An Unnecessarily Exhaustive Guide To The Eurocup Final Four
Up front, Sevilla lack for a true centre. Former NBA player Paul Davis plays most of the time there, and is one of the team's best players, scoring inside and out while grabbing offensive rebounds at a prolific rate. Iona graduate Tariq Kirksay - now a French citizen due to residency - starts at small forward and sometimes bumps down to power forward, capable of defending both positions like an undersized less athletic Andrei Kirilenko, bringing some occasional shooting and good passing vision (further enhancing the Kirilenko thing). Former Tennessee-Chattanooga big man Mindaugas Katelynas brings a good combination of size, athleticism, finesse and shooting, running the floor and dunking like this. And backup Bulgarian big Kaloyan Ivanov chips in with the rebounding. But none of these are, in the truest sense, big men, let alone centres. However, this is true of most Eurocup teams - as evidenced by Kosta Perovic last season, the day a true centre shows any real ability or potential at the Eurocup level is they day they are snapped up by a Euroleague team. Besides, de facto centre Juan Triguero does OK, chipping in yet more offensive rebounding help and defend the post well enough. And considering the respective level of opposition, Davis's weaknesses on the interior are less exposed.
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