Two of the most electrifying guards in the competition will square off in Istanbul this week when Besiktas Cola Turka hosts Unics Kazan on Tuesday. With Kazan and DKV Joventut having already clinched berths to the Last 16, Besiktas enters the game playing for pride and few players have more than Mire Chatman, who enters the game leading the Eurocup in scoring (23.5 ppg.) ranked second in index ranking (27.8) and sixth in assists (5.3 apg.). Only a handful of players can stare those numbers in the eye, but one of them is Kazan’s Marako Popovic, who is second in the Eurocup in scoring (22 ppg.), fifth in index (23.3) and fourth in assists (5.5 apg.). That head-to-head duel promises to provide highlights just as it did in Week 1, when Popovic’s 33 points, 9 triples and 5 assists trumped Chatman’s 19 points and 9 assists in a 101-76 Kazan win. Now on Chatman’s home floor, he will aim to reverse the dynamic. The game means more to Kazan, which could clinch first place in Group D with a victory and a DKV Joventut defeat. Otherwise the top spot in the group will be decided in Week 6. Chatman is not the only big name of the Besiktas roster. The trio of big men Lonny Baxter, Cevher Ozer and Kevin Fletcher are all averaging double figures in points, but they won’t have an easy time against Kresimir Loncar, Vladimir Veremeenko and veteran Saulius Stombergas. The Besiktas backcourt features two other capable scorers besides Chatman in Engin Atsur and Muratcan Guler. Small forward Haluk Yildrim rounds out the Basiktas rotation. Terrell Lyday and playmaker Petr Samoylenko join Popovic in the Unics backcourt, while Igor Zamanskiy fills out the lineup at small forward. Besiktas will play its last home game of the competition and be looking to give its fans a parting gift. This game promises to be a high-scoring and fun-to-watch affair with several big stars providing highlights.
REFEREES: Sreten Radovic, Spiros Gkontas, Laurentiu Grigoras