By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Vasilije Micic has been named the 2022-23 EuroLeague Regular Season Round 11 MVP, leading Anadolu Efes to the 82-71 win against Olympiacos.
After shattering the Greek team’s dreams away in last season’s semifinals with a deep buzzer-beater, Micic flirted with a triple-double in Round 11, ending the game with 18 points, 9 assists, and career-high 9 rebounds in 34:46 minutes on the court.
He was perfect inside the area (3/3) and from free-throws (3/3), while he shot 3/8 from the three-point line, with 6 fouls drawn, 3 turnovers, and 31 of PIR.
“I did not know I was close to a triple-double. Honestly, I thought I had 9 turnovers. The way I started the game was not so good, with some lack of concentration, and aggressiveness from Walkup, which I give him great credit for his defense. I am happy that somehow I found a way to come back to the game and was not a bad game”, he said after the home victory.
The Serbian leader is averaging 18.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 1.1 steals, with a 22.5 PIR per game. He’s shooting 53.6% from two and 88.9% at the charity stripe, while 34.6% from deep.
He won the EuroLeague back-to-back with Ergin Ataman’s team, being named the 2021 and 2022 EuroLeague Final Four MVP, and the 2020-21 EuroLeague MVP.
This is his 10th EuroLeague MVP of the Round, reaching Mike James and Mirsad Türkcan. Nando De Colo (16) and his teammate Shane Larkin (14) are the only ones ahead of them.
Round 11’s highest PIR was 43 by Lorenzo Brown of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, but because his team lost, he was not eligible to be the MVP.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague