By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
We evaluated the players in five different areas that can demonstrate the competitive value of each so far this season. The highest score for each area is 10.
Honorable mentions: Walter Tavares (Real Madrid), Jan Vesely (Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul), Kevin Pangos (Zenit St Petersburg), Wade Baldwin (FC Bayern Munich)
#5 VLADIMIR LUCIC (previous rank: re-entry)
FC Bayern Munich | Forward | 17 June 1989 | Serbia
13,8 pts | 4,8 reb | 1,3 ast | 1,1 stl | 0,2 blk | 1,3 tov | 30:51 min | 17,7 PIR | 26 G
Player’s performance: 7
Team’s course: 8
Player’s role: 8
Consistency: 7
Leadership: 9
Total: 39
FC Bayern Munich is having a historic season with the first playoff qualification in team history and Vladimir Lucic deserves to be one of the first to start celebrating, even if he missed almost a quarter of the games due to an injury.
Few players have contributed like he has on both ends of the court and almost none to the same degree. The free throws for the final 80-79 win against Anadolu Efes Istanbul at the Audi Dome (Round 30) were his, as was the game-winning block on Joffrey Lauvergne against Zalgiris Kaunas (71-70, Round 33) in Munich recently. Overall, he ranks 14th in points and eighth in the performance index rating.
It remains to be seen how much further he and his team can go in this historic season.
#4 NANDO DE COLO (previous rank: 4th)
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul | Guard | 23 June 1987 | France
15,5 pts | 3,3 reb | 4,1 ast | 1,4 stl | 0 blk | 2,9 tov | 27:07 min | 19 PIR | 29 G
Player’s performance: 8
Team’s course: 7
Player’s role: 9
Consistency: 7
Leadership: 9
Total: 40
After going 5-10 in the first games of the season, the playoffs seemed like a distant memory for Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul. With 15 wins in the next 19 games, Fener has turned the situation around and continued the streak that has it present in the postseason since 2015. Nando De Colo’s signature is on most of those wins, in large letters.
The MVP of the season in 2016 stepped up when things got tough. With performances similar to those award-winning ones five years ago, he managed to squeeze his team into seventh place. He ranks eighth in points, 13th in assists and fourth in the performance index rating.
Fortunately for him and for Fenerbahce, his injury in Round 33 was not serious. He was present at the end of the regular season and is expected to be so in the playoffs, with the hope of picking up where he left off.