By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
EuroLeague Basketball doesn’t have “Game of the Week” anymore but if there was one for Round 27, that should’ve been the clash between Olimpia Milano and Fenerbahce. In what was a highly sophisticated and also fun-to-watch basketball battle, Fenerbahce came on top by performing with the efficiency of a machine on offense, thanks to the all-around output of a specific former MVP.
MVP: Jan Vesely (Fenerbahce Beko):
Fenerbahce was looking to bounce back from a blowout loss to Anadolu Efes and get a win that would keep them in the playoffs zone. Enter one of the team’s veterans: Jan Vesely. The Czech big man had one of the most multifaceted performances of his career with 13 points (5-7 from the field, 3-3 free throws), 10 rebounds, a career-high eight assists and zero turnovers as the icing on a quite literally impeccable and flawless display.
Best Five
- Luca Vildoza (Baskonia): He toyed with the defense of Olympiacos, often putting on a scoring (19 points) and passing (eight assists) spectacle as Baskonia grabbed a much-needed fifth straight win. He also stole the ball four times.
- Wade Baldwin (Bayern Munich): Not only did he finish with a game-high 27 points (10-14 shots) in the road win of Bayern over Crvena Zvezda but also drained a crucial 3-pointer in the very last minute that gave his team a five-point advantage. Bayern is tied for the third-best record to EuroLeague and Baldwin is one of the main people who are responsible for that.
- Nikola Mirotic (Barcelona): Barcelona needed a to get back on track following an upset to ASVEL Villeurbanne and Nikola Mirotic delivered to make it happen. A season-high 25 points (9-13 shots) plus five boards in 26 minutes in the Blaugrana’s away win over Panathinaikos.
- Jan Vesely (Fenerbahce Beko): Two assists short of the triple-double.
- Sertac Sanli (Anadolu Efes): After a really solid game in the win over Fenerbahce, Sertac Sanli carried the momentum by producing a career-high 25 points to push Efes past Valencia. Oh, and he had 3-3 3-pointers. A shooter is born.
Coach of the Week: Andrei Maltsev (Khimki Moscow)
Under normal circumstances, a home win of Khimki Moscow over Real Madrid wouldn’t be that big of a news. But for this season’s Khimki that has been showered in problems (the worst record in EuroLeague despite a quality roster, players terminating their contracts and reports about the club owning millions to some of them), a victory over the Spanish powerhouse was something akin to a miracle-result. Amid those issues and despite managing a diminished roster, interim coach Andrei Maltsev found the way to direct his guys towards capturing their first EuroLeague win since November 17 and after 17 losses.
Mario Hezonja has arrived:
After a raving welcome by hundreds of Panathinaikos fans in the Athens airport, Mario Hezonja showed a glimpse of what he can provide to the Greens with some flash in his debut. The Croatian swingman had 21 points in 29:23 minutes in the loss to former team (and still his rights-holder in Europe) Barcelona. There were also five turnovers on the stats sheet next to his name but, given that this was his first game since August,