You know it might be a big game whenever the President of the country checks in to participate in the festivities. Such was the case on January 5th, 2010 when Václav Klaus, current President of the Czech Republic, attended a pivotal Round 5 Eurocup contest between CEZ Nymburk & Lauretana Biella of Italy (6th place in the Italian League). This game amounted to a do or die setting for Nymburk as a loss would have regulated them to 3rd place in Group H, and out of contention for the next round of play (top 16). Moreover, fans of Nymburk approached this game with a bit of trepidation following two borderline shocking late December defeats in the Czech League. And on top that, they entered knowing the capability of Biella, who handed Nymburk their first loss of the season in Eurocup round one, a 78-77 heart breaker.
But on this evening fans in Pardubice were treated to Championship quality Nymburk defense in the first half that would serve as an appetizer to a 2nd half run away. Veteran guard Arthur Lee led CEZ with 20 points, #22 Ron Lewis & Ladislav Sokolovsky added 16 points each, along with 12 points from left handed Brit Mike Lenzly.
From watching Nymburk this season, it is easy to tell that the heart & soul (in the form of leadership and big time European experience) of the Czech Champions are their veteran Czech forwards Petr Benda, Sokolovsky or 'Soky" and American guard Lee. These guys provide excellent poise & experience for teammates like Lewis, Phillip Ricci & Lenzly, who are very talented, but lack Eurocup experience. Lee, Benda & Ricci set the tone early on offense in the 1st quarter, with Lewis following suit with seven 2nd quarter points to end the half. (32-23 Nymburk)
Nymburk's defense continued to lock down Biella in the 2nd half, allowing Lee, Soky, Lewis & Lenzly to put it away on the other end. Lewis made three long range treys out of five attempts on the night with three assists. Ron was also able to draw timely fouls on Biella for trips to the foul line. (3-6 fts) Sokolovsky (pictured on left), scored all 16 of his points in the 2nd half. On a team full of talent, Sokolovsky's all around game & experience shines for Nymburk. At 6'5/6'6, the native Czech baller can shoot, pass, handle the ball, and drive to the hoop.We'd say he has a little Evan Turner in his game. Biella, who was coming off a staggering Jan 3rd. 124-54 rout of poor Martos Napoli, suffered their worst loss, and lowest scoring total of the season vs Nymburk on the 5th (84-60 final)
Top 16? - The victory over Biella puts Nymburk in a favorable position to advance to the Eurocup Top 16 for the fist time in the club's history.
By blowing out Biella, Nymburk now controls their destiny in next week's make or break road game at BK Ventspils in the country of Latvia.
-Current Group H Standings-
1. Brose Baskets 4-1
2. CEZ Nymburk 3-2
3. Lauretana Biella 3-2
4. BK Ventspils 0-5
1. Brose Baskets 4-1
2. CEZ Nymburk 3-2
3. Lauretana Biella 3-2
4. BK Ventspils 0-5
The first two teams after 6 weeks of regular season play will advance to the top 16. Week Six (January 12!) will see Biella host Brose Baskets Bamerg, and Nymburk traveling to face Ventspils. If CEZ & Biella both win, CEZ Nymburk holds the tiebreaker due to the margin of victory in week five. So this basically means that Nymburk just has to defeat the group's worst team on the road to accomplish their biggest season goal. CEZ took care of Ventspils in an easy 79-57 home victory in week 2. (Video) But we can certainly expect a different game in Latvia as the road has not been kind to Nymubrk in Eurocup play so far (0-2). This is where the experience of their veterans such as Benda & Lee will be key.
- Below are clips of the big victory on 1/5/2010-
(Opening tip ceremony with President Vaclav. Some of Lewis' teammates including Lee, Benda, Ricci, Lenzly, & Soky. Injured Ian Hanavan appears with a message in the beginning after Lewis, Ricci & Lenzly. This vid also shows all of Ron's threes and a nice drive. But our favorite part besides Ron's buckets is near the end when Soky draws a foul on known whiner & cheap shot guy Matteo Soragna, who proceeded to cry to the refs. Soragna played on Italy's National team and attempted to undercut guys like D-Wade when Team USA met Italy in the 2006 World Championship. It's cool that Nymburk was able to eliminate this poor sport and his team from top 16 contention.The video ends with Nymburk's fan getting hyped, congrats & good luck Nymburk!)The new biggest game of the season - Nymburk at BK Ventspils 1/12/2010
Next Czech League game - Nymburk at Novy Jicin 1/9/2010
Another big road game, CEZ has dropped their last two Czech games & Novy is the 2nd place tema in the league. Two huge games coming up.
http://www.eurocupbasketball.com/ulebcup/competition/results/showgame/report?gamecode=79
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