### MoraBanc Andorra head coach David Eudal:

"We came to the game after two consecutive defeats and we want to play a good game and take the victory. We know they will come for the victory, they are a team that plays good basketball and it won't be easy to win. We have to turn the page on Sunday's defeat in a game in which we didn't start with the intensity we wanted." 

### MoraBanc Andorra player Conor Morgan:

"Tomorrow's game is important for us to get back on track of the victory in the EuroCup and we know that it will be difficult because the rival plays good basketball on our part, I am clear that the key will be to play well together and recover the toughness of our best games."

Pre-game quotes: Andorra vs. Slask

MoraBanc Andorra v Slask Wroclaw (2022-02-15T19:00:00.000Z)

David Eudal - MoraBanc Andorra (photo Trento) - EC21


Having won the first leg of their two-way quarterfinal by 26 points away, Cedevita started slowly on Monday, with Lasko leading 20-23 after 10 minutes. The tide started turning then as Cedevita jumped ahead 47-41 by halftime with Dan Duscak and Zach Auguste leading the way. Jacob Pullen and Luka Scuka took over after the break as the lead stretched to 69-55 after 30 minutes and continued to the easy final win.

Duscak and Auguste finished with 16 points each, the former adding 7 assists, the latter 7 rebounds. Scuka followed with 14 points and Pullen with 11. The Dragons will now play a single-elimination semifinal on Thursday against Krka Novo Mesto at Kodeljevo Sports Hall in Ljubljana.

Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana stormed into the semifinals of the Slovenian Cup by completing a two-game quarterfinals sweep of Zlatorog Lasko with a resounding 91-71 victory on Monday at home in Stozice Arena.

Domestic cups: Cedevita through to Slovenian semis

dan_duscak_cedevita_olimpija_photo_cedevita

### Umana Reyer Venice head coach Walter De Raffaele:

"We face the leader of our group, that might be enough to explain their strength. Gran Canaria got a deep and quality roster with great physical impact in every spot. We need to compete on boards and match up their physicality in order to limit their fastbreak, an important weapon for them. Offensively we have to move the ball with a good pace, that’s our goal." 

### Umana Reyer Venice player Michael Bramos:

"Gran Canaria is in first place of our group so it will be a tough game. We will try to protect our home court because home wins are important. We also want build on our last two victories in EuroCup to improve our position in this group."

Here are some insights from the game by the protagonists themselves.

Pre-game quotes: Venice - Gran Canaria

Umana Reyer Venice v Gran Canaria (2022-02-15T19:00:00.000Z)

Walter De Raffaele - Umana Reyer Venice (photo Buducnost) - EC21

Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana has escaped from Group B cellar and is looking optimistic about the remainder of the regular season thanks to back-to-back victories, the last of which came on the road against ratiopharm Ulm behind its veteran in-season addition Zoran Dragic.



Cedevita signings click, hoping to be 'even better'

Cedevita and Ulm offered an extremely exciting game to all basketball fans in their Round 13 clash last week. It was not the first time they did so this season. When they previously faced each other back in Round 4 in November, Ulm prevailed 96-101 in a double-overtime thriller that saw Ulm blow a 21-point lead and ended up featuring five scorers with at least 20 points.

Since then, Cedevita has made some significant changes in its roster. Its latest addition was Slovenian guard Dragic, who joined the team early in January after leaving Kaunas, where he played for Zalgiris in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague. In just his fourth game with his new teammates, Dragic proved his signing was a great choice by pushing Cedevita to a 96-104 road win.

“We changed the team during the season and now every game is important, as we don’t have time to practice. Every game, we are trying to get better chemistry. The guys are believing in each other and that’s the most important," recognized Cedevita head coach Jurica Goleac after the game against Ulm.

Dragic was his team’s top scorer and performer in the victory in Ulm, a place he knows well after spending half of the 2019-20 season there. Against his former club, Dragic finished with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists for a PIR of 25 and was the go-to guy when the game was on the line in the last quarter.

"It was a very tough game. We know that Ulm is playing great basketball and we just fought till the end. First half we let them score too much, easy baskets, and in the second half we played defense, we stuck together like a team, and we won", he said a few minutes after the final buzzer.

Besides his good stats, Dragic showed up when his team needed him most. He scored 8 of Cedevita’s first 15 points to get his team going and fuel a 10-15 lead midway through the first quarter. Late in the game, right after Thomas Klepeisz made it a one-possession game, 92-94, with only 2:26 remaining, Dragic took over from behind the arc and drilled a pair of three-pointers that sealed the outcome and helped the visitors win the head-to-head tiebreaker too.

"For sure for the fans it was a great basketball game, almost 200 points. For the coach, is not so great, but there were great individual players on the court and they scored amazing shots", reflected Golemac on the high-scoring affair. "In the end, we were luckier, we scored some tough shots in the end.”

With its second win in a row and third on the road this season, Cedevita not only improved to 5-7 and got closer to the middle of the pack in Group B, but looks more confidently at its future, knowing that the new roster seems to have clicked already. Dragic seemed to think that way too:

"We have a great group of guys and we are just trying to play the best basketball we can. Now we feel each other and I hope we can be even better."

Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana has escaped from the Group B cellar and is looking optimistic about the remainder of the regular season thanks to back-to-back victories, the last of which came on the road against ratiopharm Ulm behind its veteran in-season addition Zoran Dragic.

10 One Team, Zoran Dragic - Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (photo Larry Langer - Ulm) - EC21

ratiopharm Ulm v Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (2022-02-09T18:30:00.000Z)

Shot-makers had their day in Round 13 of the 7DAYS EuroCup.

Stats Review: The luxury of good pull-up shooters

### High-Gravity Matchups

Frutti Extra Bursaspor scored a key win at home over Promitheas Patras to push itself above the cut line in Group B — a spot that feels destined to come down to the wire with just two games separating ninth and fourth place. 

### Pull-Up Shooters

In that win, Andrew Andrews scored an absurd 11 points on 4 pull-up jump shots handling the ball in the pick-and-roll. Putting together his best effort of the season in his first start in over two months, Andrews could not have been more opportunistic getting to his jump off the bounce against Promitheas.

That kind of efficiency is a luxury at any level. In the EuroCup, teams are shooting an effective field goal percentage of 46% on the year. Effective field goal percentage adjusts for the value of three-point attempts over two-point attempts—especially relevant as 46% of all dribble jump shots this season have come inside the arc. Taking those numbers a step further to compare them to the league at large, pull-up two-pointers result in 0.78 points per attempt and pull-up threes result in 0.98 points per attempt while the average half-court possession is worth 0.94 points per possession overall. 

There’s immense value in players who can make shots with consistency and range off the dribble and several players have been especially impactful with their shooting. Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana point guard Yogi Ferrell has been tremendous since joining the club, making over half of his pull-up threes, the majority of which have come off of ball screens. Being able to give the ball to Ferrell and have him make shots at such an efficient rate creating for himself has added a dimension to Olimpija’s offense and has been a big reason it has risen to sixth in the EuroCup in offensive efficiency.

While it was Andrew Andrews who stepped up in Round 13, Derek Needham has been Bursaspor’s most dangerous shooter on the year. 

What’s made the EuroCup veteran unique has been his consistency not just beyond the arc, but inside it as well; he’s shot 53% inside the arc and from deep.

Clevin Hannah and DJ Seeley have both been aggressive off the bounce this season with Seeley being the more prolific of the two inside the arc. While they may not be quite as consistent as Ferrell or Needham, both have been explosive in spurts for their respective teams.  

Kevin Punter is an outlier in this group. He’s shot more pull-up two-point jumpers than three-pointers and has made a ridiculous 68% of his dribble jumpers inside the arc. Perhaps no player in the EuroCup this season has made tough shots as often as he has for Partizan NIS Belgrade. 

Whether it’s a pull-up two over a dropping defender, an iso step-back against a switch, or a desperation shot at the end of the clock, pull-up jumpers do not have an overwhelmingly high expected value making the players who convert them consistently a luxury for their teams.

### Looking Ahead to Round 14

Gran Canaria’s Round 14 home game with Bursaspor is bigger for the visitors than the hosts, but it's how the club will spend the first week of the break that is especially notable. Playing a pair of makeup road games, Gran Canaria will have a chance to get two games clear of Valencia at the top of Group B when it travels to take on Umana Reyer Venice and Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse just two days apart. 

It is virtually unprecedented for EuroCup teams to play road two games in three days but the test for Gran Canaria matches the opportunity as it has a chance to give itself what may be an insurmountable cushion at the top of the standings with only five games remaining.

Derek Needham - Frutti Extra Bursaspor (photo Bursaspor) - EC21

Andorra swingman Drew Crawford has been one of the best shooters in the EuroCup this season. Crawford has totaled 23 three-point shots this season on 46.0% three-point shooting. Only four players in the EuroCup this season have made at least 23 triples and done so at 46.0% or better accuracy. Crawford has made 3 or more three-pointers in five of his 11 appearances this season and him finding his range in this contest would be a major boost for Andorra.

No Slask player has started every game and played more minutes than small forward Ivan Ramljak. Athletic and tough, the do-it-all forward is contributing 6.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.2 steals so far this season. But Ramljak's contribution might be even bigger on the other end as he does not shy away from any defensive assignments. Ramljak can play aggressive defense on the perimeter against the ball carriers, but it will be equally important if he helps keep Crawford and the rest of Andorra's dangerous backcourt in check.

Swingmen Drew Crawford of MoraBanc Andorra and Ivan Ramljak of Slask Wroclaw will go head to head in one of the key matchups in this Round 9 rescheduled game.

Major matchup: Crawford, Andorra vs. Ramljak, Slask

Ivan Ramljak - Slask Wroclaw (photo Dawid Podsiadlo - Slask) - EC21

### Andorra must increase percentages inside

Andorra wants to snap its two-game losing streak and to do so it needs to restore its offensive production. It scored at least 80 points in six of its first seven games and had a 5-2 record, but has now failed to score that many in four of its last five and lost all four of those games to drop to 6-6. Andorra's only two games where it failed to make at least 50% of its two-point shots came during this stretch and the team will need to focus on getting efficient inside, whether through its big men or with Codi Miller-McIntyre (13.8 ppg., 7.2 apg.) getting more to the rim to open up better looks for Clevin Hannah (10.8 ppg., 42.3% 3FG), Drew Crawford (11.3 ppg., 46.0% 3FG) and the rest of its perimeter players.

### Slask needs defense

To get its first road win of this season, Slask must play better defensively. In the two games it has won this season, Slask allowed just 69.0 points per game. But in its nine losses, the team has allowed 83.1. The biggest factor has been the team's defense close to the basket, where Slask kept opponents to 42.0% on two-point shooting in those two wins. As the second-best rebounding team in the EuroCup, averaging 39.1 rebounds, Slask has the tools to make it work and increase its chances to catch up with the rest of the teams in the race for the playoffs.

MoraBanc Andorra will hope to get back to winning ways when it faces Slask Wroclaw, which has its back against the wall.

Keys to victory: Andorra vs. Slask, Round 9

Drew Crawford - MoraBanc Andorra (photo Martin Imatge - Andorra) - EC21

Bramos has not been consistent this season after he missed the first five games of the season with an injury. One of the most dangerous shooters in the competition, Bramos is averaging 6.8 points on just 29.2% three-point shooting plus 2.7 rebounds per game. However, Bramos is coming off one of his best games of the season. In a resounding road win over Buducnost VOLI Podgorica last week, Bramos shined with 12 points, making both of his two-point shots, 2 of 3 triples and pulling down 6 rebounds. Bramos played for Gran Canaria for two seasons early in his career and he will try to continue finding his rhythm against his former team while helping Reyer extend its winning streak to three games.

Brussino has had an up-and-down campaign of his own, finishing with double figures in scoring in four of his nine appearances. He is averaging 9.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists, but during January he spent nearly 26 minutes per game on the floor. Gran Canaria is undefeated in those games and Brussino has been a steady presence, knocking down 5 three-pointers while dishing 10 assists with just 2 turnovers, while collecting 7 steals. His performance on both ends of the floor will be of great importance for Gran Canaria against Reyer.

Umana Reyer Venice hopes to keep reaping the benefits of its veteran sharpshooter Michael Bramos finding his rhythm and Gran Canaria is doing the same with swingman Nicolas Brussino playing a bigger role in recent weeks.

Major matchup: Bramos, Reyer vs. Brussino, Gran Canaria

### Reyer to use long-range shots for offensive balance

Umana Reyer Venice ranks third in steals (8.4 spg.) in the 7DAYS EuroCup this season with its Round 9 rival Gran Canaria (9.3 spg.) leading the way. Being able to avoid each other's defensive traps should be one of the biggest keys to this game. Reyer has slightly improved in recent weeks with its three-point shooting, but it is still fifth-lowest at 33.0%. Being able to find its best shooters - Austin Daye (11.9 ppg., 48.6% 3FG) and Michele Vitali (8.3 ppg., 40.9% 3FG), as well as Michael Bramos who is slowly finding his rhythm after returning from injury - and knocking them down, would also open up more room inside for Reyer's best scorer, center Mitchell Watt (12.1 ppg., 5.9 rpg.).

### Gran Canaria to attack offensive glass

Unlike Reyer, Gran Canaria is excelling from beyond the arc, ranking second this season by converting 39.4% of its shots and making 10.0 triples per game. That accuracy has been even better on the road - a league-high 41.3% while attempting 24.2 three-pointers on average. Led by Dylan Ennis (15.5 ppg.) and A.J. Slaughter 812.0 ppg.), who combine for 4.7 triples per game, Gran Canaria should look to keep knocking down long-range shots, but also keep attacking the offensive glass where it pulls down a solid 11.2 offensive rebounds per game. Reyer does not often win its rebounding battles and Gran Canaria should try to use that to its advantage, increasing its chances to stay undefeated on the road.

Umana Reyer Venice and Group B leader Gran Canaria get ready for their rescheduled Round 9 game, their first head-to-head clash of the season.

Keys to victory: Reyer vs. Gran Canaria, Round 9

Michael Bramos - Umana Reyer Venice (photo Alessandro Scarpa - Reyer) - EC21