By Antonis Stroggylakis/ astroggylakis@eurohoops.net
Seven rounds into the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season seems like the right time to evaluate and rank the five players who have shown the best MVP potential among their peers.
Even though it’s early, there are some standout players already who are definitely the creme of the crop so far, considering both their individual numbers, how much their teams are winning, and how much these ballers have contributed to these victories.
As players also like to remind themselves (and they should): The EuroLeague is a marathon, not a race. The following five players have a head start but, ultimately, the determining factor in who will become the MVP will be the playoffs and which teams actually make the Final Four.
5. Chris Jones – Valencia Basket
Season Stats: 16.1 points (8th overall), 5.0 assists (8th overall), 3.0 rebounds, 19.7 PIR (7th overall) over 24:47 minutes.
Team Record: 4-3 (five-way tie)
It was a close call between Chris Jones and Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv star guard Lorenzo Brown for the fifth position on our first MVP Ladder of the season. Ultimately, what ruled in Jones’s favor was the fact that his team registered a couple of more impressive wins (Efes and Olympiacos on the road) than what Maccabi has managed so far and the Valencia guard had a significant role in these triumphs.
You can’t argue against Jones scoring 10 points in the last 7 minutes of a stunning comeback against Olympiacos while hitting the three winning free throws amid deafening noise from 9,000 screaming fans. He was well-prepared after draining a pair also at Efes with the same result and after he delivered a career-high-tying 8 assists with only 1 turnover.
Jones had his top performance (a statement career-high 27 points) against a Monaco team that was 5-1 before facing Valencia. He’s been priding a superb 60.2 percent True Shooting while he provides in multiple statistical categories. He’s the reason Valencia is 4-3 and the most deserving pick among teams with that record.
4. Kostas Sloukas – Olympiacos Piraeus
Season Stats: 13.4 points (17th overall), 7.1 assists (tied for 1st overall), 2.0 rebounds, 20.0 PIR (6th overall) over 25.05 minutes.
Team Record: 5-2 (Tied for 2nd)
It would be thoroughly unfair to ignore the fact that Kostas Sloukas is arguably playing some of the best basketball of his career so far this season in true MVP fashion, just because one of his teammates occupies the top spot on this Ladder.
Apart from individual numbers themselves, what has elevated Kostas Sloukas above the heavy competition from other notable guards is the immediate impact he’s had on Olympiacos taking victories in tough arenas. He hit the game-winner at Real Madrid with a savvy move of pure genius against reigning two-time DPOY Edy Tavares and two days later he had 14 points in the fourth quarter against Baskonia in yet another road win.
While Sloukas so far has notched career-high averages in points and dimes, he also has the best assist-to-turnover ratio (3.3 to 1) among players with more than 4.0 assists. It won’t be easy for him to sustain this kind of high and quality production, but he’ll be putting in a legitimate MVP candidacy if he does.
3. Johnathan Motley – Fenerbahce Beko
Season Stats: 15.9 points (9th overall), 6.9 rebounds (tied for 8th overall), 19.6 PIR (8th overall) over 23:33 minutes.
Team Record: 6-1 (1st)
This list would be lacking without a player from the team with the best record in the EuroLeague so far and big man Johnathan Motley is the chosen one.
The more the season progresses, the more Motley is establishing himself as the most consistent player for Fenerbahce. By Round 8, he’s the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, arguably the best performer overall on the winningest team in the competition. He has been potent (71.4 percent True Shooting) while absorbing physical contact from opponents mid-air and pulling off tough finishes.
Either by taking advantage of his teammates’ passes or by often creating his own shots (which he did plenty at Barcelona to register 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field), exceptionally for a mobile big man, and using second-chance opportunities that he himself creates (a fourth-best 3.1 offensive rebounds per game), Motley has shown early in his debut season in the EuroLeague that he can be a force of considerable proportions.
2. Mike James – AS Monaco
Season Stats: 20.0 points (tied for 1st overall), 3.9 assists (19th overall), 3.4 rebounds, 1.9 steals, 20.7 PIR (4th overall) over 32:04 minutes.
Team Record: 5-2 (Tied for 2nd)
The “Man Who Would’ve Been MVP” last season if AS Monaco made the Final Four enters 2022-23 among the frontrunners for the trophy.
Mike James is, to no one’s surprise, among the most prolific scorers this season so far while setting up his teammates with scoring opportunities and filling the stats sheet in almost every way imaginable. In the meantime, his Monaco is off to a fine start after victories also over reigning champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul at home and Olympiacos on the road. He’s had his clutch moments like against Efes when he forced overtime before the win.
As usual, James inflicts heavy damage and generates buckets for the entire team while always being guarded by the top defensive player on the opposing side and attracting double or triple-teams like hungry bees are drawn to the sweetest honey. Yet, despite this immense pressure, he’s taking care of the ball better than he’s had since 2018. While a high-usage player (29.1 percent, which is more than 93 percent of his EuroLeague peers), he’s averaging 1.9 turnovers for an estimated number of 8.0 turnovers per 100 possessions.
James’ stat line is almost impeccable save for his 12-for-45 shooting on threes. This shooting inefficiency and vast difference to our No. 1’s superior percentages is a key reason why he wasn’t considered for the first spot in this edition of the MVP Ladder.
1. Sasha Vezenkov – Olympiacos Piraeus
Season Stats: 20.0 points (tied for 1st overall), 8.8 rebounds (tied for 2nd overall), 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals 26.1 PIR (1st overall) over 30:56 minutes.
Team Record: 5-2 (Tied for 2nd)
Based on a combination of points scored, efficiency, shooting volume, and usage, Sasha Vezenkov is the best and most effective offensive EuroLeague player overall while leading the team with the top offensive rating (120.7) in the competition and standing on a beautiful personal +12 in +/-. As a threat from multiple different positions, he averages an elite 71.5 percent on True Shooting (being second only to Real Madrid center Edy Tavares – who shoots almost exclusively close to the rim – among double-digit scorers) that includes 50.0 percent on 5.1 three-point attempts per game. No other player in the EuroLeague is more accurate from beyond the arc while taking more than 4.0 attempts. And Vezenkov sometimes tries his own unguardable rainbow shots from NBA range.
His arsenal appears endless and his movement without the ball is a highlight reel in its own right. Vezenkov has also shown glimpses of how he can initiate offense for his teammates. He had a career-high 7 assists against Valencia Basket, which was followed by 4 dimes against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade.
Vezenkov’s impact on Olympiacos‘ strong start has been immense and it says a lot that his “poorest” display so far featured an otherwise solid combo of 13 points (on 4-of-9 shooting) and 7 rebounds in a loss to AS Monaco. His double-round week in Spain during the Reds’ wins in the hostile arenas of Real Madrid and Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz was particularly outstanding with 23 points and 12 rebounds and 26 points and 7 rebounds, respectively. There were moments when he was a one-man army against a legion of the latter when he dropped 16 points in the third quarter to keep Olympiacos above the water before his team’s final comeback.
Last season, FC Barcelona star Nikola Mirotic (who still hasn’t made his season debut) was ranked first in the opening edition of the MVP Ladder and ended up winning the award when all was said and done. Vezenkov has certainly set some strong foundations and is on course for succession.
Stats: EuroLeague Basketball, 3StepsBasketball
Photo: EuroLeague Basketball