Euroleague Update: Papanikolaou Struggling; Jordan Farmar for MVP

Maccabi went on the road and whipped Elan Chalon 90-61 thanks to double figure outings by three Americans and one former draft pick: David Logan (Indianapolis), Shawn James (Northeastern and Duquesne), Devin Smith (Virginia) and Lior Eliyahu (taken 44th overall in 2006 by Orlando, traded to Houston, then to Minnesota in the Chase Budinger deal).

Guy Pnini also posted double figures, and has a name pronounced like a sandwich.

After their 28-point road triumph, Maccabi is one of four teams with a spotless record; Barcelona, CSKA Moscow and those old boys from Zalgiris round out the quartet.

That undefeated group was eight-deep when this week started: Fenerbahce Ulker lost to Real Madrid 83-75 (who played without Sergio Llull for the second straight week), Alba Berlin fell to the young Mateusz Ponitka and Asseco Prokom 77-66, Milano had no answer for Timberwolves’ property Nemanja Bjelica, who scored 20 and grabbed nine rebounds in Caja Laboral’s 95-85 road victory over the Italians, and Barcelona snuffed out Besiktas’ shot at a 3-0 EL start with a 72-60 win in Catalunya.

Which leaves just four teams oh-fer-the-season: Partizan, Bamberg, Montepaschi Siena and finally Cedevita Zagreb, who have lost their three games by an average of nearly 20 points.

NBA roster cuts are upon us, which means familiar names will soon join us overseas.  With seven weeks left in the regular season, let’s see which Euroleague clubs take a number.

Nick Gibson, editor of EuroleagueAdventures.com, covers Euroleague and other international basketball developments for SheridanHoops.com. Click here to follow him on Twitter.