By Simon Dresden
NBADraft.net
1/20/08
Studs / Rising
Danilo Gallinari plays with such maturity, it’s easy to forget that he is just 19 years of age. He single-handedly carried his team to a win against ARIS. He did it all, scoring 20 points with 3 threes, collected 5 boards and dished out 3 dimes in 30+ minutes. He was all over the court doing whatever was needed.
Nikola Pekovic held his ground against one of Europe’s biggest frontcourt studs, Erazem Lorbek. They traded baskets and even though Lorbek came out on top with 22 points to Nicolas 17, but Pekovic had more boards (8) so it was essentially a draw. Pekovic can play with anybody in Europe and if Lorbek can play in the NBA than Pekovic should get a shot too.
Paulo Prestes is really cooking right now. In just 13 minutes he had 9 points and 5 boards while taking full advantage of the absence of NDong. Making use of playing time like that makes a coach more likely to use you the next time around.
Milenko Tepic contributed 10 points, 5 boards and 3 assists in a close losing effort for his team while logging 30+ minutes. That is the way we want to see him play.
Okay / Even
Nicolas Batum again showed his versatility as he amassed 8 points, 5 boards and 3 dimes but he couldn’t help his team overcome Unicaja’s frontcourt power.
Mantas Kalnietis was more than solid this week, he used his 13 minutes for stud like 11 points. And 4 boards. Had he played a little more, and produced at the same rate, he would have made the highest ranking.
Sergio Llull took full advantage of the playing time that was awarded to him. 11 minutes for 4 points and 4 dimes is quite a showing, not yet stud territory but close to it.
Pietro Aradori had 4 points and sparse production in 12 minutes which is okay, just not what we got accustomed from by him.
Gasper Vidmar scored early on some nice moves but got limited by foul trouble. He played 20 minutes for 6 points 4 boards and had three nice assists.
Omer Asik used his 14 minutes for 4 points and 4 boards was active as always but not a real difference maker this week, as he had trouble defending the pick and roll effectively.
Tim Ohlbrecht only had 2 points and 2 boards in Brose’s win against Istanbul but he was a difference maker on the defensive end. Challenging and changing a lot of shots and playing relentless defense, which earned him 22 minutes of action. He held his own against Gasper Vidmar and Omer Asik showing he has a decided advantage in the athleticism department.
Milos Teodosic played 20 minutes had 3 points and 4 rebounds. A decent showing but not up to what he’s been doing in previous weeks.
Andrey Vorontsevich this week only got 10 minutes even though the game was never in doubt. He contributed 3 points on 1/2 shooting and had 3 boards.
Artem Zabelin got a little garbage time and used it well for 4 points and a board, a nice showing that makes one crave for more of this young phenom.
Omri Casspi came back to earth with just 2 points and 1 rebound, but that was to be expected as his performance last week was likely an aberration. At least he is playing solid minutes again and that alone is enough to be okay.
Alexey Shved even got to see the floor for CKSA as the game was so lopsided. He buried a three pointer which is nice to have and helps the confidence.
Emir Preldzic could be seen arguing with the refs more than playing the game of basketball. His coach obviously wasn’t pleased giving him just 13 minutes of PT in which he made only a three.
Antoine Diot again went for zero points in 14 minutes of action, which is not a good sign. He saves his okay ranking because of the 3 rebounds and an assist, but seems to be in a funk right now.
Raphael Wilson got some run because of the big loss. He didn’t score, but produces some in other categories, which is positive.
Jan Mocnik couldn’t find any production for his team in 2 minutes of action.
Stevan Stojkov was back in action this week but nowhere to be found as he went for 2 minutes and didn’t produce much of anything.
Anatoly Kashirov saw some scrubtime but didn’t amount to anything.
Stefano Gentile saw a little of playing time with nothing to speak of.
DNP/CDs go out this week to Martynas Gecevicius, Jeremy LeLoup, Pablo Aguilar, Albert Moncasi, Karsten Tadda, Janavicius Zygmantas.
Injury list: Semih Erden and Ogus Savas were missing for Istanbul.
Duds / Falling
Uros Tripkovic had 4 points in just 12 minutes and didn’t even take a three, very disappointing.
Goran Dragic went for nil points which is a little disappointing in 20 minutes of action. Missing 5 shots and his freethrows and no extensive production except for 4 dimes. He can do more than that.
Marc-Antoine Pellin has hit rock bottom. Zero points and even his usual production is missing in action as he went for 1 rebound, 2 dimes. Even the fact that he faced the best backcourt of the competition in
Diamantidis, Jasikevicius and Spanoulis is no excuse for that.
