By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Eurohoops presents the third edition of the MVP Ladder with 14 Rounds of the 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season in the books.
We rated the players on a scale of 1 to 10 in five different areas to reveal the competitive value of each so far this season.
Honorable mentions: Shavon Shields (AX Armani Exchange Milan), Elie Okobo (LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne)
#5 LORENZO BROWN (previous rank: new entry)
UNICS Kazan | Guard | August 26, 1990 | USA
13.1 pts | 4.1 reb | 5.1 ast | 1.6 stl | 0.1 blk | 2.9 tov | 29:55 min | 16.4 PIR | 14 G
Player performance: 9
Team’s course: 7
Role of the player: 8
Consistency: 7
Leadership: 8
Total: 39
To be fair, Lorenzo Brown has been playing very well since the beginning of the season. His solid showings were overshadowed by UNICS Kazan underperforming as a team. Bouncing back with seven wins in the last nine games, his team seems to have fully recovered from the sluggish start.
Zo has been maybe the most influential player during that ongoing comeback. Ranked 18th in points scored might not be impressive, but being second in assists and seventh in PIR display the extent of his contribution. Good stuff.
#4 SHANE LARKIN (previous rank: new entry)
Anadolu Efes | Guard | October 2, 1992 | USA
13.5 pts | 2.1 reb | 4.9 ast | 1.4 stl | 0 blk | 2.6 tov | 29:41 min | 17.3 PIR | 14 G
Player performance: 9
Team’s course: 5
Role of the player: 9
Consistency: 8
Leadership: 9
Total: 40
The MVP Ladder having lacked an Anadolu Efes Istanbul player so far seemed wrong. Well, Shane Larkin, welcome back. Despite the defending champions suffering back-to-back losses preventing them from entering the spots leading to the playoffs, it is obvious the team is back on track. Predicting the future in this case might not be far-fetched.
Larkin has not been firing on all cylinders just yet. Ranked 16th with 13.5 points per game proves as much. Nonetheless, he currently sits third in assists and fourth in PIR. At this point, expecting more buckets to complete the lethal combination can be scary.
#3 WILL CLYBURN (previous rank: tied 4th)
CSKA Moscow | Forward | May 17, 1990 | USA
15.5 pts | 4.8 reb | 1.3 ast | 0.8 stl | 0.4 blk | 1.8 tov | 28:58 min | 16.1 PIR | 14 G
Player performance: 8
Team’s course: 8
Role of the player: 9
Consistency: 8
Leadership: 8
Total: 41
The detrimental impact of the multiple players getting injured was more than apparent on CSKA Moscow. Will Clyburn was among the few players remaining healthy. That CSKA is on the rebound, health-wise, is the bad part of the story for the remaining EuroLeague clubs.
The Thrill is one of the main reasons the Army Men are still in the top eight spots of the standings, with five wins in the last six games, including four in a row. Consistency will push him higher than his current rankings of fifth in points and 11th in PIR.