By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Elie Okobo exploded with a new career-high performance against Panathinaikos on Friday night (35 points on 13/19 FG) to win this week’s MVP award in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Not only did Okobo stun the Greens with his performance, but he also pushed ASVEL further up to the upper half of the standings, as the French side improved to a 5-2 record.
Per EuroLeague:
Elie Okobo led LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne to a 70-84 road victory against Panathinaikos OPAP Athens, earning the Round 7 MVP honor in the process. Okobo set a new ASVEL club record with 35 points. The French powerhouse’s previous scoring record in the competition belonged to Ali Traore, who had 29 points against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul on October 28, 2009.
Okobo buried 8-of-12 two-point shots, 5-of-7 three-pointers and 4-of-4 free throws, adding 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 5 fouls drawn for a PIR of 37. He stepped up when it mattered the most, too, scoring 25 points in the second half, and 17 in the final 5 minutes, including back-to-back triples to seal the outcome down the stretch.
Walter Tavares of Real Madrid had the next best PIR, 28, in his team’s road loss against UNICS Kazan. Tavares had 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals and a block. Luka Mitrovic of Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade recorded a PIR of 27 in a losing effort against AX Armani Exchange Milan, recording 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, a block and 7 fouls drawn. Cory Higgins of FC Barcelona, Donta Hall of AS Monaco and Darrun Hilliard of FC Bayern Munich, each with a PIR of 26, complete the list of top individual performances in Round 7.
Individual highs: Alex Poythress of Zenit St Petersburg, 4 blocks
Okobo led Round 7 in scoring with 35 points, which also saw him climb to first place in the overall season’s scoring standings, averaging 20.0 points. Tonye Jekiri of UNICS and Monaco’s Hall were the only players to reach double digits in rebounds, getting 10 apiece against Real and CSKA Moscow respectively, while ALBA Berlin’s Luke Sikma tops the season’s rebounding chart with 8.1 per night. Marco Spissu of UNICS dished 9 assists against Real, and Nick Calathes of Barcelona leads the EuroLeague in assists at 5.4 per night. Mike James of Monaco and John Brown of UNICS both collected 5 steals in Round 7. Brown is also first overall at 2.6 per game. Alex Poythress of Zenit St Petersburg had 4 blocks to top this round’s list. Tavares leads the competition in blocks at 1.7 per game. Hall – 17 points, 10 rebounds – was the only player to record a double-double in this round.
Photo: Eurokinissi