17 October, 2023
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07/11/2023
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22 things to look out for in Wednesday's games

 

MIES (Switzerland) - The four-game Wednesday slate features contests across four different Regular Season groups, and for several of the teams involved they could prove pivotal in the race for top spot in their respective group.

Here are 22 things you need to know ahead of the four Wednesday games:

King Szczecin (1-1) v AEK Betsson BC (2-0)

Group D - 18:30 CET - Szczecin, Poland

Simple math: Leave Justin Tillman for at least 15 minutes on the floor and he'll give you 10 points

● Szczecin, who will play their third BCL game in club history after winning 93-85 over Banco di Sardegna Sassari at home and losing 82-78 at MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg on the road, were leading at the end of the third quarter in each of their two previous games. AEK weren't leading at the end of the third quarter in any of their two BCL games this season.

● AEK are looking to repeat on Wednesday a feat they have achieved only once in the previous seven BCL campaigns, to start the season on a 3-0 record. The only time so far was in 2020-21.

● An impressive 85.2 percent of AEK's 61 made field goals so far this BCL season were two-point shots, and this is the highest ratio of made twos to made triples out of any team so far this year. AEK have converted 26 two-point shots per game this season, when they've never averaged more than 22 two-point shots in any of their previous seven BCL campaigns.

● Szczecin's Tony Meier has scored 10+ points in each of his last five BCL games, his longest such streak during his 32 appearances in the competition. Meier made 3 or more three-point shots in four of his last five BCL games.

● Justin Tillman is the only AEK player to have scored in double digits in each of their first two games in the BCL this season. Tillman has scored more than 10 points in each of the six BCL games in his career in which he played more than 15 minutes.

Telekom Baskets Bonn (1-1) v Rio Breogan (1-0)

Group F - 20:00 CET - Bonn, Germany


Could Harald Frey become the first player to post 25+ points and 10+ assists in back-to-back BCL games?

● Justin Anderson, the 29-year-old forward who spent part of his NBA career at the Philadelphia 76ers and Dallas Mavericks, among others, has signed with Rio Breogan and is expected to make his BCL debut on Wednesday.

● Bonn, who are coming off a 75-74 loss to Hapoel Holon, have not lost consecutive games in the BCL Regular Season since January 2019.Interestingly, Bonn's last four defeats in the BCL came on their home court, and the most recent two were by a single-point margin.

● Breogan will play their second game in the BCL, after their 68-48 win on Gameday 1 against Bursaspor Info Yatirim. Spanish teams have won on just one of their last six trips to Germany in the BCL. The lone win was of San Pablo Burgos in November 2021, when they visited EWE Baskets Oldenburg (85-72).

● Bonn head coach Roel Moors is at the helm of a third team in the BCL, after Telenet Giants Antwerp in 2018-19 (W11 L9) and Brose Bamberg in 2019-20 (W7 L7). A team coached by Moors has lost consecutive BCL games at home only on one occasion, when Antwerp lost two in a row in November 2018.

● With his 26 points and 10 assists against Hapoel Holon, Bonn's Harald Frey became last week only the sixth player to put up 25+ points and 10+ assists in a single BCL game; He is only the second non-American player on that list, with the other one being former Finnish international Teemu Rannikko. No player has ever registered a statline of 20+ points and 10+ assists in consecutive BCL games.

● Matas Jogela led Breogan in scoring in their first ever BCL game, with his 17 points against Bursaspor Info Yatirim. This was also his personal scoring record in a BCL game, as he'd never scored more than 11 points in any of his previous 13 appearances in the competition.

Lenovo Tenerife (1-1) v VEF Riga (0-2)

Group C - 21:00 CET - Tenerife, Spain

Brazilian legend Marcelinho Huertas could reach another BCL milestone on Wednesday

● Tenerife have won their four games against VEF Riga in the BCL, by an average margin of 16 points. Riga have never scored at least 65 points in any of their previous four games against the Spanish side.

● Tenerife, who are coming off an 88-84 loss at Darussafaka, have lost consecutive games in the BCL only once, when they lost two in row in November 2016). The Spanish team are riding a 15-game winning streak at home in the competition (stretching back to the previous season).

● Riga are winless in their last 12 road games in the BCL, with their last win away from Latvia occurring in December 2020 (85-81 at Rytas Vilnius). Riga have suffered four defeats on their four trips to Spain, by an average losing margin of 19 points.

● Tenerife's Marcelinho Huertas is close to becoming the first player to reach 500 career assists in the BCL, as he is currently only nine assists shy from that mark (491 assists). The Brazilian legend dished 10+ assists in each of his two BCL games this season, but has never had more than eight assists in any of his previous four BCL games against Riga.

● Riga's Maris Gulbis is poised to play his 50th BCL game on Wednesday. Gulbis led Riga in scoring in their most recent road game, as he had 23 points at Cholet, his first game scoring more than 20 points in the competition.

SL Benfica (1-0) v Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem (1-0)

Group G - 21:00 CET - Lisbon, Portugal


Ivan Almeida became last week the first Benfica player to score 28 points in a BCL game

● Benfica are coming off their biggest-margin ever win in the BCL, 94-72 over PAOK mateco at home. The Portuguese champions are yet to win consecutive home games in the competition.

● Benfica's last seven BCL games were decided by double-digit margins (this number stretches back to last season).

● Jerusalem have won their last five games on the road in the BCL Regular Season, despite trailing at the end of the third quarter in three of them.

● Jerusalem’s second unit has scored 40+ points in three of their last four BCL games, a number it had never reached in any of the Israeli team's previous 16 games in the competition. Benfica have scored 40+ bench points only once in the BCL, and that was in the game against PAOK (41 points).

● Ivan Almeida became in the game against PAOK the first ever Benfica player to score 28 points in a BCL game, despite coming off the bench. This was not only Almeida's new BCL career-high, but also the first time he scored more than 20 points in a BCL game. No Benfica player has ever scored more than 20 points in multiple BCL games.

● Khadeen Carrington of Jerusalem achieved a similar feat last week, as his 27-point performance against Galatasaray Ekmas marked the first time he scored more than 20 points scored in his 28 BCL appearances. Carrington has made at least two three-pointers in six of his last eight games in the competition.