Euroleague Update: Papanikolaou Struggling; Jordan Farmar for MVP

Kristof and and Darjus Lavrinovic are the scariest twin 7-footers you’ll find east of the Lopez boys (less hair, more threes), while Rimantas Kaukenas has played with them both on the Lithuanian national team.

Zalgiris hauled in all three 30-somethings this summer to stabilize a club that’s led itself down turbulent waters with questionable signings and a mounting pile of fired coaches.  But three weeks in and Joan Plaza is still on the sidelines, which is no small miracle given owner ‘Mad’ Vlad Romanov’s history.

Olympiacos George Bartzokas’ days could be numbered as the Reds’ head man if these big losses keep piling up, making the next guy “the guy who replaced the guy after The Guy.”

The Guy was Dusan Ivkovic, and along with Vassilis Spanoulis and a battle-tested roster, the Serbian coaching magnate also left Bartzokas with frenzied expectations for a repeat or, at the very least, a return trip to the Final Four.

It should be noted that last season’s championship team started just 1-3 before righting the ship. Let’s see if Georgey Boy can turn things around in Piraeus.

Ready to hear about Jordan Farmar’s year with Anadolu Efes?  Because he’s having a good one.

Currently, his 19.3 ppg are good for fourth (Sonny Weems leads with 20.3), his 6.7 assists third (Jerel Blassingame, 9.3) and his 26.7 index rating is tops in the league, three points higher than Rudy Fernandez’s 23.7.

Even the point guard’s 6.7 rebounds per game rate ninth in the league, cementing the idea that Farmar is finally where he needs to be professionally: in the Euroleague, and in control.

Not only is Farmar both the propellor and rudder to Efes’ offense, but he and Jamon Lucas form maybe the toughest defensive backcourt in the entire Euroleague when they share a court. And for a little extra offensive punch, enter Sasha Vujacic, and all that he is.

An irritant, an instigator.  An occasional scorer.  Fourteen a night means the machinery is working just fine, thanks.

Farmar might be the MVP up to this point, but it’s his former-club-slash-lockout-hideaway, Maccabi Tel Aviv, that’s playing the most dominant basketball right now.