Eurloleague basketball: Playoffs Game 3

MVP's:Ramunas Siskauskas, Matjaz Smodis of CSKADefending champion CSKA Moscow became the first team to make it to the 2009 Final Four and did so in style on Tuesday, sweeping its best-of-five Quarterfinal Playoff series against Partizan with a 56-67 road win before 21,352 fans in Belgrade. A pair of CSKA's signature superstars, Ramunas Siskauskas and Matjaz Smodis, rose to the occasion and shared co-MVP honors for Game 3 of the playoffs with performance index ratings of 30 each. Siskauskas, last season's MVP, blasted a way for 20 points on Tuesday by making 5 out of 6 two-point shot attempts and going 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Siskauksas added 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 7 fouls drawn for a total index rating of 30. Meanwhile, in the CSKA frontcourt, Smodis piled up 18 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist and 7 fouls drawn to match Siskauskas with a 30 rating, too. They were followed by Felipe Reyes of Real Madrid, who led his team to a 71-63 do-or-die home win that meant the Whites stay alive in their playoff series against Olympiacos. Reyes had 19 points, making 9 of 11 free throws, to go with 9 rebounds, 5 steals, 4 assists and 8 fouls drawn for a 29 index rating. In losing efforts, Novica Velickovic of Partizan, with a 23 index rating, and Jaka Lakovic of Regal FC Barcelona, with 20, completed the top individual performances in Quarterfinal Playoffs Game 3. 

Individual highs: Novica Velickovic, Partizan Belgrade, 26 points 

Even when Partizan suffered a bitter end to an otherwise fantastic Euroleague season, Velickovic went out strong, as Game 3's top scorer with 26 points against CSKA. Terrell McIntyre of Montepaschi Siena is still the top scorer of the playoffs at 21.3 points per game. Ioannis Bourousis of Olympiacos and Kostas Tsartsaris of Panathinaikos each pulled down 10 boards in Game 3, while three players - Reyes, his teammate Axel Hervelle and Ersan Ilyasova of Barcelona - tie for the playoffs lead with 8.3 rebounds per game. Theo Papaloukas of Olympiacos and Pablo Prigioni of Tau each dished 6 assists in Game 3. Papaloukas, with 7.7 on average, also leads the playoffs in that category. Reyes and teammate Alex Mumbru each collected 5 steals in Game 3 and tie as playoff leaders with 2.33 per game. Benjamin Eze of Montepaschi Siena and Dimitris Diamantidis of Panathinaikos had 2 blocks apiece. Antonis Fotsis of Panathinaikos averages that many, making him the blocks leader in the playoffs. Bourousis, who had 17 points to go with his 10 rebounds, was the only player on all eight playoff teams to earn a double-double in Game 3.

Schumacher about Vettel's penalty

Michael Schumacher in Australia questioned the stewards' decision to penalise his countryman Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel, driving for Red Bull, apologised to his team and BMW's Robert Kubica for the crash near the end of the 2009 season opener. 

The 21-year-old was also quoted by media as calling himself "an idiot", and it is believed he was equally as frank during the stewards' inquiry. 

However, not everyone agreed that Vettel was entirely to blame, as he tried to defend his second place to the charging Kubica.

"He (Vettel) was on the inside - he couldn't make his car dissolve into thin air," Ferrari advisor and seven time world champion Schumacher said at Albert Park, according to Germany's Bild newspaper. 

1982 world champion Keke Rosberg remarked that Vettel may have been penalised because he is an overly "honest chap".

Stewards ruled that he caused the crash and ordered Vettel to start ten places lower than his qualifying position in Malaysia this weekend.

Contrary to earlier news, it has emerged that Sebastian Vettel was indeed penalised for his Australian Grand Prix crash with Robert Kubica.

We reported that the German was actually handed his ten-grid penalty for the forthcoming Malaysian round, and a $50,000 fine, for failing to promptly pull his heavily damaged Red Bull to the side of the track.

In fact, the Sepang grid penalty was for his crash with BMW's Kubica with three laps to go, when stewards ruled that Vettel caused the incident, a somewhat harsh decision.

"Should I have let him go? You always want to fight. Maybe I should have said let him go and bring third back home, but that's life,"said Vettel, who had been fighting with Pole Kubica for second place. 
The $50,000 fine, meanwhile, was levied because Red Bull officials instructed the 21-year-old by radio to continue to race his three-wheeled car rather than pull it to the side of the Melbourne layout.

"I think it's hard but we just have to accept it," Sebastian said. 

Brawn team won on its first race

Honda hails Brawn's Australian win

Honda Motor, which sold its Formula One team after last season due to the global economic slowdown, congratulated new owner Ross Brawn on Monday for a sensational debut win at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Brawn team finished one-two in Melbourne with drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, becoming the first team to take the top two slots in a Grand Prix debut since 1954.

"We are incredibly delighted that our teammates, with whom we worked until last season, have started from extremely difficult circumstances to earn this victory," Honda said in a statement.

"Congratulations to the Brawn GP Formula One team."

The Japanese automaker pulled out of Formula One in December, and Brawn closed a buy-out deal for the team earlier this month.

Brawn took a maximum 18 constructors' points in Sunday's race and raised hopes of an unexpected title challenge this season.