Hello everybody at BallinEurope.com. It was an exciting Euroleague week, with big wins and major upsets. In my humble opinion, the best game came in Ljubljana. It was actually a boring game while Tau was leading by 21, as Olimpija was allowing too many shots. Olimpija improved with a zone defense and with an outstanding Marko Milic, the heart and soul of his team. This man has green-and-white blood running through his veins and Olimpija should retire his number as soon as he gives up basketball, just like they did with Ivo Daneu. Olimpija completed an unthinkable comeback with a big three-pointer by Jonathan Wallace. Mirza Teletovic, who had missed twice from downtown in the final minute, had the balls to fire the game-winning shot with 2.7 seconds to go. I still wonder why Vlado Ilievski got the final possession instead of Milic. Last season, he took Matjaz Smodis one-on-one to make Olimpija beat CSKA. Oh well…
I must admit that few things amaze me in the Euroleague these days after more than five years watching almost each and every game, but Daniel Ewing was incredible on Wednesday. Again, the game itself was below-average, but Ewing stole the show in the second half with six three-pointers and 28 points after the break. I like the 1-2 combination Asseco Prokom has with Ewing and David Logan. Good to see that Pat Burke is still active, running and looking good. Not only because I like him, but also because I was born the very same day as him. Which means that if I get back in shape, I can still kick some butt on any basketball court.
As for fantasy, my BallinEurope team had a decent week and I moved up to the 19th place. Not bad, but I see Pablo Malo de Molina of ACB.com ranking 6th overall and that, of course, worries me. I scored 76.6 points in my fight against Ermal Kuqo, which, of course, is not the best score. Especially if you consider that Ermal is 75th overall. We haven’t decided on the bet, but I’ll see what I will do. After all, right now I have nothing to lose. I have a cursed team with Perperoglou and Morandais, who has been unstoppable so far … things can only get better.
I decided to change my strategy a little bit, since I didn’t succeed in earning credits. This week I earned exactly 0.06 credits overall. Great, huh? Here I am, getting ready to apply for a degree in worldwide economy. What the hell… Like I said, I am going to try something: combining players who I think will play really well with others that will give me some money. My first plan went down when Pops Mensah-Bonsu got injured. The fact that Willie Deane ain’t healthy either made me change my mind, so out went Sergio Llull, Pops and Rawle Marshall.
As such, my team looks like this:
Daniel Ewing – no Deane in Zalgiris, plus he’s unstoppable.
Nikos Zisis – no Holden, more minutes
Saso Ozbolt – once you Pops, you cannot stop. Mensah-Bonsu’s injury keep him here.
Sani Becirovic – nothing like playing with your ex (Hey, I’m only talking basketball here!)
Bracey Wright – comes off a good game and Fener misses Omer Onan
Stratos Perperoglou – giving him a little love after his -6 game
Mike Batiste – Taking a little risk here – Mike should be alright against Nancy.
Mirsad Turkcan – as long as Erden is out, he’ll stay in my team
Felipe Reyes – Madrid must bounce back against CSKA and Felipe should be key
Mirza Begic – I would need to commit dozens of turnovers to lose credits
The K1X prizes are way too good to let them go. I know it’s a disadvantage to publish my team here, but we are all enjoying it, aren’t we? Enjoy the Fantasy Challenge, make wise choices and see you next week!
