By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
The game is about to start, the EuroLeague theme song “I Feel Devotion” fills up the arena, and the camera passes in front of the two teams’ starting lineups. Behind the cameras, somewhere on the bench, others await their own opportunity.
Eurohoops presents the players that don’t pass up on that opportunity.
Here are the Top Game Changers in the first six rounds of the regular season:
THANASIS ANTETOKOUNMPO
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
Forward | July 18, 1992 | Greece
6.8 pts | 1.5 reb | 0.2 ast | 1.3 stl | 0.2 blk | 0.5 tov | 11:40 min | 7.2 PIR
Sometimes, Thanasis Antetokounmpo is in the starting lineup (twice), and sometimes not. But he’s always the special ops man for Panathinaikos. His defensive skills make him the right match for a rival scorer, while he’s not afraid to go up against players that are bigger than him, either in terms of mass or height. Sometimes he cashes in on his great defensive energy with an open-court or above-the-rim score. He turned the game around against Olympiacos Piraeus (93-80) recently at the Olympic Sports Center Athens with a performance that almost equaled his career high of 13 points.
JAYCEE CARROLL
Real Madrid
Guard | April 16, 1983 | USA
11.2 pts | 1 reb | 0.5 ast | 0.8 stl | 0 blk | 0.3 tov | 17:51 | 8.5 PIR
Jaycee Carroll has come off the bench in all six of Real Madrid‘s games, but his skill in execution secure him roughly 18 minutes on the court on average. Usually, he only needs a few seconds to make his presence felt, sometimes without even a dribble, because as soon as he gets the ball in his hands, he has already dispatched it into the rival team’s basket. The most recent example was his 14 consecutive points in the second quarter against Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv (66-87), a solo 0-14 run from 21-27 to 21-41 that was enough for Madrid to leave with the win from the Menora Mivtachim Arena. His performance in the 2015 championship game (16 points on 4-for-5 three-pointers) is the most unforgettable of them all.
ARTURAS GUDAITIS
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
Center | June 19, 1993 | Lithuania
12.8 pts | 7.2 reb | 0.3 ast | 1.5 stl | 1 blk | 1 tov | 22:19 min | 20.6 PIR
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan has been impressive in the first six rounds, and one of the big reasons is Arturas Gudaitis. He looks unstoppable even if he gets the ball away from the basket, since he can force opponents all the way into the paint with ease. He has never dropped below double-digit scoring and makes 60% of his two-point shots. He is tied for the most double-doubles this season with two. If all this is not convincing, consider that Gudaitis ranks third among EuroLeague players in average performance index rating despite having come off the bench in every game.
VASILIJE MICIC
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Forward | January 25, 1991 | USA
9.4 pts | 3.2 reb | 0.4 ast | 0.6 stl | 0.6 blk | 1.4 tov | 19:42 min | 7.6 PIR
Vasilije Micic’s fourth season in the EuroLeague is turning out to be the best of his career. Head coach Ergin Ataman is giving him the third-highest minutes for in Anadolu Efes Istanbul, even though he has started just half of six games so far. His presence in the third quarter against Fenerbahce Istanbul (89-83) at the Sinan Erdem Dome (13 points, 6 assists) was key for the Efes comeback, while a steal and 2-for-2 free throws in the last seconds against Herbalife Gran Canaria (90-94) on the road closed out his best performance this season (17 points, 4 assists and 2 steals) in the best possible way.
ALI MUHAMMED
Fenerbahce Istanbul
Guard | April 10, 1983 | USA
5.4 pts | 1.6 reb | 2.44 ast | 0.2 stl | 0 blk | 1.6 tov | 13:29 min | 5.4 PIR
At 35, Ali Muhammed not only continues to play at the highest level in Europe, but he does so with one of the main title contenders. Fenerbahce banks on the unpredictable nature of his game, which, combined with his skill in execution, makes him the most suitable player to tip the balance coming off the bench, where he has begun four of the five games he has played. In Round 2 against Khimki Moscow Region (93-85), he stepped on the court for the first time in the 28th minute (62-59) and only returned to the bench after he had done his job (14 points, 4-for-5 three-pointers, and 2 assists). He had done something similar in 2016 championship game (17 points, 5-for-9 three-pointers and 4 assists), which he almost single-handedly forced into overtime, although Fenerbahce then lost.
SERGIO RODRIGUEZ
CSKA Moscow
Guard | June 12, 1996 | Spain
10.5 pts | 2 reb | 5.2 ast | 0.5 stl | 0 blk | 1.7 tov | 24:17 min | 10.2 PIR
Contrary to what one would expect, Sergio Rodriguez has started only 58 of his 205 games in the competition. Even in 2014, when he was the MVP of the season, he did not start any of his 31 games with Real Madrid! This season, he has come off the bench in all six games and this makes him a luxury for CSKA Moscow. Every time he steps on the court, it’s not to prove his worth and add more minutes – he’s third in terms of playing time for CSKA – but to carry his team. That’s what he did in the recent game against Olympiacos (69-65) at home in Moscow, collecting 20 points on 6-for-10 three-point shooting and 5 assists.
AXEL TOUPANE
Olympiacos Piraeus
Forward | July 23, 1992 | France
6.2 pts | 1.7 reb | 0.7 ast | 0.7 stl | 0 blk | 1 tov | 15:16 min | 4.2 PIR
Olympiacos Piraeus acquired Axel Toupane to add to the team everything he brought to Zalgiris Kaunas in its run to the Final Four last season. He can lock down a player he’s guarding on the court and, at the same time, provide that something extra on the other end. In the road win against KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (80-85) at Fernando Buesa Arena, he came off the bench early and, by making 3 of 3 three-pointers before halftime, had given the Reds what they needed to boost the lead. It was the same deal against Maccabi (88-80) at Peace and Friendship Stadium, with 15 points on 4-for-5 three-point shooting in 13:47 of playing time.