Round of 16 preview: Proximus Spirou v Nanterre 92
CHARLEROI (FIBA Europe Cup) - Belgian side Proximus Spirou will try to take advantage of Nanterre 92's recent drop in form in the first round of the FIBA Europe Cup Play-Offs.
CHARLEROI (FIBA Europe Cup) – Among all FIBA Europe Cup Round of 16 pairings, the tie between Proximus Spirou and Nanterre 92 stands out as the closest one geographically, with merely 300 kilometers between the Belgian city of Charleroi and Nanterre in France.
In spite of winning their last two Basketball Champions League games against Zielona Gora and Szolnoki Olaj, the Charleroi side were too far behind in Group E to challenge for a ticket to the Play-Offs and therefore had to settle for a place in the FIBA Europe Cup knock-out stages.
Meanwhile, after a stellar showing and unbeaten run in the Regular Season, Nanterre cooled down somewhat in the Second Round of the FIBA Europe Cup. Having finished behind Kormend in the Group N standings, the French side qualified to the next stage of the competition as one of the two best-ranked second-placed teams.
In spite of picking up a couple of losses and losing the aura of invincibility, Nanterre still have to be taken very seriously, with a star-studded cast of Chris Warren, Heiko Schaffartzik and Spencer Butterfield.
QUALIFICATION de @Nanterre92 en 8e de Finale de @FIBAEuropeCup ! #WeAreJSF 🏀🇫🇷 RV demain pour connaître notre adversaire ! #Basketball pic.twitter.com/ZAnGpoqJKD
— Nanterre 92 (@Nanterre92) January 25, 2017
Butterfield leads the team in scoring with averages of 12.9 points per game, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists, Warren collects 12.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, while Schaffartzik chips in with 12.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists.
Although the backcourt carries most of the offensive duties, Pascal Donnadieau's front line has plenty of firepower as well in the shape of Mathias Lessort, Mykal Riley, Brian Conklin and Talib Zanna.
DONT TRY THIS AT HOME ✋🏾🚫RIGHT FOOT RIGHT HAND WINDMILL..... After Practice Fun! Getting My Bounce Back!!! JR Smith Jr. 💪🏾💪🏾 pic.twitter.com/fqeGjfBuJr
— Dj Richardson (@djrich32) January 31, 2017
In a way, Charleroi have a similar structure with backcourt players Jevohn Shepherd, D.J. Richardson and Alexandre Libert standing out from the rest of the field as the key contributors.
Brandon Bowman's departure to Israel left a hole in the roster, but it has to a large extent been successfully filled by Ioann Iarochevitch, who has seen a considerable uptick in minutes and has been productive with the extra opportunities he has been getting, reaching double figures in the last three games.
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