Euroleague Fantasy Challenge : My Top 15 Picks

The 15 players you should keep an eye on this week to move up the rankings.

Top 5 Playmakers

1. Scoonie Penn (Efes Pilsen)

He’s been hot those last few weeks, even if he ends up with a -6 efficiency, he will bring you 5.1 additional credits nonetheless. Plus Efes plays at home against a struggling Aris team.

2. Terrell McIntyre (Siena)

A consistant 14 fantasy point threat who plays at home against a very very poor Prokom team with nothing much to stop him at the point guard position.

3. Darius Washington (Aris)

He still has not shown anything but the usual starter, Terrell Castle, is not expected to travel to Istanbul to face Efes. Therefore Washington should get some PT plus he did not start the NBA season with San Antonio for nothing. Could be a sleeper.

4. Goran Dragic (Ljubljana)

The Slovenian rising star is getting through ups and downs but this week has to be his time to shine. He plays a crisis-stricken Bologna team at home. Not the safest bet but worth a try.

5. Theo Papaloukas (CSKA)

He will start to perform one day, won’t he ? And a game versus Tau Vitoria sounds like the ideal time to play some serious basketball for the reigning Euroleague MVP.

 

Top 5 Wings

1. Romain Sato (Siena)

He was named MVP of the week last Thursday and is putting up nice-looking numbers in the Italian League too. Plus Kaukenas is down with an injury and Siena plays at home against a very weak Prokom team.

2. Nicolas Batum (Le Mans)

Sure Batum has been disappointing this season but he has a very last opportunity to shine on the European stage in front of his fans and Cibona is not a team especially well-known for its defense.

3. Rodrigo De La Fuente (Roma)

Roma needs to win in Barcelona badly to reach the Top 16 and De La Fuente seems to have Coach Repesa’s confidence. Plus the Spaniard only needs a 3 point-efficiency to win the max in terms of value.

4. Dewarick Spencer (Bologna)

Since almost everybody else is gone, Spencer should get tons of touches. He’s playing on the road but Olimpija Ljubljana is not the best defensive team either. Speaking of wings with a licence to shoot, Milan Gurovic (Prokom) should also fire 20 + shots this week.

5. Louis Bullock (Madrid)

Brion Rush and the rest of the Roanne team very often forgets to play some defense. I expect Louis Bullock to take the best out of the situation. He’s been scoring at will those last few weeks.

 

Top 5 Big Men

1. Nikola Pekovic (Partizan)

At 94.4 credits, he’s not exactly a bargain but odds are he might well bring you tons of fantasy points considering he plays a very weak Bamberg team at home and that Partizan holds one of his last chances to reach the Top 16. Foul trouble or an injury is the only thing that could screw up everything.

2. Marko Milic (Olimpija Ljubljana)

Like Pekovic, his team needs to win to advance and he plays at home against a miserable team (Bologna). He was very good last week and I expect him to repeat this week.

3. Fran Vasquez (Barcelona)

Considering Mario Kasun is out because of his heart issues, Vasquez should spend a lot of minutes on the hardwood against Roma.

4. Sam Clancy (Le Mans)

Like Batum, Clancy surely wants to FINALLY win a game in Euroleague action. And he plays against a very bad rebounding team (Cibona). Like in the first half of the first encounter between MSB and Zagreb, I expect Clancy to dominate the paint.

5. Marc Salyers (Roanne)

I can’t think of Salyers not scoring big on his last Euroleague game at home. Even though Real Madrid know how to play defense.

 

MY MOVES :

OUT : SPANOULIS, MASSEY, REYES

IN : BATUM, MILIC, PEKOVIC