Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul captain Sinan Guler and reigning EuroLeague MVP Nando De Colo of CSKA Moscow have very different roles on the basketball court, but in the end they both check off the most-important box; they help their team win. Guler is best-known for his excellent defense and leadership, while De Colo is considered an offensive wizard. However what is common to them is that without their key contributions, Galatasaray and CSKA might not own the most prestigious titles in European club basketball from last season.
This week’s clash will be just their second head-to-head meeting in the EuroLeague; De Colo scored 13 points off the bench to lead Power Electronics Valencia to a 62-56 home win over Guler’s Anadolu Efes Istanbul in December 2010.
De Colo comes off a masterful campaign in which he not only led CSKA to the title and was named EuroLeague MVP, but he also claimed Final Four MVP honors, captured the Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy and was an All-EuroLeague selection for the second year running. The combo guard enters his third season with CSKA and made his EuroLeague debut in 2010-11 for Valencia, with whom he also won the 2010 EuroCup and was named to the 2010 All-EuroCup First Team. De Colo has become a central part of the French national team in recent summers, won the gold medal at EuroBasket 2013 and also owns a EuroBasket silver and bronze medal.
Guler notched another major accomplishment last season when he raised the EuroCup trophy before his team’s legions of fans. That came after seven EuroLeague seasons – five with Efes and two with Galatasaray. That experience, as well as years with the Turkish national team, has made Guler the true leader of his team. With Turkey, Guler made history by winning the silver medal at the 2010 FIBA World Cup in Istanbul. He has also competed at four EuroBaskets for Turkey.