Lauretana Biella hosts Brose Baskets Bamberg in Italy on Tuesday in what surely feels like a do-or-die game for both sides. Bamberg will win Group H if it wins this game, while Biella needs to win the game to reach the Last 16. Bamberg could still advance to the Last 16 if it loses to Biella by 17 points or less or if Nymburk loses in the other Week 6, Group H game. Brose Baskets wins the group if it beats Biella, or loses by 2 points or less and Nymburk loses. For Biella to advance, it must beat Bamberg by at least 18, unless Ventspils beats Nymburk, in which case it can beat Bamberg by any margin and advance. Biella can win the group if it beats Bamberg by at least 41 points or if it beats Bamberg by at least 3 points and Nymburk loses. Bamberg edged Biella 87-85 when they met in December. The teams have much different strengths. Biella is led by star guards Pietro Aradori and Joe Smith, who will have to get past Anton Gavel, John Goldsberry and Brian Roberts to generate points. Bamberg powers the ball inside to big men Tibor Pleiss and Elton Brown, who help open the floor for wingmen Predrag Suput and Casey Jacobsen. Biella turns to its blue-collar big guys Pervis Pasco and Kieron Achara and shooter Sven Schultze to defend in the paint, while looking to Matteo Soragna to bring his experience and shooting to help lead in this crucial game. The two teams are among the best three-point shooting sides in the competition – Bamberg first at 48.1% and Biella sixth at 44.7%. Neither team features many players to have been involved in such a high-pressure game, a fact that could easily affect things like outside shooting. Accordingly, look for two players that have been there, Soragna and Jacobson, to shoulder extra responsibility at least early on to get their teams going. If either team struggles early, the pressure could mount and topple their Eurocup dreams quickly.
REFEREES: Dubravko Muhvic, Ademir Zurapovic, Zdravko Rutesic