Last night in Rome made the hair on the back of my neck stand up

LONDON (The Friday Eurovision) - You know what I think?

We are very lucky to have European basketball. I like the NBA and feel like college basketball is a part of my soul after growing up in North Carolina and shaking Dean Smith’s hand at a Tar Heel football game.

But having lived in Europe for almost 11 years, now, well, I’m in love with this game. It’s special.

Last night’s showdown in the Eternal City of Italy made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

I gave Lottomatica Roma two chances to win their game against Maccabi Tel Aviv – slim and none.

And, so I thought, slim left town right before tip-off.

Seriously, what I didn’t take into account before this do-or-die game for Lottomatica Roma is the fight they would show to stay alive in the Euroleague.

We knew Croatia center Nikola Vujcic (33 points) would have a big game for Maccabi, and we figured David Hawkins (23 pts) might get hot to keep Roma close for a while, which he did.

But did we expect Serbia national team power forward Ognjen Askrabic to turn in a heroic display late, or did we know Mire Chatman would give the Romans a vital spark in overtime to see them to a most unexpected 88-81 triumph?

The answer, of course, is hell no. We didn’t expect it, yet that’s exactly what happened.

Two years ago, remember, Askrabic played for Dynamo St Petersburg and was crucial in their run to their FIBA Europe League crown.

This year he joined Roma and against Maccabi, he came up big after replacing Loukas Mavrokefalides at the start of the fourth quarter.

He grabbed rebounds, came up with steals, blocked shots and made both lay-ups and free throws.

I think his two biggest contributions came on the defensive end.

With less than a minute to play in regulation and the game knotted at 72-72, Will Bynum went in for a potential go-ahead lay-up but had hit shot swatted away by Askrabic.

That gave Roma a chance to hold for one but Chatman’s three-pointer was off target, so the game went to overtime.

Chatman and Askrabic were crucial in the extra period.

Chatman, who only joined the club on November 21, started the ball rolling for Roma with a pair of free throws and after Lior Eliyahu split two at the stripe, the Roma guard nailed a three-pointer.

The Romans had the momentum at that stage, but Maccabi were still in it.

With the hosts ahead at 77-74, Askrabic missed a three-pointer but hustled down the floor and blocked an attempted lay-up by Vujcic.

Hawkins then went to the other end and nailed a three-pointer for an 80-74 lead.

Maccabi never recovered.

It’s the play of guys like Askrabic that determine wins and losses for teams across Europe. He’s not a huge name, but oh is he important to the cause.

The performances will have raised eyebrows not only in Tel Aviv and Rome, but also in Croatia and Serbia as both Vujcic and Askrabic could play important roles this summer at the EuroBasket in Spain.

Roma boss Jasmin Repesa is also the Croatia coach and surely he must be desperate for Vujcic, the Euroleague’s top-ranked star this season, to play.

Maccabi coach Neven Spahija certainly knows it. He coached Croatia at EuroBasket 2005 where Vujcic was immense, and just imagine where Spahija and the Israeli giants would be this year without him. He’s carried the team following the loss of Anthony Parker and Maceo Baston to the NBA.

Vujcic had indicated after Belgrade two summers ago, when Croatia were cruelly dumped out of medal contention in a quarter-final defeat to Spain, that he wouldn’t play for the national team any more. Croatia ended up not qualifying for the FIBA World Championship.

Nikola, let me give you some advice. You are at the peak of your game and it would be something that you might regret for the rest of your life if you don’t play for your country in Spain. Forget about the disappointment of 2005, go to Spain and dominate as you have been doing so far this season.

Askrabic is an unheralded player. He was in the squad at the FIBA World Championship in Japan and averaged just under seven points per game although Dragan Sakota did not play him in the eight-finals defeat to Spain.

Here’s hoping the 27-year-old makes the squad again and gets a chance to show us what he can do at the EuroBasket.

This game in Rome was important for Maccabi’s Israeli duo of Tal Burstein and Lior Eliyahu as well.

Burstein played for the first time this season after being struck with an Achilles injury at the end of last season.

He was on the court for only seven minutes, but five of them were in the overtime.

Eliyahu, who will represent Israel in the additional qualifying tournament for EuroBasket 2007, was on the court for 21 and finished with nine points.

The 21-year-old has so much promise. He’s already been drafted in the NBA – 44th by Orlando in last summer’s draft - but needs to get experience in Europe and that was evident in this game.

Eliyahu, who is 2.07m tall, was just three of seven from the line and that aspect of Maccabi let the team down in a big way.

They were just 16 of 25 (64%) for the entire contest.

As for the result of this game, it leaves Roma at 4-6 and level with Cibona, Partizan and Unicaja in a very, very tight Group B.

There is all to play for in that pool, with second-top DKV Joventut and third-place Maccabi having each won six of their 10 games so far.

Jeff Taylor
Exclusively for FIBA