EuroLeague Round 2 Reactions: Should we believe in ASVEL and Zalgiris?

We are continuing to stay away from dramatic overreactions through two rounds of EuroLeague play. Four teams have yet to achieve a victory, and two of them are unsurprising: Paris Basketball and ALBA Berlin. While there isn’t much pride to be had in being an 0-2 team, both squads have put up valiant efforts in their openers and are arguably exceeding expectations while succumbing to consecutive defeats. Partizan Belgrade has played two games on the road in Spain and was competitive in both. As for Virtus Bologna, a bit more on them shortly. 

There are two teams, who with records of 1-1, appear to be markedly better than last season. While it’s too early to assess the floor and ceilings of Zalgiris Kaunas and LDLC ASVEL, both are a step above the comfortable victories they were last season. In ASVEL’s opener, they came up short on the road against Maccabi but went on to grab victory in their home opener against Virtus Bologna. 

Is Neal Sako the key to raising LDLC ASVEL’s ceiling?

French center Neal Sako, who is making his EuroLeague debut at 26 years old, stole the show in this one as he finished with a stat line of 19 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals on 9-of-11 shooting. He was hyper-efficient, and at his most effective as a lob threat for ASVEL’s guards: Theo Maledon, Nando De Colo, and Shaquille Harrison. Part of why he was so effective in the pick-and-roll came from ASVEL’s hot shooting start. They went a perfect 7-of-7 from deep in the first quarter against Bologna, putting up 38 points in the opening frame. 

ASVEL went on to shoot 1-of-15 from three for the rest of the game, but what this victory made clear is that this group needs to continue to let it fly from deep regardless of how accurate they are. Sako being a real threat as a roll man is exactly what ASVEL needs to pair with their guards, where they have quality depth. Sako’s success will be symbiotic with ASVEL’s 3-point shooting.

As they continue to let it fly without remorse, teams will contest harder, stay home on shooters, and thus leave the lane open for Sako. As Sako finds success in the lane and above the rim, defenses will adjust and leave shooters open. The 7-of-7 start ASVEL had in their Round 2 matchup is of course, not sustainable. But that volume is. Getting in the ballpark of 25-28 3s per game should be a goal for the French club, and with a few bounces, they could be competing for the play-in. 

Will Clyburn is a problem for Virtus Bologna, and we mean that literally

As for Bologna, who frustratingly came up short this one, they have a Will Clyburn-sized problem with their team. The 34-year-old American forward needs to recognize his role here. On his best day, he is their third option. Not only is he their third option, but being second to Toko Shengelia means he needs to stop occupying the spots on the floor the Georgian likes: low and mid-post, mid-range, etc., and instead space the floor.

Clyburn has taken three 3s through Bologna’s first two games. That is unacceptable and detrimental to Bologna’s ability to win. If he is not going to provide spacing and secondary off-the-catch offense to complement Bologna’s two best players, Isaia Cordinier and Shengelia, then head coach Luca Bianchi needs to move him to a bench role and find someone who will. Clyburn is not the player he used to be, and if he and Bologna do not recognize that soon they could be looking at a lot worse than an 0-2 start. 

Zalgiris Kaunas are playing data-driven hoops, and they look poised to reap the rewards

Andrea Trinchieri’s Zalgiris are 1-1. They beat Barcelona at home in their season opener and then came up short on the road against Olympiacos in Round 2. This game was the subject of controversy, with endless delays for official reviews, a lot of free throws, and a whole bunch of miscellaneous nonsense that unfortunately, made the game unwatchable at times. That’s all we’re going to say on the matter. EuroLeague has people more qualified than us who can prevent this from happening again. 

A positive takeaway, however, is that this Zalgiris team should be feared. Through two games, Trinchieri has his squad playing contemporary data-driven basketball. Regardless of accuracy, they are getting threes up. They lead the league with 32 attempts per game, followed by Bayern Munich with 31 and then Partizan Belgrade with 26. They are then seventh in the league in shots taken around the rim.

The departure of Keenan Evans over the summer was met with the arrival of Sylvain Francisco, Tyrone Wallace, Ignas Brazdeikis, and Deividas Sirvydis. All four of these guards can shoot the three, and generate paint touches at a decent clip. It’s opening up the floor on offense, and the totality of their ball movement against rotating defenses isn’t perfectly synching yet but when it does, this could be the best offense in the EuroLeague for the regular season. 

The defense will continue to be an issue, but Arnas Butkevicius and Matthew Mitchell are stepping up big-time for the Lithuanian Club. They’re filling in as versatile 3-and-D role players, who also offer more off-the-catch than just spot-up shooting. Their work with defensive-minded centers Laurynas Birutis and Bryant Dunston is providing enough for their shooting to be able to win them games. The recipe for wins is there, and Trinchieri is cooking.