Top 16, Game 6, Full throttle

What position will we finish this year? 

We will know very soon!

It's been another tough week for many, as the top players failed to get big numbers.

Some of the "safe" cards in our team did pretty bad last week as well.

The team gathered 136 points with Micov injured and McCaleb, Krstic and Lorbek very far away from their usual scores...

On the positive side, all changes were successful. Diamantidis, Navarro and Hendrix scored very well and way above the scores of the players they replaced (Sloukas, Spanoulis, Andersen)

Here are the choices for this week:

Diamantidis His good performance last week was not enough for Panathinaikos to win. Now they play for first place in Russia. Diamantidis is always there when the team needs a leader. He stays.

McCaleb His little slip-up last week is just a glitch I think. Plays against bad defenders Real, whom he punished in the first game with 36 rating. He is another keeper.

Navarro His performance has shot up in the Top 16 and there is even more space for him with Eidson out there are 20-25 mins of play time that need to be filled with someone else. La Bomba is the natural choice.

Spanoulis (Micov out) Micov injured and Spanoulis comes back in. His injury did throw him a bit out of rhythm. I am also afraid that his performance will follow last years falling curve. But, he is Olympiacos' leader this year. He knows it and I believe he will show it in a game-final for the Reds.

Langford has become the major scorer for Maccabi, he averages 16.4 rating in the Top 16 with 15 points per game. He plays against Barca's best defence but in a non-interest game, as both teams know their final position already (1st and 2nd). Its going to be a relaxed game I think.

Bojan Bogdanovic (Siskauskas out) Siska, did a 7.7 last week I expected him to do a 10. This week I need someone who can do better and has a bigger motive. Bojan comes in to bring the extra push. He has done a good season. Doing badly only against tough defences like the -1 against Panathinaikos. I believe he will rise up to the challenge this week.

Hendrix was a good bet last week. His performance in the Top 16 has been impressive. I was going to change him though if I had another change only due to the fact that he plays against really tough defence (Barca). Hopefully we will see open defences in a game without qualifying importance.

Lorbek Despite the bad performance last week I will keep him because, if the last game was any indication. he seems to be no match for Macabbi's tall guys. 

Krstic. 11 is very bad indeed against the tall guys of Olympiacos. But truth to be said he was not needed in the last quarter. So he stays,  I believe he can still do big numbers against Efes.

Banic (Kirilenko out). Please don't shout "Blasphemy!!!" Kazlauskas is a very experienced coach. He used the second team for practically all the 4th quarter against Olympiacos. I think he will protect his AK47. Why risk an injury when you will need him the most in the play-offs? Banic is a decent tall guy, Unicaja is one of the worst defences, and Bilbao is very thirsty this year!

And the team now looks like this:

Top 16, Week 5, The silence of the guns...

 

What a week before the break!
What a disater!!

The team with the most points gathered 50 points less than the one 2 games ago. Only 190 points.
The team dived to 47th place!
And the AK47 fell silent!
Well that battle was lost but we still got 2 games before the end of the war...

This week the roster changes again drastically. With players coming back and new faces coming in.
Changed this team far too many times but this is the final result.

• Diamantidis (Sloukas Out) last weeks bet did not work out. Sloukas is playing against CSKA this week and I will go back to Diamantidis as he is playing at home, on a very important game for this season and after a defeat by Olympiakos for the Greek League. Is it going to be Redemption Song for him?
• McCaleb keeps performing brilliantly he is now 20 credits ahead of the second PG on the list, Diamantidis. His performances have been great with another 22 Rating last week.
• Navarro (Spanoulis out) 7.7 from a man that usually treats us with 20's is very poor indeed... I will keep him out this week. Not only he plays against CSKA that found smart ways to keep him out last time. But Olympiakos has little to gain from a victory against the Russians tonight. The make or break game is next week against GS. Navarro on the other hand is coming up in the past few weeks after an average (for his standards) season. Is La Bomba back in business?
• Micov was a bit of a disaster last week. But I will not move him. He still sees 30 minutes per game and has proved himself against strong defences (Barcelona/Sienna at home). He can do over 12 this week. 
• Langford did 14 again this week, just like last week. He has an important role in the team, he sees 30-35 mins in every game since Farmar left, taking a lot of shots and scoring points. He is another keeper.
• Siskauskas Siska, did a 7 last week but he plays at home against injury-troubled Olympiakos at home. I expect him to do a 10.
• Batiste (Andersen out) Andersen plays against a strong D, and I needed someone with low credits. Dorsey is a great vaue for money. Batiste is playing at against tall guys he knows (Fotsis, Bourousis) in a crucial game for the Greens and his performance has been improving in the past few weeks.
• Hendrix (Andersen out) Andersen plays against a strong D, and I needed someone with low credits. Hendrix (or Batiste) is a good alternative at a lower cost (10 less credits). He has been seeing solid time after Farmar left the team and his performance has been way above his average (10) in the TOP16 at 17.5.
• Lorbek Solid throughout this season, and a 16 last week. Very effective player, the game is crucial for his team. I think he'll do good.
• Krstic. Did a terrible 4 last week, I dont think he'll have any problems against the 2.04m and 2.03m of Olympiakos' tall guys (Except the odd block by Dorsey!). He is another keeper.
• Kirilenko. AK shot blanks last week. Just 11 rating is nothing for the man that has 30 avg rating. I think CSKA will have an easy W against Olympiakos who is more interested in next weeks game. AK47 stays on the team. 

And the team now looks like this: