Turk Telekom Ankara must make the most out of the home-court advantage, which is remarkable when it comes to the Turkish powerhouse.

Keys to victory: Turk Telekom vs. Lokomotiv

Turk Telekom averages 63.0 points on 48.4% two-point shooting and 31.2% three-point shooting on the road, allowing 80.5 points. At home, Turk Telekom allows 69.5 points on average and scores 81.0 on 56.5% two-point shooting and 44.2% from downtown. Preventing Darius Thompson and Errick McCollum from dominating the game rhythm should be a big key and the hosts rely on Alex Perez to set the right game tempo. 

Marquee matchup: Telekom's Johnson vs. Lokomotiv's Motley

Johnson won the 2018 7DAYS EuroCup with Darussafaka Istanbul after downing Lokomotiv in the Finals. Johnson is having a strong season, too, averaging 13.3 points and 5.0 rebounds for a PIR average of 15.3. He has to face Johnathan Motley, who already earned MVP of the Round honors twice this season. Motley leads the EuroCup in scoring (22.5 ppg.) and PIR average (28.3), is making 78.0% of his two-point shots and also averaging 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks.

Turk Telekom Ankara (2-2) welcomes Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar (4-0) in a big showdown in Group A.

Turk Telekom takes on still-undefeated Lokomotiv

Turk Telekom hopes to remain undefeated at home. Aaron Harrison (15.0 ppg.) has been its top scorer followed by former Lokomotiv forward JaJuan Johnson (13.3 ppg.) and Audrey Dawkins (10.3 ppg.). Lokomotiv is the only undefeated team left in the 2021-22 7DAYS EuroCup. Johnathan Motley (22.5 ppg., 6.3 rpg.), Darius Thompson (14.5 ppg., 7.5 apg.) and Errick McCollum (19.0 ppg.) have been its main pillars until now. Both teams face each other for the first time since 2007 when Lokomotiv was still based in Rostov-on-Don.

Promitheas Patras point guard Abdul Gaddy may be in his first season in the 7DAYS EuroCup, but he is a well-traveled veteran with previous experience playing in Greece, Israel, Latvia and Italy, where he spent two seasons with one of this season’s top contenders, Virtus Segafredo Bologna. Gaddy’s perspective makes him a great voice to share his insights on Promitheas’s season and the EuroCup in general. Enjoy!

Abdul Gaddy, Promitheas: 'We're not taking anyone lightly'

Let me start by saying that it is great to be in the EuroCup. Joining Promitheas Patras was an amazing opportunity. I think the club really wanted to have me and I just look forward to the opportunity to get better here. I know the EuroCup is a high level of basketball, so I think it's just a stepping stone in my career. The EuroCup is exactly what I thought it was going to be. I think I had high expectations because I have been watching it for years. I really like the European style of basketball, so I've been watching it and have a lot of respect for all the guys in all the countries and how they can play. It's really high-level basketball and I was trying to adjust and get better each and every day.

"We have really high character guys on this team who really wanted to win."

I like the new format, too, with more guaranteed games for everyone. I think it is huge, not only for the EuroCup, but for all the teams. They get that high-level competition against each other. You get to get better even if you start it off slow, you can get better and win some games. And it also helps other teams. They have to be consistent against really good teams that are expected to win. It will be good competition this year.

We won our first game in Round 4 after a 0-3 start. I think that's anybody's mindset in any league that you go to when you go down, games turn into must-win ones, but we try not to look at it as pressure. We just have really high character guys on this team who really wanted to win. And I know that we wanted to get that first one just to kind of get the ball rolling for us and be like, "all right, now we can carry that momentum." So beating Bursaspor was really big for us. We came off a 30-point road loss, too, and I think that was obviously on the whole club across the board. We had some meetings. We talked about it and kind of left that there and we're like, you know, we're going to get better from this and we got to learn from it. And that's what we did. So that's just a tribute to the guys, the club, really helping us get back on board so we can get back on the right track.

At some point, we were struggling but Haris Giannopoulos stepped up big and allowed us to get the lead in the fourth quarter. He is that type of player, one of the best shooters you'll ever see. He can really get hot really fast and he can really get it going. So we expect that from him. We weren't surprised and I'm just happy for him. He's a great guy. When someone catches fire that way, it is contagious. You just feed off that energy and then everybody's just backing them and we wanted to get him to keep getting him the ball after that.

Even with that, the game went to overtime and we had to regroup. The main thing was staying in the moment. Sometimes you can forget we were up, we were down, then we went up and then they came back and tied it. And once things happened, we had to just come back to the moment and win the game now. We did a good job of that coming together, thinking "hey, here we are, let's go get it". And we did. We had some guys make some big plays and we came out with the win. So I think that's just the biggest thing. We just wanted to win no matter what.

We now play against ratiopharm Ulm on the road. The one thing that we know is that in this group, everybody's good. We're not taking anyone lightly. Every team is good, no matter who we play. And so we really have to bring our A-game every game and this team is really good, really talented across the board. It's going to take everything from us to go out and go over there and get a win.

"We just got to keep showing up every day, putting the work in, keep building off of this win."

After the break, we will go to Bologna to play against Virtus. Not only are they one of the top teams in Europe, but I played there before, so there are some friends that I'll be able to see, that I'll be happy to see, because I had some great memories there. But also, it's just going to be a great game and it'll be a great opportunity for us to go in there and play hard, and hopefully still a win. That's our plan. I'm actually not surprised to see them doing so well because I remember having some conversations with some of the management there. They are really good people and they had high expectations of going back to a high level in Europe, to the EuroLeague. I think a lot of people know that and they have really done a good job of investing in some of their good players. They play well together and have a great coaching staff. So you could tell where they are trying to head and they have made moves to do that.

It's very nice to live in Patras, it's a very nice city. It's very chill for me because I'm a family man, I have my wife and my son with me, so it's very nice for us. We live right by the water so we can go to the beach a lot. The club is really great. They're very professional. All the people take care of you. They have high-quality facilities. It's been great here so far. I have no complaints, so I've been lucky to be able to be a part of this. Promitheas has a great basketball academy, too, with a lot of good facilities as far as like for not only our club, but the young club as well. They have all the amenities they need, the medical staff for them... they have everything! It's great to see that they have that and then there are young players that they have coming up through there. They look really good. They are young guys, but they are just getting better each and every day, using all the resources that they need to get better. I'm a big fan of that because I know I see some of that in the United States. That's big-time to see that here in Patras, Greece.

It's a long EuroCup season, we have a lot of new players and it takes time to gel. We have a new coach, too, so it's going to take time with him as well. I think the main thing is we just got to keep showing up every day, putting the work in, keep building off of this win, do all the stuff we need to do - watch film, practice really hard and just keep building winning habits. And I think if we keep doing that, that only brings success for us. So we just got to keep working on that and build on the momentum we just had from our first EuroCup win.

Hamburg Towers forward Lukas Meisner was the star of his team’s maiden 7DAYS EuroCup victory last week. Afterward, he spoke to EuroCupBasketball.com about this season and more.

Lukas Meisner, Hamburg: 'This is the start of something'

Hamburg Towers made history in Round 4 by recording its first-ever win in the 7DAYS EuroCup, 96-100 over Lietkabelis Panevezys in Lithuania. One of its stars was forward Lukas Meisner, who came off the bench for 20 points, 7 rebounds and a PIR of 25. Meisner missed most of the 2020-21 season due to a shoulder injury and slowly but steadily is getting his rhythm back. Meisner is excited to be part of a young ambitious club eager to keep climbing spots in European basketball, as he said in this EuroCupBasketball.com interview. "Hamburg is such an ambitious city that it would be great to have a good basketball team, especially playing internationally in Hamburg," Meisner said. "So for the city, it's very important to have good sports teams and so the Towers just want to be one part of this successful city of sports."

**Hello, Lukas. Congratulations on the win against Lietkabelis. It was a back-and-forth game. What allowed you to win it?**

"Thanks. We had a great start. The first quarter was good. We came out with intensity and physicality, that's always our game plan, to be more active, bring more energy to the court than the opposite team. And it worked out well for a lot of stretches. But at some point, they were hitting good shots. We were like having some miscommunication, some backdoor cuts that we gave up. And so, at the end of the day, we always had an answer for their runs: even if it's a tough three-pointer that they hit, we had an answer and I'm glad we made it over the 40 minutes."

**It was also the first win for Hamburg Towers in its EuroCup history. How great was being a big part of this achievement?**

"It's great! It's always special to do something for the first time. It was special to play the first game internationally with Hamburg and also the first win. Obviously, it would be better to do it at home and celebrate with the fans. But we take every win that we get in this competition and we try to learn from every game. So it's just a great, great start for hopefully a better EuroCup's season. More to come!"

"It's always special to do something for the first time."

**Despite being 1-3, Hamburg is sixth in scoring and reached 90 points three times already. How fun is it to play for this team?**

"That's our playing style. We want to play offense by defense and we try to defend as aggressively as possible. We gave up way too many points, but usually, we like to just have more possessions than the opponent through crashing the boards, through playing aggressive defense. And that way, we can just turn it around quickly and score a lot of points, some easy points in transitions. That's where we want to score our most points. But we definitely have to work more on the defensive end and offense will come by itself."

**Pedro Calles, your coach, takes a lot of pride in his teams being very aggressive and physical. How is it to play for Pedro and what role did he play to bring you to play for Hamburg?**

"He is a young coach, but he is super ambitious. He teaches basketball. He doesn't only try to do certain things on a system level, but he tries to teach us, the players, to read the game, to have a feel for the game and to also play the game the right way, which is playing with a lot of energy, physicality and intensity. And it's about multiple efforts to help the team out in multiple sequences of the game, even in one position. And it was definitely one big argument for me to come to Hamburg because I have talked to him a couple of times in the past years and we were always discussing how I can evolve as a player. I thought it was the right decision to come to Hamburg now."

**This is the first EuroCup season for most of Hamburg’s players, too. How is it to play the EuroCup for the first time?**

"It is a great competition. It's also different to play that many games this year. With 10-team groups, you have so many games, which is great as a player. I have a little international basketball history with Bayreuth. They played in the Champions League in my first year as a pro and in the FIBA Europe Cup the second year. So I know what it's like to play internationally and have those double games a week. But the EuroCup is obviously a different level and it's way more challenging and you are going to have a great fight each night to get a couple of wins. So it's just great to play in this competition."

**We talked about Hamburg Towers before. It is a young club in a city with a rich basketball tradition. How does it feel to bring elite basketball back to the city?**

"That's the goal for the long run. I think we have a lot to learn. We have a lot of space to grow in certain aspects, not only on the court and the basketball side. Hamburg is such an ambitious city that it would be great to have a good basketball team, especially playing internationally in Hamburg. So for the city, it's very important to have good sports teams, and so the Towers just want to be one part of this successful city of sports. So I think there's a lot more room to grow. But I think this season also is the start of something."

"It's taking that momentum and that fun experience that we have playing and winning to the next game."

**You suffered a serious shoulder injury. How was the recovery process? How difficult was it to shoot again and get back on track?**

"Yes, it was a terrible, terrible injury just because it was my shooting arm, too. So I had to take a long time off and find other ways to develop my game even when I was injured. So if even if it's film or working on my left hand or whatever, but it was a long process. I'm kind of lucky and unlucky to have this injury at this specific moment, which gave me enough time to recover to play this season. But obviously, after eight months of not playing basketball, it was a challenge to start back up where I left. And of course, in a new environment, new organization routine, it's even difficult if you're not injured. But so at this point, I'm just happy to play again. I'm just happy to practice each practice. I don't take anything for granted and try to enjoy every part of it."

**Up next, it's Boulogne Metropolitans 92 at home, a team that reached the EuroCup playoffs last year. You come to this game after your first win. Is it one of the most exciting games so far this season?**

"Yes. I mean, right now it's about taking this momentum that we created not only in the EuroCup, but also in the league play. We had five wins in a row in the domestic league. So it's taking that momentum and that fun experience that we have playing and winning to the next game. And it's an important game. Winning at home is important, but also to climb the standings a little bit would be important to get that important win."

**In your opinion, which teams are the favorites to win the EuroCup this year?**

"I think that Partizan is, of course, one of the high-quality teams in the EuroCup, with the ambition to play EuroLeague. It was a great experience playing against them in the first EuroCup game, which obviously set the bar and the tone for the rest of the season. But other than that, I think that Valencia and Virtus Bologna always have a good chance in the other group to succeed. But right now, let's stick with Partizan just because of the experience with the head coach, but also with the players, then that can make the step at the right time, even though they lost last week, to push all the way to the championship and win it."

**What would make it a good season for you, personally, and for Hamburg Towers?**

"For me personally, humble standards, to say I want to get out of the season healthy and playing each game, which would help me just to gain back my rhythm and my confidence. Obviously, I try to help the team out as much as I can with becoming a better defensive player. I think last year I showed that I'm capable of scoring offensively throughout the season. And so now it was important for me to create the aspect of defense for me and become a better defensive player to play at the higher-level night in and night out. But for the team, it's trying to continue the ongoing trend with the club and the organization. It's obviously making the push in the domestic league to be there and compete for the championship. But with the EuroCup, it's just taking that experience and converting that also to the domestic league. But we take it as a process to try to see game by game and try to learn and try to make this process to be the best team at the end of the season. At this point, we are 1-3, so we have to look at the next games and see how they are going. And then we can think about the playoffs and the win-or-go-home games. But obviously in sports, if you have one game, you have one chance. Some magic can happen, and I think that's a great, great opportunity to make something special happen."

The odds have been in the team’s favor so far. Lietkabelis has a 2-2 record in Group A with victories against Slask Wroclaw and MoraBanc Andorra. It also looked Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar’s super squad in the eye in a game that was decided in the final seconds in Panevezys.

**[MORE...](https://www.eurohoops.net/en/trademarks/1270764/gediminas-orelik-the-face-and-leader-of-a-reformed-lietkabelis/)**

Lietkabelis Panevezys is competing in its fourth 7DAYS EuroCup season, fresh and polished and with lots of tricks hiding up Coach Nenad Canak’s sleeves. The Lithuanian team underwent an “extreme makeover” this offseason with many departures and additions, which raised questions about Lietkabelis's chances to withstand the strongest EuroCup season to date.

Trademarks by Eurohoops: Gediminas Orelik, the face and leader of a reformed Lietkabelis

Three games this week feature teams who compete in the same domestic competitions and another has three former players coming home. Let's take a look at those stories and more of what to watch for in this week's games.


This Week's Games: Ready for regional rivalries

This week we have the final round of games before 7DAYS EuroCup teams go on a three-week break. The slate of 10 games includes three clashes of teams who already played this season, albeit in domestic competition, as well as a head-to-head clash between the last two winless teams. Let's take a look at things to watch for in this week's games.

### Regional derbies

It's the week of regional clashes. The one such game in Group A is between a pair of 3-1 teams: Joventut Badalona vs. MoraBanc Andorra. The two played a month ago in the Spanish League action and Andorra won 73-79 in Badalona behind 13-for-19 three-point shooting and 26 points from Amine Noua. Joventut will try to make sure Andorra does not repeat such an offensive showing this time. Joventut sports the EuroCup's best defense, holding opponents to 61.8 points, and has yet to allow more than 68 points in a single game. Andorra, which averaged 88.0 points in the first three games, showed it can also win a low-scoring affair when it edged Partizan NIS Belgrade 61-60 in a thriller last week.

The opening game of Group B will be the Italian derby between Virtus Segafredo Bologna (2-2) and Umana Reyer Venice (2-2). It is only November, but this will be the third time this season these two teams face off. The first two games were in Venice, where Virtus edged Reyer 71-72 in their Italian SuperCup semifinals in September and 65-84 in their Italian League game in early October. Coming off a home loss against Valencia Basket, Milos Teodosic and co. will need to make it three out of three, but Reyer will be dangerous as it comes into the game without much pressure.

Then on Wednesday in Group B, Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (3-1) hosts Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (2-2) in the Montenegrin capital. Not only do the two sides know each other oh-too-well from their Adriatic League battles, and Buducnost already beat Cedevita 79-84 on the road in their domestic clash in late October, but they also played a do-or-die EuroCup game last season in the Top 16 finale in which Buducnost beat Cedevita in Podgorica 79-66. The victory booked Buducnost a place in the quarterfinals while eliminating Cedevita. In that game, Melvin Ejim led Buducnost with a career-high 20 points and 8 rebounds. Ejim is now wearing a Cedevita uniform and will go against his former teammates.

### Challenging unbeaten Loko in Turkish capital

After losing a game last week on the road at Joventut Badalona, the head coach of Turk Telekom Ankara (2-2), Burak Goren, finished his opening statement at the post-game press conference with the following words: "It is an away game for us against a very difficult team… We fought all the way through. We lost. Next week, we are going to win on our home court."

What makes this little guarantee intriguing is that Turk Telekom welcomes the only unbeaten team, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, in the Round 5 opener on Tuesday. Coach Goren obviously has plenty of confidence in this team, which has Aaron Harrison (15.0 ppg.), JaJuan Johnson (13.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg.) and Octavius Ellis (5.8 rpg., 2.3 bpg.) playing in main roles. However, they will have to be at their offensive best this Tuesday. Turk Telekom is averaging 72.0 points per game, which is on average 21.8 points fewer than what the Lokomotiv offense is scoring. Johnathan Motley (22.5 ppg., 6.3 rpg.), Errick McCollum (19.0 ppg.) and Darius Thompson (14.5 ppg., 7.5 apg.) have been unstoppable so far. It will be fun to see if Coach Goren has something extra prepared when Loko comes to town.

### Belgrade homecomings

Partizan NIS Belgrade (3-1) and Lietkabelis Panevezys (2-2) have never played each other before, but there will be plenty of familiarity all around when the Lithuanian team visits Stark Arena in Belgrade on Wednesday night. Lietkabelis head coach Nenad Canak, center Djordje Gagic and point guard Nikola Radicevic all spent extensive time with the Serbian powerhouse.

Before he took over the Lietkabelis bench in late 2018, Coach Canak had been first an assistant with Partizan, then a head coach in the 2017-18 season. Canak also started his professional playing career with Partizan and played there for four years, including a pair of EuroLeague seasons between 2001 and 2003. Gagic had two stints with Partizan, where he first played between 2012 and 2015 and then again in the 2018-19 season. Radicevic grew up with Partizan and played in the youth categories for four years before leaving the team when he turned 18. He never played professionally there, and unlike fan-favorites Gagic and Canak, Radicevic might not get the warmest of welcomes from the Partizan die-hards since also played for archrival Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade for the first part of the 2017-18 campaign.

### The winless collide, looking to end their struggles

The only two teams yet to win a game this season are Dolomiti Energia Trento and Slask Wroclaw. Trento has lost each of its four games by at least 12 points, and by an average margin of 17.8 points. Slask has lost three of four by more than 10 points and all four by an average margin of 15.0 points. Now, the two go head-to-head in Group A.

It's hard to remember when a team struggled offensively as much as Trento has in the first four games. The team ranks last in scoring (67.5 ppg.), assists (12.0 apg.), two-point shooting (46.7%), three-point shooting (26.1%) and free throw accuracy (56.4%). Improving in any of those areas would give the team a better chance against Slask, which has had its own struggles and is coming off a 30-point loss against Lokomotiv.

Both teams will see this game as an opportunity to right the course. Whoever wins will get a much-needed boost, while the losing side will be buried a bit deeper at the bottom, and left as the last winless team this season. It turns this game into one with high stakes, and it will be interesting to see how Trento and Slask battle it out on Wednesday night.

Joventut Badalona has a reputation of producing homegrown talent due to its second-to-none youth teams structure. Not only does Joventut bring out some of the best talents in European basketball, but it also takes pride of giving them playing time in the club's senior squad. That is not just true of well-rounded veterans like Pau Ribas, Guillem Vives, Ferran Bassas and Albert Ventura, but also applies to young, upcoming talents aiming to reach the next level. Joel Parra, a 2.02-meter 21-year-old forward, is one such young player who is slowly but steadily becoming one of the team's main pillars. He proved it against Partizan NIS Belgrade in Round 3 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season, leading his team with 15 points in over 30 minutes.

Joel Parra joins long list of Joventut's homegrown greats

Parra grew up in nearby Vallromanes and the fact that his mother played at Joventut allowed helped assure that he would eventually joined the club's prestigious youth team structure.

"When my parents decided to sign me up for basketball, I started to play in a local club. Then they wanted me to play for a more serious club, with serious practices," he recalls. "Both of my parents played basketball, but my mom played at a higher level and was with Joventut for one or two years. She had the contact of the youth team's coordinator, so I came to do a test. I was chosen to join Joventut in the middle of a season. Joventut is well-known for taking care of its young players and a lot of kids go to tryouts at the end of the season. But I made it, and I am still here."

"Joventut is well-known for taking care of its young players."

Parra, who is left-handed, started shooting with his right hand at a young age. Joventut's coaches detected the problem and decided to make him go left-handed, taking his game several steps forward. Parra explains the unusual story.

"I am left-handed but when I started playing basketball, I started to shoot with my right hand. It wasn't exactly that, but I started the shooting movement with my right hand. When I was 14 or 15, my coaches saw that my shot was not effective enough and since I was left-handed, they thought it was strange that I shot with my right hand," he said. "David Jimeno and Jordi Marti, who worked with young players at that time, proposed the change and I bought into the idea right away. I was sure they wouldn't say it lightly and saw an opporunity to improve as a player. It was a long process with Pau Del Tio, shooting in the annex courts for two years, trying to see how it went, and it is paying off right now."

The annex courts are part of Joventut's success. These courts are inside Palau Olimpic de Badalona, where kids have the chance to see their local heroes every day, dreaming on being promoted and finally to get to play in the main court.

"Young players practice in annex courts surrounding the main court, in the same building. It is true that when you grew up, when you reach the cadet and junior ages, you start practicing in the main court. When you arrive to the arena, you always see a lot of kids practicing at all times, mainly in the annex courts," Parra said. "It is not just players: Joventut brings out talented players, but also talented coaches. Carles Duran is with the team now but there are many others out there. Most of the coaches in the first team starting their careers here in Badalona, too. It is something special."

Parra was one of the kids that saw their basketball idols pass by every day, but his main reference growing up played in a different team, and was one of the best left-handed small forwards in European basketball history.

"When I was a kid and practiced in the annex courts, I tried to see Pau Ribas, who is one of my teammates now, Ricky Rubio and Rudy Fernandez," he told us. "But growing up, when I started to improve, people told me to keep an eye on Pete Mickeal, because of his playing style. He could play at the 'three' and 'four' spots, moved really well without the ball, could also put the ball on the floor, rebounded well and could play in the low post, too."

Slowly but steadily, Parra is getting experience and earning a big role in the team. Being surrounded by players who have been there, in the same situation, in the same exact club, definitely helps.

"It is very important to have veterans that know what Joventut is all about. We keep a core of eight or nine players who grew up here, and that gives us a plus," Parra said. "Having veterans like Pau (Ribas), Ferran (Bassas), Ante (Tomic) or Guillem (Vives), who just came from Valencia but knows the club well. Also Albert Ventura, who has been here his whole life. He knows what Joventut means, how the club works and what people want, especially the fans. For me, it is a learning process in games and practices. We, the young players, must absorb all the knowledge and experience they have to be like them one day."

Parra made his first team debut in the 2017-18 campaign, and played his first EuroCup game when Joventut returned to the competition in 2019. Regarding his first EuroCup season, he remembers a Top 16 game against Tofas Bursa, exceptionally played at Palau Blaugrana. Joventut rallied to beat Tofas 88-84 behind a career-high 37 points from Klemen Prepelic, but Parra played a key role with 11 points -- his first double-digit scoring performance -- in 13 minutes.

"Yes, it was important for me," he recalls. "Everything went well. I was playing regularly but it was my chance to say, 'Here I am, and I can play at this level'. I remember I hit 3 of 3 three-pointers that night, and helped the team win an important game."

"Young players must absorb all the knowledge and experience."

Asked about how the EuroCup help young players get better, Parra did not hesitate about it;

"The EuroCup definitely helps young players to improve. Playing in two competitions is important: if you only focus on one competition, especially if it is a tough one like the Spanish League, there are less chances for young players to be on the court and prove their value. So playing in two competitions is important. I am trying to make the most out of the playing time I get in order to keep learning. The EuroCup is very physical, very demanding, and that is always useful for young players."

Parra is fully established as a full-time starter on a EuroCup contender and is growing on and off the court. The next step should be passing his driving license exam so that he doesn't have to be driven to practices it.

"I am working on it. I took the test twice and failed by a small margin!" he laughs. "I am doing the paperwork to try again as soon as I can. In the end, it is complicated because the exams are in the morning and it is not easy to find the right time due to our practices and trips. But I will keep trying, and I hope to get lucky next time."

Although it's far from the norm and well below hero-ball levels, several teams in the 7DAYS EuroCup are leaning heavily on their stars to do the heavy lifting offensively.

Stats review: Heavy-lifting stars

### High-Gravity Matchup
Round 4 saw two of the EuroCup's three remaining unbeaten teams suffer their first defeats of the regular season. Buducnost VOLI Podgorica fell on the road to Umana Reyer Venice while Partizan NIS Belgrade came up short against host MoraBanc Andorra. Andorra finished with 10 dunks – that's more than eight teams have for the entire season so far – to with that low-scoring affair by a single point.

### Shouldering the burden
Throughout the EuroCup, a total of 240 players have used at least one possession so for this season. A third of those players have used between eight and 12 possessions per game. Another 15 different players are using an average of more than 15 possessions per game through the first four rounds. That means that a vast majority of teams rely on balance across several key options more than they do on one individual scorer.

That is not to say that there are not players carrying massive burdens offensively in the EuroCup. Nor does it suggest that efficiency is an issue for their teams.

However, just five players have used over 20% of their team's possessions in the early part of this seasons. Filling critical roles for their respective teams, these players represent the upper boundary of what teams expect from their stars offensively from night to night in the modern EuroCup.

Semaj Christon is not only this season's highest volume player by ratio for the EuroCup's fastest-paced team, but he ranks fifth in assists per game as well. Like most primary ball-handlers, he has created extensively out of ball-screen situations this season, but Christon's frequent one-on-one opportunities set him apart from the average high-volume scoring guard.

Errick McCollum is one of the top scorers in EuroCup history, sitting third at present on the all-time points-scored list with 1,298. Like Christon, he does a lot of damage operating out of pick-and-rolls, but his versatility as a jump shooter and ability to score efficiently running off screens by using hand offs and sliding off the ball propels his usage.

Will Cummings has no shortage of experience at this level, but his usage has risen to new heights with Metropolitans. Has ranks second in the EuroCup in points scored operating out of pick-and-rolls as he's gotten his pull-up shots to fall at an impressive rate this season.

Allerik Freeman is the outlier on this list as his usage has been split evenly between isolations, ball screens, and spot-ups. He has scored at an impressive rate whether attacking one-on-one or shooting the lights out when spacing the floor, and has done a lot of everything for a Frutti Extra Bursaspor team that has thrived on the offensive end.

Like Freeman, Jaka Blazic has split time on and off the ball, but his ability to score opportunistically in transition is what allows him to fill a uniquely high-volume roll.

While all of these players have plenty of help, as no team in the EuroCup truly embraces the principles of hero-ball, there is something to be said for what the burden these players carry mean for their respective teams beyond the norms associated with being a first option.

### Looking Ahead to Round 5

Joventut Badalona faces off with MoraBanc Andorra in next week's only clash between 3-1 teams. The winner of that game will gain an early degree of separation in what should be a demanding race at the top of Group A. Joventut remains the EuroCup's top defense on paper, but Andorra is coming off a very impressive effort in their own right, having held Partizan to 60 points in Round 4.