By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Did you believe that after two rounds of play the top of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings will consist of a five-way tie at 2-0 between Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, Valencia Basket, AX Armani Exchange Milan, Zenit St. Petersburg, and Zalgiris Kaunas?
Nobody did as EuroLeague turns out to be more unpredicted that ever and new forces are emerging all over the old continent. One of them comes from Belgrade…
MVP
Jordan Loyd
He had a career night, amazing numbers, and Zvezda got a solid 90-73 win over Baskonia with him having 8/16 FG, five of them from the three-point range. He has the chance to built upon what he did last year and Belgrade seems to be the right fit for him.
Best Five
- Mike James: He made big shots, he scored 25 points and he led CSKA Moscow to the win over Maccabi Tel Aviv. If not for Loyd, he would have been the rightful MVP.
- Jordan Loyd: A night to remember for him.
- Nando De Colo: He made things happen as Fenerbahce beat Anadolu Efes with 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Nobody will ever deny his class.
- Bojan Dubljevic: He destroyed Real Madrid by making 6/9 threes and scoring 24 points in the easy win for Valencia.
- Alex Poythress: Zenit St. Petersburg remains unbeaten and he was a big reason for that with a solid double-double (16 p., 11 r.) against FC Barcelona
Coach of the week: Martin Schiller
Among the teams that started the season with a 2-0 record, Zalgiris Kaunas is probably the most unexpected. However, coach Martin Schiller is up to the task and he knows that he must lead an underdog as high as he can with limited resources. While on paper the Lithuanian club remains one of the least dangerous teams of the league, on the court they have two road wins against Olympiacos and Khimki, even if the Russian side played practically with seven players due to injuries and coronavirus.
– Coach what is your main focus for the second half?
– To play 5 guys pic.twitter.com/a2IG6M78Nq
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) October 10, 2020
The Greek derby
It was an ugly affair that everyone wants to forget. Still, the point remains that Olympiacos got the road win over Panathinaikos and can hope for further improvement. Meanwhile the Greens, clearly the outsider on this contest, are totally down to Earth and know that this is going to be a EuroLeague season that will really test them both on the road and at home.
The German derby
The Trinchieri factor gave to Bayern Munich a clear edge and a glorious 90-72 road win against arch-rival ALBA Berlin. And even if coach Trinchieri wants to name his team an underdog, on the floor Bayern pretty much destroyed ALBA in a game that may end up playing a big role, at least on the bragging rights for the best German team in the league.