By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
This season was Bryant Dunston‘s introduction in the top Euroleague level and boy, did he impress! His career was already on the rise, as a player of Varese he gain the total respect of European basketball, however as a member of Olympiacos not only he confirmed his skills, but also his ability to make the difference when it counts.
With 10.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1 asp, 1 spg and 1.3 bpg he was very productive and in his case, the stats don’t lie. During the play offs he was the top offensive rebounder, second in total rebounds and also second in made two points shot.
And the icing on the cake? He is the league’s defensive player of the year, the heir of Panathinaikos‘ Stephan Lasme. What he thinks about the award? He spoke to Eurohoops about it.
“It’s definitely an honor to be acknowledged for my defense. It’s something I am really focused on and I am happy to get noticed”, said a smiling Dunston who promised that he can do even better. “Even though I have been played pretty good defense, I can improve a lot more to help my team be a lot better”,
What this means for next year, since he has a contact with Olympiacos for the upcoming season. “A lot more energy, pretty much the same I have shown at the crucial games of the season, just be better and be more comfortable”.
And the big goal will be getting back to the Euroleague Final Four: “Obviously yes, of course. It was unfortunate we didn’t make the final four this year, but we are keeping our heads up regardless, maybe we will get there next year”.
This version of Olympiacos is still a work in progress and Dunston can’t wait for next season, specially after a mediocre Game 5 in Madrid: “They didn’t change anything from Game 3 and 4, but I didn’t play with as much aggressiveness as I should and that goes for all our team. We are going to learn from that, we are going to be better, we are still a relatively good team. We got to come together, because they were many new guys on the team, but next year we are going to be better”.