By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The All-7DAYS EuroCup First Team was announced and the five players making the cut are Andrew Albicy of MoraBanc Andorra, Errick McCollum of UNICS Kazan, Rokas Giedraitis and Luke Sikma of ALBA Berlin, and Bojan Dubljevic of Valencia Basket.
The 7DAYS EuroCup season has been thrilling, outstanding and full of great basketball. Ahead of the finals, which open next Tuesday, Euroleague Basketball honors the best of this season’s players as members of the All-7DAYS EuroCup First Team! Each member of the first team had both a brilliant individual campaign and team success. Andrew Albicy of MoraBanc Andorra, Errick McCollum of UNICS Kazan, Rokas Giedraitis and Luke Sikma of ALBA Berlin, and Bojan Dubljevic of Valencia Basket were all among the best in the competition, especially in key moments, helping to make their respective teams title contenders. For the third straight season, the selection process combined the results of fan voting with the opinions of Euroleague Basketball’s in-house panel of experts. Each of the four EuroCup semifinalists is represented, while ALBA, a finalist along with Valencia, has two of its players on the squad.
Andrew Albicy, MoraBanc Andorra
An experienced player in his fourth EuroCup campaign, Albicy has been chosen to the All-7DAYS EuroCup team for the first time. Albicy has been solid all season, leading Andorra to its first-ever EuroCup semifinals appearance. He leads the EuroCup in total assists (118) while ranking third in three-point shots made (43) and second in total steals (36). Albicy earned Top 16 Round 1 MVP honor with a great all-around performance – 22 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals and 7 fouls drawn for a career-high PIR of 37 – in a win against Cedevita Zagreb. In three previous seasons, Albicy had hit 45% of his two-point shots and 38.2% from downtown. This season, Albicy raised his shooting percentages to 52.5% inside the arc and 43.1% from beyond it – the latter despite hitting as many three-pointers (44) as in his three previous seasons combined. During the Top 16, Albicy ranked second in PIR (21.0), fourth in scoring (14.6 ppg.) and third in assists (6.2 apg.). He was the second-best scorer in the semifinals (17.0 ppg.), ranking third in PIR (19 ppg.) and first in assists (9 apg.).
Errick McCollum, UNICS Kazan
This is McCollum’s second All-7DAYS EuroCup First Team appearance in his three seasons in the competition. He earned the same honor and the EuroCup MVP award in the 2015-16 season, when he led Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul to the title. McCollum was UNICS’s top scorer (13.2 ppg.) this season, doing better and better as the competition went along. He averaged 20.7 points in the quarterfinals, ranking first in scoring and second in PIR (22.0) in that phase. McCollum earned quarterfinals Game 1 MVP honors while lifting UNICS to an 86-66 win over Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar by matching his career-high of 32 points, which was also the second-highest point total by any EuroCup player this season. That included his 15-for-15 show from the free-throw line, which set a new record for playoff games. Speaking of which, McCollum also leads the EuroCup in free throws made (86). A natural-born scorer, McCollum was effective every time he stepped on the court, ranking fourth in points per 40 minutes (23.9). McCollum took UNICS to the semifinals for the first time since 2014.
Rokas Giedraitis, ALBA Berlin
At age 26, Giedraitis is the youngest player on the All-7DAYS EuroCup First Team this season. He makes his first appearance on the team following a stellar season in which he is averaging 14.8 points on excellent shooting percentages (56.9% 2FG, 40.2% 3FG, 86.4% FT) and 4.3 rebounds. Giedraitis ranks second in total PIR (340) in this EuroCup campaign. He’s tied for sixth place in steals (1.6 spg.) and eighth in free throw percentage. Giedraitis was the Top 16’s best scorer (15.3 ppg.), helping ALBA to a first-place finish and the home-court advantage in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Giedraitis was the third-best scorer in those quarterfinals (16.7 ppg.) and ranked seventh in the semis (13.5 ppg.). He earned the quarterfinals Game 2 MVP honor with an outstanding performance in a do-or-die situation for ALBA, getting 23 points on 5-for-7 three-point shooting for a PIR of 23 in a huge road win against Unicaja Malaga. Giedraitis is just the third Lithuanian player to earn first team honors, following Jonas Valanciunas of Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius and Renaldas Seibutis of Bilbao Basket, who both did so in the 2011-12 season.
Luke Sikma, ALBA Berlin
Sikma has been chosen to an All-7DAYS EuroCup teams for the first time of his four-year career in the competition. Sikma leads the EuroCup in total performance index rating (363) and is third in average PIR (17.3). Sikma has harnessed his all-around skills to lead ALBA to the finals. He ranks third in rebounds per game (6.7) and fifth in offensive boards (2.2). At the same time, he leads all frontcourt players in assists (4.3), ranking 11th overall. He also is tied for sixth place in steals with 1.6 per night. Sikma earned Top 16 Round 3 MVP honor in an overtime road triumph against Rytas Vilnius. He had 19 points, a career-high 12 rebounds and 6 assists, good for a PIR of 33. In that Top 16 phase, Sikma ranked third in PIR (20.7), fifth in rebounds (7.0) and fourth in assists (6.2), showcasing his versatility and leadership. His performance led ALBA to a first-place finish and the home-court advantage in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Sikma, who also reached the 7DAYS EuroCup Finals with Valencia Basket in 2017, is averaging 11.9 points on 41.9% three-point shooting in 21 EuroCup games until now.
Bojan Dubljevic, Valencia Basket
By being chosen to an All-7DAYS EuroCup team for the fourth time in his career, Dubljevic has broken yet another record in this competition. And at age 27, the sky is the limit for Valencia’s franchise player. Dubljevic was previously chosen to the first team in 2017 and earned second-team honors in 2012 (playing for Buducnost VOLI Podgorica) and 2014. Breaking EuroCup records is nothing new for Dubljevic, who is the competition’s all-time leader in points (1,409), rebounds (628) and PIR (1,627). This season, Dubljevic was chosen as the MVP of the Top 16, after scoring 13.2 points on 46.7% three-point shooting, collecting 7.3 rebounds and delivering 2.8 assists for an average PIR of 19.5 in that phase. He led Valencia to a 6-0 record in the Top 16, which gave his team the home-court advantage in all playoffs series. Dubljevic earned the Top 16 Round 4 MVP honor after going for 24 points, 8 boards and 5 assists in an 81-82 win at Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade. He has been incredibly effective every time he steps on the court, ranking seventh in PIR per 40 minutes (26.6).
Photo Credit: 7DAYS EuroCup