FIBA Europe Cup - Wednesday Focus: Week 3

MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) – After a relatively calm Tuesday evening with only four games, FIBA Europe Cup will go full throttle on Wednesday, with the remaining 13 games taking place throughout the day.

For an action-packed Wednesday, we shift our focus to some of the teams who will be hoping to add their first wins of the season in the FIBA Europe Cup before the midway point of the competition.

After an unsuccessful start of the season, TLU/Kalev will try to cause an upset against Vytautas in Lithuania, while Brussels Basketball will try to snap the cold spell at home against SL Benfica.

Vytautas vs TLU/Kalev | 17:30 CET

Two Baltic clubs on the opposite ends of the Group I standings will meet in one of the earlier tip-offs of the day, as Vytautas Prienai-Birstonas host TLU/Kalev in Lithuania.

The start of the FIBA Europe Cup season was not kind to the Estonian club who suffered a 70-58 against BC Mures away from home. Meanwhile, Vytautas went on to dismantle the Romanian side 99-61 in the second week of action in the three-team group.

At this early stage of the season, the Prienai-Birstonas club leads the league in scoring after a stellar showing in its first game, while TLU/Kalev are currently last on the list.

While most of the evidence might indicate that the Baltic clash could be even more lopsided than the previous games in the group, TLU/Kalev will be doing its best to prove otherwise.

Having made only 37.2% from the field and 22.2% from three-point range in the season-opener, the Tallinn club has plenty of space for improvement in their second attempt.

Vytautas, on the other hand, torched Mures with 99 points on 31 assists after running away to an astronomic lead very early in the game. TLU/Kalev will need a good start to the game to knock the wind out of their usually streaky opponents’ sails.

Veteran guard Tomas Delininkaitis will undoubtedly be the player to watch on the Vytautas roster, having recently picked up Player of the Week honours in Lithuania. The guard did not dress up for the game against BC Mures, but should make his debut on Wednesday.

It is more difficult to pinpoint a single go-to player for TLU/Kalev, but Jahmal Jones, Janis Vahter and Khyle Marshall all scored in double figures in the season-opener and will potentially be the key figures once again.

Brussels Basketball v SL Benfica | 20:30 CET

It may be premature to call any game must-win not even halfway through the FIBA Europe Cup Regular Season, but Brussels Basketball do need to start racking up victories in Group A if they want to have hopes of reaching the Second Round of the competition.

Still winless in Europe after two weeks of international basketball, the team from the Belgian capital, like a number of other clubs in the FIBA Europe Cup, is still searching for its first victory.

However, unlike many others, they have been unlucky so far, more than underperforming, losing the first two games against Alba Fehervar and Elan Chalon by single digits on both occasions.

SL Benfica scored its first victory in dramatic fashion in an overtime thriller against Alba Fehervar at home in Lisbon on opening night, but suffered a 90-76 loss in Chalon-sur-Saone.

What should give Brussels Basketball hope is their strong run in the Belgian EuroMillions Basketball League, where they are third in the standings with a 5-1 record.

Successful play of Brandon Ubel, Dino Pita and Jeremy Simmons is also encouraging, but Benfica have a couple of aces down their own sleeve as well.

A better offensive rebounding team than their Belgian counterparts, the Portuguese club creates more possessions than their opponents both on the boards and with steals.

Damian Hollis leads Benfica in scoring with 17.5 points per game in the first two contests and Raven Barber has also been making solid contributions with 16.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

FIBA