By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Exactly two years ago this week, Anadolu Efes superstar Shane Larkin achieved something unprecedented in the annals of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
On January 25, 2020, Larkin became the first EuroLeague player ever to receive the MVP honor for a fourth straight round, something he did over a span of 14 days with a double-round week in the middle.
It was a stretch of pure Larkinsanity during a 2019-20 journey that could easily have finished with him as the season MVP, too, if the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t stop the season in its tracks.
From January 11 to 25, Larkin averaged 27.5 points, 5.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds during 34:29 minutes per game in Efes‘s wins at Barcelona (a favorite Larkin “victim”), over Milan and ASVEL at home, and then on the road again at Real Madrid.
His shooting was through the roof, with 64.0% accuracy on two-point tries, 58.0% on three-pointers and a perfect 24-24 from the free-throw line. He committed just 3.0 turnovers per game while handling scoring and playmaking duties, all the while facing defenses that were fully focused on stopping him. His opponents had done their homework and were locked in on making him suffer. But all those plans proved futile, and it was Larkin’s opponents who did the suffering.
Amazingly, those weren’t even Larkin’s most impressive performances that season in terms of performance index rating. He had two additional games with PIRs of 40 or more, making him the only player ever to do so three times in a single season. One came on the night he poured in 49 points to set the EuroLeague’s new single-game scoring record en route to a 53 PIR, the fourth-highest in competition history.
His displays during those two weeks in January, though, were so consistently unstoppable that they arguably marked the most dominant individual 14-day run in EuroLeague history. Here is how they unfolded.
(MVP after MVP after MVP after MVP: The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague announcements from EuroLeague.net)
Barcelona 82-86 Efes: Round 18, January 10, 2020
It all started at Palau Blaugrana during another chapter of this newly emerging rivalry in EuroLeague since the 2019 regular season. Barcelona was up 75-68 with 4 minutes to play following a 14-0 run. Its fans were on their feet as their favorite team had all the momentum to close the game successfully.
Efes had other ideas. The visitors made a final push to ultimately win the game as Larkin scored a key three-pointer at 77-75, hit the go-ahead free throws with 32 seconds remaining, and drained another pair of foul shots to seal the victory.
Larkin’s line: 26 points (4-6 2PT, 3-8 3PT, 9-9 FT), 5 rebounds, 5 steals, 35 PIR in 37:16 minutes
What he said: “We got up, then they fought back. It was an up-and-down battle the whole game, but I’m proud of my team, how we put it down at the end. We all believe in ourselves.”
Efes 88-68 Milan: Round 19, January 14, 2020
Two minutes before the end of the third quarter, Larkin already had 21 points and Efes was up 58-42, in full control of the game. He took only one more shot attempt the rest of the match, preferring to focus on his role as a floor general, an important task in the absence of fellow backcourt star Vasilije Micic.
Larkin registered the round-high 30 PIR pretty casually and he could’ve had a bigger number if he was more aggressive in the fourth quarter. Then again, it was a double-round week, so he was saving his strength for another big show down.
Larkin’s line: 23 points (4-7 2PT, 4-8 3PT, 3-3 FT), 4 assists, 2 steals, 30 PIR in 34:02 minutes
What he said: “The fans give me energy the whole game. They are always on my side; they are always cheering me and supporting me. [I had] a bad fall [in the fourth quarter], but their energy and their cheers got me up.”
Efes 101-74 ASVEL: Round 20, January 17, 2020
While Larkin’s scoring craze naturally attracted the spotlight, there was no area of his game that was neglected. He set the pace against ASVEL with 19 points in the first half, but also took care of passing, rebounding and defending in a spotless performance. His 45 PIR in 28:22 minutes is phenomenal – especially for a perimeter player – and showed how Larking made the most during every second of his time on the floor.
Larkin’s line: 29 points (3-4 2PT, 6-9 3PT, 5-5 FT), 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 45 PIR in 28:22 minutes
What he said: “I am only doing this because my teammates are pressing me and pushing me to do this. I am just happy that we have a great group, and we hopefully can keep it going.”
Real Madrid 75-80 Efes: Round 21, January 24, 2020
Making buckets and raising hell at home is one thing; doing that on the road against a Real Madrid team that was undefeated at Wizink Center was much more of a challenge. It made no difference to Larkin.
Once more, he set the opposing defense ablaze, especially from long range, while dropping 8 of his points in the last 5 minutes. His top highlight came with just 42 seconds to play, when he dribbled past tough defender Facu Campazzo and beat the blocked shots king Edy Tavares for a tough layup that put Efes ahead 72-78, securing the victory.
Larkin’s line: 32 points (5-8 2PT, 5-6 3PT, 7-7 FT), 4 assists, 2 steals, 36 PIR in 36:16. He said: “I am not going to be able to do any of these things without my teammates, so I will credit my teammates, my coaching staff and, hopefully, we can just keep doing what we are doing.”
After the game, former EuroLeague MVP Sergio Llull summarized what Larkin had been all about during the game and his spectacularly hot month overall:
“Larkin is playing with a lot of confidence. He is a great player who can hurt you in many ways, and he proved it again tonight. He hit a lot of big shots and a couple of layups in the final minutes. He has a lot of confidence. We tried to stop him but couldn’t do it.”