By: Nick Gibson / @euro_adventures
And on the eighth day, the Lord delivered Jaycee unto the Euroleague…
Jaycee Carroll, Real Madrid
After two years in Gran Canaria, Utah State’s all-time leading scorer has finally shot his way off the island and into the Euroleague with Real Madrid. With Olympiacos’ Teodosic-Spanoulis duo split in half, Carroll and Llull will earn immediate notoriety as the EL’s most trigger happy backcourt.
Not only has Jaycee never met a shot he doesn’t like; he rarely encounters one that he doesn’t wine, dine and then call the next day. Even as the tries fly rimward by the dozen, however, he’s not one of your volume shooters that relies on the outlier effect to bolster his percentages. (Sounds like I know what I’m talking about, doesn’t it? Don’t be fooled so easily.). He’s led the ACB in scoring for two straight seasons, compiling a two-year stat line over 72 games that looks like this: 19 ppg, 52% on twos, 42% on threes, 88% on free throws, 3.2 boards and 1.6 assists.
And he’s from Wyoming. So that’s fun.
Henry Domercant, Unics Kazan
If you feel like Henry Domercant has been 30 years old for four years now, you’re not alone. The hulking small forward has aged better than a barreled scotch, notching 15.7 ppg last season with Spartak St. Petersburg after two wildly successful years with Montepaschi Siena in the EL. He’ll stay in Mother Russia’s belly now, hopping to a newcomer that could desperately use his frightening aura and bicep-tual prowess to make it past Henry’s old Siena club and Barcelona in a winnable Group D.
Marko Cakarevic, Partizan (mt:s)
Will someone call the good people at mt:s and let them know it’s not happening? These sponsors make my head spin enough as it is without typing randomly placed colons in my team names.
But, yes. This is about Marko. For starters, it’s nice to see Partizan sign a guy who’s slightly more seasoned than the teen/barely-20 guys they usually load up with (Aleksander Mitroic, Vladimir Lucic, etc.). Let’s take a peek at the 23-year-old, 6′6″ guard, who had himself a Hell of a year with Radnicki (12.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists) and just might find a spot on Serbia’s Eurobasket team this summer. Rankings follow…
| Rank #colspan# | Player #colspan# | Team #colspan# | He's here because... #colspan# | Last DLU #colspan# |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ioannis Bourousis | Olimpia Milano | Can't wait to see him play extended, consistent minutes. The most efficient big in Europe is about to get a big test. | 1 |
| 2 | Jaycee Carroll | Real Madrid | The two-time ACB scoring champ is ready for his EL debut. He won't be able to sneak up on the Spanish teams anymore, but everyone else: hide your kids, hide your wife. | - |
| 3 | Milos Teodosic | CSKA Moscow | The EL's most clean cut franchise adds the Shooting Stoner to a backcourt that just lost a pair of legends in Trajan Langdon and JR Holden. Good thing Milos' brain doesn't process pressure. | 2 |
| 4 | Maciej Lampe | Caja Laboral | Ever since he vanished from Maccabi's roster two seasons ago, I've been itching to see him in the EL again. He's primed to explode. | 3 |
| 5 | Henry Domercant | Unics Kazan | The hefty hoister seems to be right at home in Russia. Now, after five Final Four-less EL seasons and in a starring role, he'll be hungrier than ever. | - |
| 6 | James Gist | Fenebahçe Ülker | His enthusiasm is neither a front nor compensation for a lack of skill. Ülker's no Partizan, fan-wise, but they're getting there. A couple oops from Gist should accelerate that process. | 4 |
| 7 | Luka Zoric | Unicaja | This Nesterovic clone was built for the index rating. Spain should be kind to him. | 5 |
| 8 | Jon Scheyer | Maccabi Electra | With his vision fully restored, the cultural adjustment is all that stands between him and an instant impact. | 6 |
| 9 | Sonny Weems | Zalgiris | Props to Sonny for making the leap, and props to Romanov for welcoming the Raptor with open arms. Think Weems has any idea what he's gotten himself into? Not a chance in Hell. | 7 |
| 10 | Nathan Jawai | Unics Kazan | I hope restaurants stay open late in Kazan. Nathan strikes me as a fourth meal fiend. | 8 |
| 11 | Robertas Javtokas | Zalgiris | He should sell his house and just move into an ice tub to be safe. | 9 |
| 12 | David Lighty | NGC Cantú | The new kids on the block get proactive and pluck one of college's most well-rounded, pro ready swingmen. Me like. | 10 |
| 13 | Shawn James | Maccabi Electra | Who needs Serge Ibaka when you've got Shawn James? If you think that's a stretch, check the stats. (OK, so maybe it's still a stretch.) | 11 |
| 14 | Raul Lopez | Bilbao Basket | The ACB finalists finally have a new face on the bench, and it's one of experience. It's also one, however, of considerable age and injury. | 12 |
| 15 | Thomas Huertel | Caja Laboral | Nothing personal, young fella. Keep your ears open and Marcelinho Huertas might show you how to leapfrog some of the guys on this list. ELA will be watching you closely. | 13 |
| 16 | Marko Cakarevic | Partizan | After extending super vets Bozic and Kecman (again), Partizan better hope Cakarevic can provide some bounce on the wing. | - |
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