Group B Preview – Olympiacos, Partizan Belgrade, Unicaja, Efes Pilsen, Lietuvos Rytas, Qualifier
By: Slam
The Reds look to dominate Group B
Best team – Olympiacos: This one isn’t really close as the only team in this group to make the Final Four last year is by far the best team in the group. Olympiacos came within a missed Ioannis Bourousis hook shot from making the Championship game. The Reds return most of their key players and with a healthy Josh Childress finally adjusted to the Euroleague look for this team to cruise through this group.
Will this be the year the basketball team is finally better than the beer?
Surprise Team – Efes Pilsen: Yet another Turkish team is picked to be Slam’s dark horse but this time it is in Group B. Pilsen really worked hard to make their team better this offseason with the acquisition of scoring champ Igor Rakocevic who might be the best shooter in all of Europe. Pair him with Bootsy Thornton and you are looking at one of the best scoring combos in the Euroleague, watch out.
His jump shot is beauty in motion
Best Player- Igor Rakocevic, Efes Pilsen: Olympiacos might have the best team but Efes Pilsen has the best player. Rako is a dynamite scorer who specializes in the three ball but can also take it to the rack. He is a two time winner of the Alphonso Ford Trophy for top scorer and is someone you can give the ball to in a clutch situation and expect him to come through. Igor was All-Euroleague First Team last year and I expect him to repeat the same performance next year.
Best Young Player- Jan Vesely, Partizan Belgrade: All isn’t bad in the land of Serbia as Partizan does have a bright spot in young Jan Vessely. At only eighteen years old Vessely started at the power forward spot for Partizan and did his best work hustling and working the offensive glass. If he wants to fully develop as a player Vessely needs to develop a reliable jumper and at least one go to post move. Right now he gets his points from put backs, hustle, and running the break. Vessely is also a highly touted NBA prospect because of the maturity of his game at such a young age.
Throwit Down Young Jan
Overall Summary: This group is very similar to Group A in that there is one superior team (Olympiacos), three competitive teams that could surprise people (Unicaja, Efes Pilsen, Lietuvos Rytas), and two team that probably won’t have much of an impact (Partizan and the qualifier). Efes Pilsen looks to be the second best team in this group if they can blend all of their new talent together while Partizan is going the opposite direction as they lose most of their talent. Unicaja is in a flux because they are losing their best offensive weapon to the NBA in Marcus Haslip and need to find a replacement. Rytas was not in the Euroleague last year so they could struggle but they are the Lithuanian League Champions. This is a wide open group after Olympiacos so look out.
Loading ...
As for Rytas they’re not only LKL champs – last season the club won all 5 trophies it competed for: BBL Presidents cup, Baltic League, Lithuanian cup, Eurocup and as you mentioned the Lithuanian League. Although coming from a perfect season Rytas will have to find some talent in the newcomers — Aussie Center Aron Baynes, Serbian prospect Dejan Borovnjak — and the not yet signed point guard. The main candidate is Bojan Popovic from Bruesa in Spain. It will be hard to make as big of a splash as in the first two seasons when Rytas played in Euroleague after losing leaders such as Chuck Eidson, Marijonas Petravicius and Mindaugas Lukauskis. The team is going to be very young but nobody expected 5 titles last season, the clubs GM Jonas Vainauskas has a great feel in finding new talents around Europe. Anyway, great job on this project. Keep on the good work.
Great article, i apsolutely agree!I cant wait to see Rakocevic play again, he is the most attractive player in europe and he is now on his top game! GREAT JOB EFES TO SIGN HIM! I also like YAN Vesely
Simas, my friend, don’t expect much from Borovnjak. He’s just an average player, he may have one or two good games in the Euroleague this season at most. Believe me, he played for Partizan for a few years, I watched him many times.
And I must add, this is going to be Vesely’s season. He spent whole summer working on his jumper, with his quickness, height and great defence he is going to be a beast next season.
Great post, love the site!