By Antonis Stroggylakis/ AStroggylakis@eurohoops.net
The 2023 All-EuroLeague First and Second Team were unveiled Monday and, as usual, the announcements were accompanied by all sorts of reactions from fans.
There will rarely (if never) be a complete agreement on the players who should compile those teams, even among those who are voted. This year we also had Maccabi Tel Aviv guard and Second Team member Wade Baldwin openly criticizing the results on Twitter while providing his own picks. Monaco guard Mike James, who most people (including yours truly) expected to be on the First Team instead of the Second, made some funny remarks on how imbalanced the two squads look from a basketball viewpoint.
Some people wonder “No X player?” or “Where is this player?” There’ll always be some players who are snubbed in the whole process and you can argue forever about who deserves to be on these Teams.
There may be many who have earned a spot but didn’t get it. The tricky question is, who should be taken out for them to go in? This is why we went down that path while choosing Five notable Snubs from the All-EuroLeague Teams this century.
Reminder: These individual trophies (as well as the MVP) are (at least supposed to) reward regular season and playoff performances, apart from some team success.
Cory Higgins – 2019
“I was disappointed. I felt it was disrespectful,” Cory Higgins told Eurohoops during the 2019 Final Four on the fact that he wasn’t voted on either the First or Second All-EuroLeague Team. He went on to score 20 points in the Final vs. then-rising power Anadolu Efes to help CSKA Moscow grab the 8th EuroLeague championship in the history of the club.
“What can people say now?” he said while he and his teammates were celebrating in the locker room.
Why he could’ve easily made one of the two All-EuroLeague Teams: He was the leading scorer of CSKA Moscow (second-seeded in the regular season with just one win less than first-placed Fenerbahce Beko) before the Final Four with 14.6 points while registering a fantastic 64.1 percent on True Shooting. This included 47 out of 96 3-pointers. It takes a lot to stand out on such a talent-stacked team and Higgins did so in a very efficient, smooth fashion.
Higgins was one of the very best players in crunch time that season with several key interventions and buckets in the last minutes of very close games. He also displayed plenty how committed and skilled he’s on defense.
Player(s) that could’ve been left out for him: The shortest straw goes to Vincent Poirier, then with Baskonia. Yes, I know he was a beast that season and he averaged a double-double (!) in the playoffs.
Kyle Hines – a couple of seasons but we’ll pick 2016
Out of all players who have been selected to EuroLeague’s two All-Decade Teams, four-time champion and three-time DPOY Kyle Hines is the only one who has never made an All-EuroLeague Team. It’s a bit of a paradox really.
So this begets the question: Is Kyle Hines the biggest All-EuroLeague Team snub ever? Maybe, considering that he didn’t crack any annual Top 10 despite always being a vitally significant member of Final Four or championship teams consistently for a decade (2011-2012 to 2020-21).
There’s a reason for this and it mainly has to do with the fact that Hines’ numbers has never been as striking as the ones of other prominent All-EuroLeague nominees. However, he gets some of the highest grades in the “eye test” that will always surpass everything the stats sheet says in the case of the veteran big man.
Why he could’ve easily made one of the two All-EuroLeague Teams: Hines was first and foremost an all-around defensive behemoth and the anchor of CSKA (since we’re talking about 2016, and his runs with the Russian powerhouse mainly) in that department but he’s been far more than that. He also brought an underrated impact on the offensive game thanks to his powerful screens for shooters/creators, his fast rolls to the basket and the ability to push transition plays by dribbling the ball from one side of the floor to the other like a point guard. 2016 marked his most productive season with 10.8 points and 4.6 rebounds but, again, his contribution beyond numbers has been immeasurable.
Player(s) that could’ve been left out for him: Gustavo Ayon.
Maciej Lampe – 2013
In his first EuroLeague season with an important role on his team, forward/center Maciej Lampe thrived within the Baskonia system. An offensive-minded big man with a plethora of scoring talents and range, the Polish player led Baskonia‘s 2012-13 campaign in points (13.9) and rebounds (6.1).
Why he could’ve easily made one of the two All-EuroLeague Teams: That year only one player from a non-Final Four side made the All-EuroLeague Teams: Maccabi Tel Aviv center Shawn James. Lampe surely had the performances to claim that he deserved a spot.
After he was named December MVP, Lampe increased the levels of his game in the Top 16 with 16.6 points and 6.8 rebounds. He gave a push at the start with 25 points in a victory over Olympiacos Piraeus and then closed the phase with 21 points in an away win at Khimki Moscow and 27 points plus nine rebounds as his team beat Montepaschi Siena to clinch its playoffs spot. The quarterfinals against mighty CSKA Moscow proved to be too much for Baskonia that fell 3-1.
Player(s) that could’ve been left out for him: Shawn James, since this comes down to: “Who was the most All-EuroLeague Team-worthy player from a non-Final Four team?”
Anthony Parker – 2004
Honestly, I was certain that Anthony Parker, a Maccabi Tel Aviv legend and one of the top U.S. players to ever grace the floors in Europe, did a three-peat with his All-EuroLeague Team selections back in the 00s. But, no that wasn’t the case since somehow in 2004 he wasn’t included on any of the two lineups.
Why he could’ve easily made one of the two All-EuroLeague Teams: … and I’m saying “somehow” because Parker filled all the criteria: A) His sound numbers were a testament to a powerful all-around presence (15.2 points on 65.9% True Shooting, 5.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.6 steals) and showed how deeply involved he was in every area of the game, and: B) Maccabi was on the Final Four.
Sure, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Nikola Vujcic also occupied two spots on the All-EuroLeague Teams but there should’ve been a place for Parker after such a run that marked the beginnings of a new Maccabi dynasty. No matter, he won the big one (Final Four MVP) in Tel Aviv.
Player(s) that could’ve been left out for him: David Vanterpool.
Kostas Sloukas – 2023
Olympiacos finished 1st in the regular season while having the second-best offense behind Partizan Belgrade and then moved past Fenerbahce Beko to advance to the Final Four for a second straight year. Yet the Reds had only one representative in the Top 10 of the All-EuroLeague Teams: Universal MVP favorite Sasha Vezenkov. The All-EuroLeague Team cases of Thomas Walkup and Kostas Sloukas present many solid arguments and we’ll go with the latter due to his massive impact in the playoffs.
Why he could’ve easily made one of the two All-EuroLeague Teams: After a strong start where he also appeared on Eurohoops’ first MVP Ladder, Sloukas went on to lead the EuroLeague in assists while also scoring an average of double-digit numbers for a couple of months before he was sidelined with injury. He appeared slowed down after his return, but that was until the playoffs where he was by far the best player on the floor in two out of three wins of Olympiacos.
Sloukas turned the “unstoppable” mode on (25 points, six assists) in Game 3 before he hit the buzzer beater for the win from deep to reclaim homecourt advantage for his team. Upon return to Piraeus for Game 5, he completely changed the flow of the game and bended Fener‘s defense to his will with 22 points and six assists to send Olympiacos to the Final Four.
Player(s) that could’ve been left out for him: How’s that for a switcheroo? Move Wade Baldwin to the First Team in place of Lorenzo Brown and put Sloukas at least on the Second Team. Then it’s a toss between Brown and Dzanan Musa (I have to say I voted Musa for the Second Team while sending Sloukas with Baldwin on the First. No Brown).