What a great time to be a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague fan! With just two regular season left, six teams are fighting for four open playoffs spot. Moreover, some of those teams are going against each other in absolutely must-watch showdowns in Round 33. Zalgiris Kaunas takes on Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, Anadolu Efes Istanbul visits Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in a do-or-die date for the defending back-to-back champions, and Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade plays on the road against already-qualified AS Monaco. Wow!
Of course, all this will have an impact in the EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge powered by Ardu Prime: the more competitive the games are, the fewer surprises we will get. My team, Gancedato, took a step back in Round 32 after a brilliant Round 31. Josh Nebo of Maccabi was my highest scoring player at just 18.7 fantasy points. In fact, head coach Dusko Ivanovic of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade outscored everyone on my team, with 20 points. I ended up getting 137.6 points, which made me drop to the 1,927th spot overall. We are entering the last nine Fantasy Challenge rounds, at most, depending whether we have long playoff series or not. It is do-or-die time.
Three trades will be allowed before each round until the end of the regular season. I am selling Coach Ivanovic because his team is eliminated and plays against Olympiacos, which is in search of clinching first place. I am going for a coach whose team is fighting to get to the playoffs but his opponent is eliminated, and that will be Joan Penarroya of Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. Basically, it is the same move as in Round 32, but backwards. I am selling Nigel Hayes-Davis of Fenerbahce because I have Will Clyburn of Efes and don't like to have players going against each other. I am selling Jan Wimberg of FC Bayern Munich because he has not made the most out of his playing time. And finally, I am letting Rokas Jokubaitis of FC Barcelona go because I have another player in mind.
I am buying Vanja Marinkovic of Baskonia because he has been red-hot lately, amassing 75 points in three games last week. Marinkovic is a streak shooter and as long as he keeps doing well, he will be on my team. I am also buying Paris Lee of Panathinaikos Athens. I know, his team is eliminated but Panathinaikos is a proud squad playing at home, and I am sure it will give everything to get a win in its final EuroLeague game at OAKA Altion this season. Finally, without a lot of money to spend, I am buying Jaron Blossomgame of Monaco. He just seems to be the best option with the money I have left.
You can take a look at my team here:
