By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos’ Nick Calathes and ALBA Berlin’s Luke Sikma have both been named EuroLeague Round 9 MVPs thanks to their significant performances against Zalgiris Kaunas and Crvena Zvezda respectively.
Per euroleague.net:
At the end of an action-packed Round 9 in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season, two players shared MVP honors: Nick Calathes of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens and Luke Sikma of ALBA Berlin, each with a PIR of 32. Calathes led Panathinaikos to a crucial 85-86 road win against Zalgiris. His 19 points and 12 assists marked his fourth double-double this season, and his 5 three-pointers were a personal best in his 192nd EuroLeague game. He hit 2 of 3 two-point shots and 5 of 7 from downtown, adding 5 rebounds and 4 fouls drawn to his tally. Sikma was the driving force in ALBA’s 93-80 home win over Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade. He had 19 points on 5-for-6 two-point, 1-for-1 three-point and 6-for-8 free throw shooting to go with 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks and 7 fouls drawn. He’s the first MVP of the Round for ALBA since Alex Renfroe in April 2015. Scottie Wilbekin of Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv had a PIR of 28 in his team’s road loss against AX Armani Exchange Milan. Wilbekin scored 28 points, including 7 three-pointers, and 5 assists. Renfroe (27 PIR), now with of Zenit St Petersburg, Sergio Rodriguez of Milan (26) and Rokas Giedraitis of ALBA (26) completed the top individual performances in Round 9.
Individual highs: Jordan Mickey, Real Madrid, 4 blocks
Wilbekin was the top scorer in Round 9 with 28 points. Despite not playing in Round 9, Nando De Colo of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul is the overall top scorer of the competition with 20.9 points per game. Bojan Dubljevic of Valencia Basket led all Round 9 rebounders by pulling 11, his new career high, in a home win against Zenit St Petersburg. Tonye Jekiri of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne leads all rebounders with 10.9 per night. Calathes dished 12 assists to lead the weekly standings, and is also first overall at 9.6 per game. Four players – Toko Shengelia of KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, Vladimir Lucic and Greg Monroe of FC Bayern Munich, and Facu Campazzo of Real Madrid – collected 3 steals each in Round 9. Campazzo and Vasilije Micic of Anadolu Efes Istanbul lead the overall standings at 1.9 steals per night. Jordan Mickey of Real Madrid had 4 blocks against his former team, Khimki Moscow Region. His teammate Edy Tavares leads the blocks table at 1.8 per game. Two players, Calathes and Rodriguez (18 points, 11 assists), registered double-doubles in this round.
Photo: Euroleague