Bourg (2-5) lost on opening night at home, but has won both games since. Last week Coach Laurent Legname’s charges fell in Germany, 96-86, at ratiopharm despite 24 points apiece from Rasheed Sulaimon and CJ Harris. Buducnost (5-2) had won back-to-back games before losing 76-83 at home to Gran Canaria last week. Justin Cobbs, who leads Buducnost and is fifth in the competition in scoring this season with 18.7 points per game, netted 18 in defeat. Buducnost swept the series when the teams met in the Top 16 last season. Willie Reed averaged 15 points for Buducnost in those wins.

Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse vs. Buducnost VOLI Podgorica

Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse v Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (2021-12-21T19:00:00.000Z)

Calvin Harris - Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse (photo Larry Langer - Ulm) - EC21

Promitheas shares the ball almost as well as anybody in the competition; it’s tied for fifth with 19.0 assists per game.

Keys to victory: Promitheas vs. Reyer

But the team has not capitalized on that offensively, averaging a EuroCup-low 73.0 points. That has especially been the problem with the defense allowing 84.9 points – and it has allowed 85 or more points in each of its five defeats this season. Promitheas certainly needs to do better defensively, especially against Reyer which has been tough defensively so far this season. Reyer allows 75.7 points, fourth-fewest in the EuroCup, which is a result of its aggressive, disciplined and physical defense that forces 16.7 turnovers and picks up 9.4 steals, both second-most in the EuroCup through seven rounds.

Promitheas Patras v Umana Reyer Venice (2021-12-21T17:30:00.000Z)

Abdul Gaddy 2- Promitheas Patras (photo Virtus) - EC21

Jerai Grant has been productive for Promitheas Patras this season. He scored at least 10 points in six of seven games this season, averaging 11.9 points on 60.8% two-point shooting.

Marquee matchup: Promitheas’s Grant vs. Reyer’s Watt

He has also been active on the offensive glass, pulling down 2.0 offensive rebounds, along with 2.1 on average on the defensive glass. This is arguably this veteran center's best EuroCup season in his third in the competition. In this contest, Grant will have the task of dealing with Reyer leader Mitchell Watt. Watt is Reyer's top scorer with 12.7 points and its top rebounder pulling down 5.4 rebounds. Watt attempts 9.3 two-point shots per game – sixth-most in the competition this season – and creates problems for opposing defenses by drawing 3.9 fouls per game.

Promitheas Patras will look to get back to the winning ways when it hosts Umana Reyer Venice in Group B on Tuesday.

Promitheas, Reyer seen bounce-back wins

Promitheas (2-5) is led by Kendrick Ray (13.7 ppg.) and Jerai Grant (11.9 ppg.) as its top two scorers. The team has not built on its late-November momentum when it won back-to-back games; Promitheas has suffered a pair of big losses in December – first a 29-point home defeat against Buducnost VOLI Podgorica followed by a 19-point loss last week on the road against Virtus Segafredo Bologna. Reyer (3-4) has been up and down this season, but is coming off a valuable 77-70 win over Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana. Led in scoring by big men Mitchell Watt (12.7 ppg., 5.4 rpg.) and Austin Daye (10.7 ppg.), the team will look to win again in Patras, just like it did in its previous visit to Patras in January 2020.

Dario Hunt - Promitheas Patras (photo Virtus) - EC21

Bursaspor needs to come out with great energy from the get-go in this game, especially on the defensive end. The team needs to find a way to generate turnovers. In its two victories, Bursaspor has won the turnover battles, forcing 17.0 turnovers in those games while committing only 13.0. In its four losses, however, the team has forced just 11.0 turnovers on average.

Keys to victory: Bursaspor vs. Ulm

On the other hand, Ulm needs to stick to the recipe from previous games, moving and sharing the ball. It has led to Ulm averaging 21.5 assists and scoring 96 points in each of its two December games, both victories. The team has been playing with a lot of confidence and it needs to continue with what has worked.

Frutti Extra Bursaspor v ratiopharm Ulm (2021-12-21T17:00:00.000Z)

Metin Turen - Frutti Extra Bursaspor - EC21

No player averages more minutes per game this season than Frutti Extra Bursaspor scorer Allerik Freeman with 33:26.

Marquee matchup: Bursaspor’s Freeman vs. Ulm’s Christon

Freeman has been a great offensive threat; he ranks seventh this season in scoring with 18.2 points per game, but has scored 20 or more points in three of his last four appearances. Semaj Christon has done a bit of everything for ratiopharm Ulm. Playing 32 minutes per game, the veteran playmaker is posting 17.4 points, 6.6 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals. Christon has the ball in his hands a lot and attempts 14.5 field goals per game. It is fair to say that Ulm's play depends a lot on how Christon performs.

Bursaspor returns to action after having its game against Valencia Basket postponed last week. Bursaspor is on a three-game losing streak and has won only one of its three home games so far this season. Allerik Freeman is Bursaspor's go-to guy, averaging 18.2 points per game, while David Dudzinski posts 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds. Ulm has been on fire, winning four of its last five games, and is coming off a 10-point win over Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse. Ulm’s success has come behind the play of Semaj Christon (17.4 ppg., 6.6 apg.), Jaron Blossomgame (13.9 ppg., 7.0 rpg.) and center Cristiano Felicio (11.9 ppg., 6.6 rpg.), but the team also got a big boost from its in-season addition Sindarius Thornwell who has averaged 20.0 points in two games with the team.

Two teams trending in different directions clash in Group B when Frutti Extra Bursaspor welcomes ratiopharm Ulm on Tuesday in their first-ever meeting.

Bursaspor, Ulm prepare to meet for the first time

Derek Needham - Frutti Extra Bursaspor - EC21

Brandon Paul is now in his second stint with Joventut Badalona and it is also in his second time around in the 7DAYS EuroCup. Paul made his debut in the competition with Nizhny Novgorod during the 2013-14 season and later played for Joventut in the 2015-16 campaign. He also suited up for clubs in Turkey, the United States, China and Australia before returning to Joventut. Paul is a well-traveled player who is getting ready to release his own podcast in the near future. Before that, he will be checking in, here at EuroCupBasketball.com, to tell us all about Joventut's season as it gears up to challenge for the title.

Brandon Paul, Joventut: ‘It feels great to be back'

I'm back! I was injured for the first part of the season and am still trying to get back to 100 percent, but I just try to take it day by day and I'm starting to feel better each week. I am just trying to come out here and help the team do whatever we can to win, play my role and help the team play together. I play with a lot of energy and every day is going to be a challenge for us, but we are trying to practice every day to get better to be ready for those challenges.

It feels great to be back with Joventut. I always had a good relationship with Jordi [Marti, Joventut's sports director] and my teammate Albert Ventura, who are basically two of the only people that are still here from my previous years. It's kind of familiar territory and I have some friends that still live here that I have met, 6-7 ago from my last time here as well. I actually followed Joventut all this time. I stayed following them on Twitter and I was following everything that they were doing. And then I met Ferran Bassas a long time ago with 'Ventu', and when I saw that he joined the team a few years ago, I was really happy for him and I saw that they were winning and back in EuroCup. It's always good when your previous teams do well. I wish everybody well, no matter where I'm at in the world.

“I guess I'm just trying to get as many stamps on my passport as I can! Basketball has been able to take me to so many places.”

After leaving Joventut, I played for Anadolu Efes Istanbul in Turkey and also in the United States, China and Australia. I guess I'm just trying to get as many stamps on my passport as I can! Basketball has been able to take me to so many places. I have been so fortunate just meeting so many new people throughout this game and making lifelong friendships. It's been a blessing and I love to travel. If there's one thing I do that I like to do outside of basketball is travel. Being to so many different countries is a huge culture shock, but I'm always willing to come in and learn about new cultures, learn about new things. And I would say that it's given me great perspective. I'm able to see some things that most people aren't able to see and aren't able to experience, which is just understanding different cultures and understanding that everyone's different in their own right.

I also played for Nizhny Novgorod in Russia, which was my first EuroCup team. It was a rough experience for me. I wasn't in my best phase mentally out there, I wasn't in the best situation but it helped me get tough skin. After I lived in Russia; after I was in that situation, I told myself, there's really nothing that I can't do. There's really nothing that's going to be able to hold me back. I was able to build thick skin, but I had some good teammates that looked out for me when I was there, some guys that I still stay in contact with to this day.

So, it is good to be traveling around Spain and the EuroCup with Joventut, even though we don't have much time to see anything. If I'm tired, I don't usually leave the hotel, but I try to take home something that reminds me of the city. I like to collect. If I get to a new airport, I always try to collect something like maybe a refrigerator magnet or something as small as a bottle opener that I can keep from my travels. And if you go to look at my condo back in Chicago, I have one area that’s just full of different magnets from different cities. That's something that I really enjoy doing.

I love the club's philosophy with so many homegrown players. It's amazing, and the fact that everyone's hungry, everyone's pretty much on the same page. We don't have any selfish guys. And guys just want to win. We don't really care who does what. We just want to go out there and win, compete and gain respect from everybody. And I think we're starting to get that. We are complemented by a couple of guys, like Guillem, Ante and Pau. They have won at the highest levels. So playing alongside them builds a lot of our confidence and our young players are able to learn from them as well.

Like, for instance, Joel Parra. I think he's very wise beyond his years. He plays the game so well. He reads the game very well and if you didn't know him, you would think that he's a veteran out there. He knows how to move without the ball, is a tough defender, could play multiple roles and is a lot of fun to be around. He's got a lot of energy; we like to call him our D.J. He is always the one that controls our music in the locker room and brings in the energy when we win. It's just fun to have guys like that on the team, guys that are just excited to be alive, excited to be playing the game of basketball and excited to just bring energy to others.

“We don't really care who does what. We just want to go out there and win, compete and gain respect from everybody.”

While I was injured, I had the chance to collaborate with the EuroLeague on a watch-along. That was great. It's something that I definitely enjoyed and something I hope I can do again. And it was fun! I eventually want to start my own podcast and it was good practice for me to be able to watch my old team play and see them get a win; it was pretty cool. I'm going to talk about everything from basketball to my experiences, to my travels, to my personal life. I'm going to have different guests, whether that's players I played with in the NBA, players that I played with in Europe, friends of mine that are in the entertainment industry back home... It's going to be something that I don't think anyone else has as far as the podcast community. So I'm really excited for that. It's going by slowly right now. I got some things to take care of in my personal life. But I have written down a lot of episodes and a lot of guests, and I'm going to start off with something small first, a little segment that kind of leads up to my actual podcast. But it's going to be some really fun. It's going to be interactive. I'm going to allow the fans to be able to give their input and be a part of the show as well.

We are undefeated at home in the EuroCup but play on the road against Slask Wroclaw next. I don't even know if the fact that we lost a couple of games on the road is something bad. It's just a lesson that we have to continue to learn. We have to make sure we bring the same type of energy on the road as we have at home, especially when we play against tough teams and teams that are in need of wins. It's always going to be competitive no matter where we're playing, but we just have to remember to bring the fight to them.

That's all, for now! Everyone stay safe! Everyone stay warm and enjoy some good food and enjoy time with your family and friends. And don't forget to continue to watch the EuroCup!

Brandon Paul - Joventut Badalona - (photo David Grau - Joventut) EC21

Long before Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana took the form in which we know it today – before Cedevita and Olimpija made their historic merger agreement in 2019 – Alen Omic made his first professional steps in the Slovenian capital.

Trademarks: Olimpija's Omic is zeroing in on EuroCup history

Olimpija was just the first of Omic’s many EuroCup and EuroLeague stops before his journey brought him back to Ljubljana in the midst of the current 2021-22 season.

**[MORE...](https://www.eurohoops.net/en/trademarks/1285687/olimpijas-omic-is-zeroing-in-on-eurocup-history/)**

Alen Omic - Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana - EC21