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by Nick Gibson (Freaknick)

Week 1 of the Top 16 was decent to me. A 5-3 record brought me to 81-35 on the season, and I’ll need to keep batting .500 if I want to hit that century mark before this six-game set comes to an end. A disclaimer before we begin: I fully expect to inaccurately predict every single game in Group F during this stage of play. All 12. Thanks for understanding.

GROUP E

Partizan (1-0) vs. Regal Barcelona (1-0) – This game will be perfect. For the NBA fan: Can Ricky Rubio play in front of Europe’s toughest crowd? Can he keep Bo McCalebb—perhaps the closest thing he’ll see to Deron Williams—out of the lane and away from the rim? For the Eurohoops junkie: Can Coach Dusko Vujosevic design and implement a defensive scheme to neutralize a team with great shooters, strong perimeter players and balanced post play? For the history enthusiasts: can the 11-0 Barcelona bunch challenge CSKA’s 18-0 mark to start the ‘06-07 season? And finally, for anyone who owns ‘Rudy’ or season tickets to the Florida Marlins: can Partizan—they of the 3 million Euro budget—knock history off course and put Goliath on his ass? I won’t feign impartiality. Partizan.

Maroussi BC (0-1) vs. Panathinaikos (0-1) – They see a path to the basket and think jumper. They see a secondary break and they pull it back out. The champs look lazy. Maybe it’ll help that Continue Reading…