VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - It was a very good week for the Italian clubs in the Basketball Champions League.

Sidigas Avellino bounced back from their one-point home loss on Gameday 6 to Iberostar Tenerife in the closing seconds by claiming an 85-75 win at Juventus Utena. Dinamo Sassari narrowly avoided a third straight agonizing defeat with an 88-87 overtime triumph at Partizan in Belgrade's famous Pionir arena.

Umana Reyer Venezia prevailed 73-69 at CSM CSU Oradea in Romania and a struggling Openjobmetis Varese got just their second win, a 76-71 home triumph over EWE Baskets.

What's really neat about this season the commitment of the Basketball Champions League to bring the fans as close to the action as possible with their television and internet broadcasts. Something viewers have no doubt enjoyed (I certainly have) is when the camera and microphone go into the huddle during timeouts. Coaches are fired up and there are often interesting exchanges between the players..

The Dinamo Sassari huddle at the end of regulation against Partizan on Tuesday was certainly one that should be seen if you haven't so far with Gabriel Olaseni was the star attraction.

The 24-year-old had tied the contest and drawn a foul on the play with less than a second remaining but missed the free-throw that would have clinched victory. When he retreated to the bench, he was distraught and apologetic.

His teammates rallied around him. One told Olaseni not to worry, that he was playing great and that they would go on to win the game in overtime. And they did win. 

Olaseni was indeed a huge part of their victory. He was terrific in the second half and finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds and a steal in a little more than 18 minutes of action.

Olaseni is a member of Great Britain's national team, which he helped this summer book a spot in FIBA EuroBasket 2017. He had a team-high efficiency rating of 15.2 and averaged 12.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

Center Olaseni (No. 25) helped Great Britain qualified for FIBA EuroBasket 2017

He'll get some serious tests next summer at the EuroBasket with Great Britain drawn in Group D to face Turkey, Serbia, Russia, Latvia and Belgium. 

I discovered this while doing a little internet surfing to find something out about the player.

Kyrylo Fesenko was the man who made the headlines for Sidigas Avellino in their victory at Utena.

The Ukraine train erupted for 25 points and also bossed the boards, collecting 13 rebounds, as Sidigas Avellino claimed a very important 85-75 triumph at Juventus Utena.

A lot of other players can probably identify with his explanation as to what had triggered his MVP of the Week performance.

"My wife sent me a lovely, inspirational message before the game," he told me. "She believes in me and she's my rock and I don't think I’d be the player I am right now without her."

If you're wondering who Fesenko is married to, he tweeted this a couple of years ago while on his honeymoon.

Behind every great man is a great women, the saying goes. Those loving words got the blood flowing for Fesenko because he just flat out dominated for Avellino in Lithuania.

The up-and-down nature of basketball? Sidigas Avellino returned home for their Lega A encounter and lost a close one at home on Sunday to fellow Basketball Champions League side Venezia, 80-78. Fesenko had 15 points and 8 rebounds.

Openjob Metis Varese got to the Final of last year's FIBA Europe Cup but they've found the going tough this season. But when Norvel Pelle came up with a crucial block with his team leading by a couple of points just 29 seconds from the end, you knew there was only going to be one winner.

"Finally we won," Varese's veteran forward Kristjan Kangur said, "so I'm happy. Everybody that was on the court was serious, gave their effort and fought so I think this was a team win. But it's just one game. We have to keep working and get better every game."

Jeff Taylor
FIBA

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