Euroleague Round-Up, Round 7: Aleksander Vezenkov headlines strong NBA prospect week
It was a big week for NBA prospects in the Euroleague, as things have started to take shape in advance of the Round of 16. Six teams are now qualified for the next round, and the rest is a crazy battle that will unfold over the following three weeks.
At the forefront of many of the successes of the weekend were some of the top NBA prospects in Europe, both in the draft pool and stashed away. Barcelona’s merry band of future NBA-ers all played vital roles in a blowout win, while Bayern Munich’s Paul Zipser had perhaps his best game of the season. Even guys like Colton Iverson and Dario Saric played well in losses.
All in all, this was probably the best scouting week of the tournament so far.
Group A
I’m not sure what to make of Real Madrid at this point. They now sit at the bottom of Group A with a 2-5 record, which is a disaster for the defending champions, even in the toughest round robin group. However, they’ve also beaten Bayern Munich and haven’t had a single loss decided by more than seven points. They basically have to win out to advance, and yet, it doesn’t seem impossible because of their point differential (-1.7, which should put them at about .500) and their talent level.
However, the fact remains that Real Madrid still went and allowed Crvena Zvezda to come back in the 4th quarter and beat them this weekend. Quincy Miller and Maik Zirbes led the charge for the Serbian side, with Miller posting 24 points and seven rebounds and Zirbes adding 26 points (including 15 in the final six minutes) and five boards. Sergio Rodriguez looked great for Real Madrid (16 points, nine assists and six rebounds) and Gustavo Ayon also chipped in 16, but Madrid’s defense has been the problem lately, as shown by Crvena shooting 55.7 percent from the field for the game.
Bayern Munich, meanwhile, made the middle of Group A even more messy by soundly beating Khimki Moscow, 81-70. Munich has beaten Khimki twice, and both times it has been a combination of poor shooting by Khimki and Bayern’s strong frontcourt that have doomed the Russian squad. James Augustine had 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocks for Khimki, but he struggled to defend John Bryant (17 points on 7-10 shooting). Paul Zipser had his best game of the tournament, posting 10 points and five rebounds while going 3-3 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line.
Fenerbahce had the group’s most predictable result, becoming the first team in Group A to qualify for the Round of 16 by dismantling Strasbourg, 81-64. Jan Vesely led the Turkish squad with 20 points and five rebounds, while Bogdan Bogdanovic added 13 points and three assists. The two also connected on multiple nice entry passes that led to Vesely slams, like this beauty:
Strasbourg got 14 points from Vladimir Golubovic, but the French side shot just 22 percent from 3. It’s hard to keep up with Fenerbahce’s offense when you can’t respond from the outside.
Fenerbahce’s in, but no one else in Group A is safe. Things are about to get wild.
Group B
Group A is one big bag of monkey wrenches, but Group B’s results got one gigantic monkey wrench thrown in this weekend when Olimpia Milano beat Anadolu Efes, 88-84. This game was especially interesting because EA7 was without everyone’s favorite stat-stuffing stash prospect, Alessandro Gentile, due to injury. Jamel McLean carried the load in Gentile’s absence, posting 26 points and five rebounds, and Milano was able to overcome shooting just 4-18 from 3-point range by limiting themselves to eight turnovers. Dario Saric had a very solid game, posting 15 points and five rebounds while earning eight trips to the line, but Efes shot just 45.8 percent from inside the 3-point line for the game and EA7 was able to capitalize.
Olympiacos qualified for the next round with a 59-52 win over Laboral Kutxa, grinding the Spanish side down with stifling defense to compensate for their depleted roster. Playing without Georgis Printezis, Nikola Milutinov and Patric Young, Olympiacos had just one player in double digits — former Houston Rocket Vassilis Spanoulis. However, they swallowed up Laboral’s offense completely, limiting them to 34 percent shooting, forcing 23 turnovers and allowing just six assisted baskets. It isn’t pretty, but Olympiacos is still winning without two of their three best players and their best NBA prospect.
Cedevita knocked off Limoges behind a 19-point effort from Luka Babic. Cedevita shot 51.8 percent from the field and was able to storm through the Limoges defense, never trailing after opening up an 11-0 lead. Mark Arapovic posted nine points, four rebounds and two assists for the game, including this excellent feed on a backdoor cut from the perimeter:
Limoges got 17 points and 11 assists from Heiko Schaffartzik, but they didn’t have the firepower to come back on Cedevita. Given they plays Laboral next week, it’s doubtful that they’ll be advancing.
Group C
The most key game for Group C positioning was Panathinaikos’s 69-66 win over Pinar Karsiyaka, which edges the Turkish squad to the brink of elimination. This game ultimately came down to free throws and 3s, as Panathinaikos needed both to ice Karsiyaka’s comeback. Panathinaikos hit 15-21 free throws to just 9-18 for Karsiyaka and the Greek side won behind 14 points, six rebounds and four assists from James Gist.
Colton Iverson continued his strong group league play with 14 points, six rebounds and three blocks for the losing side, but it looks like Karsiyaka will be on the outside looking in for the Round of 16.
The week’s most predictable result was Barcelona’s 93-64 win over Zielona Gora, which cemented Barcelona’s entrance into the next round. Barcelona was an offensive inferno, shooting 61.8 percent from the field. They never let up, either, even limiting the Polish squad to just 29 second-half points. Leading the charge for Barca were a pair of NBA prospects, with Alex Abrines posting 16 points on 6-8 shooting and Aleksandar Vezenkov scoring 15 points on 4-4 shooting. Tomas Satoransky was also impressive, repeatedly attacking off the dribble and displaying impressive finishing.
The way this tournament has gone, Karsiyaka’s opening weekend win over Barcelona makes less sense by the week.
Equally impressive in a blowout win was Kuban Krasnodar, who beat Zalgiris by 30 points. After last week’s heaping of praise to Malcolm Delaney, he predictably had a very quiet 10-point, six assist effort, but it didn’t matter because THAT’S KYRYLO FESENKO’S MUSIC:
After Fesenko was done dunking Zalgiris through Southern Lithuania into Belarus, Krasnodar didn’t let up, running out to a 65-27 lead after three quarters behind 11 points and four steals from Anthony Randolph. Olivier Hanlan went scoreless for Zalgiris, who shot 33.9 percent from the field in a dismal loss.
Group D
CSKA Moscow’s win over Maccabi Tel Aviv last weekend eliminated Dinamo Sassari, so this weekend’s loss only added insult to injury. Moscow was led by Milos Teodosic’s 21 points and three assists, while Nando De Colo earned 12 trips to the line and was perfect there, ending with 17/3/3. Sassari got 19/7/3 from Christian Eyenga, but it’s pretty par for the course for him to post numbers when games don’t matter anymore.
Unicaja Malaga also got a comfortable win to advance to the Round of 16, beating Maccabi Tel Aviv by a final score of 82-68. Nemanja Nedovic paced the Spanish squad with 11 points in the first half, helping Malaga open up a 48-31 lead, and former George Mason forward Will Thomas posted 20 points to continue the damage. Maccabi got 13 points and four rebounds from Taylor Rochestie, but they need to win out with some help to get to the Round of 16.
Also, Dragan Bender played three whole minutes in this game. He has played 42 total minutes in this competition even though Maccabi has been out of nearly every game in the second half. It’s disappointing for those focused on the NBA Draft, but hardly a surprise given his situation.
The big shocker was that with the Maccabi loss and their win over Darussafaka, Brose Baskets is an early qualifier for the Round of 16. Brose Baskets did what they have done consistently throughout the tournament to get the win — they smothered the interior defensively, rebounded well and ran their offense through Bradley Wanamaker, who had eleven points, five rebounds and four assists. Brose had a 47-37 rebounding edge and kept Luke Harangody scoreless, Semih Erden to one point and Furkan Aldemir to five points. Aldemir looked strong on the glass with five rebounds and Marcus Slaughter had 12 points, but it’s hard to win games when you shoot 26.7 percent from the floor.
Prospect of the Week: Aleksandar Vezenkov, SF, Barcelona
Vezenkov had played 31 minutes in five Euroleague contests before this weekend, but Barcelona’s win over Zielona Gora was the reason he’s on NBA Draft radars.
The 20-year-old is the 52nd ranked prospect at Draft Express, but he should be a late 1st rounder or early 2nd rounder because he has prototypical modern NBA wing skills. Vezenkov was perfect from the field and the line, going 3-3 from 3-point range in his 15-point, two rebound, two assist effort in the win. He spaces the floor well for Barca, playing off Satoransky and Abrines’s ability to slash to the rim and thriving off kick-outs to hit 3s. He’s shooting 66.7 percent from the perimeter in Euroleague play and an equally solid 36.4 percent in ACB action. He gets more playing time in the ACB, too, where he got to showcase his improving defensive ability and athleticism a couple weeks ago against Obradoiro:
Vezenkov doesn’t get a ton of time with Barca, but when he does, he usually plays very well. He will be on draft radars once again this spring, because he’s basically an older, less athletic, Cypriot version of Furkan Korkmaz.
Next Week
Real Madrid faces a must-win game at home against Group A leader Fenerbahce; Ditto for Strasbourg against Bayern Munich; Cedevita and Anadolu Efes will scrap for Group B positioning; Barcelona will try to make things interesting for Panathinaikos’s chances of advancing; Maybe Dragan Bender will play this week for Maccabi against Sassari; and Darussafaka can make Group D the first group to be fully qualified with a win over Unicaja Malaga.