May 24, 2013
Semi-Final Game 1 - March 20, 2013 CET: 20:30 Local time: 20:30 - PABELLON FUENTE DE SAN LUIS
Valencia Basket 87 - 97 PBC Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar

Records

Ave.   Ave.
0-0 Final 0-0
0-0 Semi-Final 0-0
1-1 Quarter Final 2-0
4-2 Last 16 5-1
5-1 Regular Season 4-2
10-4 Overall 11-3

Referees

Crew Chief
RYZHYK, BORYS, Ukraine
Referee
VIATOR, EDDIE, France
Umpire
ANASTOPOULOS, PANAGIOTIS, Greece

Team Stats

Ave.   Ave.
84.2 Points 82.0
33.3 Rebounds 33.3
9.7 O. Rebounds 8.4
23.6 D. Rebounds 24.9
16.4 Assists 17.9
7.7 Steals 6.0
3.2 Blocks 2.2
13.9 Turnovers 12.6
57.8 % 2PT 59.7 %
38.0 % 3PT 39.4 %
76.6 % FT 65.5 %
94.1 Index 94.0
Team Stats - Valencia Basket

Player Stats

Ave.   Ave.
14.9 / Doellman Points 16.2 / Brown
4.5 / Dubljevic Rebounds 7.8 / Maric
1.7 / Dubljevic OR 1.8 / Brown
3.0 / Doellman DR 5.1 / Calathes
4.7 / Markovic Assists 6.9 / Calathes
1.7 / Doellman Steals 1.7 / Brown
0.8 / Doellman Blocks 0.5 / Brown
1.9 / Markovic Turnovers 2.5 / Calathes
71.4 % / Martinez 2PT 69.5 % / Jasaitis
100.0 % / Lishchuk 3PT 56.3 % / Zubkov
97.1 % / Martinez FT 100.0 % / Baron
15.1 / Doellman Index 18.0 / Calathes
Team Roster - Valencia Basket

THE TAKE

A two-time Eurocup winner, Valencia Basket hosts PBC Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, playing in its first semifinal ever in the competition, to open their two-game series on Wednesday. Valencia has a 10-4 overall record and was the only quarterfinalist to advance without homecourt advantage. Krasnodar has eight victories in its last nine Eurocup games and an 11-3 record, which ties Bilbao for the competition's best. Valencia is the Eurocup's top-ranked team with an average performance index rating (PIR) of 94.1, while Krasnodar is second at 94.0. Among the stats that make them so: Lokomotiv leads the Eurocup in assists (17.9 apg.), while Valencia is third in scoring (84.2 ppg.).

On the sidelines, Evgeny Pashutin of Krasnodar won the Eurocup as head coach of Unics Kazan in 2011 and led CSKA Moscow to the Euroleague Final Four in 2009. Velimir Perasovic coached Valencia to last season's Eurocup final, which it lost to host BC Khimki Moscow Region, and also made the 2006 Euroleague Final Four as boss of Tau Ceramica. Valencia has lost just one game at home in the entire Eurocup season so far, and scored 91.3 points on average in the other six. Speed and a consistently devastating fastbreak are its main weapons, to the delight of its fans. Krasnodar has won five road games, but also gave up more than 90 points in two road games.

Two deep rosters are packed with potential game-changers. In a matchup between two phenomenal backcourts, five of the best passers in the competition line up for battle. For Krasnodar, Eurocup assist leader and former Euroleague champion Nick Calathes (6.86 apg.) is joined by Mantas Kalnietis, third overall for assists with 5.78 on average. The Valencia trio of Stefan Markovic (4.73 apg.), Pau Ribas (3.37 apg.) and Rodrigo San Miguel (2.85 apg.) will try to match Krasnodar pass for pass. The players who will be feeding off those assists will be Simas Jasaitis and Derrick Brown for Krasnodar, Rafa Martinez and Thomas Kelati for Valencia, all of them experienced shooters in big games. In the paint, Valencia has former All-Eurocup selection Bojan Dubljevic paired with the reliable Serhiy Lishchuk and team scoring leader Justin Doellman (14.9 ppg.). They will go up against experienced Krasnodar big men Aleks Maric, a former All-Euroleague selection, Richard Hendrix and Alexey Savrasenko, who is another former Euroleague champion, along with Maric. Their battle will decide a lot at both ends of the floor as the point total in the opener will carry over to become a lead in the second game, with aggregate score after both deciding the series winner.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Eurocupbasketball.com

Quotes Head Coaches

PERASOVIC, VELIMIR
Valencia Basket
"They made wise moves with Calathes or Brown. who proved to be fantastic in this Eurocup. They are also backed by more top-level players like Maric, Jasaitis or Baron. They are a great team, different to Unics. They play fast, look for the fastbreak and play the pick and roll with Calathes and Kalnietis. They can take a solid lead in two or three minutes, they did that before this season. It will be a complicated game because of the way they play. We must stop their breaks and work a lot on those pick and roll situations. If we manage to do that, we will have our options."
PASHUTIN, EVGENY
PBC Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
"Valencia Basket is a well-balanced team which plays active basketball. We have a task to neutralize our opponent shooters, focus on defense and display balanced offense. We intend to play the game we did during the whole tournament. I also wish my guys to impose our own game on the Spanish squad."

Players

BARON, JIMMY
PBC Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
"As for Valencia, this is a good team. They are strong with high athletic skills and have good team work. Besides they are very disciplined."
Simas Jasaitis - Lokomotiv Kuban - EC12 (photo lokobasket.com)PBC Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar struck first in the two-game Eurocup Semifinals by downing Valencia Basket 87-97 in the opener in Spain on Wednesday. Lokomotiv takes a 10-point lead into the deciding game next week in Krasnodar, Russia. The aggregate winner will move on to the Eurocup Final next month in Charleroi, Belgium. Simas Jasaitis led the winners with 23 points on a Eurocup semifinals record 7 three-pointers. Derrick Brown added 19 points, Mantas Kalnietis scored 17, Richard Hendrix 14 and Nick Calathes contributed 8 points and 9 assists. Justin Doellman paced Valencia with 28 points, Pau Ribas added 20 points and Bojan Dubljevic 17. Lokomotiv got off to a strong start and a three-pointer by Jasaitis gave his team a 5-13 lead. Valencia improved off a timeout, but Calathes and Aleks Maric allowed the guests to get an 8-point lead after 10 minutes. Dubljevic shined early in the second quarter and a 6-0 run that Doellman capped with a layup forced the guests to call timeout at 38-39. Sergey Bykov and Kalnietis helped Lokomotiv stay ahead, 43-45, at halftime. Doellman and Ribas completed Valencia's comeback, 50-49, right after the break. It didn't last long, however, as Kalnietis led a 2-15 run that put Lokomotiv ahead for good, 52-64. Hendrix and Jasaitis boosted the guests' lead to 58-76 after 30 minutes. Lokomotiv led by 18 with five minutes left before Ribas, Doellman and Rodrigo San Miguel carried Valencia to within 87-91. Back-to-back three-pointers by Jasaitis allowed Lokomotiv to cruise to a well-deserved win.

Hendrix got Lokomotiv going with a layup, but Doellman answered from downtown for an early 3-2 Valencia lead. Jasaitis swished a catch-and-shoot three-pointer in a very physical start to the game. Brown dunked and free throws by Serhiy Lishchuk kept the hosts within 5-7. Hendrix kept pushing Lokomotiv with a two-handed slam, Kalnietis split free throws and Jasaitis downed his second triple, causing Valencia call timeout at 5-13, after a 2-11 run. Ribas tried to change things with a three-pointer and Thomas Kelati scored off a midcourt steal to keep Valencia within 10-13. Jasaitis buried a triple that hit the rim, went up and fell down. Doellman nailed a long two-pointer, but Calathes found Hendrix for a dunk and added his own reverse layup for a 12-20 Lokomotiv lead. Dubljevic nailed one from beyond the arc. Brown hit free throws, San Miguel scored in penetration and a jump hook by Dubljevic kept the hosts within 19-22. Calathes shined with a driving layup and Maric followed a put-back basket with a three-point to give the guests a 21-29 lead after 10 minutes.

Dubljevic sank a jump hook early in the second quarter, but Jasaitis did even with his fourth three-pointer. Ribas stepped up with a fast break layup and Dubljevic followed a close basket with free throws to bring Valencia as close as 29-32. Valencia tried a tall lineup with Flo Pietrus at small forward guarding Jasaitis. Calathes found Jimmy Baron for an open three-pointer but Dubljevic hit another jump hook. Kalnietis took over with a reverse layup, Lishchuk split free throws and a jumper by Kalnietis boosted Lokomotiv's lead to 32-39. San Miguel shined with an off-balance driving shot and Lishchuk scored down low for a 36-39 Valencia deficit. Doellman ignited the crowd with a follow-up layup that caused Coach Evgeny Pashutin to stop the game, 38-39. Lokomotiv struggled to score for more than three minutes until Bykov changed things with a driving layup. Kelati buried his trademark jumper off the dribble, Bykov made free throws and San Miguel brought Valencia within 41-43. Kalnietis scored around the basket and free throws by San Miguel fixed the halftime score at 43-45.

Hendrix dunked immediately after the break, but a three-pointer by Ribas and a fast break layup by Doellman put Valencia back ahead, 48-47. Hendrix kept pushing Lokomotiv with a second-chance basket that Ribas erased with a fast break layup. Kalnietis banked in an off-balance shot and followed it with a close basket in a 0-6 run that Jasaitis capped with a tip-in for a 50-55 Lokomotiv margin. Doellman hit a turnaround jumper, but a red-hot Kalnietis beat the shot clock with a floating shot. Brown finished a broken play with a baseline jumper and a three-point play by an unstoppable Kalnietis made it a double-digit series, 52-62. Maric capped a 0-9 Lokomotiv run with free throws, as Rafa Martinez rescued Valencia with a three-pointer and Doellman added a breakaway dunk to cause the guests to stop the game at 57-64. Lokomotiv found a new go-to guy in Brown, who nailed back-to-back jumpers for a 57-68 score. Hendrix dunked again and a three-pointer by Jasaitis broke the game open, 57-73. Lishchuk and Kalnietis traded free throws and a put-back basket by Hendrix boosted Lokomotiv's margin to 58-76 through three quarters.

Doellman sank a three-pointer early in the fourth quarter, as Valencia tried to speed up the game tempo. Doellman added a fast break basket, which saw Lokomotiv stop the game at 63-76. Calathes found Brown for a five-meter jumper and added a coast-to-coast layup that kept Lokomotiv out of trouble, 63-80. Dubljevic scored in the paint, Brown made free throws and picked up a length-of-the-court pass from Calathes to dunk for a 65-84 Lokomotiv margin with less than seven minutes left. Doellman nailed a triple. Lokomotiv started to slow down the tempo to run the game clock down. A fast break layup by Calathes caused Coach Velimir Perasovic to call timeout, 68-86, with five minutes left. Ribas made free throws and bettered Maric's close basket with a three-pointer. Brown silenced the crowd with a dunk-and-foul, but Ribas followed a layup with a three-point play to give Valencia some hope at 78-91. Lokomotiv could not find the way to the basket and 5 unanswered points by Doellman brought Valencia back in the series, 83-91, with 1:27 to go. San Miguel charged the crowd with a steal and layup-plus-foul and Doellman banked in a close shot to make it a 4-point series, 87-91. Jasaitis rescued Lokomotiv with back-to-back triples to seal his team's win in style.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Javier Gancedo, Valencia
Referees: RYZHYK, BORYS (UKR), VIATOR, EDDIE (FRA), ANASTOPOULOS, PANAGIOTIS (GRE)
Attendance: 8200 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
Valencia Basket21221529
PBC Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar29163121
End of Quarter1234
Valencia Basket21435887
PBC Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar29457697
Head coach: PERASOVIC, VELIMIR
Valencia Basket
# Player Min Pts 2FG
M-A
 3FG
M-A
 FT
M-A
 Rebounds As St To Bl Fouls PIR
O D T Fv Ag Cm Rv
00 SAN MIGUEL, RODRIGO 23:34 9 3/6 0/2 3/5 1 1 2 4 4 1   1 2 4 12
4 MARKOVIC, STEFAN 22:37         2 2 4 3   2 1   2 1 5
5 RIBAS, PAU 27:04 20 4/9 3/4 3/3   1 1 3   5     3 2 12
7 DOELLMAN, JUSTIN 33:33 28 9/14 3/3 1/1 1 3 4 1 2   2 2 2 2 30
10 ABIA, LARRY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 LISHCHUK, SERHIY 24:33 6 1/4   4/6   2 2   1 2 3   5 4 4
14 DUBLJEVIC, BOJAN 20:49 17 6/6 1/3 2/2   2 2 1 1 1     2 5 21
17 MARTINEZ, RAFA 10:23 3 0/1 1/2                 1 2   -2
20 PIETRUS, FLORENT 9:48           1 1     2     1 1 -1
22 KELATI, THOMAS 27:39 4 2/2 0/3     2 2 1 2 3     2 1 2
24 SABATER, LUIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 87 25/42 8/17 13/17 5 16 21 13 10 16 6 4 21 20 86
59.5% 47.1% 76.5%
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
Head coach: PASHUTIN, EVGENY
PBC Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
# Player Min Pts 2FG
M-A
 3FG
M-A
 FT
M-A
 Rebounds As St To Bl Fouls PIR
O D T Fv Ag Cm Rv
4 GRIGORYEV, MAXIM DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5 BROWN, DERRICK 38:51 19 7/11   5/5 3 3 6 2 2 2 2 1 3 5 26
7 HENDRIX, RICHARD 25:45 14 7/12     2 2 4 1 1   1 2 3   11
8 SAVRASENKO, ALEKSEY 1:40                              
9 KALNIETIS, MANTAS 36:39 19 8/10 0/5 3/6   3 3 4   5 1 1 2 4 13
10 BYKOV, SERGEY 5:04 2 0/1   2/3       1           2 3
11 LIKHODEY, VALERY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 ZUBKOV, ANDREY 0:50                         1   -1
13 JASAITIS, SIMAS 37:57 23 1/2 7/10   2 6 8 1 4       2 3 33
15 BARON, JIMMY 5:50 3   1/1                       3
22 MARIC, ALEKS 12:54 9 3/3   3/3 2 1 3 1 3 4     4 3 11
33 CALATHES, NICK 34:30 8 4/11     1 4 5 9 2 8   2 5 4 6
Team           5 4 9           1   8
Totals 200:00 97 30/50 8/16 13/17 15 23 38 19 12 19 4 6 21 21 113
60% 50% 76.5%
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

PERASOVIC, VELIMIR
Valencia Basket
"I think that we saw a great team that played great basketball against us. We were looking forward to this game, but they dominated the rebounds and played really well one-on-one and in pick-and-roll situations. They got an advantage in these situations and that made us to trail all the way. Lokomotiv has great scoring runs in very little time and good three-point shooters, especially Jasaitis. We were down by 20 and rallied to within 4, but their last two triples give them a comfortable lead, as we have to play on the road. When there's life, there's still hope. We were 20 down and rallied. I give Jasaitis a lot of credit for his 2 final three-pointers, but in that moment we saw we could rally to be in a better situation in Game 2. They dominated the game. Our rebounding problems are seen against a team with great physical potential."
PASHUTIN, EVGENY
PBC Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
"We have great respect for Valencia Basket and this game was a big pressure one for us. We tried to stop their three key players - Thomas Kelati, Justin Doellman and Bojan Dubljevic. I think we did a good job against Doellman until the third quarter but then he started to score. We got full control of the game in the third quarter, but lost control in the fourth. We had a bad moment with five consecutive turnovers, but managed to recover in the final minute. Defensively, we tried to stop their shooters, but were not able to stop all four. We have to analyze our mistakes and prepare for the next game, which will be a very hard one."

Players

DOELLMAN, JUSTIN
Valencia Basket
"We were able to fight back at the end, which gives us confidence going into the next game. It was very disappointing to lose like that at home, but we fought back and made it a close game. They beat us pretty good on the offensive glass. I don’t know what the statistics were, but I’m sure they beat us by a lot there; I think that was the difference in the game. It’ll be hard to play there. They’ll be ready for us. Hopefully we give it our best shot and come away with the win. "
CALATHES, NICK
PBC Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
"I know we won by 10 points here, but we have to go for the win at our place too. I thought we made some bad mistakes at the end, we should have won by more. That’s on me, because I turned the ball over way too much. But Simas [Jasaitis] and Mantas [Kalnietis] came through and we won this as a team that stuck together. Valencia is a very good team. They can get it going with threes and pressure defense. We have a tough [game ahead]; we have to get prepared and be ready. "
KALNIETIS, MANTAS
PBC Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
"We came here not thinking about the point difference, but expecting to win. Today we were lucky because we made good shots. Nothing is over; this series is 80 minutes, not 40. Valencia is a good team. I cannot say we relaxed, but we lost our focus in the fourth quarter. They came back and we were lucky that Simas [Jasaitis] scored very important three-point shots at the end. "
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