By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
Entering the second double-game week of this year’s Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, Baskonia managed to take down FC Barcelona 94-71 thanks to the trio composed of Chima Moneke, Markus Howard, and Codi Miller-McIntyre.
The 29-year-old American-Bulgarian guard was particularly inspired in leading his team to the third straight EuroLeague victory since Dusko Ivanovic came back on Baskonia’s bench, being named MVP of the EuroLeague Round 8. It’s the first time he received this award.
After providing 20 points (3/4 2FG, 4/6 3FG, and 2/2 FT), 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals in 27:53 minutes on the court of the Fernando Buesa Arena, he commented on his team’s performance. “It was our best team performance. Everybody played extremely well. We stuck together for 40 minutes against a great team like Barcelona”, the former Partizan Belgrade player said after his 29 PIR game.
Helping Baskonia come back in the Play-In picture at a 4-4 record alongside Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, and Anadolu Efes, the Bulgarian national team member has been averaging 8.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game, shooting 85.7% at the charity stripe.
Full list of 2023-24 EuroLeague Round MVPs
- Round 1: Alec Peters, Olympiacos vs Panathinaikos (31 PIR)
- Round 2: Guerschon Yabusele, Real Madrid vs Anadolu Efes (39 PIR)
- Round 3: Tornike Shengelia, Virtus Bologna vs ALBA Berlin (32 PIR)
- Round 4: Nikola Milutinov, Olympiacos vs Partizan Belgrade (30 PIR)
- Round 5: Mathias Lessort, Panathinaikos vs Baskonia (31 PIR)
- Round 6: Tornike Shengelia, Virtus Bologna vs Anadolu Efes (30 PIR)
- Round 7: Facundo Campazzo, Real Madrid vs Virtus Bologna (39 PIR)
- Round 8: Codi Miller-McIntyre, Baskonia vs FC Barcelona (29 PIR)
Per the press release: “It’s been a season of firsts for Turkish Airlines EuroLeague debutant Codi Miller-McIntyre and this week he added another first to his roll of honors when he became the MVP for Round 8. The Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz playmaker scored 20 points and dished a game-high 7 assists in leading his team to a 94-71 blowout over Barcelona. He shot 4 for 6 from behind the arc and also contributed 4 rebounds and 2 steals in racking up a performance index rating of 29, which was the most among all players in Round 8.
Miller-McIntyre edged out Virtus Segafredo Bologna guard Iffe Lundberg for the MVP title. Lundberg scored 19 points and grabbed 5 rebounds for Virtus in an 86-79 victory over EA7 Emporio Armani Milan on Tuesday. He posted a PIR of 28.
Anadolu Efes Istanbul guard Shane Larkin went for 25 points and 4 assists in racking up a PIR of 25 in an 82-89 road win at AS Monaco. Next on the list of Round 8 stars was Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. The forward contributed 19 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals for a PIR of 24 in ASVEL’s 68-73 road win at ALBA Berlin.
Carsen Edwards of FC Bayern Munich, Bruno Caboclo of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, Dinos Mitoglou of Panathinaikos Athens, Facu Campazzo of Real Madrid and John Brown of AS Monaco all tied for fifth among the weekly PIR leaders with 23 each.”
Top 10 Plays
Shifting to the best highlights through Tuesday and Wednesday, Partizan Mozzart Bet’s combination between P.J. Dozier and Bruno Caboclo ranked first in the Top 10.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague