By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Plenty of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 11 stories. However, the main topic is CSKA Moscow drawing closer to FC Barcelona, half a win away from the leaders to be exact. It was made possible by our weekly MVP.
MVP
Mike James
Leave it to Mike James to highlight a squad overflowing offensive choices such as CSKA. Our MVP has been on fire since missing Regular Season Round 8 averaging 26.7 points per match in three games. A breathtaking four-point play with 2.5 seconds to go handing his side the win in the battle opposite Real Madrid generated this distinction.
Winning 4-point shotpic.twitter.com/vs6IjKLWBr
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) November 26, 2020
BEST FIVE
1. Mike James: Our MVP fired in 28 points behind 11/19 field goals.
2. Malcolm Delaney: The decider in another thriller making a mid-range jumper with 3.6 seconds left.
3. Howard Sant-Roos: Enter the Cuban star carrying 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals for Panathinaikos OPAP.
4. Adrien Moerman: He delivered for shorthanded Anadolu Efes with 17 points, nine rebounds, three steals, and two assists in Serbia.
5. Luke Sikma: The star of the third ALBA Berlin victory stuffed his stat sheet with 20 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
Coach of the week: T.J. Parker
No promising forecasts for LDLC ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne or any team coming at the bottom of the table and pitted against the first-placed side, but the French outlet coached by T.J. Parker got the job done against Barcelona closing out the action for this week by upsetting the Spanish powerhouse. It has certainly been a tough season so far, but things may be looking up for the Parker family.
Overlapping schedules
One can only wonder how a 2020-21 season heavily featuring postponed games and other issues outside general health safety guidelines, the conflicting EuroLeague and FIBA schedules persist. Various players and even Fenerbahce Beko head coach Igor Kokoskov wanting to help their national team are juggling between the club and international matches with last-minute trips. Apart from the unique surroundings brought by the coronavirus pandemic, nothing really new here, but the involved parties should finally make things work smoother.
Struggling Zalgiris
A closing note regarding the five-game losing streak for Zalgiris Kaunas. If the first four defeats against stronger sides on paper did not attract negative attention, Zenit Saint-Petersburg mostly comfortably extending its perfect run on the road to five games and dropping the Lithuanian side to 5-6 certainly did. It’s time for Martin Schiller to get his players back on track with Barca coming to visit next week after a tough loss in France.