The action is heating up in the BKT EuroCup with six teams aiming to stay perfect in Round 3. Here's your rundown of this week's action.
Round 3 brings early focus to group races
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Tuesday, October 17
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica vs. Slask Wroclaw
After both teams suffered single-possession losses last week, Buducnost (1-1) and Slask (0-2) will look to get back onto the winning path in Tuesday's opening tip-off. Buducnost has relied on its defense so far, allowing just 72.0 points per game – third best in the competition. That strength could spell trouble for Slask, which has struggled to find offensive production with just 70.5 points per game. The Polish team boasts the fourth-best player in the competition in terms of PIR, Dusan Miletic (24.0 PIR), and the Serbian center will need to deliver another big performance to take a road win.
ratiopharm Ulm vs. Lietkabelis Panevezys
A pair of teams tied in the middle of Group B go head to head as Ulm (1-1) hosts Lietkabelis (1-1). Ulm needs to step up its defensive efforts after allowing 111 points in last week's thrashing at Gran Canaria, while the visitors will be confident after 21 points from Deividas Sirvydis inspired a solid home win over Aris Midea Thessaloniki. Lietkabelis leads the competition in rebounding (44.0 per game), so German champ Ulm will hope to have rebounding ace Trevion Williams back in action after he missed the loss in Gran Canaria.
Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse vs. U-BT Cluj-Napoca
Something has to give as unbeaten teams Bourg (2-0) and Cluj (2-0) meet in a big battle at the top of Group B. Cluj will look to control the game through rebounding after leading the league in offensive boards (17.0), with Emanuel Cate (3.0 per game) leading five players averaging at least 2 offensive rebounds. Bourg can counter that with a pair of centers in good form: Kevin Kokila (11 points, 8 rebounds) and Maksim Salash (13 points, 4 rebounds) both contributed well to last week's win at Trento, so this looks like a potentially bruising encounter in the paint
Umana Reyer Venics vs. Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv
Reyer (0-2) will look to claim its first win of the season as it welcomes Hapoel (1-0), which is returning from a bye week after the postponement of its game against Wolves Vilnius. Reyer will need to find better efficiency close to the basket after making just 44.9% of its two-point attempts so far, worst in the competition. Hapoel will seek to repeat its superb performance from the season opener, a 100-73 thrashing of Cedevita, but will be wary of Reyer forward Aamir Simms after his huge double-double of 28 points and 10 rebounds against Paris last week.
Wednesday, October 18
Prometey Slobozhanske vs. London Lions
Wednesday's opening tip-off will see Round 2 MVP Matthew Morgan try to help London (2-0) stay perfect with a tough trip to Prometey (1-1), which is aiming to bounce back from a heavy defeat at Besiktas. In this first-ever meeting we can expect a high-scoring encounter between two offensively potent squads. In particular, London ranks second in the league in two-point shooting conversion (60%) while Prometey is just behind (58.8%), so dominating the paint could prove crucial. Ondrey Balvin (15.5 points per game) and Gabe Olaseni (14.0) will have big roles in that battle.
Aris Midea Thessaloniki vs. Turk Telekom Ankara
Aris (0-2) will be looking for its first win of the season when it hosts Turk Telekom (1-1), which got its season up and running by edging out Buducnost last week. The Greek team has the EuroCup's worst offense through two games, averaging just 70.0 points per contest, and needs to find greater offensive rhythm after averaging just 12.5 assists, the second-worst figure in the competition. The Turkish side relies on greater interior defense, leading the league in blocked shots (4.0 per game) and allowing just 47.4% of two-point shots to be converted, so this could be a low-scoring grind.
Besiktas Emlajket Istanbul vs. Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
A pair of historic clubs meet for the first time since 2014 as high-flying Besiktas (2-0) hosts struggling Cedevita (0-2). It's a clear clash of styles: Besiktas boasts the league's best defense, allowing just 66.0 points per game, while Cedevita ranks third-last in that category with an average of 94.0 points conceded in its first two games. The chief task for Besiktas is containing the driving threat of visiting guard and league leading scorer Justin Cobbs, who blasted 28 points in last week's heartbreaking last-second loss to Joventut on the back of 10-of-11 two-pointers.
Veolia Towers Hamburg vs. Paris Basketball
Unbeaten Paris (2-0) takes its show on the road to Hamburg (0-2), which is looking for its first win after a disappointing start to the campaign. Against a leaky Hamburg defense which has allowed 98.5 points per game, the French team will be powered by dynamic competition debutant TJ Shorts, who leads the league in assists (7.0 per game) and ranks second in points (19.0). The hosts, which won 91-74 when the teams met in March, will try to counter Shorts's threat through another competition newcomer in Aljami Durham, who boasts solid averages of 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game so far.
Dolomiti Energia Trento vs. Dreamland Gran Canaria
Red-hot reigning champ Gran Canaria (2-0) will look to make it three wins out of three when it travels to Trento (0-2), which remains in search of its first victory. The Italian team will have to find a way of slowing down a Gran Canaria offense which erupted for 111 points in Round 2's thrashing of Ulm, with six players scoring a double-digit number of points, led by Ferran Bassas (21 points on 6-of-8 three-pointers). Trento, in contrast, has suffered from irregular backcourt play so far and needs to take better care of the basketball after averaging more turnovers (19.0) than assists (18.0).
Joventut Badalona vs. Wolves Vilnius
Joventut (1-1) will defend its home court against a Wolves team (0-1) looking for its first-ever win in the competition. The Lithuanian competition debutant was unable to play its scheduled game against Hapoel last week and will hope its extra freshness can allow do-it-all forward Rasheed Sulaimon (15 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists in Round 1) to inspire a road win. Joventut will look to build on last week's narrow win at Cedevita through the leadership of guard Andres Feliz, who had 12 points (including the dramatic buzzer-beating winning basket), 5 assists and 5 steals in that Round 2 victory.