Fenerbahçe Ülker takes on French side Asvel Basket at the Astroballe in Lyon. Asvel Basket is not as strong or famous in the basketball world as Barcelona; in other words, it is a team Fenerbahçe Ülker can beat.The Fener Ülker faithfuls were highly disappointed by the under-par performance of the team last week, so they not only expect a win in France this evening, but they want their team to do it in style.
The İstanbul team and head coach Bogdan Tanjevic will be banking on Willie Solomon, who scored 16 points against Barcelona last Wednesday, Oğuz Savaş, who netted 11, and Lynn Greer, who added 10, to deliver the goods this evening.
Asvel Basket, like Fenerbahçe Ülker, started its Euroleague adventure this season on a losing note when it went down 71-52 on the road to Lithuanian side Zalgiris Kaunas last Wednesday. The Frenchmen therefore are also desperate for victory to appease their disillusioned supporters.
But the fact of the matter is that Fenerbahçe Ülker is a better team on a player-by-player basis and therefore would be able to beat Asvel easily if basketball was a meritocracy. But it is not.
Hence Fenerbahçe Ülker should guard against complacency and rein in Asvel’s big man Curtis Borchardt, who had 20 points and 7 rebounds in his Euroleague debut against Zalgiris, and Bobby Dixon, who had 10 points and 9 rebounds.
Elsewhere in Euroleague action today it is Unicaja of Spain vs. Olympiacos Piraeus of Greece in Group B; CSKA Moscow of Russia vs. Italy’s Lottomatica Roma in Group C; and EWE Baskets Oldenburg of Germany vs. AJ Milano of Italy in Group D.
