By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
This was a good week for Russian teams in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague. In the long race of the regular season, it’s still more than early for anyone, but the fact remains: Only CSKA Moscow has a 5-0 record and the champs are impressive on the court.
As you can see in the standings, Real Madrid and Fenerbahce are tied at 4-1 in second place, while Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, Barcelona, Dogus Darussafaka and Baskonia follow at 3-2.
And that bring us to the other Russian success of the week and our MVP. Fenerbahce was hoping to be also perfect, but this happened in Istanbul on Wednesday.
MVP
The star of Unics Kazan couldn’t be denied in Istanbul, having 28 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and a 36 ranking. He gave his team its first win and did it on the road against the previously unbeaten Fenerbahce.If Unics has a chance to do something really big, then it all lays mainly on Langford‘s back, even thought in Istanbul Artsiom Parakhouski also had a great night (20 p., 12 r.).
Best five
Keith Langford: A scoring machine.
Sergio Llull: Once more he was the leader of Real Madrid with 23 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 turnovers, as the Whites prevailed over Galatasaray.
Nando De Colo: He kept CSKA Moscow unbeaten with 23 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 turnovers as the champs got the win at Piraeus against Olympiacos.
Darius Miller: In the overtime win over EA7 Milano, Miller did most of the heavy lifting with 27 points and 6 out of 11 three pointers, as Brose Bamberg emerges in the league as a playoffs contender.
Tyler Honeycutt: In the double overtime win of Anadolu Efes over Panathinaikos, he had an amazing game with 15 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and no turnovers for a total rankings of 28.
Best losing performance: Paulius Jankunas
The Zalgiris Kaunas’ icon once more had an amazing game with 21 points and 11 rebounds. His ranking was 36, but the bottom line remains that the Lithuanians lost a big chance at home to get its second win in the season in the game against Dogus Darussafaka.
Coach of the week: Sito Alonso
This is the second time he is getting this title and it’s obvious that he has the chance to cement his reputation as an up and coming coach. At Belgrade, where no team has an easy task, Baskonia got the win once more without Andrea Bargnani and with Adam Hanga coming from injury and unready. Coach Alonso has already proven that his unit is solid.
Biggest win: Barcelona
Barcelona’s injury woes could have made any team bend. Still they found the way to beat Maccabi Tel Aviv on the road. Yes, Maccabi is still shaky but the same can be said for Barca, which despite its problem is building a new team around Tyrese Rice. An away win in Israel is a huge mark of progress.
The last word: Galatasaray
Only one team has not a win yet. Nobody expected that Galatasaray would be in that position and with coach Ataman pointing at Russ Smith, it seems that things are going to change soon in Istanbul. However, nobody really believes that Smith can be the only one responsible for five Euroleague defeats.