By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
A specialist in games that need more than one overtime to be resolved, ALBA Berlin got a new win over Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius in Round 4 of the 7DAYS EuroCup after two extra sessions.
One player rose in the ALBA team to lead all his teammates to the final win, Elmedin Kikanovic, racking up a performance index rating of 35 to claim MVP honors this week. Kikanovic signed big numbers in the double-OT win with his best inidividual performance ever in the competition: 33 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 10 fouls drawn (all career bests for him) to lead ALBA to its third win this season. His index rating was also a career-best for Kikanovic.
Right behind him was Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem’s Curtis Jerrells with a performance index rating of 34, to lead his team to its third win to stay undefeated. Jerrells netted 18 points, pulled 9 rebounds, dished 7 assists, had 4 steals and drew 7 fouls in a fantastic all-around performance. Marcus Williams of Buducnost VOLI Podgorica also had a 34 index rating, but in a losing effort of his team against Zenit St Petersburg, where Stefan Markovic had a performance index rating of 29 to complete the top individual performances in Round 4.
Individual highs: A week of individual records
It may come as a surprise that Kikanovic’s 33 points were not the highest mark this week, as Ryan Toolson of Zenit topped that with his 34, including a career best 8 of 15 threes, to get the highest scoring mark of the season so far. In the rebounds department, Drew Gordon of Lietuvos Rytas led all players with his 15 boards, also a career best for him. Deandre Kane of Nizhny Novgorod followed closely with his 12 rebounds, another career best for the guard. Markovic’s 12 assists were also a personal record for him and the best mark of the week. In the defensive department there were, of course, two more personal marks: Joan Sastre of Valencia Basket led the rankings with his 5 steals, while Arturas Gudaitis of Lietuvos Rytas was the best stopper with his 4 blocks.