Graphic: Mārtiņš Zaļūksnis
Two games coming up in Group B this week. CSO Voluntari will play its first home game on Wednesday, November 15, hosting Royal Liège Basket from Belgium. Zielona Gora has a 2-0 record at home before meeting Basket Brno.
CSO Voluntari vs Royal Liège Basket
Series history: CSO Voluntari and Royal Liège Basket will face each other for the first time.
Key matchup: Trevon Litrell Allen leads CSO Voluntari in scoring (14.6 points per game) and three pointers made (2.1 per game).
Idaho standout hit a game winning three pointer at Basket Brno – for consecutive road wins in the ENBL.
John Junior Avelon averages 17.8 points in four games for Liege.
A former Pepperdine and UC Davis small forward is 3.3/7.0 from the three point line and 2.8/3.8 closer to the basket.
National championships: CSO Voluntari are on a 5-0 winning streak.
It all started on October 24 at Keila Coolbet, followed by wins over Timisoara (82-71), Dinamo Bucuresti (74-69), at Basket Brno (75-72) and over Targu Jiu (80-69).
Ainars Bagatskis men have a 4-1 record at Gabriela Szabo hall.
Royal Liège Basket are 4-4 at the BNXT league.
Alex Zampier`s men fell at Telenet Giants Antwerp (71-81) on October 28 and added two wins after.
Liege defeated Hubo Limburg United, 75-72, and outlasted Okapi Aalst on the road, 83-80.
Know your referees
Crew chief: Grigoraș Laurențiu (Romania) – Romania first division from 1999, FIBA referee 2003-2018.
Umpire 1: Chess Van Looy (Belgium) – Belgium top division from 2013, FIBA referee from 2017.
Umpire 2: Rașoga Șerban (Romania) – referee from 2002, first division from 2010, more than 500 games in Romania.
Observer: Oskars Lucis (Latvia).
ENBL access: follow the game on YouTube live stream
Zastal Zielona Gora vs Basket Brno
Series history: Zastal Zielona Gora and Basket Brno will face each other for the first time.
Key matchup: Darious Hall has averaged 17.6 points on 58.6% accuracy shooting from the field.
Central Arkansas star scored 24 points against King Sczecin on 8/9 shooting from the floor and 8/9 from the three point line!
Tomas Zdanavičius set several NBL career records on Saturday against USK Praha.
Lithuanian had 24 points with three three-pointers along the way.
National championships: Zastal Zielona Gora hosted a 2023 Polish champion King Szczecin on Saturday, November 11, and lost, 79-90.
David Dedek`s men lost last two games in the PLK and dropped to 2-6, including a 0-2 record at CRS hall.
It`s a different picture at the ENBL as Zastal prevailed over Šiauliai, 109-83, and Valmiera Glass ViA, 106-100.
Basket Brno are 5-5 at the Kooperativa NBL.
Martin Vaněk`s men suffered a painful 72-75 loss at the hands of CSO Voluntari.
They rebounded with a 75-63 home win against USK Praha on Saturday.
Know your referees
Crew chief: Paulina Gajdosz (Poland) – FIBA referee from 2017, Polish top division from 2015, a regular referee at the EuroLeague Women and EuroCup Women, has worked at the 2022 FIBA U18 Women`s Championship final.
Umpire 1: Martin Kucirek (Czech Republic) – referee from 2004, Kooperativa NBL from 2015, FIBA referee from 2019.
Umpire 2: Pawel Pacek (Poland) – PLK referee from 2022.
Observer: Mareks Voļskis (Latvia).
ENBL access: follow the game on YouTube live stream https://www.youtube.com/@ENBLeague/streams