By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Luka Doncic the bucket-maker and Erick Green’s enhanced game. Panathinaikos‘ visible frontline issues, Khimki Moscow’s immune system plus… a new leader emerging in Tel Aviv.
Luka Doncic could win EuroLeague top scorer honors if he set his mind to it
It’s not exactly news that Luka Doncic is going to be the main attraction in this season’s EuroLeague (he pretty much drew the spotlight’s attention in 2016-2017) but the commanding fashion behind his 27-point career-high entrance in Real Madrid’s road win over Anadolu Efes was splendidly scary.
The 18-year-old produced this number by scoring with such an authoritative efficacy that makes you think he could easily win the “Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy” if he simply thought something along the lines of, “What the heck, let’s give it a shot”. Then again, Doncic hasn’t shown to give a damn about pumping up his statistics. It’s all about supply and demand in Real Madrid‘s current state given Sergio Llull’s injury, so the wunderkind simply does what he feels it needs to be done to make his teammate’s absence go unnoticed.
Doncic scored his 27 points through nine field goals in 14 attempts (6/8 2-pointers, 3/6 from beyond the arc, 6/9 from the line) and only one his buckets was assisted. Save from a cut to the hoop and a dunk following a feed by Anthony Randolph, the point-forward created all his shots, whether they were long-range strikes, pull up jumpers or floaters. He hacked and slashed his way to the basket, bullied people by posting them up, put his speed to use vs big guys after the switch (reading the mismatch instantly) and pretty much showed that he can score in practically any way there is, at any rate he desires and, more importantly, with the volume needed to win a match.
“Panathinaikos, we have a frontline problem”
We saw the omens in the sky of “Peace and Friendship Arena” and the Greek derby vs Olympiacos where Jamel McLean’s “hit and run” attacks almost proved fatal. Panathinaikos won that game so the dust was swept under the carpet. But in Palau Blaugrana, the Greens’ vulnerable and meek frontline was further exposed. This time to a criminal degree. Enough for Kevin Seraphin to tie his overall career-high, and register a new EuroLeague scoring record, double-double master Adrien Moerman to strike (16 points, 11 rebounds) almost unopposed while Barcelona ultimately forced the Greens to their second worst defeat in the modern era of the competition.
The fault was mainly with arguably the top big men of the six-time EuroLeague champions. Defensive specialist James Gist was nowhere near his usual self while Chris Singleton, possibly the best player of Panathinaikos in the 2016-2017 campaign and definitely the worst in last night’s game, already made a self-criticism via his social media.
But there are already some question marks on how the new guys can lift the weight, even as backup options. Ian Vougioukas is a player with notable skillset from the low post yet without the speed to keep up with agile and compact centers, while Zach Auguste is athletic and very fast in half-court plays but, obviously, needs time adapting to the completely alien level of EuroLeague basketball and add game perception to his physical assets.
Erick Green MK II is here
One of the main reasons that Olympiacos didn’t choose to continue with American guard Erick Green was that his offensive contribution was considered too “one-dimensional”. Although Green was trying to work towards becoming more versatile, his heavily jumper-oriented game often appeared depthless, lacking creative insight and, subsequently, being predictable.
Judging by his EuroLeague debut with Valencia against Khimki Moscow, you might wanna say hello to a new and improved version of Erick Green.
While remaining primarily a scoring guard, his duties in the strategic design of Basketball Champions League champion Txus Vidorreta mold him into a facilitator as well. Green responds, by running the pick n’ roll (the second basket Valencia made was a 1.01 PNR connection with Green passing and connoisseur Tibor Pleiss executing) and sometimes visualizing the offense and trying to initiate it even with a newfound “pass-first” mindset.
Now, you’re going to look at the stats sheet and tell me “what are you talking about bro, he just had two assists.” But it’s not about numbers. As I tweeted during the game, Green looked to send dimes and create scoring more opportunities for his teammates as much as for himself in just ten minutes of this match than the entire last season combined. The team’s plans obviously revolve around him more than in Oly so that plays a big part in him automatically embracing his new role.
For all its offensive talent, Khimki Moscow can win games strictly through defense
Khimki prevented the upset against Valencia, not through one of Alexey Shved’s usual scoring outbursts, nor because James Anderson remembered how a nightmare to guard he was back with Zalgiris. It was a steel-clad defense that allowed merely 16 points in the last 16 minutes thanks to which the Russian team hailed its return to EuroLeague with a victory.
Giorgos Bartzokas had created one extremely well-balanced squad, a strong two-way outfit in Lokomotiv Kuban’s 2016 Final Four run, a team that merged firepower with an armored rear, and we might see just that in Khimki. Until a sufficient level of chemistry on offense is fully achieved (and this will take time as Bartzokas explained), a combination of defensive zeal, athleticism, and discipline will keep everything safe from harm. If shots don’t fall in, there’s a line of “watchdogs” (with Charles Jenkins as the Alpha member of the gang) to take care of things.
Even when nothing works on the offensive end, Khimki will be able to erect game-winning barriers that repel any attack its opponents can throw on them.
Maccabi Tel Aviv may have found the leader en route to the promised land
Maccabi fans can seriously hope that the last two catastrophic EuroLeague seasons where the team failed to go even past the first round, are just a distant memory. There’s dreaming in Tel Aviv and Morpheus is taking the shape of Pierre Jackson.
There was a considerable optimism that the Baylor graduate will thrive in Neven Spahija’s (a heavily offensive-minded coach) systems but his debut surpassed expectations. A plethoric, MVP performance that led to a road victory over Brose Bamberg. It would be difficult to think of a more ideal 2017-2018 premiere since that win that also “exorcised” the demons of two rather easy defeats that Maccabi suffered last season by the Bavarians.
Jackson is visibly a completely different player than the novice who introduced himself to Euroleague some years ago with Fenerbahce, this time delivering prolific scoring, lightning-speed thinking, and accurate decision making. The characteristics of a guard truly able to carry his team through a successful campaign.
The “Yellows” are known for masterfully integrating American guards into their system (Will Bynum, Jeremy Pargo, Tyrese Rice) and elevate them to All-EuroLeague caliber hoopers. In his return to the competition, Pierre Jackson definitely seemed like a guy able to bear the team’s flag back towards glory. Not as someone who can simply register impressive numbers, but as a respected leader that his teammates can (and want to) look up to because they have fun playing at his side.