mapellin01

BySimon Dresden
12/9/07

Studs / Rising

Marc-Antoine Pellin is the player of the week in our ranking. This week he used his 30+ minutes for 7 points , 7 boards and, hold your breath, 13 dimes! A veteran like showing for this young and undersized PG, who is already is so consistent in his performances, it is amazing.

Nikola Pekovic is back in the mix of studs as he owned Fenerbahce’s young frontcourt with 11-17 from close distance for 26 points. He could

have rebounded a little more (6) but he was troubled by fouls again limiting his game time and aggressiveness some.

Danilo Gallinari outsmarted and outplayed Nicolas Batum in their match up as he used fakes and savvy to give him two early fouls and from that point, he displayed a veteran experience seldom seen from such a young player. He has some deficiencies in athletism, but there are not many players as smart and crafty as him. His feel for the game is that of a seasoned veteran as he knows exactly what to do at exactly the right moment. He had 15 points, 7 boards and 5 assists. He seemed to be all over the court, doing whatever his team needed.

Goran Dragic was terrific as always. 15 points, 6 boards, to go along with 4 dimes and steals. He is a true leader for his team and is carrying a big load which gives him big playing time, exposure and experience.

Tim Ohlbrecht used his 20+ minutes to go perfect from the field 4/4 for 10 points and 5 boards. He more than held his own against one of the best frontcourts in Europe. He displayed superb pick and roll abilities as well as one of his trademark dunks and ferocious rebounding.

Milos Teodosic played 33 minutes off the bench, which alone is a stud thing for a youngster on such a stacked team and showed he did something right. He furthermore made 8 points but went 0/6 from threepointland, which is not so okay but all in all it was a stud showing nonetheless.

Oguz Savas was the best match up Istanbul had for the inside prowess of Nikola Pekovic because of his physique, he held his own with 12 points while drawing a lot of fouls. 24 minutes of banging and bruising is exactly what suits his game and he took full advantage.

Okay / Even

Uros Tripkovic had 9 points but he wasn’t too precise from three. He also contributed 6 boards while logging heavy minutes. A nice showing and hopefully he can keep up this speed.

Michal Chlynski got the chance to prove his talent in Unicaja’s big loss and he didn’t disappoint. 13 minutes and 9 points with two threes flashed the potential that wowed scouts three years back at the AST. We’ll see how well he can carry over this momentum.

Albert Moncasi is back in the mix, finally. His team won so decisively against Bamberg that the coach had no problem giving him some burn. 4 points going 2/2 from the field in 8 minutes is more than he can ask for right now. He made the most of his minutes.

Pietro Aradori is a firm part of the rotation and is using his minutes effectively with 2 points and 3 boards, proving that he’s a smart player.

Antoine Diot got more minutes with Batum on the bench in foul trouble and performed okay with 2 points and 3 boards.

Semih Erden was overmatched with the physical presence of Pekovic, he rebounded a little but only had 2 points on poor shooting from the floor.

Emir Preldzic was okay with 3 points and 3 boards but he could have done better if he had gotten a little more time.

Gasper Vidmar slacked off a little from the last weeks output but still a solid showing (2 points) in only 8 minutes.

Mantas Kalnietis seems to be back in the rotation of his coach again. He doesn’t get too many minutes (7) but he is playing mistake free which is helpful in building his confidence back up.

Sergio Llull had 6 points but didn’t display the needed playmaking to be a point guard at this level.

Jan Mocnik got 20 minutes but couldn’t score, so there is room for improvement.

Martynas Gecevicius got 7 minutes but missed both of his three point attempts. He made both of his FTs but considering the big blowout win his team had against Cibona it was disappointing for him to receive so few minutes.

Andrey Vorotsevic made it out to the floor for 11+ minutes scoring just 1 point, he grabbed 3 boards and the fact that Coach Messina uses him instead of highly touted Zabelin shows that he’s more developed.

Anatoly Kashirov is getting his burn because of the injury to veteran Savrasenko and he is doing alright. He is more of a role player but its a start and he has the body to be a player in this league for years to

come.

Alexey Shved got to see the floor for a paltry 2 minutes but at least he saw the floor. He missed his shot from the field but made both his FTs. Its a start for the young gun and hopefully he will begin to see more PT now.

Mustapha Diop and Raphael Wilson got a minute of burn in Roanne’s big big win, nice for the kids.

Artem Zabelin got a DNP-CD in a game when even fellow youngster Shved made it onto the floor. What is more concerning for him is that young teammate Vorontsevic played 10 meaningful minutes. Nikita Kurbanov didn’t make it to the floor either.

Paulo Prestes, Brazilian bigman stud of this year’s world championships, was on the bench with Unicaja for the first time, but he didn’t make it onto the floor which is unfortunate. Since the game was so out of hand early, he at least should have gotten a shot.

Donatas Montiejunas was with the team but didn’t make the floor.

Bojan Bogdanovic was on the roster but didn’t see any action as well.

Duds / Falling

Nicolas Batum was outplayed by Gallinari in the feature match up of the week. He tried to guard Gallinari from the start and picked up two quick fouls. He then went to the bench and wasn’t the same afterwards. He displayed his athletism in flashes, but got zero rebounds. He may be the better prospect for the NBA, but he isn’t experienced and comfortable enough right now to effectively use his skill set. Batum seems to really be pressing right now with all the pressure on him, and just needs to relax and let his game come to him.

Omri Casspi had an uninspired showing for 2 points in 5 minutes in a forgettable performance. For a guy some have tabbed as a potential first rounder, he isn’t showing it.

Milenko Tepic is in a real funk. Once again he disappointed with only had 3 points in 20+ minutes and missed a lot of shots. Yes he had some rebounds but his turnovers were high. It is rather disappointing since we have gotten used to so much more from him.

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