By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
After two gamedays in Euroleague’s regular season seven teams remain unbeaten and one of them is Bayern Munich. However the biggest win of the week belongs to Fenerbahce/ Ulker which is entering the Obradovic era impressively. After beating Barcelona, Fener is already proving that can aim high and has a 2-0 record in Group A, sharing the top with also perfect CSKA Moscow. In Group B Real Madrid and Anadolu Efes are at 2-0, in Group C defending champion Olympiacos and Bayern are counting only wins and in Group D only newcomer Lokomotiv Kuban is left with a 2-0 record. That’s the way to start the season.
Eurohoops MVP
You can argue that there were other players with higher numbers, but 1) we love seeing Kleiza finding his touch in Europe 2) he had 22 points on 6/13 shots in the most important game of the night. Also he sealed the outcome with an offensive rebounds and two free throws. Do you want more?
Best five
- Scotty Hopson: The new combo guard of Anadolu Efes didn’t create for his teammates, but did everything else with 20 points on 8/11 shots, 6 rebounds, 5 steals and also 4 turnovers in the road win against Strasbourg.
- Mike Bramos: He was the top scorer of Panathinaikos win by scoring 21 points entirely on three pointers. He had 7/11 from downtown and also 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and no turnovers.
- Linas Kleiza: He is back from the NBA with a bang.
- Nicolo Melli: In just 25 minutes he had 20 points on 9/10 shots and 9 rebounds in a career night. The 82-75 win of EA7 Milano over Zalgiris was his coming out party in Euroleague.
- Nick Caner Medley: He was unstoppable in the 101-68 win of Unicaja against Zielona Gora with a double double (20 p., 10 r.) in just 20 minutes of action.
The best losing performance: Micah Downs
Υοu can make a case for Boban Marjanovic (20 p., 13 r.) of Crvena Zvezda, however the 96-82 win of Maccabi Tel Aviv was, as usual, a high scoring affair. Also Andres Nocioni had a big game (23 p., 13 r.) against Panathinaikos, under special conditions for Laboral Kutxa. On the contrary Micah Downs had 23 points in the 72-67 defeat of Budivelnyk against the always reliable defense of CSKA Moscow.
The biggest win: Fenerbahce/ Ulker
The Obradovic era started with a 2-0 record and a 75-70 win against Barcelona, still things could have been a little bit different in Istanbul. With an epic 10-0 run in the last two minutes, Barcelona cut the lead of the hosts to two points (72-70). With 20 seconds left a foul was made to Emir Preldzic, he had 1/2 free throws (73-70) and Barca had the chance to tie the game. However, Huertas decided to feed Tomic in the paint and not to look for an open three point shot. Tomic missed the lay up, Preldzic was fouled, missed both free throws, but Kleiza got the offensive rebound, made two shots (75-70) with 4 seconds left and the game was over.
Things are changing: Bayern Munich
Against the Italian – but vastly changed – dynasty of Siena, Bayern Munich proved once again that will make its mark in Euroleague. The final 89-79 score was more than fair, as the Germans controlled the game from the first moment and got what they wanted in their historic first home game in the top competition of Europe. Not bad at all…
Record night: Panathinaikos
The Greens were punished and hosted Laboral Kutxa in Cyprus, but the guests had just eight players available so the 95-74 win was an easy task. However Panathinaikos made 18 three pointers and tied the second all time best Euroleague performance, while dishing 31 assists. That number also tied the best all time performance, made twice in the past by Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2003 and 2004.
The underachiever: Brose Baskets
There is no shame in losing to a team like Real Madrid on the road. However, the 40 points difference, the worst Euroleague defeat (98-58) in Brose Baskets’ history makes a – bad – night to remember. “It’s a little step backwards”, admitted Casey Jacobsen, the veteran American forward who has been with the team since 2010. The good news for the German champions is that there is still time to react and probably the 40 points difference will not mean much in the end of the regular season.
The disappointment: Nanterre
The French champions can be considered the Cinderella of Euroleague, but scoring just 5 points against Partizan in the last quarter of an already decided game (73-43), even on the road, is not a good sign. Yes, the Serbs have more talent and great support from their crowd. However if you want to compete with the elite teams in Europe you have to show at least fighting spirit and Nanterre seemed just out of its league.
The last word: Nathan Jawai
It’s ironic that after his career high in Euroleague (22 points) against Olympiacos in the 78-67 win of the champs against Galatasaray he had to be taken into the hospital. However the good news is that his condition after all doesn’t seem to be something really serious. As every member of the basketball community in the world, Eurohoops is also wishing the best to the Australian “Baby Shaq”, as he was once known.