By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague continues charging forward, the pace unabated, and every round that passes reconfigures the standings and creates strong incentives and a great need for wins for most teams in Europe’s top league!
As part of the 18th round, Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul, with a 9-8 record, is hosting the very competitive Unics Kazan (7-10). A crucial game for both gladiators!
The home team, coached by David Blatt, sits in eighth place and want to consolidate its presence among the positions that lead to the playoffs. Evgeny Pashutin’s Unics is just two wins away from the top eight and in search of their third road win in the regular season. Unics does not need to prove they can beat any opponent on a good day – they did so already, inside the Ulker Sports Arena against Fenerbahce Istanbul in Round 5 – but must win in order to continue to dream about the ultimate transcendence that is the qualification to the playoffs.
We are going to focus on two players who play in different positions, but who are barometers for their teams – Dairis Bertans and Artsiom Parakhouski! Usually, whenever they play well, their teams win!
Bertans, born in 1989, is in his first season in the EuroLeague. Last week, facing Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz – his younger brother Davis’s old team – he produced his best performance so far, scoring 29 points, more than any other EuroLeague player in Round 17. The Latvian guard made 10 of his 13 shots, dished 5 assists and posted a performance index rating of 31 in an important win for Darussafaka!
He has an average of 6.4 points and 1.3 assists with impressive 52.8% three-point shooting (19-for-36), making him the third-most accurate shooter from long distance in the EuroLeague! He’s a gifted shooter who – when he gets into a rhythm – can make shots from anywhere and hurt rival defenses with a very fast trigger and execution. As he gains more experience at the top level and under the guidance of Blatt, Bertans can definitely add more elements and make his game more complete, with his trademark always being his flair for long-range shooting.
Parakhouski, a center from Belarus born in 1987, is playing for the second season in the EuroLeague (the first was with Nizhny Novgorod in 2014-15) and as in his rookie campaign, he’s again having a productive year. He scores 11.4 points, with 5.2 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and a PIR of 14.7 on average, as well as 63.4% in two-point shooting. He also averages 1.5 blocked shots, third among all EuroLeague players.
It’s telling that, in 17 appearances this season, he already counts nine games scoring in double figures and three in which he has gone over 20 points! He’s a quality center with size and strength who fills the paint, contributes in every area of the game, and is extremely effective as a finisher after pick-and-roll situations. But he’s just as good at scoring through his own plays from the low post. He’s also a good rebounder.
The overall performance of Unics’s starting center, as well as how “hot” Bertans is going to be from outside the 6.75-meter arc are certainly two elements that will play a substantial role in the outcome of the game!
Let’s go ahead and enjoy the clash between Darussafaka and Unics on the last day of Round 18, ahead of a fiery week that follows with a double-round!