This week’s Top Ten plays of the Lega Basket Serie A quarterfinals feature four players with ties to the New England area.
#6: Milan’s MarShon Brooks played collegiate basketball in the Big East Conference for the Providence Friars from 2007-2011.
#5: Dinamo’s Rakim Sanders was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and played his first three years of college ball at Boston College before transferring to Fairfield (CT) for his senior year.
#3: Dinamo’s Jerome Dyson (UConn) throws down on American Josh Owens. Though a Stanford grad I am seriously doubting Owens’ basketball IQ…
#2: Brindisi’s Delroy James attended the University of Rhode Island from 2007-2011, earning All-Atlantic 10 Second Team honors in his senior season.
Jerome Dyson and #5 Dinamo Sassari have advanced to the Lega Basket Serie A semifinals upsetting #4 seed Trento 3-1. After dropping Game 1, Dyson and company rode a three game winning streak to keep their Championship hopes alive. Series MVP David Logan led the way for Dinamo, dropping 27 points in the Game 4 clincher. Dyson struggled to find his shot in the series but still found other ways to contribute, dishing out 6 assists in the final game.
As I discussed in my quarterfinal preview, Dinamo’s keys to the series included:
Contain League MVP Tony Mitchell
Post-production
Find shooting touch
Following the Game 1 loss, let’s see how Dinamo responded to each key.
Game 1: Trento 81, Dinamo 70
Game 2: Dinamo 88, Trento 79
Mitchell: 6-18, 6 TO
Rebound Margin: Even
Shane Lawal: 18 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block
Jeff Brooks: 13 points, 9 rebounds
66% from the field
Edgar Sosa: 21 points
Game 3: Dinamo 103, Trento 78
Mitchell: 2-12, 9 TO
Rebound Margin: -1
Shane Lawal: 8 points, 7 rebounds
Jeff Brooks: 18 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks
76% from the field
103 points scored
Edgar Sosa: 23 points, 4-7 3P
Game 4: Dinamo 84, Trento 80
Mitchell: 5-15, 6 TO
Rebound Margin: -9
Shane Lawal: 10 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks
Jeff Brooks: 5 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks
61% from the field
David Logan: 27 points, 3-5 3P
Mitchell, a player who had caused problems for Dinamo in the past, was harassed into a woeful performance- managing only 29% from the field and commiting 7 TO per game- during the final three games of the series. Dinamo received the post-production they desperately lacked in previous battles with Trento, as forward Jeff Brooks provided extra strength inside to complement center Shane Lawal. However, the most impressive statistic of the series is the 68% Dinamo shot from the field in the final three games, including a 103 point explosion in Game 3. When you shoot the ball at such a high mark, it becomes almost impossible to lose. Here is a look ahead at Dinamo’s semifinal matchup.
legabasket.it
Semifinals
Dinamo has reached its third semifinals in only five years of Serie A play, drawing a matchup with #1 seeded Milan- fresh off a 3-0 sweep of #8 Granarolo. The clubs split the season series 2-2, though Dinamo came out victorious in the most important games, defeating Milan in both the Italian SuperCup at the beginning of the year as well as the Italian Cup in February. It comes as no surprise that the winner of this series is the favorite to take the Serie A crown. Below is an inside look at the Italian Cup Finals matchup in February to give some perspective on the history of these two clubs.
This star-studded matchup features numerous former NBA players on the Milano side including MarShon Brooks (LA Lakers), Linas Kleiza (Toronto Raptors), Alessandro Gentile (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Samardo Samuels (Cleveland Cavaliers). Though Milano is favored and equipped with a deep bench, Dinamo possesses both the athleticism and momentum to eliminate the #1 seed for the third time this season. Here is a look at the probable starters for each team.
#5 Dinamo Sassari
Pos
Name
Nationality
College/Former Club
PPG
RPG
APG
PG
David Logan
USA/Poland
Indianapolis ‘05
16.5
2.8
3.0
SG
Jerome Dyson
USA
UConn ‘10
16.1
3.9
4.2
SF
Rakim Sanders
USA
BC/Fairfield ‘12
12.0
3.5
1.2
PF
Jeff Brooks
USA
Penn State ‘11
8.6
7.2
1.3
C
Shane Lawal
Nigeria
Oakland/Wayne St ‘09
10.8
9.2
1.2
Notable
Bench
Players
G
Edgar Sosa
Dominican
Louisville ‘10
11.9
1.7
3.2
#1 Milano
Pos
Name
Nationality
College/Former Club
PPG
RPG
APG
PG
Joe Ragland
USA/Liberia
Wichita State ’12
12.1
3.2
3.4
SG
MarShon Brooks
USA
Providence ’11
14.7
3.5
2.2
SF
Alessandro Gentile
Italy
Timberwolves (NBA)
12.7
4.6
1.9
PF
Linas Kleiza
Lithuania
Ulker (Turkey)
9.4
3.7
0.7
C
Samardo Samuels
Jamaica
Louisville ‘10
13.3
5.7
1.9
Notable
Bench
Players
G
Daniel Hackett
USA/Italy
USC ‘09
8.9
3.3
4.1
The series tips off tomorrow with two games in Milan before returning to Sassari on June 2nd for the final two games. Television information is unavailable at the time but the games should be available by following Lega Basket Serie A on the Twitter app Periscope. Best of luck to Sassari in their quest for a third trophy!
Jerome Dyson and Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari (Dinamo Sassari for short) enter the 2015 Lega Basket Serie A Playoffs with the #5 seed thanks to a 19-11 mark in league play. The club has already strung together an impressive year, competing in both Euroleague and EuroCup play, in addition to winning their second consecutive Italian Cup Championship in February. The Lega Basket Serie A is the first-tier level club competition league in Italy, with a home-and-away schedule comprised of 30 games followed by a playoff round featuring the top eight teams. The quarterfinals and semifinal series are conducted as best-of-five matchups leading into a best-of-seven finals. Lega Basket Serie A has become a popular destination for the stars of Big East past, with at least 16 players having suited up at some point this season- including former NBA All-Star Metta World Peace.
UCONN: Jerome Dyson
Georgetown: Austin Freeman, Chris Wright
Louisville: Edgar Sosa, Samardo Samuels
Marquette: Darius Johnson-Odom
Pittsburgh: Gilbert Brown, Sam Young
Providence: MarShon Brooks
Seton Hall: Jeremy Hazell
St. John’s: Metta World Peace aka Ron Artest
Syracuse: Andy Rautins, Brandon Triche
Villanova: Allan Ray, Isaiah Armwood, James Bell
With that in mind, here is a look at the 2015 playoff bracket:
legabasket.it
Quarterfinals
Dyson and Dinamo already find themselves in an 0-1 hole after losing the first game of the series to #4 Trento yesterday. Trento, led by league MVP Tony Mitchell’s (Alabama/Detroit Pistons) 16 points/11 rebounds, dominated the glass (55 to 28) en route to an 81-70 home victory. Dinamo struggled shooting the ball, finishing just 8-31 from deep and 18-41 from the field. Dinamo was led by Jerome Dyson’s 14 points and 7 steals with Edgar Sosa adding 11 points in the losing effort. Imposing center Davide Pascolo (Italy) had a monster game for Trento with 15 points and 14 rebounds. As two of the highest scoring teams in the league (Dinamo 85.0, Trento 81.3) boasting numerous high-flyers, the first game certainly did not disappoint the highlight reel (below). If you have been following my blog it should be no surprise who came in at #1…
Game 2 Preview
Dyson and company hit the hardwood tomorrow for Game 2 at Trento. Here is a look at probable starters for both sides as well as season statistics:
#5 Dinamo Sassari
Pos
Name
Nationality
College/Former Club
PPG
RPG
APG
PG
David Logan
USA/Poland
Indianapolis ‘05
16.5
2.8
3.0
SG
Jerome Dyson
USA
UConn ‘10
16.1
3.9
4.2
SF
Rakim Sanders
USA
BC/Fairfield ‘12
12.0
3.5
1.2
PF
Jeff Brooks
USA
Penn State ‘11
8.6
7.2
1.3
C
Shane Lawal
Nigeria
Oakland/Wayne St ‘09
10.8
9.2
1.2
Notable
Bench
Players
G
Edgar Sosa
Dominican
Louisville ‘10
11.9
1.7
3.2
#4 Trento
Pos
Name
Nationality
College/Former Club
PPG
RPG
APG
PG
Andres Forray
Argentina/Italy
Forli (Italy)
5.3
2.6
2.5
SG
Jamarr Sanders
USA
UAB ‘11
8.5
3.9
2.4
SF
Tony Mitchell
USA
Alabama ‘12
21.1
5.7
2.7
PF
Davide Pascolo
Italy
Udinese (Italy)
12.0
7.4
1.6
C
Josh Owens
USA
Stanford ‘12
13.3
6.3
1.1
Notable
Bench
Players
G
Keaton Grant
USA
Purdue ‘10
7.7
2.3
1.2
Keys to the Series
Contain Tony Mitchell
In two regular season matchups the league MVP torched Sassari for 31 and 24 points respectively. The 6’9 wing presents a matchup nightmare due to his versatility and freakish athletic ability. Game 1 was a move in the right direction for Dinamo as Mitchell was held to only 16 points on 3-12 shooting- though he did still manage to collect 11 rebounds and dish out 7 assists. For Dinamo to advance, Mitchell must be slowed down.
Post Production
Rebounding is not the only worry for the undersized Sassari squad. In the two regular season matchups, Trento scored an average of 63% of their points in the paint (compared to 37% from Sassari) including an insane 65% in a matchup back in December. The closer you are to the basket, the higher percentage the shot- an idea clearly translated in the field goal percentages for both teams. Through three games (including yesterday) Trento is shooting the ball at a 60% mark while Sassari checks in at 47%. League-leading shot blocker Shane Lawal will need to keep Trento’s bigs off the glass and out of the box score.
Three-Point Shooting
When post scoring is limited, points must come from elsewhere- specifically the three ball. For a team that averaged 35 three’s per game and had 4 players shoot over 100 three’s on the season (compared to two for Trento), the 8-31 mark (26%) Dinamo put up in the first game won’t cut it. Between sharpshooters Dyson, David Logan and Rakim Sanders- someone needs to get hot.
Best of luck to Dinamo Sassari and be sure to stay tuned for more updates!
The 2014/15 LKL season has come to a close for the Twin Towers of Olander and former UConn National Champion Alex Oriakhi. Here is a look back on the season in review including final statistics, best performance, and top play for each player:
Gintaras Siuparys
Ryan Olander and BC Siauliai entered the LKL playoffs with the #7 seed, in a best-of-five matchup with #2 Lietuvos Rytas. The Lithuanian powerhouse proved too strong for Siauliai, knocking them out of the playoffs with three straight victories behind the play of Americans Billy Baron (UVA/URI), Mike Moser (UCLA/Oregon) and Travis Leslie (Georgia/LA Clippers).
Though a strong season overall, which included a Baltic Basketball League Championship, Olander put forth his strongest numbers when it mattered most- during EuroChallenge play. The EuroChallenge is the third-tier professional league in Europe and Olander ranked in the top three converting on 73% of his field goal attempts- drawing interest from competitors in the process.
BC Siauliai Final Record: 18-22
R. Olander
G
MIN
FG%
FT%
RPG
PPG
RANK
Siauliai
41
17.4
54%
62%
4.0
7.6
7.7
Euro-Chal.
6
21
73%
55%
3.7
11
9.8
Best Game: November 12th, 2014: Siauliai 94 – Tsmoki-Minsk (Belarus) 91. Olander had 23 points on 11-14 shooting to go along with 4 rebounds and 1 assist in a road win over Tsmoki-Minsk.
Top Play: The chuckle from the announcer is by far the best part.
Gintaras Siuparys
Tyler Olander played the first half of the season with BC Siauliai before he was loaned to Mazeikiai for the remainder of the year for more playing time. Since joining the 1-24 Mazeikiai in February, Olander led the club to a 5-8 record in his 13 games averaging 7 points and nearly 5 rebounds in the process.
Mazeikiai Final Record: 6-32
T. Olander
G
MIN
FG%
FT%
RPG
PPG
RANK
Siauliai
23
11.7
55%
84%
3.0
5.0
5.5
Mazeikiai
13
17.2
44%
73%
4.8
7.2
7.7
Best Game: February 28th, 2015: Lietuvos Rytas 76 – Mazeikiai 70. Tyler exploded for 14 points and 9 rebounds in just 20 minutes of action in a near upset of #2 Lietuvos Rytas.
Top Play: Olander appeared at #2 in the BEKO LKL Top Ten plays for Round 22 with this mid-air adjustment.
eurobasket.com
Alex Oriakhi led the Pieno Zvaigzdes “Milk Stars” to the #4 seed in the LKL playoffs, straight into a matchup with #3 Juventus. After splitting the first four games of the series, the Milk Stars fell short in Game 5 by a 69-61 margin, ending their season. Although it was a tough end to the year, Oriakhi put together a strong year numbers-wise and was elected a starter in the LKL All-Star game. With his rights still owned by the Sacramento Kings of the NBA, Oriakhi has returned stateside to compete with the Kings summer league team.
P. Zvaigzdes Final Record: 24-16
2014/15
G
MIN
FG%
FT%
RPG
PPG
RANK
A. Oriakhi
41
18
55%
61%
6.8
8.8
10.6
Best Game: January 31st, 2015: P. Zvaigzdes 99 – Siauliai 97. In an impressive month of January where he was named Player of the Month, Oriakhi led the Milk Stars over the Twin Towers with 17 points and 14 rebounds (8 offensive) in 20 minutes.
Top Play: Oriakhi extends for the dramatic finish off an oop from teammate Michael Dixon for #2 on the BEKO LKL Top Ten regular season plays.
Stay tuned for season reviews for all of UConn Country in Europe!
Jerome Dyson is having quite the year in Italy. In addition to leading Dinamo Sassari to the Italian Cup Championship in February, Dyson’s regular season statistics of 16.2 points, 4.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game were good for 5th, 5th and 1st in Italian league play respectively. True to his hard-nosed, attack-the-basket style of play we became accustomed to at UConn, Dyson also led the league with 5.8 fouls drawn per game.
Never one to shy away from the highlight reel, this Dyson poster featured in January was voted the top play of the ENTIRE Italian League season.
Dyson and #5 Sassari are set to battle #4 Trento in quarterfinal play beginning Monday. Updates to come…
The P. Zvaigzdes Milkstars will enter the LKL playoffs with a #4 seed thanks in large part to the play of All Star center Alex Oriakhi and his 9 points/6 rebounds per game. Watch below as Oriakhi extends for the powerful finish off an oop from former Missouri teammate Michael Dixon (#1).
Oriakhi, Dixon and the Milk Stars open LKL play against #5 Juventus this Thursday with a potential semifinal matchup with #2 Zalgiris looming.
This summer, Oriakhi, whose rights are owned by the Sacramento Kings, will compete with the team’s summer league program in the hopes of earning a coveted roster spot.
A species comprising less than 1% of the world’s population, seven footers or “footers” are a rare breed. Whether intentional or not, life at such a high altitude leaves them especially susceptible to be victimized by posterizations, leading to hanging heads and slumped shoulders- currently the largest known threat to the species. The most recent victim, 7’0 Kymantas Simonas of Tonybet, was reduced to extinction after this shame-inflicting dunk from Siauliai’s Ryan Olander, seen below at #5 in this week’s BEKO LKL’s Top Ten plays.
Since winning the Baltic Basketball League Championship earlier this month, Siauliai has gone 2-2 in their return to LKL play. With only 4 league games remaining, Siauliai is essentially locked at the #7 seed and is slated to play #2 Zalgiris when first round play begins in May. This year’s LKL playoffs will follow a best of 5 format for all three rounds of action.
The Baltic Basketball League (BBL) is a regional competition comprised primarily of teams in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania but has included clubs from Finland, Kazakhstan, Sweden and Russia in previous years.
The Format
The BBL includes a regular season featuring two groups of six teams and one group of seven that leads to a Top 16 knockout stage in which qualifying clubs play a home/away against their competitor. The winner is decided by who has the greatest point differential. For example, if UConn lost to Duke on the road 68-66 (-2) but won at home 77-74 (+3), UConn would advance to the next round (+1 overall). Siauliai began the playoffs with the #1 seed, an honor bestowed to the previous years champion.
The Bracket
bbl.net
The Playoffs
#1 Siauliai cruised through the playoffs, easily defeating #13 Parnu (Estonia) and #10 Lietkabelis in the first and second rounds. The semifinals presented a Lithuanian Cup Bronze Medal rematch, with Siauliai squeaking by #4 Juventus by just 4 points. On March 12, Siauliai won by a 4 point margin, 73-69, and on March 22nd, the teams played to a 60-60 tie to allow Siauliai to advance. The beauty of this type of basketball is literally every point counts.
The Championship
This years championship matchup pit the 2013 Champion BC Ventspils (Latvia) versus 2014 Champion BC Siauliai (Lithuania). The first game, played on March 25th, saw Ventspils defeat Siauliai at home behind 14 points from Jerai Grant (Clemson) brother of Notre Dame’s Jerian Grant.
In order to repeat as BBL Champions, Olander and Siauliai needed to win Wednesday’s matchup by at least 3 points. It was not looking good for Siauliai early in the second half, as the visitors from Latvia pulled ahead by double-digits. Just as the game was slipping out of reach, Siauliai used a 13-2 run to even the score. The clubs went back and forth for the remainder of the 4th quarter, leading to a thrilling overtime. Siauliai jumped out to an 8 point lead to begin the extra session and never looked back, taking both the game and BBL crown by an 88-80 margin. Rokas Giedraitis led the Lithuanians with 22 points while Ryan Olander added 8 points and 3 rebounds in the victory.
Not only does a Baltic Basketball League Championship provide regional bragging rights and monetary incentives, the Champion is also assured a spot in the following year’s EuroChallenge- the third-tier level transnational men’s basketball competition. The EuroChallenge feeds to the second-tier EuroCup which leads to the first-tier FIBA Euroleague aka the European NBA. The best way for a mid-level club such as Siauliai to increase its reputation in the European basketball scene is by continuing to play in the most competitive leagues available. This can be achieved one way and one way only- by winning.
bbl.net
What’s Next?
With the BBL Championship under their belt Siauliai will now compete for the LKL (Lithuanian National League) Championship. Currently sitting at #7, with 8 games remaining, Siauliai has all but solidified a berth in the LKL playoffs. Best of luck to Siauliai in their quest for yet another Championship…
Tyler Olander returns to the Top 10 with an alley-oop dunk over his former team Siauliai (#2). TO finished with 9 points and 2 rebounds for #11 Mazeikiai but Ryan Olander (4 points/3 rebounds) and #7 Siauliai got the last laugh, holding on for a 90-81 victory.
Jerome Dyson continues to stuff the stat sheet with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in #3 Dinamo Sassari’s victory over #11 Air Avellino. The flashiest dish shows up in the Legabasket Serie A Top Ten plays at #8, when Dyson serves one up to Nigerian center Shane Lawal (Oakland/Wayne State). In honor of the oop, below I have included my favorite Dyson dime of all time- which resulted in one of the loudest eruptions from a Gampel crowd I have ever witnessed…
mattwemet 