The second round of the top 16 is ahead of us and we have some suggestions about who to take into your Euroleague fantasy team. In the first round, we had some great picks like Shved, Teodosic or Reyes, but the rest of them were just mediocre or even bad. This week we will be aiming to improve a lot. I personally have a lot of spare credits as my first round team was pretty cheap, so I’ll be going for some expensive players. But, still I’ll be offering a few very cheap players that could emerge from the shadow. So this week we will be offering you three duos from three powerhouses like CSKA, Barcelona and Olympiacos. We are also throwing in few players that could turn out to be aces from the sleeves of their coaches. Happy New Year’s and enjoy the games.
Best Top 16 Round 2 Euroleague Fantasy Challenge tips
Dontaye Draper: Although Draper was a disappointment for me in the last round I’m going for him one more time. I never suggest the same player two rounds in a row, but I have a feeling that Draper could have a very good game for a very low price. The focus of Efes’ defense will be stopping Malcolm Delaney and I think that Draper could have a lot more space in the offense than usual. He will most probably get a lot of playing time because he is the guy on the Russian team that should be in charge of slowing down Tomas Huertel. On the other side Huertel is not much of a defender himself, so Draper could be benefiting from that fact too. Efes is an “offensive minded” team in general and they like to play a little bit faster basketball. With enough playing time, Draper could be the x-factor for Lokomotiv in this game. I’m willing to give one more chance to Draper.
Tomas Satoransky: Barca has got a home game ahead of them this week and they will be taking on Khimki and their penetrable defense. I expect Barca’s big man to dominate the paint in Blaugrana, but I also expect their guards to feed those big guys with some nice dishes. I expect to see Khimki struggling to defend Barca’s pick and roll, so I’ll be going for a PG and a center from Barcelona this week. Carlos Arroyo has been suffering some injury problems lately and if he should be out for this game Satoransky should have an even bigger role. So Satoransky is our choice for the PG position, as for the center you should look on the bottom.
Vasilis Spanoulis: There is no need to waste words to explain why should you get Spanoulis. It is enough just to point out that he now costs 28.9 credits. He is back from injury and if you are looking for a cheap solution in the SG-SF section, there is no need to look beyond Spanoulis. If he was playing with only one leg, he’d still be a good choice for such a price.
Terence Kinsey: Kinsey has just arrived to Belgrade, but he has already played in the ABA league against Cedevita. He has also shown that he is ready to be one of the main offensive weapons for the Red and White. He is a major improvement on Ryan Thompson and I expect him to contribute a lot more than Thompson ever did. Knowing coach Radonjic, I expect Kinsey to have a lot more playing time then Marko Guduric. Guduric is talented young player, but Radonjic is the guy who likes to play it safe. I think he will be using experienced Kinsey much more than young Guduric. For 38 credits Kinsey is one of the best choices when it comes to a little bit cheaper SG-SF
Nikola Kalinic: Maybe I’m taking the big risk here, but I just can’t resist trying out Kalinic against his former team. Fenerbahce will be visiting Belgrade and I’m hoping for a reaction from Kalinic of the bench. He was aways a player who has played with a lot of energy and I’m hoping the crowd in Pionir will fire him up once more. I’m willing to take my chances for only 23.3 credits.
Nikita Kurbanov: Kurbanov has been playing well lately and I think it is just a matter of time he will have a great game. What better chance to shine than against an opponent like Real Madrid. Real has been struggling to find their game this season and on top of that, they have been having a lot of injury problems. Rudy and Llull should be out once again this week. But even with those two on the floor, Real’s defense has never been all that good. I’m counting on Kurbanov to emerge from the shadow of Nando De Colo as some kind of a surprise in this game. Real’s defense should not be focused on him, so he could be benefiting from that fact. A lot of CSKA players could be potential MVP of the round candidates since they are facing Real’s defense. I’ll be taking two of them.
Joel Freeland: A big guy from CSKA this week was a clear choice for me, the only question was whether to go for Hines of Freeland. Eventually, I decided to go with the British instead of the American center. He is a little bit cheaper and his form is in an upwards momentum. I think Freeland could have his best performance since he came back to Europe. he has got the quality for a monster game and I don’t see Real’s defense doing anything about it. Real does a poor job of protecting the paint and you can’t go wrong with either of CSKA’s big man. I myself will be taking Freeland for 43.1 credits.
Ante Tomic: Much like in CSKA – Real game a center that is playing against Khimki is a must in almost any round. Especially a center that has been the main offensive weapon of such a powerful team that is playing at home on top of all. I was considering Samuels, Lawal and Doelman as well. I skipped Doelman because I already took him last week, but he is also a great pick for a very small price. Tomic is probably the safest bet of all big guys from Barca, but he comes at a price. 82.62 credits to be precise. But, you should definitely consider Lawal or Samuels as “a poor man’s Tomic” for this week.
Georgios Printezis: His price is down a little bit and this could be a great opportunity to add him to your team. The reason his price got a little bit smaller is an injury which has thrown him off his track a little bit. Before the injury, he was playing great. He now looks to be ready once again and I expect him to continue with his great games. He will be facing his former team in Vittoria and I expect him to be extra motivated.
Ian Vougiukas: Robertas Javtokas got injured so Zalgiris is down to just one true center – Ian Vougiukas. He is our final Top 16 Round 2 Euroleague fantasy pick. He should now be getting extended minutes and if he should continue to play the way he did for most of the regular season he could be a very valuable player. Zalgiris is playing Brose Basket this week and hardly have a center to match with Vougiukas’ size and experience. Vougiukas will cost you 50.4 credits and I think he is definitely worth considering this round.