By Simon Dresden
NBADraft.net
12/22/07
Studs / Rising
Nikola Pekovic took another stud of the week honor totally destroying Roanne’s frontcourt on the way to 26 points and 16 boards, going 11/18 on the way. He was a beast even on the defensive end collecting 4 blocks and when he is in a groove like that there is hardly anyone in Europe who can contain him.
Milenko Tepic was back on his game as he produced 18 points with 3 boards and 4 dimes. He played heavy (31) minutes and showed why scouts are high on him. He was the heart and soul of his team and proved to be the leader they sometimes lack.
Andrey Vorontsevich is on a steady rise. His powerhouse CSKA team grinded out a close win in Sienna and he got 12 minutes which alone is a feat for a youngster on such a loaded team, but he also managed 5 points on perfect shooting and 4 boards. Coach Messina seems to have an eye for youngsters and surely Vorontsevich seem to be his favorite youngster.
Danilo Gallinari had only 6 points on poor shooting but also had 6 boards to go along and 3 assists, helping keep him on the stud level.
Pietro Aradori nearly outperformed his fellow young star Gallinari. He had 10 points and 2 boards in only 20 minutes. A really nice showing for this young gunner who seems to have a future based on his playing intelligence.
Goran Dragic had an off day for his standard. Playing only 20 minutes, scoring 12 points but what he considers an off night, some others consider a stud performance, so he stays here.
Antoine Diot has cracked the rotation and is taking full advantage of the situation that his team has no real pg. He started his first Euroleague game and logged an impressive 25 minutes, he had 7 points but could have had more assists.
Marc-Antoine Pellin barely made the stud ranking this week, because he had only 7 points and 2 dimes. But his relentless defense and his 5 steals, together with the great impression he’s given over the whole season, keeps him in the stud territory.
Okay / Even
Nicolas Batum had a rather poor showing for his standards, after ruling our ranking last week, he showed the inconsistency that has exemplified his season. 4 points and 6 rebounds are just not what he is capable of.
Oguz Savas played only 12 minutes and had okay productivity with 5 points and 6 boards but we have gotten used to expecting more floor time from him as long as Erden is out.
Omer Asik again had 6 points and 4 boards which is a prime showing for his second game and also seems to be something that one can expect on a nightly basis from this young stud.
Gasper Vidmar got 12 minutes and used them for 4 points, nothing spectacular just okay for him.
Emir Preldzic got 12 minutes and made 3 points out of it but his 1 rebound output is not enough for a skilled guy like him.
Milos Teodosic was alright in 20 minutes. He managed 4 points, 2 boards and 5 dimes, which is okay since his team blew out Olympia big time.
Uros Tripkovic got only 3 points but he also took only 2 shots, so with his 3 boards it has to be considered okay for him but no more.
Paulo Prestes got 5 minutes of burn and used them nicely for 2 rebounds. Still the game seems to be a little fast and physical for him, but he is learning on the fly.
Jeremy LeLoup got 6 minutes of scrub-time but made the most out of it with 3 points.
Jan Mocnik had plenty of opportunity in 18 minutes but missed all his shots to go for zero points but he had 2 boards and 3 dimes to complement his performance, so it is okay.
Karsten Tadda got a spare minute in a blowout loss and even managed 2 points and a rebound.
Stefan Stojkov gave his debut for Bologna and got 21 minutes which is nice for a 89er.
Martynas Gecevicius got 5 minutes but couldn’t amount anything productive, not even getting a shot up.
Semih Erden was still out with an injury that doesn’t seem to be to bad but his team didn’t want to take a risk.
Tim Ohlbrecht got a small injury in a league game just some days ago and sat out this game as a precaution.
Sergio Llull and Pablo Aguilar got DNP-CDs as Real’s loss to Rome was a close battle from start to finish.
Michal Chlynski got a DNP which is a little disappointing considering he played so well last time around.
Alexey Shved again got a DNP which isn’t too concerning in a close game like this was and Artem Zabelin wasn’t even with the team.
Mustapha Diop got a DNP, as did Raphael Wilson, Nikita Kourbanov.
Duds/Falling
Albert Moncasi again got DNP which is not bad in the first case but considering that Barca played Fenerbahce and all the youngsters the Turks send out there, he should at least have gotten some run.
Omri Casspi again got a DNP, sad for him to not even get a shot.
