By Panos Katsiroubas/ info@eurohoops.net
Euroleague playoffs have finished and the Final Four in Milan, the capital of Lombardy, is the place to be for the top four contenders between 16th and 18th of May.
The lights and the flashes will be focused on the stars and the big names of each team, but before that we are going to turn the spotlight to the players which are not the stars, or the leaders of their teams. However, they did their best in the best possible way in order to help their teams achieving their goals, either going in the Final Four or entering in the playoffs. For us in Eurohoops these are the heroes behind the curtains.
Felipe Reyes
The captain of Real Madrid is playing probably the best basketball of his career. Even though his is a player who has not many sympathies in the majority of his opponents’ fans, either in Spain or in Euroleague, Felipe is loved by Real Madrid fans because of his passion and the competitiveness that characterizes him.
He is still a very important player for this great team. A player that does not care for his statistics, he sacrifices his body for the good of his team, a real fighter. He was one of the reasons that Real Madrid will be in Milano.
He excelled in the 5th game of the playoffs against Olympiacos with 15 points and 8 rebounds, most of them in the last quarter during the most important part of the game. In the playoffs he finished with 10 points and 4 rebounds per game in only 15 minutes on the court per average. This numbers doesn’t show the little details he provides in order for his team to win.
Joey Dorsey
Back in the 2012-2013 season he was the one of the two additions that change the fate of Olympiakos and helped the most to the Red’s return to European titles after 16 years. This year in a Barcelona frontcourt full of talent and quality with players like Tomic and Lorbek, he still has some unique characteristics that make him more than useful.
He is not the most talented player in the offensive end, even though he has some good finishes after pick and roll situations and after offensive rebounds. His biggest advantage however is being maybe the best pick and roll defender among Euroleague centers and he is also a great rim protector. In the playoffs against Galatasaray he contribute with 5 points, 7,5 rebounds and 1,5 assists and blocks per game in 16 minutes of action, giving energy in defense. He also made the crucial block to Arroyo in Game 3 that gave the sweep to the Catlans..
Alex Tyus
Euroleague beat us to his recognition and awarded him the April MVP title after his great performances in the play offs against Olympia Milano. This guy in the first part of the season was between bench and the exit of Maccabi Tel Aviv. After the injury of Shawn James he stepped up and became better and better during the competition. The graduate of Florida Gators has increased his numbers from regular season to the Top16 and then to the play offs. He started averaging 10 minutes and just 3 points, but when Shawn James, he exploded.
He doubled his time in the court and averaged 8,5 points and 6 rebounds. Things got even better in the play offs. Sofoklis Schortsanitis suffered an ankle injury during the series and Tyus contributed 13,5 points, 5,5 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. His energy and his great perception of the pick and roll offense is what making him one of the best in Europe. All eyes will be on him during the Final Four!!
Sasha Kaun
CSKA has an all star frontline with Nenad Krstic and Kyle Hines coming from Olympiakos, but in the series against Panathinaikos Sasha Kaun was the MVP of the Russians bigs. He had his best night in crucial Game 5with 18 points and 9 boards with a ranking of 29. With his big hands he can protect the paint from the penetrations of the opponents’ guards, he is also very good over the rim and he is improving constantly his offensive game, both in pick and roll and also playing as an old school pivot in the paint. He is an economy player with no exaggerations in the offense having 69% accuracy in 2pt field goals and increasing this number during the playoffs to 73%. He will be very important in Milan.
Bryant Dunston
This guy was two words for Olympiacos this year. Energy and Passion! He was the best player of Olympiacos in the Top 6 and the play offs and he was the game changer for the Reds in the series against Real Madrid. His defense in the paint and in switches after the screens was the key for Olympiacos come back in the series after Game 2. Dunston was a real beast, he fought almost alone with Real’s front line and lost some battles only when he was exhausted in Game 5. He finished the play offs with 11,2 points, 6,5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1,2 blocks per average in 28 minutes of exuberant presence on the court. This was his first Euroleague season iand everyone can understand that he can give even more to the Reds the following years.
Furkan Aldemir
He is only 22 years old, he doesn’t have the contracts and the salaries of Semih Erden or Oguz Savas but he made a very positive impact in his first year in the highest level of European Basketball. He had some great performances during Top16, helping his team reach the play offs. With his performances. he covered the absences of Jawai and Dudley who lost almost the whole season due to injuries. He has to improve many aspects of his game mostly in the offensive end, he has to read better the opponents defense but his future seems bright. He is already a good defender and a very good rim protector. His highlight was the game in Belgrade against Partizan were he had 9 points, 6 rebound and 6 blocks.
Samardo Samuels
The center from Jamaica had his first Euroleague season after a career that included some great college years in Louisville, some games in NBA and stops in the NBDL and in Israel. He had a mediocre start, but he improved his performances as the season progressed and next year he will be for sure a player to watch. He was the starting center for Olympia Milano and together with Lawal, they were very important parts of the great Top16 run of the Italians even though in the end they didn’t achieve to qualify for the Final Four. In the series against Maccabi he had an average of 10,4 points and 5 rebounds in 22 minutes
Jonas Maciulis
It was a strange season for Panathinaikos. In the end, they pushed CSKA to its limits forcing a five games play off series. Even though the backcourt of Panathinaikos had some really bad nights in the series with Diamantidis facing a lot of difficulties and without meaningful contribution from Curry or Bramos, the Lithuanian forward was the most stabilized and balanced presence for his team during the Top16 and the play offs.
He was the best player of Panathinaikos in Games 1 and 4 and he also had some great games in Top16. He helped his team from the perimeter and by posting shorter opponents in the paint and he defended better than anyone in the match up with CSKA Moscow’s star Sonny Weems due to his athleticism and his mentality. In the series against CSKA his numbers were 8,5 points,4 rebounds, 2 steals and 1,2 assists per game showing the variety of what he can offer to his team.