(James Penn strips the ball from a Prokom player: Image - Baloncesto)
Greek Club Olympiacos advanced to the 2010 Euroleague Final 4 in Paris, France with an 86-70 series clinching win over Asseco Prokom in Gydnia, Poland. The Reds took the first two contests of the 5 game series in Athens. Prokom prevented the clean sweep by winning Game 3 at home in Poland. But Olympiacos' depth of talent proved to be too much in the end as they would have four players score in double figures (led by 22 from Josh Childress) en route to the Game 4 victory.
Olympiacos will reach the Euroleague Final Four for the second season in a row. They join Spanish power Regal Barcelona, Russian stronghold of CSKA Moscow, and are matched up against Partizan of Belgrade, Serbia. Olympiacos had Partizan in their opening Euroleague grouping, they split the two game setup, winning at home & losing in Belgrade.
This will be the first Euroleague Final 4 for reserve guard Scoonie Penn. The former Buckeye has played in 6 Euroleague seasons, but has not quite made it this far in his illustrious career. And speaking of Scoonie's career, Penn conducted a short interview with Red Planet in Poland right after the victory..he talks about the game, heading to the final 4, and how he feels like he can still go a couple more years!
With the Euroleague Final 4 not beginning until May 7th, Olympiacos now has a chance to chill a little bit and put sole focus on the Greek Championship in the month April. Good luck guys!
-Video interview before Game 4
-throwback video from late 2007, EuroleagueTV interview with Scoonie when he was with Euroleague team Efes Pilsen (Turkey)In this video Penn talks about how he wants to make it to the final 4 really bad. Well he did not do it with Efes in Turkey, but he eventually got there a couple years later. You never know when an opportunity might come up down the line, especially if you are a great pro such as Scoonie who has established lasting relationships.
-3.31.2010 CEZ Nymburk 52 Bilbao Basket 46 (Spain - Eurocup Playoffs Game 2)
CEZ Basketball Nymburk closed out Eurocup play on a high note with a road victory (in Spain) over Bilbao Basket. Arthur Lee led Nymburk with 12 points, followed by Petr Benda's 10. Ron Lewis scored 5 points & 2 assists in the defensive struggle. CEZ won the final game, but lost the two game series (should be best 2 of 3!) due to the point differential technicality.Nymburk lost at home in game one by 12 points. So that means the Czech Champs missed a shot at the final 4 & Triple Crown (winning your national cup, European tournament, and league championship) by measly 6 points! However, Nymburk can favorably look back on 2009/2010 Eurocup season as a historic journey. They made it to the Eurocup Quarterfinals for the first time in club history, followed that up by making the Elite 8. Moreover, they were able to capture lasting victories in countries such as Spain, Serbia & Turkey.
Like Je'Kel Foster (Eurochallenge, Euroleague), Guard Ron Lewis established himself as a formidable threat on the European level (meaning the big competitions that span countries like Eurocup/Euroleague). He entered new environments, & played against storied clubs with some players with NBA & Euroleague experience. Lew's biggest Eurocup scoring outputs were against BK Venstpils (22 & 23 in two games), but perhaps his best performances were at Red Star Belgrade (17 in a crucial game), and game one vs Bilbao (17 in defeat). Nymburk will now concentrate on bringing home another Czech League Title.
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