By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Luke Sikma was named Turkish Airlines EuroLeague MVP of the Week, Euroleague Basketball announced following the conclusion of the Regular Season Round 11 matches. His first time on this stage was last season sharing the Round 9 MVP honors with Nick Calathes.
The second MVP nod comes with EuroLeague personal-highs of 20 points and 32 PIR, the latter leading him over the remaining players in action this week to his updated status. The former Portland Pilot standout, son of Hall of Famer Jack Sikma, helped ALBA Berlin claim the home win over Khimki Moscow Region Thursday.
Per the press release: “A stellar individual performance in a winning effort has earned Luke Sikma of ALBA Berlin the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague MVP of the Week honor. Sikma put on an all-around performance in Round 11 to lead ALBA to a 100-80 home win against Khimki Moscow Region. ALBA reached 100 points for just the fifth time in EuroLeague action, all of them in the last two seasons with Sikma and head coach Aito Garcia Reneses. His performance index rating of 32 was not only the week’s best, but also matched his personal high. He finished the game with a career-high 20 points on 7-of-10 two-point and 6-of-7 free-throw shooting. Sikma, the 2018-19 7DAYS EuroCup MVP, added 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, a block, and 5 fouls drawn, all in less than 24 minutes on the floor. This is the second weekly MVP award of Sikma’s career. He previously shared that honor with Nick Calathes in Round 9 of the 2019-20 Regular Season. His teammate Niels Giffey posted a PIR of 29 against Khimki, a new personal best. Giffey had a career-high 22 points on 4-of-4 three-point shooting plus 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and 2 blocks. Mateusz Ponitka of Zenit St Petersburg had the week’s third-best PIR of 28 in his team’s 70-77 road win at TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz on Monday in a postponed Round 3 game. Ponitka compiled 18 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists in that victory. Adrien Moerman of Anadolu Efes Istanbul and Jonas Jerebko of Khimki each had a PIR of 27. Moerman had 17 points on 5-of-6 three-point shooting to go with 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals in a 64-75 road win against Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade. Jerebko had 20 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists in a losing effort against ALBA.
Individual highs: Pierria Henry of TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, 11 assists
Mike James of CSKA Moscow was the top scorer in Round 11, getting 28 points in a victory against Real. He also leads the overall standings at 19.5 points per game. Shavon Shields of AX Armani Exchange Milan led all rebounders by pulling down 11 in his team’s road win against Maccabi. Jerebko is the overall top rebounder with 6.8 boards per game. Pierria Henry dished 11 assists to lead Baskonia to its first road win against Olympiacos since 2007, after 15 consecutive losses. Alexey Shved of Khimki leads the 2020-21 EuroLeague in assists at 8.8 per night. Vyacheslav Zaytsev of Khimki, Peyton Siva of ALBA and Howard Sant-Roos of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens each collected 4 steals in Round 11. Nikola Mirotic of FC Barcelona now leads the standings (1.y spg.), as Facu Campazzo of Real Madrid (2.0 spg.) left the competition this week and will not play enough games to qualify. Walter Tavares of Real Madrid and Jordan Mickey of Khimki each had 4 blocks this week. Mickey is atop the standings at 2.6 per night. Shields, Henry and Shved registered respective double-doubles in Round 11.”