Euroleague Basketball releases new mobile app update!

Fans of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, the 7DAYS EuroCup and the Adidas Next Generation Tournament will now be able to access a new Players and Teams tab, including full rosters, statistics and much more – right in the palms of their hands.

The new app takes each competition to greater heights with a dynamic new design, fan personalization features and a new live-game experience enriched by real-time stats and videos of top plays as they happen, making the action more immediate than ever for fans.

Fans are also able to select their favorite team and have exclusive access to personalized content throughout the app, allowing for a very dynamic and exciting fan experience.

The apps are live on the App Store and Google Play, respectively, so don't wait if you haven’t joined us yet! Download the new Euroleague Basketball app now and never miss a moment.

**App Store:** <https://apps.apple.com/us/app/euroleague-mobile/id567716614>

**Google Play:** <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.july.euro>

U-BT Cluj-Napoca added another weapon to its backcourt with the signing of Nemanja Gordic. 

Cluj signs veteran playmaker Gordic 

U-BT Cluj-Napoca added another weapon to its backcourt with the signing of [Nemanja Gordic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/nemanja-gordic/000531/). Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Gordic (1.93 meters, 34 years old) will mark his 10th season in the 7DAYS EuroCup and Cluj will be his sixth EuroCup side after previously suiting up for Buducnost VOLI Podgorica, Igokea Aleksandrovac, Cedevita Zagreb, Partizan Belgrade and Mornar Bar. Gordic has also played parts of five seasons in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague for four different clubs: Virtus Rome, Partizan, Cedevita and Buducnost.

Last season Gordic averaged 12.2 points and 5.2 assists in 17 Adriatic League games for Mornar Bar. With Cluj, Gordic has the chance to reach several EuroCup milestone. He is eight appearances away from 100 and 15 three-pointers away from the century mark. With 279 career assists, he is 17 behind Anton Ponkrashov for 20th place in competition history.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">How was your weekend? We brought a surprise with it!<br>Welcome to the U family, Nemanja Gordic! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/haideU?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#haideU</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cluj?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cluj</a> <a href="https://t.co/BrHknmkSmE">pic.twitter.com/BrHknmkSmE</a></p>&mdash; U-BT Cluj-Napoca (@UBTCluj) <a href="https://twitter.com/UBTCluj/status/1592068818666405888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 14, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Hapoel Tel Aviv bulked up in the paint by signing Chinanu Onuaku, who was the Israeli League MVP last season with Bnei Herzliya. Onuaku (2.08 meters, 26 years old) averaged 15.7 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. He was the league leader in rebounds and PIR (21.6) and ranked fifth in blocks, sixth in steals and eighth in scoring. Onuaku helped Bnei Herzliya win the Israeli Cup.

Onuaku started this season with Dinamo Sassari and averaged 13.2 points and 7.3 rebounds in the Italian League. He began his professional career with Houston in the NBA and has also played for Rio Grande and Greensboro in the G-League, Wonju in Korea and Zadar in Croatia. He helped Zadar to the Croatian League and Cup double in 2021.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="iw" dir="rtl">שחקן העונה - חוזר לישראל!<br><br>מועדון הכדורסל הפועל ויגן פרנדלי ת&#39;&#39;א שמח להודיע על צירופו של הסנטר האמריקני צ&#39;ינאנו אונואקו (2.08, 26). <br><br>להודעה המלאה -&gt; <a href="https://t.co/fz42wFPC6u">https://t.co/fz42wFPC6u</a> <a href="https://t.co/cyx8ncPHgP">pic.twitter.com/cyx8ncPHgP</a></p>&mdash; Hapoel Tel Aviv BC (@HapoelTLVBC) <a href="https://twitter.com/HapoelTLVBC/status/1591814166670712834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“From the position of a winning team, we chose to take a risk and strengthen ourselves in the paint with Chinanu," Coach Danny Franco said. "There are probably not many players we would take at such an early stage of the season and in the near term we face a difficult task of adjustments, connection and chemistry, but Chinanu's availability presented us with a great professional and mental challenge. We will benefit from the move in the long run."

Hapoel lands Israeli League MVP Onuaku

The Club Scene: London Lions

A lot has been said about trying to turn Britain into one of the new powerhouses of European basketball and one team looking to put the island on the map is the London Lions. Now in its maiden season in the 7DAYS EuroCup, a competition that has not featured a British team since the Guildford Heat in 2007, London has lofty ambitions and has come a far way since its inception nearly a half-century ago. 

Despite only having been known as the London Lions since 2012, the club was originally founded back in 1977 as the Hemel Hempstead Lakers, a reference to the legendary Los Angeles Lakers. Just like the Lakers, Hemel Hempstead played in purple and gold jerseys.

After entering the National Basketball League's Division 2 in 1977, the team finished with a 10-10 record, which was good enough for fifth place out of 11 teams. The following season, however, Hemel Hempstead came in second with a record of 15-3 and gained promotion to Division 1. In the elite of British basketball, the team made an immediate impression and became one of the forces in the league, finishing third in 1981 after losing out to Crystal Palace in the semifinals at Wembley Arena, 88-86.

A few years later, in 1985, the club's first name change would arrive, as the Hemel Hempstead Lakers converted into Hemel Royals. This period would see a number of very impressive American players hop across the pond to play for Hemel, including the likes of Dick Miller and Harvey Knuckles, who are still considered to be among the best players British basketball has ever seen.

During the 1989-90 season, Hemel took the decision to drop down to the British second division. Curiously, in this campaign, the team also featured in the Korac Cup, but it lost both at home and on the road (53-45, 60-65) in its first-round tie against KR from Reykjavik, Iceland. One year later, Hemel returned to the British first division, yet a 4-29 record in the 1992-93 season saw it drop down once again. However, for 1993-94, Hemel was reinstated to the top flight and therefore featured in the rebranded British Basketball League (BBL).

That salvation did not offer much in the way of success, though, as Hemel regularly finished in the bottom three in the BBL. Yet, with promotion and relegation no longer being a part of the league, Hemel retained its top-flight status. 

Another change to the club name came in 1996 after years of failure on the court and a venue that was becoming more decrepit by the day. Suddenly, the Hemel & Watford Royals were born, with Watford Leisure Centre becoming the club's new home in 1997 after 20 years at the Dacorum Leisure Centre.

An upturn in results failed to arrive, however, with the Royals going 3-33 and finishing bottom of the 13-team league in 1997-98. Two years after the decision was made to relocate the team to Watford, although this only came to fruition one year later in 1997, negotiations were opened about moving the Royals once again, this time to Milton Keynes.

In 1998, the Watford Royals became the Milton Keynes Lions, following a commitment that a purpose-built arena would be built in Milton Keynes. Having had many years of pain in terms of results, things finally seemed to turn around just over 60 kilometers north in Milton Keynes. 

By the time that the millennium came about, the Lions were up and running. The team managed to reach the semifinals of the National Cup in 2000, while that same year it booked its place in the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons.

Fast forward two years and Milton Keynes was into its first major final, as it took on the Chester Jets in the BBL Trophy. But, it came up short, losing 90-89. For the fans of the Lions, the important thing was that this competitiveness remained true in the following years, with the team regularly making the playoffs in the league. There was a semifinal appearance in the BBL Cup in 2005, too, but it lost out to the Brighton Bears, 78-68.

The arrival of the 2007-08 season marked a change for the Lions because owner Vince Macaulay-Razaq was appointed as the team's head coach. The club managed to bring in guard Yorick Williams in the offseason, which generated a lot of excitement, while there was also a rebrand, with the purple and gold jerseys of the past being changed for a black, gold and white look.

On the court, things went better than expected, as the Lions were one of the teams competing for the league title at Christmas. Then Milton Keynes won its first piece of silverware after downing the Newcastle Eagles 69-66 in the BBL Cup final. It entered the playoffs in the league as the fourth seed after having a record of 19-14 and it made its way all the way to the final, but the Guildford Heat took home the trophy, winning 100-88.

The success of the 2007-08 campaign was not matched in the subsequent seasons while growing uncertainty arose over the construction of the team's arena, which was part of why the team originally moved to Milton Keynes. The Lions failed to make the playoffs in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons and, having played in three different arenas in as many years, the team moved to London, where it took on the name of the London Lions. In London, the team would wear the purple and gold uniforms of the past.

London Lions at the Crystal Palace Arena in 2013

Following the conclusion of the 2012 London Olympics, the Lions knew that they had a potential home waiting in the form of Copper Box Arena, where the team plays to this day. Some alterations had to be made to the arena at first, which saw the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre become the team's home on a temporary basis, but since 2013 London has made use of Copper Box Arena. 

London was eliminated at the quarterfinal stage of the league playoffs in 2013-14, but one year later it went on to play the Newcastle Eagles in the final, with Newcastle winning 96-84 in front of a 14,700-strong crowd at the 02 Arena. Some more playoff heartache followed in the subsequent years, but in 2017-18 it returned to the final, this time failing to get past the Leicester Riders.

Alex Owumi, London Lions, 2017 - Photo: Graham Hodges

After failing to get over the hump on several occasions, the arrival of the 2018-19 season saw London finally clinch its first BBL league title by beating the Newcastle Eagles 99-80 in the final. This success would lead to 777 Partners buying the team in 2020 and since then the Lions have gone from strength to strength.

London first played a European game with its current name in 2020-21, falling 77-73 at the hands of KK Neptunas of Lithuania in the first qualifying round of the FIBA Champions League. The team was supposed to play in the FIBA Europe Cup, but several COVID-19 tests saw them forfeit their three group-stage games. 

It was a similar story in the following season, as London lost 62-89 at home to Universo Treviso Basket in the 2021-22 Champions League first qualifying round, which saw it fall down to the Europe Cup. After advancing through the regular season, it failed to reach the quarterfinals. 

Now, following a summer that saw London make several splashes by signing the likes of Sam Dekker, Kosta Koufos and Ovie Soko, as well as appointing Ryan Schmidt as head coach, it is in its debut campaign in the EuroCup. Its first home game at Copper Box Arena saw the Lions end Britain's 18-year wait for a win in the EuroCup, as London downed Dolomiti Energia Trento 80-75 on the back of a standout performance from Soko. London has lofty expectations, and it will hope to make plenty of noise throughout the 2022-23 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season.

Trademarks: Just the beginning for U-BT Cluj-Napoca

U-BT Cluj-Napoca are making their own basketball revolution taking their city and their country by storm.

Head coach Mihai Silvasan has been with U-BT Cluj-Napoca for two decades. Silvasan, 37, first arrived as an ace three-point shooter and after calling it quits on his playing career in 2015, was roaming the sidelines in a suit and tie a year later. No one quite understands the growth of the club like he does.

[MORE...](https://www.eurohoops.net/en/eurocup/1416908/this-is-just-the-beginning-for-u-bt-cluj-napoca/)

Last week Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana center Alen Omic became the 7DAYS EuroCup's all-time rebounding leader. And that's just the latest achievement in his storied 118-game EuroCup career. Omic takes a walk down memory lane, reliving some of his greatest moments and highlights from his nine seasons in the competition with seven different teams, in this EuroCup Retrospective.  

EuroCup Retrospective: Alen Omic, Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana

Last week Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana center [Alen Omic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/alen-omic/004222/) became the 7DAYS EuroCup's all-time rebounding leader. And that's just the latest achievement in his storied 118-game EuroCup career. Omic takes a walk down memory lane, reliving some of his greatest moments and highlights from his nine seasons in the competition with seven different teams, in this EuroCup Retrospective.  

#### October 16, 2013: Omic makes his 7DAYS EuroCup debut with Union Olimpija Ljubljana, getting 6 points and 6 rebounds in a 67-59 victory over Cimberio Varese. 

"This was my second year in Olimpija. When I started to play basketball, I always dreamed about playing for two teams: Olimpija Ljubljana and Olimpia Milan. When I watched games on TV, Milan was the best team and a great city. And I managed to play for both teams. It was special to play against Varese, one of Milan's rivals, in my first EuroCup game. I am so happy those dreams came true, you know?"

#### November 6, 2013: He records his first double-double, getting 18 points and 10 rebounds in an 83-80 road loss against ratiopharm Ulm. His PIR of 32 will be a season-high. 

"Trust me, my dream is to destroy all EuroCup records. This is what I want: as many records as possible in the EuroCup."

#### October 29, 2014: Omic grabs his 100th rebound in the competition in his 19th game in the competition. Olimpija beats Szolnoki Olaj 80-86 at Foenix Arena. 

"The truth is, I became a better rebounder when I played for Aito Garcia Reneses in Gran Canaria. When I played there, he taught how to take rebounds, that there is a certain percentage of times where the ball goes when somebody shoots the ball and misses. We worked all season: where the ball goes when someone shoots a 45-degree shot, if he shoots from the corner... Of course, when a coach like Aito pushes you every day, you learn something and after playing for him, my career went up."

#### February 11, 2015: He sets a new career-high with 25 points in a 73-76 home loss against JDA Dijon. He added 9 rebounds for a PIR of 36. 

"I finished that EuroCup season strong and the next season, I went to Gran Canaria. I also went to play for the national team and Aito saw me play, I was 23 years old at the time. We went to play in Spain and that's when Aito saw me, playing with the national team. He saw me, remembered me and immediately after these national team games, he signed me." 

#### February 10, 2016: Gran Canaria beats Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 108-61 at home. Omic has 18 points and 17 rebounds for a career-high PIR of 37 - in just 26 minutes!

"I always try to fight for offensive rebounds because it is an extra chance to score. You can get the rebound and score or give an assist to someone. I am big and have great confidence and I fight every time I am close to the basket to get that rebound. I love rebounding: this is my routine and my mentality, to fight. Nowadays, it is tough to find point guards who will get 20 points and 10 assists. It is not easy to score points, defenses are aggressive and everybody is athletic. But rebounding, it is something that you have in your head, a mentality. If you have energy and you push yourself to get the rebounds, you will probably get it." 

#### April 6, 2016: Omic has 16 points and 7 rebounds in the second leg of the EuroCup Semifinals against Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul. Galatasaray, however, wins the series on an aggregate score of 170-169. 

"That was a very tough loss, probably my hardest loss in the EuroCup. Losing that game was really hard, trust me. We played unbelievable that season and were a very good team, but they scored last and Micov had that block in the end. I remember saying after the game that I would come back to the final and take this trophy. For me, it was like losing a final because that series against Galatasaray was like a final. If we would have won, we would have played against Strasbourg in the finals and I am 100% certain we would beat that team." 

#### April 14, 2016: The 2015-16 All-EuroCup teams are announced. Omic makes it to the 2015-16 All-EuroCup First Team. He averaged 14.0 ppg. and 7.6 rpg. for Gran Canaria. 

"Again, credit to Aito, he is something different. He is the number one coach in Spain, for sure. I have respect for everybody, but Aito is something special: the way he fights for young guys and helps them get better every day, it is something unbelievable. I also learned a lot from Taph Savane, who is now president of Gran Canaria. I always say that Aito and Taph helped me a lot in my basketball life. When I learned I was in the All-EuroCup First Team, after a good season, it was very special." 

#### April 5, 2017: Omic helps Unicaja Malaga win the 2016-17 EuroCup! Unicaja rallies past Valencia Basket in do-or-die Game 3, 58-63, to win the series at La Fonteta. Omic was ejected for leaving the bench to break up a fight. 

"I left Gran Canaria to play for Anadolu Efes Istanbul and played there for two months. My minutes went down and I had the chance to join Unicaja. When I arrived in Malaga, Coach Plaza told me immediately that I wasn't in shape and that I needed one month. 'I trust you, I know who you are', he said. After one month I started to play very well."

"When the fight happened in Game 3, I was sitting on the bench with 15 minutes left and then Martinez went after 'Nedo' \[Nemanja Nedovic\]. I stood up and caught him and I was like 'you will not touch my brother'. 'Nedo' is my brother, forever, and I love him so when I see someone wanted to fight him, I went immediately to the court. I didn't care and was out of the game. I remember we had a timeout and I said 'guys, this is going to help us'. I went to the locker room, but I stayed close to watch the game. They played unbelievable, fought and won. Lifting the trophy was unbelievable, it was crazy. It was a dream come true, I am so happy about it."

#### October 23, 2019: Omic gets a PIR of 35 playing for Joventut Badalona against UNICS Kazan. He had 20 points, 13 rebounds and 4 steals. 

"We had a very tough team in Badalona and they changed a lot of players when I got there. Nikos Zisis was our boss, but all of us were 25-26 years old and, of course, we have some young players because this is how Joventut works, and I respect that a lot. This is normal. I can only say very good and positive things about Joveneut and I enjoyed playing there. We went to the playoffs, to the EuroCup Top 16... we had a good year and Coach Carles Duran gave me minutes. Again, nothing but respect for Joventut." 

#### December 8, 2021: In his 99th EuroCup game, Omic hits his first three-pointer. He had 18 points but his team, Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, registered a 101-104 loss against Virtus Segafredo Bologna. 

"You know, when I see somebody not respecting me and he's like five meters away from me, I don't care, I will shoot. There were 5-6 seconds on the shot clock and my coach had said that if I was open like that and there were 5 seconds left, I can take the shot. It went in and when you finally make a three-pointer like this, you have to be a bit cocky! :) I made 2 in the EuroCup last year and already hit one in the Adriatic League this season." 

Omic from deep!

#### November 2, 2022: Omic becomes the EuroCup's rebounding king, getting a career-best 21 boards in Cedevita’s 76-68 loss at Umana Reyer Venice to reach 776. He leads the competition in two-point shots made (487), too.

"Trust me, my dream is to destroy all EuroCup records. This is what I want: as many records as possible in the EuroCup. I want to be number one, stay in the EuroCup, play for good teams and try to get all the records. I want to win all records in the EuroCup. I want to be number one. 

"I will give my best to stay in the Eurocup, to stay with good teams and try to win all the records. I am 30 years old, and I know it is better to stay in a very good EuroCup team like Olimpija, or some others who played the competition before like Valencia, Virtus. What I want to play is 25 minutes, enjoying, winning, taking some trophies and fighting. I am a positive guy and always want to play, to stay on the court. If I play 5 minutes, I am not happy. I am always thinking 'why did I play 5 minutes?'

"I really enjoy playing in the EuroCup, I enjoy the competition, I love to play in Ljubljana, this is my city, and my coach trusts me. I played for Efes, back-to-back EuroLeague champions now and everything, but it was best for me to play for Gran Canaria and Unicaja in the EuroCup, two places where I enjoyed playing basketball. Playing for Milan was a dream come true, and I enjoyed playing for Crvena Zvezda. But yes, I don't like to stay on the bench, it is not easy for me! And being the EuroCup's leading rebounder is huge. I love it!" 

Stats review: Gran Canaria and its after-timeout success

The two most efficient half-court offensive teams in the 7DAYS EuroCup faced off in Round 4 as Gran Canaria scored a road win in a back-and-forth duel with Paris Basketball. In a game that swung on the rebounding margin, the talent and execution of both teams lived up to expectations. With Kyle Allman and AJ Slaughter heating up, both teams rode the hot hand for stretches but also made the most of their looks from the perimeter and got their role players involved in a variety of ways, executing effectively.

Execution has been particularly important for Gran Canaria throughout the first month of the season. Synergy Sports counts each team’s first half-court possession out of a sideline huddle as an after-timeout play. Those situations constitute around 15% of all half-court possessions season-to-season. 

While the average half-court offensive possession has been converted for 0.92 points per possession this year, the average after-timeout play has been worth only 0.86 per possession. Historically, teams benefit more from being able to set their defense than their offense. Every year there are one or two teams that defy that logic and bolster their offensive efficiency with their playcalling and focus out of stoppages and that team has been Gran Canaria this season.

As the graphic above suggests, Gran Canaria has scored a remarkable 1.20 points on after-timeout possessions so far this year with no other team joining them above the 1.00-line. Their poise in executing Coach Jaka Lakovic’s quick hitters, patience to find the open man along the perimeter when they do not get something off their initial action, and three-point shooting in special situations have placed Gran Canaria alongside Paris and Joventut Badalona as the only three teams scoring over 1.00 in the half court overall this season. It's still early, but Gran Canaria's ability to get things done out of stoppages has helped the team maintain momentum and has been key to its 3-1 start.

The early play of AJ Slaughter has also been a significant factor in Gran Canaria’s efficiency as the 35-year-old guard does not just rank as the EuroCup’s most efficient volume scores through four games, but his ability to make shots in a pinch has given the club an obvious player to look to on the rare occasions they have not created a good shooting opportunity towards the end of the shot clock.  

### Looking ahead to Round 5

Gran Canaria will put its ability to lean on its offense to the test against a Hapoel Tel Aviv team that has the best point differential among the five teams sitting at 3-1 in Group B. In the early going, Hapoel has ranked among the league’s best half-court defensive units thanks in large part to its three-point defense. 

It will be interesting to see how that holds up against Gran Canaria; how well Hapoel closes out shooters could go a long way toward determining whether it remains at the top of the standings next week.

Prometey signs Dickey away from Bourg

Prometey Slobozhanske has signed big man [James Dickey](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/james-l-dickey-iii/profile/011835/), who started the season with fellow EuroCup side Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse. Dickey (2.09 meters, 25 years old) appeared in one EuroCup game off the bench this season and contributed 1 points, 4 rebounds and 1 steal in an opening-night victory over U-BT Cluj-Napoca. He also averaged 4.6 points and 3.0 rebounds in five appearances in the French League.

 

A three-time All-Southern Conference selection and the 2018 SoCon Defensive Player of the Year at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Dickey began his professional career in Hungary with SZTE Szedeak Szeged during the 2020-21 season. He began the following season season with Goettingen in Germany before joining Hapoel Haifa in Israel. Due to EuroCup bylaws, Dickey will not be eligible to appear in a EuroCup game until the Round 8 fixture against Cluj on December 14.

Veteran Sakic has filled a big role for Lietkabelis

7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys registered an 89-84 home win against U-BT Cluj-Napoca on Wednesday night. It was a hard-fought battle and every time that Lietkabelis needed answers on offense, Zeljko Sakic was ready to provide them. 

Cluj led 28-33 with over 2 minutes left in the first half when Sakic fed Jamel Morris for a three-pointer and soon added back-to-back shots from downtown. When Morris beat the halftime buzzer with a catch-and-shoot floater, Lietkabelis led 39-36 and Sakic used its momentum to joke. "We just need to take care of the ball and do like we did, more or less, in the last minute and a half. Dracula will not eat us!" he said. 

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐮𝐬&quot;<a href=https://twitter.com/BCLietkabelis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>@BCLietkabelis</a> <br><br>The EuroCup interviews keep getting better... <a href=https://t.co/EmDejrb6CO>pic.twitter.com/EmDejrb6CO</a></p>&mdash; 7DAYS EuroCup (@EuroCup) <a href=https://twitter.com/EuroCup/status/1587866728314404865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>November 2, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src=https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js charset="utf-8"></script>

Lietkabelis led most of the way after that, but Cluj rallied to take a 68-69 lead with 7 minutes remaining. That's when Sakic brought out his best version again. His running triple was the highlight of a 10-0 run that put Lietkabelis ahead for good. When Cluj got within striking distance, 87-84, in the final seconds, Sakic sealed the outcome with a layup that fixed the final score. He finished the game with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and a PIR of 19. 

Even most European basketball experts were surprised to find out that this is Sakic's first EuroCup season. At age 34, Sakic has played for 13 different teams, including seven that took part in the EuroCup at some point: Cluj, Cibona Zagreb, UNICS Kazan, Lukoil Academic, Stelmet Zielona Gora, Avtodor Saratov and Lietkabelis, in his first stint with the team in the 2019-20 season. However, at the time that Sakic played for these seven teams, they were not in the EuroCup. 

Good things come to those who wait and Sakic is finally enjoying in the EuroCup, averaging 14.3 points on 50.0% three-point shooting, 3.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and a PIR of 13.3 so far this season. He has scored 13 points or better in his three games played. 

Lietkabelis comes off its best season ever in which it reached the EuroCup elimination rounds with a 9-7 regular season record and made it to the Lithuanian League finals after it defeated mighty Zalgiris Kaunas in the semifinals. Sakic is fully aware of his team's great moment and wants to lead Lietkabelis to an even more successful season. 

"We managed to play our game and I am so happy for this group of guys and staff," Sakic said. "Maybe we are some small team but we have managed to do some big, big things."

Lietkabelis has new opportunities to carry on growing after the break, facing Umana Reyer Venice in Italy before returning home for back-to-back showdowns against Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana and Germani Brescia. On paper, Sakic is a EuroCup newcomer, but this well-rounded forward is ready to keep leading his team in crunch time.

7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys v U-BT Cluj-Napoca (2022-11-02T17:00:00.000Z)