The aftermath (EL gameday 2)

By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net

CSKA Moscow continues to play with fire, but escaped in overtime from Belgrade. Anadolu Efes burned Olympiacos at Istanbul, Alba Berlin is still perfect with 2-0 wins and Brose Baskets has the exact opposite record (0-2). In this Euroleague season you have to expect the unexpected…

At group A, Fenerbahce/ Ulker is the only undefeated team so far (2-0), at group B Alba shares the first place with also perfect Maccabi Tel Aviv, at group C EA7 Armani Milano and Zalgiris Kaunas lead the race (2-0) and at group D, Besiktas, CSKA Moscow and Barcelona are still counting only wins.

Eurohoops MVP

Sonny Weems

He was a revelation last season as player of Zalgiris Kaunas, but the best is yet to come for Weems. He proved that after saving CSKA Moscow at Belgrade in a 76-71 overtime win against Partizan. Sure, the Serbian young guns should be congratulated for their effort, however the 30 points of Weems with 10/14 shots from the floor just can’t be ignored.

Best five

1. Jordan Farmar: He could be the ΜVP, his numbers were great (25 p. 8 r., 9 as.), but the game against Olympiacos did not have any drama, as Anadolu Efes cruised for the most part in a 98-72 win. One could argue, of course, that Efes was able to do that because of him…
2. Curtis Jerrells: Nobody expected Besiktas to beat by 15 points (86-71) Brose Baskets at Bamberg, but that’s exactly what happened with Jerrells having a big game with 27 points and 9/14 shots from the floor, a career high in Euroleague
3. Sony Weems: Saved CSKA at Belgrade, do you want something more?
4. Deon Thompson: The game was almost lost for Alba but Deon Thompson kept pushing till the end and finally the team from Berlin beat Chalon 74-71 with the North Carolina alumni having also a career high in points (24) and rebounds (8) in Euroleague.
5. Sofoklis Shortsanitis: Big “Sofo” returned to Greece, wears Green and he is the main focal point of the new Panathinaikos’ offense. After a very good game at Madrid, he had 19 points on 9/11 free throws (!) and four rebounds in the home win against Cantu (78-76). Not bad at all…

The best losing performance: Steed Tchicamboud

The flip side of Thompson is the French guard. Tchicamboud had his best index rating ever in Euroleague (26) in the game against Alba, he played for 40 minutes, scored 20 points on 3/3 three pointers, but it was not enough for Chalon.

The biggest win: Anadolu Efes

After dropping the first game of the season at Milan, Anadolu Efes needed to make a statement and they sure did against Euroleague champion Olympiacos. Led by Farmar, Efes started the game with a 30-13 first quarter and never looked back. The best the Reds could do was cut the point different to nine points at the third quarter, but the final 98-72 says it all.

The upset: Zalgiris Kaunas

The Lithuanian champions are not a bad team, Caja Laboral had injury problems and only ten players available, however every time a guest in any competition wins at Fernando Buesa Arena, the result can be considered an upset. The final 77-71 in favor of Zalgiris is a testament to the high goals the team has this season.

The disappointment: Brose Baskets

What is wrong with German champions? They started the season with a 0-2 record, but the main problem is how bad they looked in the game against Besiktas. The final score (86-71) reflects what happened in the court with coach Chris Fleming accepting that “our situation at the moment is that we are our worst enemies”.

Underachiever: Rudy Fernandez

Last week’s Eurohoops MVP could not steal the win from Khimki in the last second. After a not so bad performance of 15 points, 4/11 shots, six assists and just one turnover, Rudy took the last shot of the game in a seven seconds possession after a time out, but he missed and Real Madrid lost 86-85 at Moscow, its first defeat in any official game this season.

The last word: Romain Sato

The case of Fenerbahce’s forward and his – according to Slovenian police – “fake passport” is at least puzzling. How can a player travel all over Europe, having a schengen visa and then getting caught in Slovenia because he doesn’t have the proper travel documents? Why a player of Sato’s stature would have a fake passport? There should be official answers in this case from all the involved parties. By the way, Fener finally beat Union Olimpija at Slovenia 81-75 with Sato missing and Bo McCalebb getting injured in the game.

Euroleague 2012-2013 – 2th Day