By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
This week’s panel includes Luca Chiabotti, the former expert-in-residence at La Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy; Semih Tuna, from Eurohoops.net Turkey; Antonis Kalkavouras of Gazzetta.gr in Greece; Joe Arlauckas, former EuroLeague champion and Euroleague TV commentator; and Frank Lawlor, Editorial Director at Euroleague Basketball. Check out their opinions on the best new coaching fit, under-the-radar player and surprising stat of the season so far.
1. Which coaching change seems like the best fit so far?
Luca Chiabotti, La Gazzetta dello Sport
It’s too early to say, because the schedules of the teams now are counting more than other big factors. Georgios Bartzokas is 2-0 in his debut with Khimki but is starting the season with three home games in a row. And after the disaster of the 2016-17 campaign, the new Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv under Neven Spahija has shown itself to be far better than the last year’s team. Still, we have to wait until more meaningful games to understand what part the coaches are playing in this process.
Semih Tuna, Eurohoops
Having had a pretty fragile structure for the last two season, Maccabi has just transformed into a totally different group of guys with the arrival of coach Neven Spahija and the renovation of the roster. Two wins in two rounds are the result so far. At turning points in those games, Maccabi has stayed calm and done the right things to win. As an offense-oriented coach, Neven Spahija hired explosive point guards, and in the off-guard position, he has two players, in Michael Roll and DeAndre Kane, who can control opposing point guards. Considering the fact that the frontcourt has players with different profiles, Maccabi will not be easy for any opponent.
Antonis Kalkavouras, Gazzetta.gr
It’s not an easy question since it’s so early in the season, so the answer won’t be considered the safest one. I have to pick between Giorgos Bartzokas of Khimki and Simone Pianigiani of Milan, so based to the results, the winner will be the Greek coach, because he is going undefeated so far. But I think both teams will be among the pleasant surprises of this year’s tournament. I think Khimki will knock on the door to the Final Four and I see Milan competing for the playoffs.
Joe Arlauckas, EuroLeague Ambassador
I’m going to give a nod right here Dusan Alimpijevic of Crvena Zvezda. If you are talking about fit, that club has the right guy, and many of us didn’t know much about him until now. But his team almost ambushed Zalgiris away on opening night. They dusted Barcelona, which was coming off a big win. And they got ahead of Khimki last night before losing away. It’s all about attitude for Zvezda, and you get the feeling already that this team is going to upset some more teams along the way. Alimpijevic’s team will continue the tradition of slaying giants in Belgrade, I think.
Frank Lawlor, Euroleague.net
It’s true that Khimki is fortunate to play its first three games at home. But I’ve been able to watch both of their wins so far and listen to Georgios Bartzokas afterwards. And he is far from satisfied to be 2-0. We look at that team and think they could out-gun anyone on a good night. He looks at them and realizes that with the right defensive attitude, they can be a lot more. Bartzokas knows what it takes to go far and he won’t declare mission accomplished if Khimki goes 7-0 but fails to look the full part of a true contender. That insistence on getting better is what could make Khimki something special down the road.
2. 1. Who is the best “under-the-radar” player you’ve seen?
Luca Chiabotti, La Gazzetta dello Sport
Milko Bjelica of Red Star. Entering in his 10th Euroleague season, this 33-year-old veteran has put together the best stats of his career. He also hit the key baskets in the victory against Barcelona. It’s not the first time that Bjelica shows himself to be a solid, smart, complete, old-school basketball center, despite lacking the height and power to be considered one of the best in Europe. But it seems that he is living a golden age in times when you can find around the baskets many bigger bodies like Kevin Seraphin’s.
Semih Tuna, Eurohoops
Malcolm Thomas was one of the x-factors in both of Khimki’s victories. Michael Roll is a great glue guy for the super-scorer backcourt rotation of Maccabi, and he showed his knowledge of the game in both wins they got. Yet, I go with Taylor Rochestie. Crvena Zvezda could have started the season wobbly with their inexperienced and restrained roster. Even though he could not make the decisive shot at the end, Rochestie played a huge role in carrying Zvezda’s first game in Kaunas to a close finish. As for the win against Barcelona, he simply shined. Barca said farewell to Belgrade with empty hands while Rochestie proved to be a real EuroLeague player, once again.
Antonis Kalkavouras, Gazzeta.gr
Even though the player who fits perfect in this category would be Amath M’Baye of Milan, I have to go with Thomas Robinson, who was the last-minute addition from Khimki. The five-year veteran went to Moscow just 20 days ago as a small role player from the NBA and has averaged 17.5 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks while shooting 65.2% from the floor in less than 20 minutes per game. As such, he has emerged as the MVP of the Russian team in the first two games of the regular season.
Joe Arlauckas, EuroLeague Ambassador
He’s under the radar because his team hasn’t won yet, but how about that Leon Radosevic at Bamberg. He’s a guy who in recent years has seemed to sacrifice for his teammates: setting screens, taking charges, doing the dirty work. But here he is with 15.5 points and 6 rebounds per game, the team leader in both categories. This is his eighth EuroLeague season but he’s only 27 years old still. That makes Radosevic a young veteran. Those guys are always dangerous, because they’ve got the fresh legs and the know-how. And he’s playing that way!
Frank Lawlor, Euroleague.net
One player who intrigues me a lot, in part because he came in under the radar, is Amath M’Baye of Milan. He spent more time playing for the Diamond Dolphins in Japan than anywhere else in his pro career, but has stepped in and given Milan double-digit scoring to go along with a few reobunds, steals and blocks. Plus he’s a 2.06-meter forward who can say after two games that no player in the EuroLeague has made more three-pointers (5) at a higher accuracy (63.5%) than him. As he gets to understand the European game more, M’Baye is definitely a player to keep and eye on.
3. 1. What single statistic, either team or player, has impressed you most?
Luca Chiabotti, La Gazzetta dello Sport
Erick Green’s 73% shooting from two-point range. Combined with his 12-for-14 from the free throw line, it shows that Green in his new experience in Valencia is attacking the basket like never before. And he is not the only one. Although we have all been saying that basketball is living in the era of the three-point shot, the six top scorers in the EuroLeague right now are building their stats from two-pointers and free throws. In fact, together the six of them have scored on 18% of their points from three-points range!
Semih Tuna, Eurohoops
Maccabi, led by Pierre Jackson, allowing Brose Bamberg to score only 4 points and scoring 21 in exchange in the last 6 minutes of an away game in an arena where it is quite hard to play. It was like a little sequence from old-time Maccabi teams, and they dominated their opponent in every single category. Doing that to a team coaches by Andrea Trinchieri, who is full of surprises and controls the game well, is not easy at all. Hats off to Pierre!
Antonis Kalkavouras, Gazzeta.gr
The tranformation of Maccabi, from a traditional offensive style team, to a defense-oriented group of guys under Neven Spahija (the only team, alongside Olympiacos who receives less than 70 points per game) and the shocking number of 5 assists (in contrary with 17 turnovers) of CSKA in the game against Real Madrid. You have to dig back almost 10 years to 2008 to find a game with such a low number of assists for the Russians.
Joe Arlauckas, EuroLeague Ambassador
It’s early times, as they say, but what has popped out most at me is the 4.5 offensive rebounds per game so far by Mattias Lessort of Crvena Zvezda. It’s not quite Pops Mensah-Bonsu after two games, before he got hurt, back in the day. But if Lessort is going to do this even fairly often, it changes the dynamic for Zvezda, especially at home games, recalling some of the athletic difference-making by Quincy Miller that landed this team in the playoffs a couple years back.
Frank Lawlor, Euroleague.net
What certainly got my attention were the nine different Real Madrid players hitting three-point shots against CSKA in Round 2. Against CSKA, I repeat, a well-coached defensive team that doesn’t sit back and watch. And before you look, this wasn’t a case of Felipe Reyes or Gustavo Ayon padding the numbers with a half-court heave on the buzzer. You review the list of who made those triples – Luka Doncic, Fabien Causeur, Anthony Randolph, Rudy Fernandez, Jonas Maciulis, Jaycee Carroll, Jeffery Taylor and newcomers Facundo Campazzo and Randle Chasson – and realize, yeah, they can do that. Maybe not every night, but that team has nine shooters to worry about if you are playing them.
Source: EuroLeague