By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
We don’t want to repeat our words from our last week’s article about the tactic of gathering a bunch of players from a big team that is the favorite to win. And also we don’t want to repeat the “rule” of not picking a lot of players from the same team in the same position. BUT there is always an exception. For example, Real Madrid has an excellent backcourt and because Sergio Llull is so great in the last games, we will choose him next to Rodriguez in the point guard position. Sergio Rodriguez is always a keeper and Sergio Llull has convinced us that he deserves a place in the Eurohoopsnet team with performance after Draper’s injury, cause he plays and shots more. So, this week we’ll have three players of CSKA and three of Real Madrid. Probably Zalgiris and Galatasaray respectively, will make their lives easier.
The guy who will be sacrificed is Dimitris Diamantidis. The captain of Panathinaikos produces lower rankings lately and after Wright’s addition, he doesn’t have to take so many responsibilities. The Greens have an easy game against Laboral and they are expected to have a big total ranking, but Stephane Lasme lost some practices during this week and doesn’t convince us about his stability. The third one who must leave is Bojan Bogdanovic. Fenerbahce faces Barcelona and the Croatian forward already had some bad games against the Catalans this season. He has 8 ranking per game (14,3 and 7) so it’s too dangerous to keep him in Palau Blaugrana.
The other two additions after Llull are two players who are sizzling lately and can give more. The first one is Krunoslav Simon whose impact in Lokomotiv is huge in the Top16. He scores, takes decisions, gets rebounds and he is the clutch shooter of the team. He has excellent numbers and against Maccabi he can make it again. Our choice among the big guys is Joffrey Lauvergne. The French big man is steady in the high level. He scored double digits in his last eleven Euroleague games and has a double digit ranking in 16 of his 18 games in the competition.
Enjoy fantasy!
Points Guards
Sergio Rodriguez 78,5 credits (+1,8)
It has been exhaustive to explain every week why every fantasy player should have him in the roster. He’s too expensive now, but he deserves every credit you spend for him.
Sergio Llull 54,5 credits
His ranking per game in the last six encounters is 19,1! Alongside Rodriguez he leads his team and he is expected to do it again against Galatasaray.
Shooting Guards/Small Forwards
Rudy Fernandez 76 credits (-0,9)
In the first round against Galatasaray he had 1/6 shots, but Rudy doesn’t care about these details. He can have a big score without even sweating.
Malcolm Delaney 74,7 credits (-0,9)
The leader of Bayern can produce big scores even when he has really bad shot percentages. So, in Hala Pionir he can at least keep his ground.
Sony Weems 53,7 credits (+1,7)
Zalgiris loves the run ‘n gun game. So does Sony. Weems should have one more effective night against his ex-team.
Krunoslav Simon 51,7 credits
He’s excellent in the last five games having 24,2 ranking per game. He plays more than 30 minutes and does everything in the court.
Power Forwards/Centers
Ante Tomic 68,8 credits (+6,3)
He’s MVP of the last two weeks and player of the month. Fenerbahce has three big guys who can’t stop him near the basket, so he is expected to have one more good game.
Joffrey Lauvergne 64,4 credits
He’s a top rebounder, steady and against Bayern he can lead Partizan’s front line cause he’s the ultimate (and only) weapon of his team in the paint.
Kyle Hines 57,2 credits (-2,1)
He didn’t make it last week against Lokomotiv, but this time against Zalgiris he has more chances due to his size. The Lithuanians have bigger bodies and probably they‘ll have problem with him.
Nenad Krstic 54 credits (-2,4)
The front line of Lokomotiv didn’t help him to explode again but Javtokas is in his size, so he can bounce back to big numbers.