By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Fortunately the days between the first and the second week of Euroleague went by really fast and as we are getting ready for the upcoming games, the first sample was more than great. We had upsets, surprises, highlights and above all the signs that this version of Euroleague will be the most competitive of all times.
On the 1st gameday we had 6 teams in 12 games scoring 84 points and by coincidence all the hosts teams in Group D scored the same number. But, what’s more important is that 4 games were decided in the last minutes and 7 out of 12 were close affairs from the start till the end. So, get ready for 5 games on Thursday and 7 on Friday!
Eurohoops game of the week: Fenerbahce/ Ulker – Barcelona
This is a easy one. A new team created by the most successful coach in Euroleague’s history is hosting traditional powerhouse Barcelona, a de facto contender one more season for the Euroleague title. It will be a great Friday night in a group full of big games, since it also includes CSKA Moscow.
It’s the first European crash test for Obradovic and also for Pascual in one of the best arenas in Europe. Both teams have quality rosters, loaded with talent in the front line and the question is if the bigs and the forwards will dominate the game, or if the guards will be the key.
Barcelona doesn’t have injured Oleson on its roster, Navarro is still recovering from injury, so there are more than a few question marks in its back court. The same applies to Fener, since Obradovic who has build a lot of his teams with charismatic creators as the cornerstones, now has a guard with scorer mentality in McCalebb, two young Turkish talents and a forward, Preldzic who can be considered the main facilitator of the team. We can predict only one thing: If you don’t watch live this game, you will regret it!
Honorable mention: Remake and Cyprus
Those two games could also be games of the week – just not this time – but they have a lot of interest for a couple of unusual reasons. Galatasaray vs Olympiacos and Panathinaikos hosting Laboral Kutxa in Cyprus!
In the remake of a game from 2011-12 season’s Top16, ambitious and solid Galatasaray will be pitted against the back to back Euroleague champions in a game which can even decide the top spot of Group C. Every one wants to beat the Reds and the defending champions of Turkey have the tool to do it. This is the big game of Thursday.
Panathinaikos was punished for over-attendance in last season’s quarterfinals games against Barcelona, Euroleague decided to change its initial penalty and that created something really unprecedented. The first home game of Panathinaikos will be played in Cyprus, to be exact in Nicosia, in a sold out gym filled by Greek-Cypriots. After losing the first game of the season in Vilnious the Greens are searching for their first win. Sergio Scariolo on the other hand lost Thomas Kelati and Fernando San Emetario and despite signing Kaukenas, that will give an advantage to the Greeks who are seemingly afraid only one thing, the three point shot percentage of Laboral Kutxa.
Old and new faces: Bayern Munich – Siena
If we told you two or three years ago that Bayern and Siena are meeting and the Bavarians are the favorites, you would be thinking that we were speaking about Champions League. However times are changing. After beating on the road Zielona Gora, Bayern is hosting a renewed and also less fearsome version of the Italian champions who have a 1-2 record in their last three games. Yes, the newcomers are the favorites, but we expect that the old guard will give more than a fight.
Under the microscope: EA7 Milano – Zalgiris
Both started the season with a defeat. That was not exactly a surprise for the low budget version of Zalgiris. Sarunas Jasikevicius couldn’t win by himself Real Madrid, but the way Milano was embarrassed in Istanbul by Anadolu Efes turned many heads. There are excuses, since coach Banchi was missing two players who he brought with him from Siena (Moss and Kangur who will miss the next month due to injury), but the basketball produced by Milano was naive, one-dimensional and not much different from the woeful mess we have witnessed the last two seasons. Still, Milano is the favorite, but our first impression is that this is not the team we were expecting to see the year of Final Four coming to the Italian town.
The question: Revenge or repeat?
Last Sunday Lietuvos Rytas got the win at Krasnodar. The final score was 66-51 against the much more talented – at least on paper – Lokomotiv. What will happen on Thursday night? Both teams are coming from Euroleague wins and our instinct says that this time it will be the turn of the hosts.