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
NIKOLA MIROTIC
FC Barcelona | Forward | February 11, 1991 | Montenegro
5 years, 4 months and 16 days had gone by since his last game in the EuroLeague with Real Madrid in the 2014 Final in Milan. In this time of his absence from the competition, Nikola Mirotic didn’t just grow up in terms of age but in terms of basketball, too. So much so, in fact, that his return is considered by many the top signing of the summer. He proved it right away in his return, now in the colors of Barcelona. He scored more points than anyone else during opening week. He fought all sorts of battles above and below the rim. And he helped his team launch the new season with a win over Efes in Istanbul.
“It felt great. Very excited obviously to be back. I was looking forward to that first game,” he said in the postgame interview.
@ Anadolu Efes Istanbul 64-74
24 pts | 9-for-16 FGs | 4 reb | 2 blk | 2 tov | 25:50 min | 22 PIR
TYRESE RICE
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens | Guard | May 15, 1987 | USA
He belongs on that special list of players who have won both the EuroLeague, with Maccabi in 2014, as well as the 7DAYS EuroCup, with Khimki in 2015. But 2 years, 5 months and 27 days had gone by since his last game in the top European club competition with Barcelona in 2017 and he needed a new challenge. Panathinaikos OPAP Athens gave it to him when they offered him a contract. Tyrese Rice reciprocated right from the get-go with a value-for-money performance that included 4-for-4 free throws in the last 30 seconds of the win over Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade in Athens.
“You come in and you do your job. You do what you’ve got to do. Do whatever it takes to get a win,” he said in the postgame interview.
vs. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 87-82
12 pts | 3-for-5 FGs | 2 reb | 2 ast | 1 stl | 1 tov | 14:12 min | 16 PIR
LUIS SCOLA
AX Armani Exchange Milan | Forward | April 30, 1980 | Argentina
He was a last-minute signing for AX Armani Exchange Milan. He usually doesn’t leave things for the last minute – after all, this is why he is who he is – but he had to make an exception this time. And who is he? He was his team’s top scorer in Munich. At 39 years old, no less. That’s Luis Scola, who hadn’t played in the EuroLeague since the 2007 Final Four in Athens with Tau Ceramica, 12 years, 4 months and 24 days before his return. With long hair then, with short hair and gray temples now, he’s the second-oldest player in the competition this season after Madrid’s Felipe Reyes (16/3/80).
“Game 1 in the EuroLeague. We may have lost, but I’m happy to be back,” he wrote afterwards on Instagram.
@ FC Bayern Munich 78-64
17 pts | 6-for-13 FGs | 6 reb | 1 ast | 2 stl | 3 tov | 28:30 min | 17 PIR