The Wisemen Know, Volume 13

The title tells it all – basketball experts are going to tell you what they think of the Lithuanian team chances in the upcoming Euroleague games as well as a weekly question about European hoops in general. The panel will consist of well-respected coaches (Luka Bassin and Tane Spasev), scouts (Alejandro Gonzalez and Rafael Uehara)  and many different basketball writers (Arkadios Chasirides, Christophe Ney, John Hobbs, Nick Gibson, Os Davis, Sebastian Komianos, Simon Jatsch) and even a pro basketball player Milan Prodanovic. Also, for Volume 13, we’ve got a guest – our Turkish basketball expert Çağrı Turhan. I can assure you that these clever minds will all surely have something interesting to share.

To make it even more interesting, there’s a catch involved as each of the experts had only one limitation in the process – the thoughts had to fit in a tweet (140 characters).

UNTIL NEXT SEASON, EUROLEAGUE!

Alejandro Gonzalez: A Lithuanian shock in Athens was enough and Lietuvos did it vs. PAO. Olympiacos should win this one.

Christophe Ney: Olympiacos.

John Hobbs: Olympiacos by double-digits. I seem to jinx the opposition though, so this might go down to the wire.

Luka Bassin: It will be almost “friendly game”, so it depends who’ll focus more and be more aggressive – I say Olympiacos.

Milan Prodanovic: Olympiacos.

Nick Gibson: Bourousis’ injury hurts Oly’s depth inside, but it might make them a little quicker. Zoran Erceg thinks so, too. Olympiacos.

Os Davis: At 2-8 in the last 10 EL games, how can BiE go with Zalgiris? Clinched spot or not, the Reds will cruise against Zouros’ soft defenses. Olympiacos wins.

Rafael Uehara: Zalgirs. Taking a flyer here. Olympiacos has already guaranteed its QFs ticket and has already drew an opponent. Little to play for.

Sebastian Komianos: Olympiakos wins, Zouros gets a standing ovation for contributing to the qualification with his terrible coaching in the first round game.

Simon Jatsch: Olympiacos. Not that I believe in that going 0-4 in the last couple of weeks, but still …

Tane Spasev: Olympiacos by 12. There will be some good basketball first quarter, other than that, Olympiacos will cruise.

Çağrı Turhan: Theo or Zalgiris, both possible I’ll go with Papaloukas.

IT COULDN’T BE CLOSER, COULD IT?

Alejandro Gonzalez: Very tough pick and it could be the wisemen “clutch pick”. Many injuries but I believe in “Caracter Baskonia”. Caja Laboral wins.

Christophe Ney: Rytas.

John Hobbs: I think this will be a closely fought contest – I’m going to go with Rytas though. They play with great composure in the final stretch.

Luka Bassin: This time I’ll go with Lietuvos Rytas, even I’m almost everytime wrong when we talk about LR.

Milan Prodanovic: Caja Laboral.

Nick Gibson: No matter how badly she hurts me, I can’t get enough of that Caja lovin’. I feel a relapse coming on. Caja Laboral.

Os Davis: L.Rytas is rolling despite less apparent talent than remaining EL teams. And BiE’s won’t bet against El-Amin anymore … Lietuvos Rytas wins.

Rafael Uehara: Caja Laboral. I know the game is in Vilnus and Baskonia’s defense is a real issue but I can’t deal with Rytas advancing to the QFs.

Sebastian Komianos: Really don’t know, Rytas has the momentum but both teams are crazy,the Lithuanian team might end up smashing their opponents. Or the opposite!

Simon Jatsch: I say Caja Laboral. They have that little bit of quality that should see them through despite playing a poor season so far.

Tane Spasev: There we go…crunch time, and guess what: Going AGAINST Rytas 🙂 Caja by 4. Caja’s San Emeterio will be the key. El Amin will not win..

Çağrı Turhan: Expect a too close game. I hope Rytas gets well deserved PO spot as the most impressive team of Top 16, not to forget Zeljko’s luck. Amiiin!

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Alejandro Gonzalez: Cajal Laboral hasn’t many options for that spot and Teletovic is always a potential “game breaker” while he’s in the floor.

Christophe Ney: 43.5% 2s and 35% 3s is not too bad for a SG, isn’t it? 😉

John Hobbs: Look at his numbers, he isn’t playing badly in honesty. Even when you think he is missing everytime, he’s still averaging about 35% from deep this year.

Luka Bassin: About Teletović-probably coach Ivanović trusts him a lot…you need to ask coach.

Milan Prodanovic: Teletovic is half Tele, meaning he is half VEAL (in Serbian), meaning he has superhuman powers!

Nick Gibson: Mirza, on the other hand, is the girl who won’t stop showing you pictures of her cat from her camera phone. Amazing she still gets dates.

Os Davis: O, an easy one. (Not!) How about: Without Mirza, Baskonia shoots 50.2% overall & so can afford to absorb a few bricks & manage a solid 47.9%.

Rafael Uehara: Barac & Batista are too similar and crowd the paint when together. Ivanovic likes to always have 2 bigs on the floor. Sow can’t get time.

Sebastian Komianos: Mirza Teletovic is on an unofficial competition against Milos Teodosic for the most shots attempted. Now it’s hard for Caja to reach the Top8 and Final 4 so he wants to have the lead. And Ivanovic knows he will never again win another title so he wants to contribute!

Simon Jatsch: Ivanovic looks very frustrated at times with Teletovic, definitely. I don’t see many alternatives though. Bjelica? Too inconsistent.

Tane Spasev: The secret is that he’s the only “experienced” big man there. He’s at Caja for how long now, 4 years? Coach trusts him, he knows the system.

Çağrı Turhan: First, I thought he owns sextapes of Ivanovic, then realized it should be much worse, deserves to be the fun object more than Begic.