By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
With 14 rounds left in the regular season, even the top spot of the standings is still open. Real Madrid beat CSKA Moscow and now the Russians look vulnerable, having only one win over the Whites, Olympiacos, which got a big win over Panathinaikos, and also Baskonia.
The standings of the league prove that there’s still a long way to go and you can’t go bigger this week from what happened in Madrid.
ΜVP
Sergio Llull
He was simply amazing against the back court of the champs. Llull did his thing with 24 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and also 4 turnovers. While Luka Doncic had recently stole the spotlight from him, it’s obvious that he is still the leader of the “Whites” and the man who gets the job done.
Best Five
- Sergio Llull: He took the challenge against CSKA Moscow and prevailed.
- Rodrigue Beaubois: The French guard of Baskonia was more than impressive on the way to a career high of 29 points with 7/8 two-points shots and 5/8 threes as his team destroyed Unics Kazan.
- Sonny Weems: An amazing night for him with 24 points, 9/16 FG, 5 rebounds and also 8 assists, as Maccabi Tel Aviv got the win on a do or die thriller against Darusssafaka Dogus.
- Nicolo Melli: He can do pretty much anything and proved it once again as Brose Bamberg got an easy one over Barcelona and he finished the night with 17 points (8/10 2p.) and 13 rebounds, as also 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block and just 1 turnover in 35 minutes of action.
- Ekpe Udoh: The big man of Fenerbahce remains the best center of the league and he proved it with 18 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist, 1 block and 2 turnovers against Milano.
Best losing performance: Mike James
He did his best on the road against Olympiacos, but it was not enough for Panathinaikos. In total he had 24 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block, a great game for him – and also a big night for KC Rivers who scored 23 – and the only good point that the Greens can keep for the rest of the regular season after this game.
Coach of the week: Giannis Sfairopoulos
The fact is not that he only got the win over Panathinaikos, but he got the number of the Greens, beating them twice in the regular season. Counting all competitions, Sfairopoulos has one of the best records of all time as Olympiacos coach against Panatinaikos, having a 12-3 record against the “eternal opponent” of his team.
Biggest win: Real Madrid
Not only Real Madrid beat the champs, but also got the tie breaking advantage because of the final 10 points difference. Of course, CSKA Moscow still has one more win compared to the teams of the second place, but we are still on the start of the second half of the regular season and everything can still happen.
Last word: Crvena Zvezda keep going
While teams like Galatasaray and EA7 Emporio Armani Milano are still left at 4 wins after losing to Anadolu Efes and Fenerbahce, Zvezda prevailed with ease over Zalgiris Kaunas and made one more step towards the playoffs. If you want to find an underdog which can be part of the best eight teams at the end, you don’t need to search any more.