Needham hit a tough three with 60 seconds to go to close the gap to 79-77. 

The most important three-point shot was the one from John Holland, who made an off-balance three with 7.1 seconds to go in regulation that tied the game at 84-84 and send it into overtime.


Bursaspor made clutch threes to KO Partizan

Two more threes Bursaspor knocked down in a span of 40 seconds in overtime, first by Andrew Andrews, who was 2 of 5 on the night, and then a corner dagger from Holland who finished the night 4 for 5 from downtown.

Bursaspor hit more than 13 triples only twice this season and its 52.0% accuracy set its new season-high. And it came at the most perfect time, shocking Partizan and a packed Stark Arena in the Serbian capital.


Dusan Alimpijevic - Frutti Extra Bursaspor (photo Dragana Stjepanovic - Partizan) - EC21-EF

Partizan NIS Belgrade v Frutti Extra Bursaspor (2022-04-20T18:30:00.000Z)

Coach Porfi Fisac’s men were superior in pretty much every department, and one of those was definitely the physical battle inside the paint. 

 

Gran Canaria won the rebounding tussle 30-17 in the first half, which also saw the home team put 42 points on the board by converting 11 of 19 two-point attempts (57.9%) while restricting Slask to just 4 of its 20 shots inside the arc (20%).

Telling numbers: Inside dominance propelled Gran Canaria

Artem Pustovyi - Gran Canaria (photo Gran Canaria) - EC21-EF

First of all, the home team outshot Reyer from all distances; Metropolitans made 23 of 48 two-pointers (47.9%), 7 of 16 threes (43.8%) and 20 of 23 free throws (87.0%). In contrast, Reyer knocked down 12 of 28 two-pointers (42.9%), 13 of 32 threes (40.6%) and 3 of 6 foul shots (50%). Even though Reyer made more threes, Metropolitans had many more shots.

Among the reasons Metropolitans shot more were turnovers. Reyer was forced into 16 turnovers and Metropolitans committed just 9. And Metropolitans scored 21 points off those Reyer turnovers, while Reyer netted just 8 points from Metropolitans’ turnovers.

 

Metropolitans also dominated on the glass, outrebounding Reyer 41-29. Its 12 offensive rebounds were double the number Reyer had. What’s more, Metropolitans had 22 second-chance points compared to 5 for Reyer.

All of that was too much for Reyer, which was without Austin Daye and lost point guard Jordan Theodore to an injury suffered in warmups. Add to that starting center Mitchell Watt fouling out in the third quarter and it’s easier to understand how Metropolitans made it look easy.

Boulogne Metropolitans 92 overpowered short-handed Umana Reyer Venice 87-66 on Wednesday and the numbers shined a light on the many reasons why.

Telling numbers: Metropolitans outshot and outrebounded Reyer

Boulogne Metropolitans 92 v Umana Reyer Venice (2022-04-20T18:00:00.000Z)

Tomer Ginat - Boulogne Metropolitans 92 (photo Olivier dAlmeida - Metropolitans) - EC21-EF

Even though Lietkabelis Panevezys lived up to its reputation as one of the best shooting teams in the competition by making 11 three-pointers from 24 attempts (45.8%), it proved not enough to surprise Segafredo Virtus Bologna at its home court. One of the reasons was the 22 turnovers the Italian champs forced and the home team turned them into 14 steals.

As such, Virtus outscored Lietkabelis 8-2 in fastbreak points, also signing off on 27 second-chance points against its opponent’s 16. Another proof of Virtus’s better care for the ball was its 22 assists with Tornike Shengelia leading the way with a career-high of 8 and seven more players dishing at least 1.

Virtus Segafredo Bologna took advantage of its opponent’s 22 turnovers to earn a ticket to the quarterfinals, 75-67.

Telling numbers: Virtus exploited Lietkabelis’s turnovers

Tornike Shengelia - Virtus Segafredo Bologna (photo Matteo Marchi - Virtus) - EC21-EF

Two segments of the game played a big part in Bursaspor's win. The first one was long-range shooting; the team made 13 of 25 threes, compared to Partizan sinking 11 of 36. 

 

The other one was rebounding. Even though Bursaspor was slightly outrebounded 47-45, and allowed 18 offensive rebounds compared to just 9 it pulled down, it was the rebounding after the first quarter that kept giving Bursaspor a chance.

Partizan pulled down an astounding 9 offensive rebounds in the first quarter, 5 of which came from Balsa Koprivica. Bursaspor had no offensive rebounds in the first 10 minutes. Partizan also had a 16-7 rebounding edged at that point.

 

After the first quarter, however, Bursaspor was the team that won on the glass – 31-38 - and the two teams pulled down an equal amount of offensive rebounds from that point on.

Frutti Extra Bursaspor came up with an improbable rally in the final seconds of regulation before stunning Partizan NIS Belgrade in overtime 95-103 on Wednesday night.

Telling numbers: Bursaspor rebounded well late

Onuralp Bitim - Frutti Extra Bursaspor (photo Dragana Stjepanovic - Partizan) - EC21-EF

Valencia outrebounded Hamburg 38-23 including grabbing more rebounds on Hamburg’s defensive glass - 16 to 12. That led to Valencia scoring 26 second-chance points to 8 for Hamburg.

Valencia’s domination under the boards was to be expected as the club was the EuroCup’s leading rebounding team while also collecting the most offensive rebounds at 13.2 per game. Hamburg’s defense ranked 18th in rebounds and was overmatched with Valencia’s depth of big men.

Valencia Basket used one of its biggest strengths to overwhelm Hamburg Towers as it grabbed 16 offensive rebounds in rolling to a 98-80 home victory.

Telling numbers: Offensive rebound dominance carried Valencia to victory

Mike Tobey - Valencia Basket (photo Miguel Angel Polo - Valencia) - EC21-EF