The Round 5 opener will feature a pair of on-the-rise teams, the only undefeated side this season Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse (4-0) and last year's finalist, an ambitious Frutti Extra Bursaspor (2-2).
Among the many interesting matchups in this clash, two of the players to keep an eye on will certainly be Bourg veteran Maxime Courby and one of the continent's bright young stars, 23-year old forward Onuralp Bitim of Bursaspor.
The two players went head-to-head once before, a year ago at Ekinox, the same gym where this Tuesday's game will take place. Last year, Bourg thrashed Bursaspor 95-65. Courby had 3 points in that victory while Bitim scored 10 points in 23 minutes on the floor. Since then, Bitim's role on Bursaspor, last season's EuroCup finalist, changed dramatically, and for the better.
This season, only one player logs more minutes than Bitim's 34:24 per game, which just shows how crucial he is for Bursaspor. And he has consistently been delivering, too.
Bitim has not scored fewer than 14 points in any of the four games and is averaging 16.8 points, tied for seventh entering Round 5. He also posts 4.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds on average, along with 1.0 steals per game.
That has improved his career average to 13.6 points in 23 career appearances during this and last season, nearly double what Courby has scored in 32 games he has played since 2020-21 season, when he made his competition debut.
Those numbers, however, are also a product of Bitim playing more minutes, and having attempted nearly twice as many shots as Courby, who makes them with significantly higher accuracy.
As a matter of fact, it is fair to argue that no one in the competition is a more accurate shooter than Courby, and he has the numbers to back it up.
A swingman who will turn 33 years of age on Wednesday, Courby epitomizes what Bourg is all about this season with players doing their best in their respective roles while all 11 players who entered at least once this season average between 16 and 26 minutes.
Courby has played his role nearly to perfection. He is averaging 8.0 points per game, tied for fourth best on the team, but has missed only 4 shots combined in as many games.
While he made 77.8% of his two-point shots, tied for the 10th best this season, he has been knocking down long-range attempts more accurately than any other player this season. Courby has knocked down 6 of his 8 triples, tied for EuroCup-best 75.0%.
What that has also done is propel Courby into first place all-time in three-point accuracy, as he now has made 56.7% of his attempts from downtown in his career.
In this Group A derby, Courby will certainly try to keep his hand hot while he and his teammates will have their hands full against Bitim.
