MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) - Nine teams across the 14 groups secured their passage to the FIBA Europe Cup Round of 32 during the somewhat unpredictable Regular Season Gameday 4, which concluded on Thursday night. 

We look back at this week's action to underline some noteworthy events and figures and explain how things stand going into the final two gamedays of the Regular Season.

WHY THEM AND NOT ME?

Sometimes being perfect is not good enough, as BK Ventspils (Group I) and Khimik Yuzhne (Group L), which both stand at 4-0, can no doubt testify.

Both these teams were left scratching their heads as they realise that every other side in the FIBA Europe Cup which won all four games so far, has by now secured a berth in the Round of 32.

ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne (Group A), Port of Antwerp Giants (Group B), Elan Chalon (Group D), Bakken Bears Aarhus (Group F), Fraport Skyliners (Group G) and Türk Telekom Ankara (Group J) are the six teams that stayed perfect this week and advanced to the Round of 32.

Closer inspection of groups B, F and G reveals that there is one team in each of these pools that also punched their ticket to the Round of 32 this week, despite only improving to 3-1.

Cibona Zagreb (Group B), CEZ Nymburk (Group F) and Krka Novo Mesto (Group G) are the three teams that stand at 3-1 and also secured during Week 4 a top-two finish in their respective group and consequently a place in the next phase.

It is obvious that their 4-0 record is not enough to guarantee either Ventspils or Khimik a top-two finish in their respective group.But how can it not be enough to guarantee them at least the two spots reserved for the two best third-placed teams in Conference 2 (which includes groups H through N)? The answer lies in Group N, where Tsmoki Minsk, Kataja Basket and Rilski Sportist could all theoretically finish at 4-2.

If Ventspils and Khimik both lose their respective two remaining games they would also finish at 4-2 and consequently they could find themselves in a situation where the third-placed team in Group N pips them to the next phase.

STATS OF THE WEEK

Some record figures registered this week enable us to see that Ventspils and Khimik were not actually the teams feeling the most exasperated with Gameday 4 results and certainly not the only ones left wondering 'how can this not be enough?'

In Group L, Tartu University Rock blocked a monster 12 shots on their trip to Juventus Utena to establish a record that could very well remain unassailable until the end of the season, yet they lost the game, 66-60.

The final score would suggest that Tartu lost because they were not efficient enough offensively, but in actual fact their 12 blocks could not erase a disastrous defensive fault.The Estonian side gave up 13 offensive rebounds and Juventus made the most of them, scoring 16 second-chance points which tipped the balance in their favour.

In Group G, FC Porto realised every home team's dream as they took an impressively high 37 trips to the foul line and hit 29 of their free-throws, but lost 87-83 to Krka Novo Mesto.

The Portuguese team's 78.4% from the stripe was a very solid percentage considering the volume of free-throws they attempted although it fell short of making up for their disastrous lack of accuracy from beyond the arc, as Porto attempted 27 three-point shots and only made four of them.

Not all records went to waste this week of course.

Kim Adams picked every pocket in the gym on Tuesday night as he came up with a fantastic nine steals in Rosa Radom's 95-48 rout of KTP Basket in Group J.

Also on Tuesday, AEK Larnaca collected 36 defensive rebounds in their potentially crucial 87-68 win at home over BC Astana in Group K action.

The following day Lukoil Academic surpassed that record by picking up 38 defensive boards in their 85-81 win over Enisey Krasnoyark, but had five extra minutes to do so as that game went into overtime.

PERFORMANCES OF THE WEEK

Tsmoki Minsk reached their 98-67 victory over MBK Komarno in a very comfortable manner but that does not make Anthony Hilliard's display on the night any less brilliant.

The 29-year-old Minsk winger collected 31 points on 11-for-15 shooting (including 5-for-8 from three), nine rebounds, two assists, two blocks while he also drew four fouls.

On a collective level, Egis Körmend, Pieno Zvaigzdes, ece Bulls Kapfenberg and Zlatorog Lasko all deserve huge praise because they entered Gameday 4 with their backs to the wall and rose to the occasion, clinching wins that enable them to live to fight another day.

There were however three teams that, while not fighting for their survival in the competition, had reasons to make a big statement this week and delivered huge performances to achieve their goal.

WKS Slask Wroclaw went on a 15-2 run late in the fourth to outscore their hosts BC Siauliai 97-80 and now have the upper hand in a potential tie between the two teams in Group M.

Openjobmetis Varese travelled to Belgium with the prospect of dropping to 1-3 in the Group C standings hanging over their heads but replied by handing Telenet Oostende their first loss in the competition, 85-79, a scoreline which exactly makes up for the Italian team's 83-79 defeat in the reverse fixture.

The other Italian team in the FIBA Europe Cup also avenged a defeat they had suffered on the opening night of the competition and did so in spectacular fashion.

Foxtown Cantu raced to a 94-72 triumph over Boras Basket at home on Wednesday night, three weeks after losing 101-81 in the Group E premiere in Sweden.

FIBA