Round 22 brought a lot of excitement in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. As many as four teams managed to win on the road. FC Bayern Munich broke a four-game road losing streak with a victory against Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. AX Armani Exchange Milan used outstanding defense to defeat CSKA Moscow in the Russian capital. Real Madrid showed its power with a comfortable victory against ALBA Berlin. And AS Monaco upset Zenit St Petersburg to complete a great week after having previously downed LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 75-100 away in a postponed game.
Speaking of postponed games, three earlier this week saw the return to the courts of important players like Real Madrid center Walter Tavares and ASVEL scoring ace Elie Okobo, who have been integral parts of the teams of many EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge managers.
As always, we have a little bit of something when it comes to recommending players before Round 23. This week, we chose a superstar playing some of the best basketball of his career, two streak shooters in great momentum, a power forward who visits a team he dominated recently, and a do-it-all swingman who came back from injury ready to play an interesting role on the powerhouse that currently leads the standings.
Without further ado, here are our recommendations before Round 23:
Corey Walden, FC Bayern Munich (10.0 credits) – Walden was completely off-target for weeks, hitting 2-of-18 three-pointers (11.1%) from Rounds 15 to 20, but buried 10-of-17 (58.9%) in his next two games, averaging 21.5 points and a PIR of 28.5. Walden should keep going in the German derby against ALBA, leading Bayern’s backcourt.
Kyle Kuric, FC Barcelona (8.5 credits) – Kuric is doing what he does best and that is, of course, shoot the ball. In the last three games, Kuric has buried 7-of-12 three-point shots (58.3% 3FG) but did much more than that, averaging 12.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and a PIR of 16.3. With Alex Abrines still out, Kuric is his team’s main scoring option from downtown.
Mike James, AS Monaco (15.7 credits) – Since Sasa Obradovic became Monaco’s head coach, James has been just sensational, adjusting to a new situation and leading his team in many ways. James keeps being a deadly scorer, getting 20 points or more five times in the last seven games, but averaged 8.9 assists in that stretch, too.
Nikola Kalinic, Zvezda (10.8 credits) – The last time Kalinic went up against Olympiacos, in early December, he produced career highs of 25 points and 27 PIR. His team will need him as much as ever this time, too, as it tries to break the Reds’ perfect home mark this season.
Alberto Abalde, Real Madrid (7.6 credits) – Abalde was sidelined a while, since early December, but has returned to action in style. In his two games since he came back, Abalde averages 11.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and a PIR of 13.5 in more than 23 minutes per night. His current price is very affordable, which makes him even more interesting.
