By Dimitris Minaretzis/ info@eurohoops.net
At the top of the second half of the 34-game Regular Season of the 2024-25 installment of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, our EuroLeague Fantasy quest has been hindered by a long-term injury to Mathias Lessort and a shorter injury to Nikola Milutinov.
Tagged at 17.7 Fantasy units, Lessort is the top center of the game.
Compared to Panathinaikos Aktor, a wider list of players is available to Fantasy contestants. The devastating injury indeed prompts necessary adjustments.
We can pick up another top-tier center such as Walter Tavares of Real Madrid. This would cost 15.8 units. An alternative route would combine a cheaper center with a high-class winger like one of Kendrick Nunn of Panathinaikos or Carsen Edwards of FC Bayern Munich before their meeting in SAP Garden on Friday, or Shane Larkin of Anadolu Efes.
We prefer the latter and choose Omer Yurtseven of Panathinaikos to combine with Moustapha Fall of Olympiacos. Milutinov will miss the visit to EA7 Emporio Armani Milan and we do not expect Nathan Mensah to play on Thursday, so the French big is the only available center for head coach Giorgos Bartzokas.
Yurtseven is tagged at 9.6 Fantasy units. At that range, he opens space in our budget.
A recent signing to boost the frontline of head coach Ergin Ataman, Wenyen Gabriel has been a participant in one or two team practices. Therefore, the Turkish big is expected to take over most duties in the five position. We believe these conditions can lead to a productive display by Yurtseven.
With Konstantinos Mitoglou, Kostas Antetokounmpo, and Gabriel chipping in, he will perhaps fall shy of matching the playing time of Lessort. Carrying five double-digit Performance Index Ratings from earlier in the season, ranging between 13 and 18 minutes, he is likely to improve over 22 to 24 minutes.
Fall is coming off a solid showing against ALBA Berlin with a season-high 25 PIR. Due to prior struggles attached to a season average of 8.2 PIR, he is accessible at 10.6 Fantasy units.
These are the reasons behind combining Yurtseven and Fall alongside more players on our Fantasy team.
P.S. How was the price of Mensah set at 11.5 units???? Considering the rotation of Olympiacos, he is not projected for much playing time. He also lacks experience in the EuroLeague but is tagged higher than Fall and other bigs with huge contributions.
P.S. 2 From last week, Nunn delivered for those following our tips and Bartzokas settled with a bonus of ten points due to a close win versus ALBA.
Our Fantasy Team for Round 18
