After Olympiacos broke Barcelona’s heart and then CSKA Moscow’s in Istanbul, the Reds’ front office wisely decided nothing needed fixing. Instead of spinning the player personnel carousel with the rest of the league, the defending Euroleague champs return nearly the same squad that took home the Continental Trophy, with only several exceptions.
The biggest difference is on the sidelines, where Dusan Ivkovic rode off into the Serbian sunset a champion. The pigeon pilot has been replaced by George Bartzokas, who hopes to avoid last season’s 1-3 regular season start by navigating past the likes of Anadolu Efes, Caja Laboral, Milano, Cedevita Zagreb and Zalgiris.
Will someone challenge the Reds for first? Or is everyone simply fighting for second place?
Follow Rob Scott (@robscott33) and Sam Meyerkopf (@hooplikedrazen) on Twitter, and subscribe to the show on iTunes for free.
Looks like you got almost all opposite with zalgiris. Massive beating of Cedevita today. Zalgiris was not slow. Darden was awful, Kuzminskas did not step up. Adas was probably better than Lafayette. 6-5, really? Squad is not old, and not slow. Wait til Javtokas gets back as a Christmas present and this year will be comeback year for Zalgiris.
And by the looks of it, you don’t even care. Why then your viewers should?
We care Vaidas, we care. But we’ll care more nine weeks from now if things are still clicking. But the fact of the matter is that they beat a weak Cedevita Zagreb on their home court. And age isn’t usually something that affects a team in week one; it’s a long season ahead of them.
Let’s talk after this week in Vitoria. Zalgiris’ bench is far better, deeper than Caja Laboral’s. Could be a trap game if Caja’s not careful.
Thanks for listening, Vaidas.