By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The top performer for Real Madrid in the away win against Virtus Segafredo Bologna, Guerschon Yabusele landed MVP honors.
Yabusele, 27, was named Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 30 MVP, Euroleague Basketball announced Saturday.
The French forward scored 24 points with 10/13 field goals, including 4/7 from beyond the arc. Adding six rebounds and three assists built the PIR of 30, the highest among all players in action this week.
The former player of the Boston Celtics emerged as the January MVP in the 2021-22 edition of Europe’s top-tier club competition. But his latest showing was attached to the first weekly distinction, four years in his EuroLeague career.
Per the press release: “With a performance that was equal parts efficient and spectacular, Real Madrid forward Guerschon Yabusele earned the MVP honor for Round 30, the first such accolade in his 92-game Turkish Airlines EuroLeague career. Yabusele anchored Real’s 79-96 road win against Virtus Segafredo Bologna with 24 points, tying his career high, on 6-for-6 two-point and 4-for-7 three-point shooting, including a buzzer-beater at halftime from the opposite free-throw line. He added 6 points and 3 assists without a turnover for a PIR of 30, the best of all players in the round.
Following Yabusele from the same game, though on the losing end, was Marco Belinelli of Virtus, who scored 26 points on 6-for-9 three-point and 6-for-6 free-throw shooting and dished 4 assists for a PIR of 28. His scoring and PIR were career highs for Belinelli. The third-best performance of Round 30 also came in Italy, where Shabazz Napier posted a 27 PIR based on his 20 points, 4 assists and 2 steals in EA7 Emporio Armani Milan’s 99-74 victory over visiting FC Bayern Munich
Eight players tied with PIRs of 26 each for the fourth-best performances of the week. Wade Baldwin of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, Donta Hall of AS Monaco, Nigel Hayes-Davis of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, Mathias Lessort of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, and the FC Barcelona duo of Nikola Mirotic and Tomas Satoransky all did so in victories for their teams. Chris Jones of Valencia Basket and Vasilije Micic of Anadolu Efes Istanbul also had 26 PIRs despite their teams losing.”
Top 10 Plays
Partizan Mozzart Bet’s Dante Exum driving a powerful dunk over Joel Bolomboy ranked first in the Top 10 Plays of Round 30.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net