By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Mike James was named Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 8 MVP, award he secured in Round 1 as well. The 29-year-old American guard posted a career-high 38 PIR, best among all players of winning teams this week. He made 8/12 from the field including 6/8 threes, sank all of his nine free throws, dished four dimes, grabbed a couple of rebounds and earned seven fouls leading CSKA Moscow past Fenerbahce Beko.
Per EuroLeague: “A career-best outing in a bounce-back victory earned Mike James of CSKA Moscow the MVP honor for Round 8 as the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague’s top performer on a winning team. James drilled 31 points as CSKA topped rival Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 88-70 on Friday. His scoring total, which included 6-for-8 three-point and 9-for-9 free throw shooting, matched the second-highest of James’s 120-game EuroLeague career. He added 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 7 fouls drawn for a career-best performance index rating of 38. This round’s highest PIR, 41, belongs to Ioannis Papapetrou of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens. Papapetrou had a career night in his team’s double-overtime home loss against ALBA Berlin, scoring 39 points along with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Two players had index ratings of 32: Tornike Shengelia of KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and Panathinaikos big man Jacob Wiley. Shengelia scored a career-high 31 points, and also had 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal despite a blowout home defeat at the hands of Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv. Wiley collected 22 points 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 6 drawn fouls in his team’s loss to ALBA. Rounding out the list of Round 8’s top performers is Vasilije Micic of Anadolu Efes Istanbul, who posted 24 points on perfect shooting to go with 6 assists and 3 rebounds for a PIR of 31 in a 90-88 win over Zenit St Petersburg.
Individual highs: Tonye Jekiri, ASVEL, 19 rebounds
Papapetrou led all scorers with 39 points. He is the second player this season to score 39 in a game this season, following Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul’s Nando De Colo in Round 3. The overall leading scorer this season is Alexey Shved of Khimki Moscow Region with 21.3 points per game. Tonye Jekiri of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne pulled down 19 rebounds, which is tied for the second-most in any game this decade. Jekiri is the new rebounding leader, too, averaging 11.5 this season. Three players had 10 assists in Round 8: Nick Calathes of Panathinaikos, Martin Hermannsson of ALBA and Alex Renfroe of Zenit. Calathes leads the league in assists with 9.3 per game. Kyle Kuric of FC Barcelona and Sergio Rodriguez of AX Armani Exchange Milan each had 4 steals this round. Efes guard Micic remains atop the steals chart with 1.9 steals per game. Three players – ASVEL’s Livio Jean-Charles, Kyle Hines of CSKA Moscow and Walter Tavares of Real Madrid – had 3 blocks apiece this week. Tavares is the league leader with averaging 1.9 blocks. Three players had double-doubles this round, all in the same game. ALBA’s Luke Sikma collected his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds; his teammate Hermannsson had 20 points and 10 assists; and Panathinaikos point guard Calathes had 10 points and 10 assists for his fourth consecutive double-double.”