Some of the biggest stars of the regular season will butt heads in Istanbul on Tuesday when Galatasaray Cafe Crown hosts Unics Kazan in the teams Group J opener. Galatasaray downed BancaTercas Teramo in the regular season finale to improve to 3-3 and secure a Last 16 berth. Gala won all three of its home games. Unics meanwhile won Group D with a 5-1 mark, going undefeated on the road. Both teams were among the best scoring teams in the regular season thanks in part to their stars. Galatasaray boasts a fearsome foursome of big men Rado Rancik and Mike Wilkinson, sharpshooter Simas Jasaitis and point guard Darius Washington. The unheralded Evren Buker completes the Galatasray lineup, while reserve center Fatih Solak is a crucial reserve. Meanwhile Kazan is led by the dynamic backcourt duo of Marko Popovic and Terrell Lyday. Center Kresimir Loncar is the feature player inside, where he is joined by Vladimir Veremeenko. Igor Zamanskiy completes the lineup, while playmaker Petr Samoylenko and veteran scorer Saulius Stombergas provide experience off the bench. A number of matchups are worth keeping an eye on and could be deciding factors in the outcome, starting with the expected duel between Washington and Lyday. The clash between Rancik and Loncar in the paint as well as how Zamanskiy handles Jasaitis, who scored a Eurocup career-high 25 in his last game, are also key to the outcome. The game promises to be high-scoring and entertaining and could come down to which teams stars have the hotter hands. Galatasaray has won all three of its home games by double figures, but Kazans biggest win of the season actually came in Istanbul after beating Besiktas ColaTurka 70-98. Expect the unexpected in this clash where only one team, but all the fans are guaranteed to be winners.
REFEREES: Shmuel Bachar, Sergey Chebyshev, Aleksandar Milojevic