By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Five players have returned to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague after years of playing elsewhere, with the aim of winning more than they did last time around, and they were able to stand out from the crowd as soon as the opening game.
Eurohoops writes about these five players who reintroduced themselves to the fans of the EuroLeague as only they can.
OMRI CASSPI
Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv | Forward | June 22, 1988 | Israel
In Maccabi then, and back to Maccabi now, 10 years, 6 months and 21 days later. That’s how long it had been since Casspi’s last game in the EuroLeague. After a long absence, he has returned to the team where he made his debut as a professional back in 2005, in order to help Maccabi become a competitor once again.
“Okay, hands up. Who’s ready for some basketball? #EuroLeague starts TONIGHT #YallaMaccabi.” This is what he wrote on his Instagram account shortly before the game against Khimki Moscow Region in Moscow, and it’s characteristic of his eagerness to waste no time in the pursuit of his goal. The opening game found him and his teammates conceding but there’s more than enough time to make up for it.
@ Khimki Moscow Region 89-83
13 pts | 4-for-7 FGs | 6 reb | 3 ast | 1 stl | 1 tov | 22:44 min | 20 PIR
MALCOLM DELANEY
FC Barcelona | Guard | March 11, 1989 | USA
Lady Luck turned her back on Barcelona guard Kevin Pangos and Malcolm Delaney was called back to the EuroLeague 3 years, 4 months and 19 days after his last game in the competition, with Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar in the 2016 Final Four in Berlin. Let it be so. Delaney is not in the habit of letting any opportunity go to waste, so FC Barcelona’s rivals had better be careful. You don’t come across the attributes that he has every day in a player and he punishes even the slightest mistake. This is what he did in the opening game away at Anadolu Efes Istanbul.
“Good way to open up EuroLeague with a whole lot of room to get better. The goal is to keep improving,” he wrote on Instagram right after the game.
@ Anadolu Efes Istanbul 64-74
11 pts | 3-for-9 FGs | 3 reb | 7 ast | 1 stl | 2 tov | 21:05 min | 16 PIR