Graphic: Mārtiņš Zaļūksnis
Four games are scheduled on Tuesday, October 31. The Seriös Group Newcastle Eagles will host Basket Brno at the Vertu Motors Arena. Zastal Zielona Gora will meet Valmiera Glass/Vidzemes Augstskola. Learn more about the other two games in the Thriller Tuesday, part two.
Newcastle Eagles vs Basket Brno
Series history: Seriös Group Newcastle Eagles and Zielona Gora will face each other for the first time.
Key matchup: Jordan Nathaniel Johnson leads the Eagles in scoring (18.6 points per game) and is second in assists with 4.6 dimes per game in the British Basketball league.
A former Milwaukee and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas floor general scored 28 points in his first ENBL game at Šiauliai.
Ondřej Šiška averages 17.3 points and 3.6 assists in the Kooperativa NBL.
A former Dečin and Kolin playmaker returned to Brno after eight year pause.
National championships: the Newcastle Eagles played back-to-back games on October 20-21. Marc Steutel`s men prevailed over Leicester Riders, 95-90, and then dropped the road game at victorious Bristol, 83-97.
The Eagles hosted EuroCup team – the London Lions – on Saturday, October 27, and lost, 86-99. Johnson went 10/12 from the free throw line and 4/15 from the field for a team high 20 points.
Highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ64q7QQqAE
Basket Brno, a 2023 Czech Cup finalist had a rough 1-4 start in the Kooperativa NBL.
Brno has improved to 3-5 after consecutive wins over Dečin, 101-79, and at Ostrava, 83-79, before dropping the home match against Usti nad Labem, 70-89, on Saturday night.
Know your referees
Crew chief: Simon Unsworth (United Kingdom) – FIBA referee from 2010, British competitions from 1999.
Umpire 1: Michal Scholze (Czech Republic) – FIBA referee from 2023, has worked at the 2022 ENBL Final Four.
Umpire 2: Josh Bowe (United Kingdom) – FIBA referee from 2019, has worked at four British Basketball league finals and one Women`s British Basketball league final.
Observer: Mareks Voļskis (Latvia).
ENBL access: follow the game on YouTube live stream https://www.youtube.com/@ENBLeague/streams
Zastal Zielona Gora vs Valmiera Glass ViA
Series history: Zastal Zielona Gora and Valmiera Glass ViA will face each other for the first time.
Key matchup: Novak Musič averages 16.7 points and 6.0 assists in the Polish Basketball league.
Serbian playmaker scored 25 points against Sokol Lancut.
Edmunds Elksnis leads Valmiera in assists (5.9 per game) and averages 10.6 points in the Pafbet Latvia-Estonia league.
Elksnis cements Valmiera backcourt together with sharpshooter Jānis Kaufmanis, while young forward Sean Seneca Knight is the best scorer.
National championships: Zastal Zielona Gora is 2-4 in the PLK after a recent 92-90 win at GTK Gliwice.
Darious Hall scored 27 points for the winners.
Valmiera Glass ViA started the 2023-2024 season a bit better than a year ago.
Oskars Virsis men are 2-6 in the Pafbet Latvia-Estonia league – they defeated AVIS Utilitas Rapla, 77-75, and a 2022 Estonian champion Parnu Sadam, 70-68.
Know your referees
Crew chief: Mateusz Skorek (Poland) – FIBA referee from 2021, has worked at the 2022 ENBL Final Four.
Umpire 1: Jānis Rozenbergs (Latvia) – FIBA referee from 2023, has worked at the Latvian top flight from 2019.
Umpire 2: Filip Marek (Poland) – PLK referee from 2018 and Basket Liga Kobiet referee from 2016.
Observer: Oskars Lucis (Latvia).
ENBL access: follow the game on YouTube live stream https://www.youtube.com/@ENBLeague/streams