By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Devin Smith, one of the key players in last season’s championship run of Maccabi Tel Aviv, is Euroleague December MVP as he emerged during the last month not only as the best player of the Israeli powerhouse, but also as the real soul of the champs.
Smith in his 31 years is the oldest player in Maccabi’s roster and he led to 3-0 record in the last month the defending champions on the way to Top16 qualification. He averaged 20.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and just 1 turnover per game in December, having the second-best ranking in the league for the month with 25.7 points.
Smith was also the MVP of March 2013 and he becomes the 10th player in competition history to win monthly MVP honors twice, joining Euroleague greats like Marcus Brown, Dimitris Diamantidis, Juan Carlos Navarro, Ramunas Siskauskas, Vassilis Spanoulis and Ante Tomic. He is also the only player of Maccabi that won the award twice.