Olympiacos Piraeus added plenty of size and power to its froncourt by signing center Moustapha Fall to a two-year deal, the club announced on Wednesday. Fall (2.18 meters, 29 years old) arrives from LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, where he averaged 8.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in 31 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague games last season, his first in the competition. He ranked fifth in two-point shooting (70.1% 2FG) and seventh in PIR per 40 minutes (25.7). Fall joined ASVEL from Turk Telekom Ankara, where he averaged 12.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 blocks in 22 Turkish League games in the 2019-20 campaign.

He started his career with Union Poitiers Basket 86 and also played for AS Monaco, Sharks Antibes and ES Chalon-Sur-Saone of France, Sakarya Buyuksehir Basketbol of Turkey and Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar of Russia, where he made his 7DAYS EuroCup debut in the 2018-19 season. Fall averaged 5.6 points on 92.0% two-point shooting (23-of-25), 2.9 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 10 games in helping Lokomotiv reach the Quarterfinals. He won the French League title with Chalon in 2017 and ASVEL in 2021. Fall also lifted the French second division trophy with Monaco in 2015 and also has been a member of the French national team.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="el" dir="ltr">Η ΚΑΕ Ολυμπιακός ανακοινώνει την απόκτηση του Μουστάφα Φαλ. Welcome <a href="https://twitter.com/moustaphafall15?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@moustaphafall15</a> !!!<a href="https://t.co/4CAFLuAFhK">https://t.co/4CAFLuAFhK</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OlympiacosBC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OlympiacosBC</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreOlympiacos?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreOlympiacos</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TogetherWefight?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TogetherWefight</a> <a href="https://t.co/UnuLtXohDD">pic.twitter.com/UnuLtXohDD</a></p>&mdash; Olympiacos B.C. (@olympiacosbc) <a href="https://twitter.com/olympiacosbc/status/1407681503857885185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Olympiacos lands center Fall

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Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ensured that star guard Nando De Colo will spend another season on the Bosporus by signing a contract extension with the former MVP, the club announced on Wednesday. De Colo (1.96 meters), who turns 34 years old today, has spent the last two seasons with Fenerbahce and is coming off a season in which he earned All-EuroLeague honors for the sixth time. He ranked sixth in scoring (15.8 ppg.) and fifth in steals (1.4 spg.) in addition to 3.9 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">You have a message from the birthday boy! 🎂👦🏻<a href="https://twitter.com/NandoDeColo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NandoDeColo</a> will be with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YellowLegacy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#YellowLegacy</a> next year! 💛💙<br><br>It&#39;s time to celebrate and blow out the birthday candle! 🥳 <a href="https://t.co/8d4sXVE0ZG">pic.twitter.com/8d4sXVE0ZG</a></p>&mdash; Fenerbahçe Beko (@FBBasketbol) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBBasketbol/status/1407624498665361411?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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De Colo has had a remarkable career. He helped CSKA Moscow win EuroLeague titles in 2016 and 2019 and reached the Final Four five consecutive times with that club from 2015 to 2019. In the 2015-16 season, De Colo was the EuroLeague MVP, the Final Four MVP and the Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy winner. He has been selected to All-EuroLeague Teams six times, including First Team honors in 2016, 2017 and 2018. De Colo has been the EuroLeague MVP of the month three times and his 16 weekly MVP honors are the competition record. All that led to his place on the Euroleague Basketball 2010-20 All-Decade Team. On the all-time charts, De Colo ranks second in accumulated performance index rating (4,022), third in points scored (3,567), and is the EuroLeague's all-time leader in free-throw shooting percentage at 93.97%.

De Colo started his career with Cholet Basket in his native France and has also played for Valencia Basket in Spain, San Antonio and Toronto in the NBA and Austin in the D-League. He won the French Semaine des As in 2008 and lifted the EuroCup with Valencia in 2010 as a member of the All-EuroCup First Team. De Colo is also a member of the French national team, which he has helped to three EuroBasket medals: gold in 2013, silver in 2011 and bronze in 2015.

Fenerbahce extends All-EuroLeague guard De Colo

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Anadolu Efes Istanbul continued with an effort to keep the championship-winning roster together by signing a one-year extension with forward Tolga Gecim, the club announced on Wednesday

Efes extends forward Gecim

Gecim (2.06 meters, 25 years old) appeared in six regular-season games last season, playing limited minutes. He had more opportunities in the Turkish League, where he averaged 3.9 points, 1.9 assists and 1.6 rebounds, helping Efes win the title. Gecim previously played with Banvit Bandirma, the club where he made his 7DAYS EuroCup debut as an 18-year-old and appeared in 34 games in the competition between 2014 and 2016. Before that, he had played two seasons on loan from Banvit to Bandirma Kirmizi, his only other team, in the Turkish second division.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="tr" dir="ltr">📝<br><br>2019-2020 sezonundan bu yana formamızı terleten şampiyon oyuncumuz <a href="https://twitter.com/TolgaGecim?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TolgaGecim</a> ile 1 yıllık sözleşme yeniledik!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BenimYerimBuras%C4%B1?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BenimYerimBurası</a> <a href="https://t.co/n1IjOm9BCP">pic.twitter.com/n1IjOm9BCP</a></p>&mdash; Anadolu Efes SK (@AnadoluEfesSK) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnadoluEfesSK/status/1407669736574435330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Anadolu Efes Istanbul continued with an effort to keep the championship-winning roster together by signing a one-year extension with forward Tolga Gecim, the club announced on Wednesday.

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UNICS Kazan added another weapon to the backcourt as it signed Lorenzo Brown for one season, the club announced Friday. Brown (1.96 meters, 26 years old) arrives to UNICS after playing last season with Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul. The American point guard collected 9.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals in 37 EuroLeague games last season for the Turkish club.

Brown, who helped Fenerbahce reach the playoffs last season, will be starting his third consecutive campaign in the EuroLeague after playing for Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade in 2019-20.

After finishing his college basketball career at North Carolina State in 2013, Brown played parts of five seasons in the NBA and the G-League, appearing in NBA games with Philadelphia, Minnesota, Phoenix and Toronto. Brown also played in China for two seasons for Zhejiang and Guangzhou.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="ru" dir="ltr">Лоренцо Браун – новый игрок БК УНИКС⚡️<br>⠀<br>Контракт с разыгрывающим рассчитан на один год. <a href="https://t.co/9zWODjPVTl">pic.twitter.com/9zWODjPVTl</a></p>&mdash; BC UNICS Kazan (@unicsbasket) <a href="https://twitter.com/unicsbasket/status/1418479474392322050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 23, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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UNICS strengthens backcourt with Brown

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The unique skill set that led Luke Sikma to earn the EuroCup MVP trophy just two seasons ago has seen him wreak havoc on EuroLeague opponents ever since. This season, Sikma joined some rare company with some of his feats.

The ALBA Berlin big man was one of 15 players this season to have at least three double-doubles. While point guards on the list had their double-doubles with points and assists and most of the big men did so with points and rebounds, Sikma was the only player to have two different types of double-doubles.

graphic by Darius Garuolis

The first came in Round 12 when he tallied 15 points and 12 rebounds in a road win at his former team, Valencia Basket. The third was an 11-point, 10-rebound outing in Round 30 against Olympiacos Piraeus. In between, Sikma notched 10 assists and 10 rebounds in Round 24 at FC Bayern Munich.

His game against Bayern marked the first time in EuroLeague history a player had at least 10 assists and 10 rebounds with less than 10 points in one game. It was the second-ever EuroLeague double-double with less than 10 points; Stojko Vrankovic had 15 rebounds and 10 blocks for PAF Bologna in 2000-01. 

This season Sikma joined an exclusive list of players to record two different types of double-doubles in the same season. That list includes Dejan Milojevic with Buducnost Podgorica, Anthony Parker with Maccabi Tel Aviv, David Vanterpool with Montepaschi Siena, Luka Doncic with Real Madrid and Nick Calathes, who did so in three different seasons with Panathinaikos Athens. Maccabi great Nikola Vujcic had a triple-double as well as six point-rebound double-doubles in 2006-07.

Sikma had five point-rebound double-doubles in his maiden EuroLeague campaign in 2019-20. He also reached 8 assists three times that season. Sikma is the only player in EuroLeague history to average at least 6 rebounds and 4 assists for his career. With averages of 6.1 boards and 4.2 assists in 59 career EuroLeague games, he is also the only player to rank among the top 50 in average in both categories (32nd in rebounding, 29th in assists).

The unique skill set that led Luke Sikma to earn the EuroCup MVP trophy just two seasons ago has seen him wreak havoc on EuroLeague opponents ever since. This season, Sikma joined some rare company with some of his feats.

Sikma makes double-double history

Reigning Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul has re-signed forward Yigitan Saybir for the coming season, the club announced on Tuesday.

Efes re-signs Saybir for another season

Saybir (2.03 meters, 22 years old) grew up with Efes and has played for the club's senior squad for the past four seasons. Though he only made two EuroLeague appearances last season, Saybir played 33 games in the Turkish League and scored a season-high 18 points in the clinching game of Efes's Turkish League semifinals series against Besiktas Istanbul. He has helped Efes win the Turkish League twice, too.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="tr" dir="ltr">Altyapımızdan yetişen ve 2017-2018 sezonundan bu yana A takım formamızı terleten şampiyon oyuncumuz <a href="https://twitter.com/yigitcansaybir?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@yigitcansaybir</a> ile 1 yıllık sözleşme yeniledik! 📝<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BenimYerimBuras%C4%B1?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BenimYerimBurası</a> <a href="https://t.co/Y9wKuyzGpe">pic.twitter.com/Y9wKuyzGpe</a></p>&mdash; Anadolu Efes SK (@AnadoluEfesSK) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnadoluEfesSK/status/1407247951576055813?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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FC Bayern Munich and Coach Andrea Trinchieri have a greed to terms on a contract extension that will keep him on the team's bench through 2023, the club announced Tuesday. Trinchieri, 51, led Bayern to fifth place at the end of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season with a 21-13 record last season, his first with the club. They then took AX Armani Exchange Milan the distance in their best-of-five EuroLeague Playoffs series before bowing out. Trinchieri and Bayern won the German Cup and reached the German League finals.

Trinchieri started his head coaching career with Vanoli Soresina of his native Italy. He has also coached Pepsi Caserta, Primo Veroli and Pallacanestro Cantu in Italy, UNICS Kazan in Russia, Brose Bamberg in Germany, Partizan NIS Belgrade in Serbia, as well as the Greek national team. He helped UNICS win the Russian Cup and reach the EuroCup Finals in 2014. That season he was also named EuroCup Coach of the Year. Trinchieri led Bamberg to three consecutive German championships from 2015 to 2017 plus the German Cup in 2017. He won Serbian Cups with Partizan in 2019 and 2020.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="de" dir="ltr">🚨 ANDREA BLEIBT!<br><br>Cheftrainer Trinchieri verlängert um zwei Jahre bis 2023. <br><br>Mehr dazu: <a href="https://t.co/oEDx7UMcfI">https://t.co/oEDx7UMcfI</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FCBB?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FCBB</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Trinchieri2023?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Trinchieri2023</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kaderupdate?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kaderupdate</a></p>&mdash; FC Bayern Basketball (@FCBBasketball) <a href="https://twitter.com/FCBBasketball/status/1407248239229763590?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Bayern, Coach Trinchieri agree to extension

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It was a banner year for three-point shooters. Teams are shooting more three-pointers than ever before, which means more tries – and makes – from downtown for the best of the best. The 2020-21 campaign saw several players reach milestones that were once thought to be unattainable. Olympiacos Piraeus legend Vassilis Spanoulis became the second player in competition with 500 career triples, while Real Madrid sharpshooter Jaycee Carroll, Alexey Shved of Khimki Moscow Region and Arturas Milaknis of Zalgiris Kaunas each made his 400th career three.

Spanoulis is the competition's all-time leading scorer (4,455 points) and only Juan Carlos Navarro (623) has scored more than his 518 shots from beyond the arc. He may not be a shooting specialist, having made 32.1% of his three-point shots, but because Spanoulis has always had the ball to generate for him and his teammates on offense, that has forced him to take a lot of tough shots in the dying seconds of possessions. On the other hand, it should be no surprise that Spanoulis ranks first in assists (1,607), fouls drawn (1,583) and free throws made (1,131).

Shved became the fastest player to get to 400 threes, needing just 157 games to do so. No other player ever made as many threes in fewer than 200 games. Gianluca Basile, the first player to reach that milestone, was the fastest to reach it and he needed 209 games to do so. It may come as no surprise that Shved leads the all-time standings in three-point shots attempted per game (7.34). He holds the record with 11.14 attempts per game, set in the 2018-19 campaign.

Carroll attempted more shots from outside the arc than inside it in seven of his last eight seasons in the competition. Not surprisingly, he's taken more three-pointers (1,038) than two-pointers (908) in his EuroLeague career. Milaknis takes those numbers to another level; he barely shoots inside the arc. Milaknis has taken three and a half times as many three-point shots as twos, shooting 948 times from downtown and only 271 times inside the arc in his 11-year EuroLeague career. As shooting specialists, both Milaknis (42.6%) and Carroll (42.1%) have always had great three-point accuracy. No other players with 400 three-point shots made have shot at least 40% for their careers.

Only 10 players have made at least 400 three-point shots in the history of the competition. There are three Spanish players close to joining Spanoulis and Navarro in the 500 club: Sergio Rodriguez is third with 497, followed by Rudy Fernandez (494) and Sergio Llull (489). Basile (421) played his last EuroLeague game in 2013 and retired from basketball in 2016. Milos Teodosic (471) spent the past two seasons with 7DAYS EuroCup powerhouse Virtus Segafredo Bologna and at age 34, he may return to the EuroLeague and break the 500 milestone, too. Nando De Colo (346) and Scottie Wilbekin (340) are in the best situations to reach 400 three-point shots next season when more milestones are sure to come from downtown.

Milestones: Long-range shooters reached new heights in 2020-21

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ALBA Berlin and big man Johannes Thiemann will remain together for another three seasons.

ALBA, Thiemann agree to three-year extension

The club announced the new contract on Monday afternoon. Thiemann (2.05 meters, 27 years old) first joined ALBA from fellow German side Ludwigsburg in the summer of 2018 and became a key player. 

He averaged 7.7 points and 3.8 rebounds over 19 minutes in 3 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague appearances last season. Thiemann also helped ALBA win back-to-back German League crowns and the 2020 German Cup. 

He made his professional debut with TSV Breitenguessbach and also played for Brose Bamberg before signing with Ludwigsburg. He is also a member of the German national team.

ALBA sports director

We are very pleased that Johannes Thiemann has extended his contract for a further three years. Since he came to us in 2018, he has become more and more important to the core of the team. He has grown into this role and has enriched our team a lot.

JT is a great player, a great person. We look forward to accompanying him on his way to becoming a modern EuroLeague player. It's great that his and our development are staying connected.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="de" dir="ltr">Vertragsverlängerung in der Tasche und jetzt auf zur <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Olympia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Olympia</a>-Qualifikation mit der Nationalmannschaft. Wir freuen uns auf drei weitere Jahre mit Dir, JT! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JohannesThiemann?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JohannesThiemann</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mitleibundseele?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#mitleibundseele</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/easyCreditBBL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@easyCreditBBL</a> <a href="https://t.co/sTKc7nDlxS">https://t.co/sTKc7nDlxS</a></p>&mdash; ALBA BERLIN (@albaberlin) <a href="https://twitter.com/albaberlin/status/1406910676040400896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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I am very happy that I was able to extend my contract in Berlin. It's just unbelievable what kind of culture there is at ALBA, and I'm very happy that I can be part of it in the long term. I would like to thank the association for their trust and look forward to the next three years.

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