By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Five rounds into the EuroLeague regular season and several “rookies” have already made headlines with their performances, game-winners, highlights and overall impact that has led their teams to even some stunning results.
This “new blood” that has been flowing into the EuroLeague is strong and actually enriching for the competition that has seen some of its most sensational play this season by these hoopers. Behold of those 10 already notable new faces in the 2021-22 EuroLeague.
Kostas Antetokounmpo (LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne)
Numbers by Round 5: 7.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 9.4 PIR in 13:49 minutes
In pure Antetokounmpo fashion (some say it runs in the family), Kostas has been dunking his way through a really solid streak of performances in his first five EuroLeague games.
His most memorable moments arrived in Round 3 and the very finish of the game vs. reigning champion Anadolu Efes. Antetokounmpo first dropped the putback, go-ahead basket and then contained lightning-fast Shane Larkin to secure one of the biggest wins in ASVEL’s modern EuroLeague history. It was a sequence that demonstrated how Kostas can be everywhere on the floor and even influence the game in winning ways on both ends.
Isaiah Canaan (UNICS Kazan)
Numbers by Round 5: 15.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, 8.4 PIR in 25:41 minutes
Not only did Isaiah Canaan carry every single one of his bucket-making manners from a super debut run in the 7DAYS EuroCup last season but he has elevated them sufficiently to adjust them to the challenging EuroLeague arena.
Canaan produces more points, shoots the ball better (he has a EuroLeague second-highest 37 3-pointers on 40 percent) and he’s currently leading Unics in scoring. He had his season-high vs. Bayern Munich when he scored 21 points on 5-9 triples to push his team to the first- and only so far – 2021-22 win.