Gibson Column: Krstic Keeps CSKA Undefeated; Reeves Nelson from L.A. to Lithuania

BARCELONA — Regal Barcelona came into Thursday night letting up just 59 points per game. Montepaschi Siena scored more than half that in the final nine minutes and sent the team from Catalunya packing with their first loss of the year, a 77-74 final.

And though Siena’s Coach Simone Pianigiani has locked up five straight Italian Championships and is coming off of a Euroleague Final Four, this win belongs right near the top of his list.

Why? Because he beat Europe’s best team without his three best players.

In Bo McCalebb, Rimantas Kaukenas and Ksistof Lavrinovc, Pianigiani is missing out on an MVP candidate at the point, his second-leading scorer and one of Europe’s most accomplished stretch bigs, respectively. That’s 54 percent of Siena’s scoring, 51 percent of their assists and 60 percent of their steals (Siena led the Euroleague in thefts last season).

Still, for a second straight week without all three—McCalebb has missed just two games while the Lithuanians have missed three apiece—Pianigiani pulled off a win against a Top 16 team.

The first was a 67-64 road win against Galatasaray, who has already punched their ticket to the next round. In that match up, former New Orleans Hornet David Andersen (18) and reigning scoring leader Igor Rakocevic (17) combined for 35 of Siena’s 67.

This week, Rakocevic put up 21, but Andersen’s former club held him to just six points on 3/11 shooting. If you thought you were beating Barcelona on one man’s back, think again.

So on an injury-ridden team that had depth issues even when healthy, the scoring would either have to come from an unlikely candidate or not come at all.

With only three double digit games in 34 Euroleague tries before Thursday, Pietro Aradori going for 20 against the continent’s most stifling defense was about as unlikely as it could get. Yet there he was, nailing a three to go up one at the half and then hitting a key go-ahead free throw as part of Siena’s 15-point fourth quarter comeback against Erazem Lorbek, Chuck Eidson and the rest of the red and blue.

For Aradori, it’s a Hell of a way to break through after trudging through his first season and a half at under five points per game. As patience wore thin, some even wondered—and still might—if Siena should include 23-year-old Pietro as part of their future plans. His performance against the Barca machine should warrant a little leash lengthening at the very least.

In a regular season marked by the comings and goings of NBA players, the ability to replace departed stars has separated the flukes from the true Euroleague forces. Fill the missing hero’s shoes with a comparable replacement and you’ll likely be just fine. Fill them with subpar talent or nobody at all and enjoy your skid toward the cellar.

Take the Euroleague’s now lone undefeated squad, CSKA Moscow, who have cruised to four straight victories even without wild horse/pterodactyl Andrei Kirilenko who broke his nose and banged up his shoulder with this scary fall against Krasnye Krylya on November 19.

Yeah. Not fun.

You know what is fun? Being Head Coach Jonas Kazlauskas and having two more 6’8″ versatile Russian forwards to plug in behind AK47 (he wears No. 15 in Euroleague play, but AK15 doesn’t roll off the tongue, does it?).

In Andrei’s first week on the mend, Andrey (with a Y) Vorontsevich went for 14 points, six boards and drew five fouls in 24 minutes as CSKA took down Zalgiris at home 95-82.

Keeping in line with the season’s theme, Vorontsevich was out in week nine, leaving Viktor Khryapa to do his best Kirilenko impression. CSKA beat Panathinaikos far too easily, 91-75, as Khryapa assaulted the boxscore with 16 points on only six shots, seven rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals for a 28 rank, the fourth highest this week.

And the highest? Why, that belonged to everybody’s favorite chair-wielding Serbian, Nenad Krstic, whose 17 and 12 netted him a 31 rank and Week Nine MVP honors. He joined Kirilenko as the second Moscow player to collect such an accolade this season (AK did it twice).

Another team that’s finally bandaged their lockout boo-boo is Maccabi Electra, who watched Jordan Farmar board a plane for New Jersey after a loss in Belgrade two weeks ago. The Israelis would drop their next road game to Real Madrid, but former Kansas Jayhawk and midseason signing Keith Langford showed signs of comfort after weeks of awkwardly forcing his way into an offense that wasn’t ready to let him in.

And with their chemistry shot and season sliding, Maccabi opened their doors to winners of three straight, Anadolu Efes, who knows a thing or two about loss.

Without the services of Tarence Kinsey since week four, Efes has been down 15 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.7 steals—Efes’ leader in all three categories. In their first two Kinsey-less contests, Efes went winless.

Then Sasha Vujacic started shooting less terribly (he’s still at 37 percent for the season), Sinan Guler turned Kinsey’s minutes into tone-setting defense on the perimeter and the boys from Istanbul strung together victories over Partizan, Spirou Charleroi and Armani Milano.

Now with Ersan Ilyasova back in Milwaukee, it looks like Efes needs to realign and reacquaint themselves with new roles. Unless, you know, they enjoy losing 97-56.

That’s right: 39 points. It’s what you expect when you convert on 31 percent of your shots and watch Lior Eliyahu and Sofoklis Schortsanitis outwork your entire team for an 18-rebound advantage (45-27). With a Top 16 slot locked up, Efes has one more week to figure themselves out again sans pressure, or it could get ugly come January.

Now let’s take a trip to Nancy, France: former home of Nicolas Batum and current home to the Euroleague’s nastiest rendition of basketball. Since Batum blazed his trail back to Portland following week six, SLUC Nancy hasn’t just lost three straight games; they’ve served up their remaining respectability on a platter and sat back as Bilbao (97-75), Fenerbahce (73-53) and Caja Laboral (wait for it…90-55) sunk their teeth in and ripped it to shreds.

Lacking the wherewithal to land any legitimate Batum impersonator, Nancy has simply handed his responsibilities to Jamal Shuler and newly acquired Kenny Gregory who, while ultra reliable, is not the do-it-all world beater that Nico was in his time with the French champs.

But hey, at least they eclipsed the 11-point plateau in the first half this week. Those are bragging rights which no longer belong to the Polish side Asseco Prokom, whose 11 first half points against Unics Kazan is the lowest total in Euroleague history (CSKA Moscow held Krka Novo Mesto to 14 in 2003).

And if you’re waiting to hear about a second half explosion leading to an epic come-from-behind win, you might want to scroll to the top and read the first few paragraphs again. Asseco Prokom lost 68-41 as Henry Domercant poured in 18 for Kazan, one of the EL’s more pleasant surprises.

And finally we’ve got some Reeves Nelson news, as the Los Angeles Times has the ex-UCLA Bruin heading to Lithuania to suit up for Zalgiris  shortly after Cristmas. The 6’9″ forward was the Bruins’ leading scorer and rebounder last season and graced the cover of Sports Illustrated in this year’s college preview edition, but Ben Howland finally dismissed him from the team for good after suspending him twice last season for behavioral issues.

Zalgiris kept themselves in contention for a Top 16 slot with an impressive 82-68 road win in Bamberg’s Stechert Arena, dubbed “Freak City” because of their raucous cheering section.

But if Reeves Nelson thinks he can just waltz into Europe and instantly become the best tatted up, West Coast stretch four with bad facial hair and a history of suspensions, he’s in for a rude awakening.

This here’s Josh Heytvelt territory.

Nick Gibson, editor of EuroleagueAdventures.com, covers Euroleague and other European basketball developments for SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear each Friday. Click here to follow him on Twitter.