By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Have you ever wondered which partnerships have worked the best in this year’s Turkish Airlines Euroleague? Which guards have formed such a relationship with their intended targets that they can work together even with their eyes closed? Eurohoops.net presents the best duo in the competition.
Every coach has many different scenarios in their playbooks. However, they know that some partnerships are more reliable, and when things get tough, when their team is fighting to score or needs a bucket in the final minutes of a crucial game, they usually trust a smaller group of players that can bail out the whole team. So Eurohoops.net singled out the best passers to see out where their assists come from, which is to say, which of their teammates benefits the most from their creative abilities. Of the duos that emerged, some were expected and others were surprises.
The only criteria is to do with the effectiveness of the partnership. For example, Milos Teodosic and Nando De Colo are sixth and eighth place, respectively on the list of most assists, but both dish out their assists to CSKA Moscow teammates in an even fashion. For comparison’s sake, the best partnership in the Euroleague last season was between Dimitris Diamantidis and Esteban Batista of Panathinaikos Athens, which resulted in 43 successful plays.
Malcolm Delaney –> Victor Claver, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
26 assists
Not only has Delaney scored 21% of Lokomotiv’s points (354 of 1686 in total), he has sent out 35% of the team’s assists (126 out of 361)! His favorite target appears to be Claver, who is the No. 2 scorer on the team.
Nick Calathes –> James Gist, Panathinaikos Athens
26 assists
Calathes is twice times on the list, which highlights his effectiveness. Gist has scored 26 times from a pass by Calathes and, as fans of the Greens know well, many of those finishes were in the form of impressive dunks.