"SUPERLEAGUE" - RUSSIA
CSKA Moscow has already showed that there’s no team capable of playing at its level, and is clearly the top dog in the Russian "Superleague". After scoring 22 points in a winning debut, Joe Forte went for 15 but that wasn’t enough for Unics Kazan (1 won – 1 lost) to overcome a solid effort by Triumph Moscow. Triumph won 90-70, and it looks as if they can be take the whole league by surprise… except for CSKA, of course. J.R. Bremer’s Spartak Primorye Vladivostok (1 won – 2 lost) is struggling, as its second defeat in three games seems to prove. Bremer scored 12 points but wasn’t effective from three point range, canning only one of five shots from the distance en route to a 69-53 defeat at the hands of Ural Great Perm.
"LEGA A" – ITALY
Montepaschi Siena is dominating from the start: with a strong performance on the PalaDozza parquet, the Italian reigning champions defeated Upim Fortitudo Bologna 70-58 to stay the only undefeated team after week 4 of "Lega A". In the "match of the ex-Celtics", Angelico Biella could rely on its two former Celtics to nip Allan Ray’s Lottomatica Rome. Kevinn Pinckney scored 12 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked David Hawkins’ layup with 5 seconds left on the clock to preserve the 70-69 win. B.J. Elder dropped 25, Brandon Hunter added 8 points and 3 rebounds for Biella (2 won -2 lost) before fouling out while Allan Ray notched just 6 points on 2 for 5 shooting for Lottomatica (2-2), a team which in spite of its convincing performance Vs. the Toronto Raptors, hasn’t yet been able to play up to its favourite role in the league. Former Nugget Nikoloz Thskitshvili scored 19 points leading Siviglia Wear Teramo to a 77-68 win over Eldo Napoli. Former Celtic Jamel Thomas went 2 for 10 from the field (0 for 4 from three point range) as Naples team dropped its fourth game in a row to start the season as the only one without a win in "Lega A".
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"ACB" – SPAIN
The "match of the day" saw TAU Ceràmica overrun Real Madrid (93-70) just three days after the "merengue" had nipped the Toronto Raptors. Strong performances by Tiago Splitter (24 points), Mirza Teletovic (17) and Igor Rakocevic (19) couldn’t be countered by Louis Bullock’s 21 points. DKV Joventut, AXA Barcelona, Akasvayu Girona and C.B. Granada took advantage of the situation to stay atop of the "ACB". Jerome Moiso notched 7 points (3 for 5 shooting) and grabbed 5 rebounds in 17 minutes of play as DKV Joventut Badalona (2 won – 0 lost) easily defeated Valladolid 109-76 to stay undefeated after week 2 of the top spanish league. Rudy Fernandez, the Suns’ first round draft pick, scored 17 points in just 15 minutes of play and phenom Ricky Rubio added 12 points and 4 assists. Even with guard Jiri Welsch sidelined by a muscle injury, Unicaja Màlaga managed to upend Grupo Begar Valladolid 84-60 as five player scored in double figure. The win, coach Sergio Scariolo’s 250th in the Spanish league, came just four days after the "canteranos" had defeated the Memphis Grizzlies. Albert Miralles scored 15 points (on 6 for 8 shooting) and grabbed 11 rebounds as Pamesa Valencia overcame Shammond Williams' absence to edge Manresa 88-80. In his debut Miralles had managed just 2 points and 3 rebounds in 11 minutes of play as Real Madrid defeated Pamesa 68-61.
ADRIATIC LEAGUE – FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
Partizan Beograd started strong in the Adriatic League, the tournament between former Yugoslavia teams. Thanks to a solid series of performances by former Celtic Milt Palacio, the Serbians are leading the standings with 4 wins and just one defeat. Palacio is not shooting well (just 1 for 7 from behind the arc), but his leadership and his 9.8 points per game have made him the idol of the Hala Pionir fans. In a four days span, Marlon Garnett scored 22 points to lead croatian KK Split to two wins over two slovenian teams in the Adriatic League,. Garnett was the main man in a 80-65 win over Geoplin Slovan Ljubljana, and then scored 15 to snatch another win (85-73) over slovenian team Helios Domzale. KK Split is now closing in on league leading Partizan Beograd. Omar Cook, the Celtics project gone bad, is averaging 20.3 points per game while shooting an astonishing 60% from the field and 44.1% from three point range as the sole American in the Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) Beograd roster. Three wins and one defeat place the Red Star just behind Partizan, and it will be very interesting to see Palacio facing Cook in the classic Beograd teams match on November 3. Josip Sesar, whose rights were acquired by the Celtics in the 2000 draft night, is averaging 7.5 points per game for croatian team KK Zagreb, but he is shooting an abysmal 22.2% from the field and 28.6% from three point range.
PLK – POLAND
Polish reigning champion Prokom Sopot fought hard to overcome an early shooting slump, and in the end managed to pull out a 95-91 win over SPEC Polonia Warsaw in the PLK polish league opener. Travis Best was the man of the match with 25 points, DaJuan Wagner added 21 and former Celtic Ruben Wolkowyski, in the first game back from an injury, scored 2.