By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
2017 has come into our lives and the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague continues to fascinate as Round 16 opens the curtain on the second phase of the regular season! On Friday, two of the most important clubs in the history of the competition are going to face each other.
Real Madrid (10-5 record) hosts EuroLeague champions CSKA Moscow (12-3 record), who are coming off two defeats in a row, something that is really rare! The rosters of these two gladiators are full of stars and we are going to shed some light on the matchup between Rudy Fernandez and Nando De Colo!
The Spanish forward, born in 1985, boasts a career full of accomplishments and titles! A player with genuine talent on offense, he can score in every way regardless of the distance, and on a good night he almost cannot be guarded.
So far in what has been a quiet season by his standards, Fernandez has averaged 9 points, 3.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds, 1.1 steals and a performance index rating of 11.1. He’s in his seventh season in the EuroLeague. He won the title with Madrid in 2015. He was named to the All-EuroLeague First Team in 2013 and 2014, and the Second Team in 2015. In 2007 he won the Rising Star Award as a player of Joventut Badalona, the team with whom he also won the EuroCup title in 2008 as MVP of the championship game!
At a domestic level in Spain, he has won three championships and four Spanish Cup titles. Meanwhile, his medals with the Spanish national team really are countless! Fernandez has four gold medals with Spain, in the 2006 World Championship and at EuroBasket in 2009, 2011, and 2015. His collection also includes three silver medals, two at the Olympic Games of 2008 and 2012, and one at EuroBasket 2007. In addition, he has two bronze medals, the most recent one in the Olympic Games in Rio and another one from EuroBasket 2013.
De Colo, born in 1987, is in his fourth season in the EuroLeague and his third with CSKA. Last season, he made history by not only winning the EuroLeague title with his team, but also being voted both MVP of the season and MVP of the Final Four. He was also the competition’s top scorer, winning the Alphonso Ford Trophy. No other player has accomplished so much in one season!
He had an amazing start to this season as well, but, due to injury, he missed seven games and only returned shortly before the new year. In eight games, he counts averages of 19.1 points, 4.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds and a PIR of 21.1, with amazing percentages of over 50% in two- and three-point shooting!
The French guard is unbelievable on offense and he has the full package to score by shooting from any range or driving to the basket. He’s also charismatic in the ease with which he draws fouls and goes to the free throw line. At the same time, he’s also an excellent creator.
Aside from the EuroLeague title in 2016, he has also celebrated the EuroCup with Valencia Basket in 2010 and has won VTB United League with CSKA in 2015 and 2016. Last year, naturally, he was chosen to the All-EuroLeague First Team and in 2015 he was a member of the Second Team.
With the national team of France he won three EuroBasket medals: gold in 2013, silver in 2011, and bronze in 2015. After all this, one can easily understand that Friday’s showdown cannot be missed! Two teams with dozens of titles and plenty of history against each other, plus countless individual and team distinctions, have an appointment on the court!