By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
The ninth player of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague 2010-20 All-Decade Team is Bogdan Bogdanovic, Euroleague Basketball announced on Tuesday. Previously earning the nod were Nando De Colo, Dimitris Diamantidis, Luka Doncic, Kyle Hines, Sergio Llull, Juan Carlos Navarro, Georgios Printezis, and Milos Teodosic.
Per Euroleague Basketball: “The newest member of the 2010-20 EuroLeague All-Decade team as voted by fans, media, players and coaches is an elite shooting guard who in his four full seasons in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague took home an end-of-season award three times!
Bogdan Bogdanovic is a team-oriented player who is outstanding in clutch situations. A fantastic all-around scorer, his efficiency and passing skills improved from year to year to make him even more unpredictable. Bogdanovic started the decade with Partizan Belgrade and spent part of it with Fenerbahce Istanbul under legendary head coach Zeljko Obradovic, with which he won a EuroLeague title.
From Rising Star to superstar
Bogdanovic was in his late teens when he joined Partizan in 2010 and made his EuroLeague debut with the Serbian powerhouse in October 2012. Fully aware of his potential, Partizan head coach Dusko Vujosevic gave Bogdanovic plenty of playing time in the following campaign and he delivered, averaging 14.8 points, 3.7 assists and 1.6 steals in 23 games to earn the 2013-14 EuroLeague Rising Star Trophy. Bogdanovic went on to play for Fenerbahce for the next three seasons and helped the team to as many consecutive Final Fours. He led Fenerbahce to the championship game in 2016 where they lost against CSKA Moscow. One year later, Bogdanovic and Fenerbahce lifted the trophy in front of a sea of yellow and navy blue fans in Istanbul. Along the way, Bogdanovic won a second consecutive Rising Star award in the 2014-15 season, earned MVP of the month honors for April 2017 and was chosen to the 2016-17 All-EuroLeague First Team.
The numbers
Bogdanovic is one of three players to win the Rising Star award in consecutive seasons. Nikola Mirotic did it before him and Luka Doncic right after. Bogdanovic, however, is the only player to win this award with multiple teams. On a per-game basis, Bogdanovic ranked 12th in scoring (12.7 ppg.) and 13th in steals (1.1 spg.) in the 2010s.
The moment
Fenerbahce faced a tough test in the 2017 EuroLeague Playoffs, as it played against Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens without the homecourt advantage. That meant that Fenerbahce had to win at least one game in front of a sellout crowd at OAKA to qualify to the Final Four. Bogdanovic delivered in Game 1, leading Fenerbahce to a 58-71 road win with 23 points on 4-of-6 two-point shooting and 5-of-6 on three-pointers while setting new career-highs in blocks (3) and PIR (35). Barely 48 hours later, Bogdanovic did it again. Fenerbahce beat Panathinaikos in Game 2 at OAKA, 75-80, behind 25 points on 5-of-7 two-point shooting, 5-of-8 from downtown plus 6 assists and matching his career-highs in rebounds (8) and PIR (35). Fenerbahce swept the series, punched its ticket to the Final Four and ended up winning the title after downing Olympiacos Piraeus 80-64 in the championship game. Bogdanovic’s playoff explosion helped make it all possible.”