By Simon Dresden
11/23/07
Studs / Rising
Nikola Pekovic bounced back from last week’s poor showing and sits back on top of our stock watch with 21 points, 7/10 from the field and 10 boards carrying his team, Partizan Belgrade, on his back to a close victory. What a monster season he is having. He proved his critics wrong with this showing and it is scary to think of what a little experience and maturity will do for his consistency.
Marc-Antoine Pellin did what he always does, play to the best of his abilities. His team suffered a heavy loss, giving up more points than any team in the history of the league against champion Panathinaikos, but he was rock solid in 30+ minutes going for 11 points and 6 assist.
Danilo Gallinari wasnt overly effective scoring but he contributed solid accross the board with 10 points, 4 boards, 4 steals and 2 dimes, while logging heavy 37 minutes. We expect some more from him but considering his age this is close to very good.
Okay/Even
Nicolas Batum has been getting exposed more and more as a suspect shooter. Teams tend to leave him open on the perimeter and he showing an inability to take advantage of it. Maybe it’s a mental thing right now and he’s just thinking about it too much. He is a physical freak and gets his points and production because of that but he would be a monster if he only had a better jumpshot to speak of. His 12 points 3 boards are rock solid but considering his tools, he could be so much better.
Milenko Tepic had 7 points and 3 boards but we have to come to expect more from him, especially in the assist category from this point guard prospect.
Milos Teodosic seems to carry a little momentum over from last week’s stellar performance as he used 20 minutes for 5 points and 4 assists which is to be considered as pretty nice showing for the young stud.
Gasper Vidmar made the most of his 10 minutes with 4 boards and 4 points which should be a notice to his coach to give him some more burn.
Emir Preldzic had 4 points in 8 minutes and it is good to see him back in action with Fenerbahce.
Semih Erden receives an okay but we expect more than 4 points 2 boards in 25+ minutes from the young big.
Uros Tripkovic did what one expects from him, which is shoot, shoot and then shoot some more. But his shot didn’t drop at a high rate, he had 8 points but needs to be more efficient shooting.
Omri Casspi got 10+ minutes and even drilled a three in a close game. Every minute is precious for him as he grows into his own and builds up his confidence.
Andrey Vorotsevic again got a 2 minute stint in the close CSKA win over Zalgiris, considering it was a close contest and he once again got chosen to play over young talents Artem Zabelin and Alexey Shved who drew DNP-CDs in the same game, has to rise his stock a litte since he seems to be doing something right in the eyes of Coach Messina, who is known for having an eye for special talent.
Donatas Montiejunas was back in the rotation but didnt manage any points in 9 minutes, but showed his rebounding prowess collecting 5 boards, making use of his playing time.
Since the loss was so great even Rafael Wilson got to see the floor and used his playing time for a three and a board which was a nice showing for his debut in the league.
Antoine Diot got 3 minutes and managed 2 assists which was positive but not enough to rise him in the stock watch.
Martynas Gecevicius got 10 minutes scoring on one of his patented threes, a solid showing.
Sergio Llull stays in okay territory as he contributed 2 points in 5 minutes during an intense game.
Oguz Savas had 0 points in 5 minutes, hard to judge this performance an okay, but considering his solid performances to this point we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt this week.
Pietro Aradori earned just garbage minutes with no production which isn’t his fault.
Tim Ohlbrecht wasn’t with the team for the game in Istanbul because of a viral infection that affected a number of his teammates.
Jan Mocnik got a DNP-CD this time which is a little disappointing considering the game against Tau was out of hand early for Olympia.
Dimitry McDuffy due to the illnesses, was with the Bamberg team for the first time but didn’t make it onto the floor.
Jeremy Leloup drew a DNP-CD, as did Michal Chlynski.
Duds /Falling
Albert Moncasi again drew a DNP-CD, for a 1986 guy he should be gaining more PT, his stock is falling.
Mantas Kalnietis stock is on heavy decline. His coach seems to have lost faith in him since didn’t even give him the chance to make a impact on the floor.
