Anadolu Efes - Baskonia

Hello. Euroleague. Žalgiris against Fenerbahce. Moving with Iggy under. Doesn't get much playing time at Mulio Brazdeikis. Of course, that's the lineup now. The guards are fully filled by Francisco, Lo, and Goss, Ule plays a lot with number 3, Butke rises, and Sirvydis gets a couple of minutes. It's just fierce competition and difficult for someone like Iggy to gather points in limited time. He looks better when he plays a lot and has a lot of basketball in his hands. You can see the minute trend in the LKL as well. In the first match when Lo didn't play yet, Brazdeikis played 18 minutes and since then his usage has dropped. Against Siauliai and Neptūnas, it was 12.5 and 11 minutes, and in Euroleague against Monaco, he only played almost 12 minutes and scored 4 points. Today against Fenerbahce, I think the main guards will be used a lot again and Iggy won't have many chances to shine. Throughout the season, there will be chances for him to have double-digit weeks, but now, when everyone is still fresh at the start of the season, I think we will see him on the bench. The handicap isn't big, but with a limited role, it's still hard to reach. Good luck.

The Žalgiris team showed how much its face has changed under the new coach and with talented players, the game in the first matches was truly beautiful to watch with clear offensive plays and search for handicaps. However, in defense Žalgiris had gaps and also allowed cheap points. Today's opponent, with Šaras in the lineup, will also play with advantages, but since it's the beginning of the season and teams still need to find their rhythm, I believe the defense will not be spectacular for both sides, so this over bet is definitely worth taking.

As the previous season went with such a coefficient, I'm continuing it now. It doesn't seem logical to me to give such a coefficient to a player who often stands on the sidelines and waits for others to attract defenders in order to pass to him. Before Paris scored 7 points, 0/2 3PT, but Paris is not a tactical team. They have fierce players who will force Žalgiris to struggle with taking shots. This player will have a coefficient that is often given to players from other teams.

In my opinion, these are evenly matched 50/50 games, where the home court advantage is always a significant factor, where Zalgiris plays with extra energy. The mood of Zalgiris is positive, I like the lineup as finally after changes, they can always have a solid starting five on the court, avoiding bigger gaps. Losing their leaders, Fenerbahce could have some struggle at least at the beginning of the season. I believe that the summer could have been better utilized.

Moses Wright greatly introduced himself to Monaco, it would be naive to expect something similar, but I believe that even against Fenerbahce, the power forward can play solid games. The Istanbul team has a weak defense in the front line, and Paris Basketball managed to collect as many as 18 rebounds in the first round. Knowing M. Wright's fighting spirit and drive, the tall player can easily exceed 14 points and the odds are high enough for such a risk. The most important thing is not to make mistakes and not to decrease his playing time.

In the first Euroleague game, both teams shot 50% accuracy from 3PTs, which is not common and maintaining such percentages in a double week seems challenging. The double week in the second game does not add quality, as the new players on both teams are not used to such a schedule. Both teams are defensively oriented, so coaches should focus on every centimeter in the fight for victory, as this is a fundamental duel between the coaches.

Gossas was definitely not chosen solely because of his scoring points, but rather for his important role in team management and creativity. Unexpectedly, Francisco took on that role before the Monaco game and Gossas was left out of the team. Today, positional and tactical basketball should dominate, where Gossas' creativity and experience will be crucial. Before the game against Monaco, he had scores of: 4, 4, 7.

This year we have many great players, but the matches against last season's champions will not be easy for anyone, and in these matches Edgaras, as the team captain, knows how to show leadership and lead the team in crucial moments. He played for 31 minutes against Monaco, and today I also expect him to play for at least 25 minutes. He has many opportunities to play, so I hope he will score 7-8 points for Ule today.