Round 2 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season is highlighted by a showdown between the competition’s two most recent champions, both of whom are looking to bounce back from defeat in last week’s openers. Here’s your guide to this week’s action.

### Efes and CSKA seek to bounce back

There's no doubt about the big game of Round 2, with the two most recent champions going head to head when 2019 winners CSKA Moscow travel to reigning champ Anadolu Efes Istanbul. It is also a key bounce-back game for both teams after they started the season with disappointing defeats. Efes suffered from a terrible opening quarter to eventually go down 82-69 against Real Madrid, while CSKA had exactly the opposite experience as it crumbled following an excellent first 10 minutes to lose 84-74 at AX Armani Exchange Milan.

A key factor could be the dominance of the paint, because CSKA has been left short-handed in that department by the continuation of Nikola Milutinov's terrible luck with injuries. Despite its eventual defeat, a bright spot for Efes in Madrid was a strong debut performance from Filip Petrusev (17 points) so the champs’ new big man will look for another big role in Istanbul on Friday.

### Classic showdown in Piraeus
A pair of Round 1’s most impressive winners square off on Friday night in a classic clash of European basketball when Olympiacos Piraeus hosts Real Madrid. Los Blancos started a new era in impressive fashion by downing Efes, as new signings Thomas Heurtel and Guerschon Yabusele led the way with a team-high 15 points apiece. Olympiacos is also in new territory following the summer retirement of Vassilis Spanoulis and the Reds showed they are ready to base its challenge on brutal defense with a thumping 75-50 opening night victory over Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Friday’s meeting will feature a battle between two of Europe’s biggest big men, with new Olympiacos signing Moustapha Fall (2.18 meters) going up against the phenomenal Walter Tavares (2.20 meters), who started the season in menacing fashion with a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds, plus 2 blocked shots. Their confrontation inside the paint will not be one for the faint-hearted.

### UNICS and Monaco in EuroCup Finals rematch

Competition newcomer AS Monaco made a very assured start to life in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, comfortably downing Panathinaikos OPAP Athens to grab its first win in style. Now the men from the principality have an opportunity to make another piece of club history by gaining their first EuroLeague road victory with a long trip east to take on UNICS Kazan on Friday.

The game is a repeat of last season’s EuroCup Finals, which saw Monaco crowned champions after winning home and away games by very small margins, 89-87 and 83-86. Rob Gray was the key performer on that occasion, with the Monaco guard scoring 23 and 25 points to earn the EuroCup Finals MVP award and he should be available to make his EuroLeague debut after missing last week’s win over Panathinaikos with injury. UNICS is still bruising from its 69-70 Round 1 loss against Zenit St Petersburg, so it will have double motivation to derail Monaco’s bright start and gain revenge for the finals defeat in April.

### Clash of collective wills between Bayern and Barca
FC Barcelona – last season’s regular-season standings leader – made a mighty impressive start to the new campaign, showing a team-first approach to easily overcome ALBA Berlin. That game saw Sarunas Jasikevicius give at least 13 minutes of playing time to all 12 of his players, all of whom responded by scoring at least 2 points and grabbing at least 1 rebound, with the impressive league-high tally of 28 assists coming from nine different players for good measure.

That kind of collective effort was the chief factor in FC Bayern Munich’s surge into last season’s playoffs and Andrea Trinchieri’s men again showed their team mentality to overcome several injury absentees and put up a strong fight at Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in Round 1, eventually losing 69-68. The German team will look to put that frustration to good use when it hosts Barca on Thursday night and will hope to recover some of the missing players whose absence in Israel effectively forced Trinchieri to play with eight men.

### Will home court count again as Greens host Fenerbahce?
The home team has nearly always prevailed in recent meetings between Panathinaikos OPAP Athens and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, with seven of their last eight games taken by the host. That trend could be tested this week, though, with Fenerbahce heading to the Greek capital on the back of a morale-boosting first win under new coach Sasa Djordjevic – who was in charge of the Greens during the 2015-16 season – while Panathinaikos suffered a worryingly comprehensive road loss at Monaco.

The Greens will look for much better performances from two key players in the backcourt. Summer signing Kendrick Perry shot 0-of-10 from the field (0-6 on two-pointers and 0-4 on threes), while veteran leader Nemanja Nedovic also suffered a night to forget as he also scored zero points by going 0-of-3 from two-point range and 0-of-4 from beyond the arc. Panathinaikos will desperately hope that bad night proves to be a one-off as it seeks to get off the mark against Fenerbahce on Thursday.

Round 2 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season is highlighted by a showdown between the competition’s two most recent champions. Here’s your guide to this week’s action.

This Week's Games: A clash of champions

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv added depth to its backcourt by signing veteran point guard Oded Brandwein on three-month contract. Brandwein (1.79 meters, 33 years old) has been training with Maccabi for the past two weeks and even played in a preseason cup game. Last season he played for Hapoel Holon and averaged 5.4 points and 1.6 assists per game in a reserve role. Brandwein has also played for Bnei Hasharon, Hapoel Afula, Gilboa Galil, Nahariya, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Maccabi Rishon LeZion, Maccabi Haifa, Nes Ziona and Maccabi Ashdod in his native Israel as well as for Kotwica Kolobrzeg, Czarni Slupsk and AZS Koszalin in Poland. 

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="iw" dir="rtl">עדכון לגבי ברנדוויין ולסור &gt;&gt; <a href="https://t.co/RXKmMhGlF2">https://t.co/RXKmMhGlF2</a> <a href="https://t.co/E9t4qAfBSb">pic.twitter.com/E9t4qAfBSb</a></p>&mdash; Maccabi Tel Aviv BC (@MaccabitlvBC) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaccabitlvBC/status/1444943331071602688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Maccabi adds Brandwein to backcourt

Turkish Airlines EuroLeague offenses have a complicated relationship with on- and off-ball efficiency even though the competition's prowess at the latter is unmatched in elite world basketball.

### High-Gravity Matchups:
After just one round, there are few takeaways from looking at the standings, but the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague schedule is often unforgiving to teams that do not exploit every opportunity. While eight of nine host teams capitalized on home-court advantage in Round 1 – most in convincing fashion – opening week featured several marquee matchups, as well. 2021 Final Four teams AX Armani Exchange Milan and CSKA Moscow played to nearly the same result as they did in last spring's Third Place Game while Real Madrid scored a 13-point win over reigning champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul.

Neither game likely moves the needle for these clubs, but the 2020-21 season saw the line for postseason qualification drawn distinctly at 20 wins. That daunting total is the equivalent of going undefeated at home and also winning 3 road games. Setting benchmarks like that is a dramatic oversimplification of the ebbs and flows of a EuroLeague season, but if the standard for playoff qualification approaches to the historically high near-60% victory rate of last season, these early games between heavy hitters may hold major significance six months from now.

### Minding the Gap
Just as the adage "every game matters" means a lot in the EuroLeague these days, so too does the colloquial term "good look."

Synergy tags 11 different play types. Throwing out transition, miscellaneous, and put-back possessions to focus on what teams tend to do in half-court situations, the remaining eight play types can be conveniently split into two groups: on-the-ball, shot-creation situations like pick-and-rolls or post-ups; and off-the-ball situations like cuts or spot-ups. In essence, on-the-ball covers what happens when teams lean on their shot creators to score, while off-the-ball counts mostly assisted "good looks." The graph below compares the efficiency of on- and off-ball actions over the last 14 EuroLeague campaigns.

While producing this graph for every elite league in the world would reveal a similarly steady, significant gap in efficiency between on- and off-ball actions, what stands out about the EuroLeague is the size of the gap.

Last season 56% of all first-shot half-court possessions came in off-ball situations. They were converted for 1.13 points per possession – 0.28 points per possession more than on-ball possessions – the largest differential of any high-level competition in the world.

The reason for this gap is simple: the EuroLeague's off-ball efficiency is unmatched. What are often described as "good looks" are probably better described as "great looks" in the EuroLeague. The relevance of that to the league landscape is somewhat complicated. Many of the best off-ball looks teams generate require an on-ball component to distort the defense enough to create them. Indeed, reigning champion Efes has drawn a blueprint for success by taking the numbers into account.

Efes ranked first in off-ball efficiency last season with an astounding 1.22 points per possession, however a league-low 54% of their possessions came in off-ball situations. What made last year's champions so dangerous was that they averaged 0.94 points per on-ball possession, as well – the highest mark in recent history. Despite not creating many off-ball possessions compared to the rest of the league, Efes's balance in terms of efficiency made that far less relevant than it was for everyone else.

This on-ball versus off-ball comparison takes for granted much of what leads to both types of possessions. Even so, the overwhelming value in the EuroLeague of the spot-ups, cuts, off-screens-and-rolls that make up off-ball situations puts an offense's ability to earn "good lucks" under an especially powerful microscope. But it also adds perspective to the success of the teams that thrive without so many "good looks."

Stats Review: Scoring efficiency on and off the ball

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There was high anticipation at Palau Blaugrana on Friday as more than 3,000 fans gathered at FC Barcelona's home court to finally see their team in a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague game for the first time since March 2020. The hosts made sure that no one went home disappointed, thrashing ALBA Berlin 96-64 with numbers that, if anything, outdid the final score.

All 12 of Barca's players scored and grabbed at least one rebound. Nine of them dished an assist among the team's 28 as compared to just 14 turnovers. That led to stellar shooting percentages: 61.0% on two-point shots (25-of-41) and 66.7% from downtown (14-of-21). Barcelona also outrebounded ALBA 41-27.

The resulting performance index rating of 127 was Round 1's highest, 27 points ahead of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, and Barca's 11th-best this century.

All-EuroLeague forward Nikola Mirotic was the catalyst for Barca with 22 points on perfect shooting: 4 two-pointers, 4 threes and 2 free throws. It was the sixth-best scoring total without a shot missed in the EuroLeague this century and tied Barca's record for perfect shooting, held by Joe Ingles since November of 2012. Mirotic added 5 rebounds, an assist, a steal and 2 fouls drawn for a PIR of 31 – all in less than 18 minutes. In his last three games against ALBA, Mirotic has scored 66 points (22.0 ppg.) on 20-for-22 two-point shooting (90.9% 2FG).

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Drop of the shoulder and BOOM! <a href="https://twitter.com/NikolaMirotic33?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NikolaMirotic33</a> getting it done tonight 😳<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EveryGameMatters?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EveryGameMatters</a> <a href="https://t.co/srFI4NxhC1">pic.twitter.com/srFI4NxhC1</a></p>&mdash; Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroLeague/status/1444034085391900673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

"We were huge on defense, everybody scored, everybody played well, so it was a perfect beginning of the season," Mirotic said right after the game. "It is all about the team. It is always about my teammates and our coaching staff. It was just great to be back and enjoy this game that I love so much. I am very happy and this is just the beginning."

No Barca player was on the floor more than 22 minutes, which was also important for head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius.

"Right now, we have a little stretch of a lot of games in seven or eight days, and it is very important that we all play together. We all contributed," he said.

Saras also joked about the return of fans to the stands and what his team can expect on the road from now on.

"When we get people back, especially on our court, it's great," he said. "When you go on the road, not so nice, you know? But it's OK, we will deal with it."

Barcelona will find out if its hot start can survive the road next week against another German team, FC Bayern, in Munich.

Playing a EuroLeague game before home fans for the first time since March 2020, FC Barcelona made sure that no one went home disappointed, thrashing ALBA Berlin 96-64 with numbers that, if anything, outdid the final score.

Mirotic, Barcelona were perfect in Round 1

FC Barcelona v ALBA Berlin (2021-10-01T19:00:00.000Z)

A decisive performance in a narrow home victory has earned Scottie Wilbekin of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv the MVP honor for Round 1 of the new Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season! Wilbekin scored 13 of his team's 15 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead free throws with 29 seconds left, as Maccabi outlasted FC Bayern Munich 69-68. He finished the game with 28 points, matching his career-high and outscoring any other Round 1 player, making 4 of 7 two-point shots, 4 of 6 threes and 8 of 8 free throws. With 3 assists, 3 steals and 6 fouls drawn, his performance index rating reached 32, the best among winning players in Round 1 and the second-best of his 141 EuroLeague career games. Shane Larkin of Anadolu Efes Istanbul had the week's highest PIR, 35, but despite his 21 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, the defending champs lost 82-69 at Real Madrid. Following Larkin came Nikola Mirotic, whose perfect shooting night for 22 points in less than 18 minutes anchored FC Barcelona's blowout 96-64 home win over ALBA Berlin. Three victorious players tied for fourth place in Round 1, all with PIRs of 24. Nicolo Melli combined 15 points with 6 rebounds as AX Armani Exchange Milan topped CSKA Moscow. Walter Tavares had 13 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks as Real defeated Efes. And debutant Elie Okobo missed just 1 free throw among 23 points to lead LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne past Zalgiris Kaunas.

### Individual highs: Pierria Henry, Fenerbahce, 5 steals
All the top performers in Round 1 start out as league leaders in their individual categories. Wilbekin was the top scorer with 28 points. Tavares had the most rebounds with 12. Barcelona's Nicolas Laprovittola dished the most assists, with 7. Pierria Henry of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul stole 5 balls, high for the round. And Landry Nnoko of Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz swatted 4 shots to lead all blockers. Besides Tavares, the only other double-double of the week belonged to Luke Sikma of ALBA with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Round 1 MVP: Scottie Wilbekin, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv v FC Bayern Munich (2021-09-30T18:05:00.000Z)

It would be hard to ask for a better season start than what LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne did on Friday night, downing visiting Zalgiris Kaunas 88-76.

ASVEL was in control for the majority of the night, and after using a 9-0 run midway through the third quarter, ASVEL never allowed the visitors to come closer than 8 points again.

As important as avoiding any thought of a fourth-quarter drama, ASVEL also dominated inside, outrebounding the visitors 35-26, and played defense that held Zalgiris to just 45.9% on two-point shots.

"Good job, good teamwork in general," ASVEL head coach T.J. Parker said in the post-game press conference. "We brought the intensity in the second half."

In that teamwork, two players did stand out.

"Elie Okobo and Chris Jones are the top two choices to run the backcourt this year in ASVEL," Parker said after the victory. "I have full confidence in them."

And rightly so.

Scoring guard Okobo led the way, pouring in 23 points in 24 minutes. Just 22 days shy of his 24th birthday, Okobo shot a perfect 9-for-9 from the floor. Combo guard Jones, who made his EuroLeague debut with Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv last season, ran the offense with 14 points and 6 assists, while setting the defensive tone with 3 steals, too.

Center Youssoupha Fall stood tall inside with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Add in the contributions from Kostas Antetokounmpo and Dylan Ostekowski, and it brings ASVEL's newcomers to a tally of 57 points in their season opener.

That's not to say that the newcomers were the only ones doing the damage. In the third quarter, Antoine Diot hit a pair of key triples and fed Antetokounmpo twice for monster dunks. Charles Kahudi scored 8 of his 11 points in the fourth quarter.

Such balance and many players shining in their roles will certainly make Parker happy. And ASVEL fans, finally back at the Astroballe in high numbers, will be newly optimistic and excited about the EuroLeague journey ahead.

It would be hard to ask better season start than what LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne did on Friday night, when the team's newcomers put up 57 points in an 88-76 win over visiting Zalgiris Kaunas.

ASVEL's newcomers met the moment

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne v Zalgiris Kaunas (2021-10-01T18:00:00.000Z)

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On Thursday night, Real Madrid and Anadolu Efes Istanbul met on a basketball court for the first time since their exciting Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs series last season. Real was the last team to beat Efes in the 2020-21 campaign, at WiZink Center, in Game 4 of this already legendary series. Efes took Game 5, traveled to Cologne, Germany, and beat CSKA Moscow and FC Barcelona to lift the trophy for the first time in club history.

Real had extra power compared to last season. First, over 4,000 of its fans were in attendance in what was the first EuroLeague home game the club has been able to admit fans to since 2020. Then its newcomers stepped up big, leading Los Blancos to an 82-69 victory against the defending champ. It was the first EuroLeague game with Real for Guerschon Yabusele, Adam Hanga, Thomas Heurtel and Nigel Williams-Goss.

Hanga, Williams-Goss and Yabusele started the game along with Edy Tavares and Fabien Causeur. Hanga and Yaubsele combined for 8 points in a 12-0 opening run that gave Real the lead for good. When Heurtel came off the bench, he quickly made the difference, finding Tavares and Vincent Poirier for alley-oop dunks and becoming the first player on the floor to reach double digits.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Be like Jeff...<br><br>Never give up on a play!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/7DAYSMagicMoment?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#7DAYSMagicMoment</a> <a href="https://t.co/3zpDaa3pmX">pic.twitter.com/3zpDaa3pmX</a></p>&mdash; Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroLeague/status/1443656004273590277?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Heurtel had 10 points in the first quarter. At the end of it, Jeffery Taylor's tip-in gave Real a 32-15 margin. The hosts kept pushing early in the second and defense made the difference. Everyone contributed; Rudy Fernandez was scoreless and had a PIR of -3 at halftime, but his defensive contribution was huge. Real was +12 with him on the floor in the first half.

Real stopped Efes's ball circulation in the first half, powering the offensive glass to make the difference in the game. Efes reached halftime with 4 assists and 8 turnovers. It had 8 defensive rebounds and had allowed Real to pull down 10 offensive boards. Those extra possessions had a big impact on the game's outcome.

"It is horrible. Our concentration, our focus on the game, on the boards," Coach Ataman said at halftime. "It is horrible, this performance is horrible."

Real denied any Efes comeback attempts with strong defense. Tavares pulled down 7 of his 12 rebounds in the third quarter and at the end of it, Los Blancos had a 20-point lead. Efes only got closer once the outcome was clear.

Asked about the newcomers, Yabusele said everyone came to this team with a positive attitude: "We are just trying to help the team win some games and play the right way on offense and on defense," he said. "We just fit so well - we have a lot of potential in the team. We just know each other a little, but try to fit in just perfectly, just try to make fewer mistakes and try to win some games."

It was a new-look Real, with less run-and-gun basketball and more physicality than ever - Trey Thompkins and Anthony Randolph still have to join the team. Real was the last team to hold Efes under 70 points - it allowed 65 in an 8-point road win on December 29, 2020.

Real moves on to the next challenge; it faces Olympiacos Pireaus next week in a rematch of the 1995, 2013 and 2015 EuroLeague championship games. And it's new faces will have that much more of a connection with the team and their teammates by the time that game tips off.

With three new players in the starting lineup, Real Madrid showed a new look en route to defeating defending champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul on opening night.

New-look Real made statement by dumping the champs

Real Madrid v Anadolu Efes Istanbul (2021-09-30T18:45:00.000Z)

Baskonia brings in even more character: Season Preview

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz is known for its trademark character and should get even more of it from experienced signings like Wade Baldwin, Simone Fontecchio and Jayson Granger.

Scottie Wilbekin didn’t want to let his team down and he didn’t want to let the fans of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv down - after the club’s faithful were finally able to come out and pack the house at a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague game. Wilbekin scored 13 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter as a crowd of 11,192 at the Menora Mivtachim Arena pushed Maccabi to a come-from-behind 69-68 win over FC Bayern Munich in its season-opener.

"It feels great. I really didn’t want to lose the first game - with all the fans being here and the great start we had, probably because of the fans. I’m just happy we were able to pull through and get the win," said Wilbekin, who matched his career-high in scoring and was just one off his personal best in index rating with 32 against Bayern.

The boisterous supporters - anxious to finally scream their hearts out for their beloved Maccabi - helped Wilbekin and co. race out to a 17-point lead midway through the second quarter. That uncommon ringing in one’s ear really got Bayern coach Andrea Trinchieri emotional during the game.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">🔥 <a href="https://t.co/vds6tyYltJ">pic.twitter.com/vds6tyYltJ</a></p>&mdash; Maccabi Tel Aviv BC (@MaccabitlvBC) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaccabitlvBC/status/1442421673966247938?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

"I have to say this was an amazing game. After two tough years, feeling a crowd like this is really a big thing," said the coach, who added: "Congratulations to Maccabi, to [Coach] Ioannis [Sfairopoulos] and to the crowd, because they were also a factor."

Bayern was able to slow down Maccabi - and lessen the roar of the fans over some 20 minutes spanning the second half of the second quarter and first parts of the final frame. The German side actually built up a 9-point lead with 6 minutes left in the game. But Maccabi’s defense fed off the energy of the crowd and allowed just 10 points in the fourth quarter, including just one three-pointer in the final 5 minutes.

"I’m very happy with how the fans came and supported us. A full gym after so long in the EuroLeague - it was a great feeling. And you saw in the last moments of the game with their voices how they helped the team to give more effort to get the win," Sfairopoulos said.

Of course it helps when you have someone like Wilbekin.

"He showed once again that he is the leader of this team," Sfairopoulos said of his scoring ace.

"We see it every day. Scottie is one of the best players in Europe, one of the best scorers in Europe. He can score on anybody, especially when he gets going," added Maccabi forward Derrick Williams. "We’re going to go as he goes. We all trust him to make the right plays, whether it’s shooting or passing."

Maccabi showed in its opening win a recipe that will get them some wins this season in the EuroLeague: a tough defense, an unstoppable scoring force in Scottie Wilbekin as well as an army of fans dressed in yellow who have been waiting for too long to push their team to wins.

Fueled by the energy of a sold-out arena for the first time in two seasons, Scottie Wilbekin led a late rally to lift Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv over FC Bayern Munich on Thursday night.