By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Vasilije Micic was named Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 2 MVP. The 25-year-old Serbian went for 23 points including four threes and a couple of clutch free throws in Anadolu Efes’ overtime win over ALBA Berlin. His 32 PIR was the highest among all players in action on Thursday and Friday in Europe’s premier competition and led him to the MVP of the Week title.
Per EuroLeague: “With Anadolu Efes Istanbul trying to register its first win of the season, All-EuroLeague point guard Vasilije Micic stepped up with a career-best performance in his team’s 106-105 overtime win over ALBA Berlin, earning himself the MVP of the Round honor. Micic scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half and overtime. The Efes guard made 3 of 10 two-point shots, 4 of 6 threes and 5 of 6 free throws. Micic set personal highs with 13 assists and 4 steals. It all added up to a career-high performance index rating of 32, the highest of any player in Round 2, for the second MVP of the Round of Micic’s career. Micic’s backcourt teammate Shane Larkin had a PIR 31, the second highest in this round. Larkin scored 16 points to go with 5 assists and 5 rebounds. The third-best performance this week belonged to Jordan Mickey of Real Madrid, who posted 16 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist and 6 fouls drawn for an index rating of 30. Rounding out the list of best performers were Nikola Milutinov of Olympiacos Piraeus and DeShaun Thomas of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens, each with a PIR of 29. Milutinov had 17 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in a win over Valencia Basket, while Thomas collected 22 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in a loss against LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne.
Individual highs: Nikola Milutinov, Olympiacos, 14 rebounds
Larkin led all scorers this round with 26 points in his first appearance of the season, and for that reason is now ranked as the EuroLeague’s top scorer. Milutinov was the top rebounder in Round 2, pulling down 14 boards. He also has the best average after two rounds, with 12.0 rebounds per game. Micic’s 13 assists were the most this week. ALBA’s Martin Hermannsson leads the EuroLeague after two rounds with 10.0 assists on average. Two players had 5 steals in Round 2: Kostas Papanikolaou of Olympiacos and Pierria Henry of KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. Henry is the league-leader in steals with 3.5 per game. The top blockers this round were Jeremy Evans of Khimki Moscow Region and Greg Monroe of FC Bayern Munich, each with 3 blocks. Baskonia‘s Youssoupha Fall is the top shot blocker through two rounds with 2.5 on average. There were eight double-doubles in Round 2. Micic’s 23 points and 13 assists, and seven other with points and rebounds: Milutinov (17 and 14), Mickey (with 16 and 11), Monroe (17 and 10), Toyne Jekiri of ASVEL (15 and 12), Tornike Shengelia of Baskonia (18 and 10), Nikola Mirotic of FC Barcelona (17 and 10), and Johannes Voigtmann of CSKA Moscow (10 and 12).”