ACB Copa del Rey
This is the biggest midseason title in European basketball, played for from Thursday to Sunday in Madrid. Imagine a small NBA midseason tournament that features the four best teams each from Western and Eastern Conference, while actually meaning a lot to the players. Not quite as big as an NBA championship, but not too far behind either. That's what Copa del Rey is in Spain.
Participants are the ACB's top 8 teams, which include 4 current Euroleague Top16 clubs.
Players to watch from a NBA perspective:
- Ricky Rubio, obviously. He's playing against his former team Joventut in the quarter finals on Friday. Barcelona is heavy favourite.
- 1991-born Nikola Mirotic (Real Madrid), played in the Nike Hoop Summit, now taking the Euroleague & ACB by storm. Plays basketball mature well beyond his years. Super high ball IQ, flawless jumpshot, great stretch four in the making. Draft eligible, but unsure what his plans are.
- Victor Claver (Valencia), Trail Blazer draftpick, is playing the best season of his young career.
- Fran Vazquez, the famous Orlando Magic pick, is a free agent next summer. He took Copa del Rey MVP honours last year.
- Ante Tomic (Real), Utah Jazz draftpick, 7'1 center who can score in the post with either hand. Soft as tissue though.
- Joventut with Franch, Jelinek and Tomas. Remember this is the club that had 3 players (Rubio, Eyenga, Norel) in the 2009 NBA Draft, second only to UNC.
- Nemanja Bjelica, role player for Caja Laboral. Tough season for him, but having some better games lately. He'll have his first game on Friday as well.
Additionally, some former NBA players (Sergio Rodriguez, Navarro, Alan Anderson, Mickeal, Esteban Batista, etc.) as well as more draftpicks (Stanko Barac, Erazem Lorbek, ... ). Plenty of talented players as well who never have and probably never will play in the NBA.
Official ACB stream is showing all games for free, the Final game even in English commentary. This is probably the best tournament organisation and media performance outside the NBA. Most likely plenty of NBA scouts present.
Schedule (local time) here
over 1 year ago
in-the-game
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Thanks for the info
Good stuff.
"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." -- Yogi Berra
Valencia dominated the first game behind a spectacular 19/9/4 outing from Claver, who looks very much like he’d be a good NBA player at this point already. Contract expires 2012. Portland will do everything to bring him over.
Real Madrid with Mirotic, Tomic, Suarez up next in ca. 35 minutes.
by in-the-game on Feb 10, 2011 1:53 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
Interesting Thursday games.
Real Madrid 78-72 over Gran Canaria. Jaycee Carroll had 30 for the Islanders. Sergio Rodriguez, who is otherwise having a really poor season, carried Real down the stretch, 13 points in the 4th quarter.
Valencia – Valladolid Boxscore | Highlights
Real – Gran Canaria Boxscore | Highlights
Highlights Victor Claver
Today
Caja Laboral (Nemanja Bjelica) vs. Bilbao at 7PM (should be 12 o’clock in “the city of Minnesota”)
Barcelona vs. Joventut at 9.30PM (2.30PM)
Link to official ACB stream in the title.
by in-the-game on Feb 11, 2011 4:31 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
Caja Laboral – Bilbao 76-74
Didn’t watch this one. Bjelica played only 8 minutes, missed both of his shots.
Barcelona – Joventut 86-66
Barca was sleepwalking in this one, then turned it on for the 4th quarter (28-14), which was just enough. Rubio was taken off after just three minutes with two fouls, then played another four minutes in the 3rd quarter before committing his 3rd and 4th, then reappeared for garbage time. 6 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in just 10 minutes. Made both his three point shots (open catch and shoot from the corner). Dull basketball game overall.
Today’s clash between Barca and Caja Laboral is a rare chance to see Rubio & Bjelica play in one game. Form your own opinion on them instead of having to listen to guys who see Rubio two, three times all season maximum. Should be a great game as well. Semifinals is when this whole thing really gets going. Tip off is at 8.30PM local, 1.30PM CST. Game streamed live on ACB360 (link in header).
Real Madrid vs. Valencia (6PM local / 11AM CST) is intriguing as well.
Ps: Glad to see some good signs from Pekovic. Obviously all European rookie centers are having trouble with fouls (much more contact allowed in Europe) as well as dealing with defensive there seconds and defensive rotations in general, which happen much earlier in Europe.
Ditto on Pekovic
I think most of us didn’t realize how huge of an adjustment it would be for him in the NBA. I know he was one of the most prolific and efficient scorers in Europe over the past couple of years and I thought he would make more of an immediate impact. He’s starting to come around a bit now. We need his inside scoring. He’s about the only guy on our roster that has the game to score efficiently in the low post.
by Rascal Flatts on Feb 12, 2011 4:28 PM CST up reply actions
Barcelona – Caja Laboral 92:73
There’s an excellent recap in the fanpost section. All I can do is add boxscore and highlights.
Real Madrid – Valencia 69:59 (Boxscore | Highlights)
Ugly, ugly game that was destroyed by plenty of out-of-character whistles, but also 47(!) turnovers. Real still marched through due to big shots from Nikola Mirotic and Carlos Suarez, who combined for 31 of Real’s 69 points. The way Mirotic is currently playing, expect him to appear in the 1st rounds of Mock Drafts in the near future.
The Final, another “El Classico” between Barca and Real Madrid, tips off at 6PM local / 11AM CST.
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