admin
03-20-2006, 01:30 PM
Not a particularly strong week in Europe in terms of good performances by young prospects. A perfect fit for a time where the NCAA Tournament has taken all the attention. Still, there were some interesting things going on.
Andrea Bargnani had a nice showing in the Euroleague, helping Benetton Treviso to get a crucial victory over Efes Pilsen and stay alive in the top-16 stage. The Italian forward had 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
For Marco Belinelli, things went better in the domestic competition. He had 17 points and 3 assists for Climamio Bologna in a very close victory against Bipop Carire Reggio Emilia. Our Italian scour Carlo Sandrinelli tells us all about it:
Belinelli was almost nonexistant for 3 quarters, as at the end of the 3rd he had just 2 points, and generally Climamio looked very uncomfortable against a tough team that played hard from the beginning, ending the quarter trailing by 10.
Belinelli looked very nervous (he even got a technical foul in the 2nd after a couple of bad calls), and couldn't find any rhytm on his shot. On defense, he suffered all game long when he had to guard diminutive guards Terrell McIntyre and Marco Carra, and had many difficulties going through screens.
In the 4th quarter, though, he came back and finally played with confidence: he had 15 points on a 4/5 shooting, scoring every basket in a different way, and showing all of his offensive talents, even those we can't often see. Early in the period he nailed an off-the-dribble shot, and then a good slashing move finishing with a layup and a foul, to cut the deficit to 5. But it was in the final 2-3 minutes that he was decisive, with 6 consecutive points to keep Climamio close (hitting a 3 pointer and getting fouled while trying another), alongside with an inspired Sani Becirovic, and then, answering an unbelievable 30-feet shot hit by McIntyre (to put Reggio back up by 5 with a minute to go) with a great off-balance 3-pointer from the corner. Then Becirovic made 2 free throws and another 3-point shot as Climamio eventually won by 1.
All in all, it's been a strong outing for Belinelli, as he showed once again that he's not afraid to take crucial shots under pressure, and that he can catch fire in every moment of the games, to score in many ways and not only by set shots like earlier this season. On the other hand, he also confirmed that, even though his lenght, athleticism and fundamentals, he still suffers guarding smaller and quicker players, and that sometimes he tends to go mentally out of the game.
Not much to tell from the Spanish front. Rudy Fernández played another very solid game for DKV Joventut with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists helping his team to beat Adecco Estudiantes.
Partizan keeps showing its dominance in the Adriatic League with an on-the-road victory against a strong team such as Hemofarm. Uros Tripkovic had his share of responsibility in the triumph after scoring 17 points and dishing out 3 assists.
Olimpija Ljubljana has lost any chance of advancing to the Final Eight after an unexpected loss at home against Helios, one of the weakest squads in the competition. What was also expected and actually did happened was the statistical delivery by both Yotam Halperin and Domen Lorbek. Olimpija’s combo guard had 18 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steal, while Helios’ scorer netted 23 points and added 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
In Serbia, Dragan Labovic provided 18 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals for Borac, although his team lost against Napredak Rubin.
Terrific showing by big man Oguz Savas in the Euroleague. Even if he still doesn’t look like a NBA prospect, mainly because his lack of athleticism (regardless his late improvement in this area), he’s becoming a very solid piece in Ulker’s rotation and a serious threat in the low post. His 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks were crucial for the Turkish team to beat Climamio Bologna and still keep a mathematical chance (although minimal) of advancing to the quarter finals. Things go better in the domestic front, where Ulker leads the Turkish League. There, Savas had 14 points in the last victory against Tuborg. Meanwhile Semih Erden played one of his best games this season delivering 14 points and 8 rebounds helping Fenerbahce to get a comfortable victory against ITU.
In the Russian Superleague, Dimitri Sokolov erupted for a 14-point 15-rebound performance. He captured a whopping amount of 10 offensive boards, but could not do anything to avoid the loss for Lokomotiv Rostov against Unics Kazan. Equally ineffective was Nikita Shabalkin’s effort against Dynamo Moscow Region. His 18 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists didn’t help Samara to escape from mediocrity.
Our French scout Malek Ait-Kaci brings us a couple of notable performances: Michael Mokongo had 14 pts ( 4/8 on fg ), 4 reb, 1 steal, 1 block and 4 assists in 24 minutes with solid defense against Lonnie Cooper. Although Chalon lost 81-87 against Pau-Orthez, Mokongo was very usefull all along the game.
Another good game from Ali Traore (6"9, 1985) had another good game with 20 pts (8/11 FG), 8 rebounds and 1 block in 24 minutes, in a victory of Roanne at Clermont. Traore is an athletic PF, very nice body and solid defensive skills; while he's not a good shot blocker he is a good defender man on man. He has solid offensive skills but not a good range with his shot.
We finish in Greece, where Olympiacos played a delayed game from the previous weekend. The rival, Larisas, was so weak that coach Kazlauskas let the younsters play most of the game. Renaldas Seibutis took advantage to finish with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Andrea Bargnani had a nice showing in the Euroleague, helping Benetton Treviso to get a crucial victory over Efes Pilsen and stay alive in the top-16 stage. The Italian forward had 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
For Marco Belinelli, things went better in the domestic competition. He had 17 points and 3 assists for Climamio Bologna in a very close victory against Bipop Carire Reggio Emilia. Our Italian scour Carlo Sandrinelli tells us all about it:
Belinelli was almost nonexistant for 3 quarters, as at the end of the 3rd he had just 2 points, and generally Climamio looked very uncomfortable against a tough team that played hard from the beginning, ending the quarter trailing by 10.
Belinelli looked very nervous (he even got a technical foul in the 2nd after a couple of bad calls), and couldn't find any rhytm on his shot. On defense, he suffered all game long when he had to guard diminutive guards Terrell McIntyre and Marco Carra, and had many difficulties going through screens.
In the 4th quarter, though, he came back and finally played with confidence: he had 15 points on a 4/5 shooting, scoring every basket in a different way, and showing all of his offensive talents, even those we can't often see. Early in the period he nailed an off-the-dribble shot, and then a good slashing move finishing with a layup and a foul, to cut the deficit to 5. But it was in the final 2-3 minutes that he was decisive, with 6 consecutive points to keep Climamio close (hitting a 3 pointer and getting fouled while trying another), alongside with an inspired Sani Becirovic, and then, answering an unbelievable 30-feet shot hit by McIntyre (to put Reggio back up by 5 with a minute to go) with a great off-balance 3-pointer from the corner. Then Becirovic made 2 free throws and another 3-point shot as Climamio eventually won by 1.
All in all, it's been a strong outing for Belinelli, as he showed once again that he's not afraid to take crucial shots under pressure, and that he can catch fire in every moment of the games, to score in many ways and not only by set shots like earlier this season. On the other hand, he also confirmed that, even though his lenght, athleticism and fundamentals, he still suffers guarding smaller and quicker players, and that sometimes he tends to go mentally out of the game.
Not much to tell from the Spanish front. Rudy Fernández played another very solid game for DKV Joventut with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists helping his team to beat Adecco Estudiantes.
Partizan keeps showing its dominance in the Adriatic League with an on-the-road victory against a strong team such as Hemofarm. Uros Tripkovic had his share of responsibility in the triumph after scoring 17 points and dishing out 3 assists.
Olimpija Ljubljana has lost any chance of advancing to the Final Eight after an unexpected loss at home against Helios, one of the weakest squads in the competition. What was also expected and actually did happened was the statistical delivery by both Yotam Halperin and Domen Lorbek. Olimpija’s combo guard had 18 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steal, while Helios’ scorer netted 23 points and added 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
In Serbia, Dragan Labovic provided 18 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals for Borac, although his team lost against Napredak Rubin.
Terrific showing by big man Oguz Savas in the Euroleague. Even if he still doesn’t look like a NBA prospect, mainly because his lack of athleticism (regardless his late improvement in this area), he’s becoming a very solid piece in Ulker’s rotation and a serious threat in the low post. His 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks were crucial for the Turkish team to beat Climamio Bologna and still keep a mathematical chance (although minimal) of advancing to the quarter finals. Things go better in the domestic front, where Ulker leads the Turkish League. There, Savas had 14 points in the last victory against Tuborg. Meanwhile Semih Erden played one of his best games this season delivering 14 points and 8 rebounds helping Fenerbahce to get a comfortable victory against ITU.
In the Russian Superleague, Dimitri Sokolov erupted for a 14-point 15-rebound performance. He captured a whopping amount of 10 offensive boards, but could not do anything to avoid the loss for Lokomotiv Rostov against Unics Kazan. Equally ineffective was Nikita Shabalkin’s effort against Dynamo Moscow Region. His 18 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists didn’t help Samara to escape from mediocrity.
Our French scout Malek Ait-Kaci brings us a couple of notable performances: Michael Mokongo had 14 pts ( 4/8 on fg ), 4 reb, 1 steal, 1 block and 4 assists in 24 minutes with solid defense against Lonnie Cooper. Although Chalon lost 81-87 against Pau-Orthez, Mokongo was very usefull all along the game.
Another good game from Ali Traore (6"9, 1985) had another good game with 20 pts (8/11 FG), 8 rebounds and 1 block in 24 minutes, in a victory of Roanne at Clermont. Traore is an athletic PF, very nice body and solid defensive skills; while he's not a good shot blocker he is a good defender man on man. He has solid offensive skills but not a good range with his shot.
We finish in Greece, where Olympiacos played a delayed game from the previous weekend. The rival, Larisas, was so weak that coach Kazlauskas let the younsters play most of the game. Renaldas Seibutis took advantage to finish with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.