Roll call, Round 29: Stepping up at the right time

In the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague roll call, we take a look at five players that had a big impact on their respective games in Round 29.

Okobo led the way for Monaco

It took AS Monaco a little while to get going against ALBA Berlin, but the player who really kickstarted the visitors’ response en route to an 82-90 win was Elie Okobo. After seeing Mike James rightfully get all the attention one week prior, with the American becoming the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague’s all-time leading scorer, it was Okobo who stole the spotlight in the German capital in Round 29 as he scored a season-high 21 points. It was a measured night’s work, too, as the Frenchman netted 11 first-half points before scoring 10 after the break. His contribution allowed Monaco to extend its winning streak to eight, with Sasa Obradovic’s side currently the hottest team in the league.

Colson did his damage from the line

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv came back from 18 points down to beat Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 80-84 at Stark Arena, and Bonzie Colson’s team-high 23 points were certainly a big help to his squad. But how he got to those 23 points is the most interesting part, given he shot 4-for-8 on two-pointers and 2-for-3 from deep. The other 9 points all came from the free-throw line, with Colson setting a new personal best in that statistic. It’s also the first time he’s attempted a double-digit number of free throws, as he ended up going 9-for-12 from the charity stripe. Those free throws stopped the clock and gave the Maccabi players a chance to catch their breaths, which proved key in the Israeli side flipping the script.

Jokubaitis was involved in plenty of good things

FC Barcelona moved a step closer towards wrapping up second spot in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings with a 94-76 win over Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, a game that saw Rokas Jokubaitis finish with a +21 in the plus/minus column. The Lithuanian guard saw a bump in his minutes compared to Barca’s previous two contests, playing almost 19 minutes against Partizan compared 12.5 minutes against Monaco in Round 27 and 13.5 minutes against Valencia Basket in Round 28. That extra time on the court paid dividends, not only with his plus/minus, as Jokubaitis netted 13 points – just the fourth time he’s hit double figures in points this season – of which 6 came in the final 4:30 of the game to see the win over the line.

Moneke helped Baskonia pull away

During Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz’s clash against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, Chima Moneke ended up having a pivotal role in the final outcome, with his team winning 88-73. Moneke netted 9 of his 19 points in a 9-2 run to end the third quarter which allowed the hosts to open a 14-point lead, which put Baskonia in a great position to come away with the victory. When Moneke moved to 17 points with those 9 points late in the third, the curious part is that the last 6 of those came thanks to a couple of three-pointers. He has hit a career-best 4 triples on two occasions this season, but this was the first time he’d hit 3 in a game, showing Moneke is adding even more tools to his arsenal.

De Colo became ASVEL’s main playmaker

In Round 29, Nando De Colo dished his highest number of assists since joining LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in the summer of 2022, as he had 9 helpers in his team’s 84-80 triumph over Anadolu Efes Istanbul. While not a career-best mark, with De Colo having made 11 assists on two occasions during his time at CSKA Moscow (Round 8 in 2015-16 and Round 10 in 2017-18), he took on the role of being ASVEL’s lead playmaker against Efes, which mainly benefitted the team’s big men. But, it was another guard who got De Colo’s final assist of the night, as the Frenchman drove before finding Paris Lee in the corner for what proved to be the game-winning three-pointer.