By Antonis Stroggylakis/ astroggylakis@eurohoops.net
The MVP is gone, long live the MVP. For the first time since 2018 when then-EuroLeague MVP Luka Doncic took the jump to the NBA, there’ll be no “defending the crown” campaign as former Olympiacos Piraeus forward and 2023 MVP Sasha Vezenkov made his own trip across the pond.
So we’ll definitely see a new MVP in the 2023-24 EuroLeague and there are a couple of familiar names entering the fray with all guns blazing. Looking more mature than ever and successfully balancing scoring with playmaking, Mike James is leading the pack while Tornike Shengelia follows just slightly behind his former CSKA Moscow teammate.
As always, each player’s individual numbers, winning impact, leadership, and team results are all taken into consideration, apart from the “eye test.”
Mike James – AS Monaco
Season Stats: 18.6 points (2nd overall), 5.4 assists (8th overall), 3.7 rebounds, 1.1 steals, 21.0 PIR (4th overall) over 29:37 minutes
Team Record: 5-2 (tied for 3rd)
After flirting with the award for two years in a row and being the unofficial runner-up last season, Mike James has already laid some strong foundations to be considered the favorite to win the 2023-24 EuroLeague MVP.
In particular, his four-game stretch during Monaco’s charge that pulled the team out of a 0-2 hole and towards a 5-0 winning streak was outstanding: 20.0 points, 6.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds, carrying his squad while fellow backcourt mate Jordan Loyd made his EuroLeague season debut just in Round 6 and incoming star Kemba Walker has yet to become a reliable contributor. Only Lorenzo Brown was generating more buckets than James six games into the season but the latter has been combining his impact with fewer turnovers and more accurate shooting.
Indeed, James is currently excelling with an Effective Field Goal Percentage of 59.8%, the second-best among guards ranked in the Top 20 of leading scorers, just a tad behind Zalgiris Kaunas’s Keenan Evans (59.9%). Continuing the happy trend from last season, the former Ford Trophy winner is also one of the least turnover-prone players at his position with a mere 1.4 per game. Quite the figure for such a high-usage ball handler who undertakes a lot of responsibilities and stands against opposing defenses like his friend Kevin Durant’s Twitter profile pic.
James’s numbers become more impressive considering that he’s been prolific in the two major offensive categories despite the fact that Monaco operates at the second-lowest pace in the EuroLeague. He’s already defined outcomes, the highlight being the win at Milan where he had 12 out of his 21 points over the last 11 minutes, including the dagger in the final seconds.
2. Tornike Shengelia – Virtus Segafredo Bologna
Season Stats: 17.6 points (4th overall), 5.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 23.1 PIR (2nd overall) over 30:01 minutes
Team Record: 5-2 (tied for 3rd)
An imaginary but quite possible dialogue taking place at Paladozza between fans this year:
– How are we that good mate?
– Because we have the Best Shengelia Ever.
We have to go back to Toko Shengelia’s Baskonia days to look for the last time the Georgian forward was such a dominant all-around machine. And even then, he wasn’t as diverse in his game and so massively influential to the degree he’s been this season for Virtus.
It’s because of Shengelia’s performances, which were rewarded with the EuroLeague’s October MVP award, that Virtus is off to the start of a legit playoff contender. He brings this kind of leadership and characteristics that also make his teammates better and presents a plethora of weapons that render him an unsolvable riddle for opposing defenses; tough, and a pain to guard one-on-one in the low post and not only, dangerous in any kind of offensive situation, and by far the leading passing big man this season in the competition.
3. Facu Campazzo – Real Madrid
Season Stats: 11.8 points, 8.7 assists (1st overall), 3.5 rebounds, 1.2 steals, 20.0 PIR (5th overall) over 24:03 minutes
Team Record: 7-0 (1st)
There’s no place like home and Facu Campazzo is feeling right at home in his return to Real Madrid.
Campazzo has been the most important player for Real as the defending champions lead the standings with an undefeated record. He’s the piston that fuels the engines of the most productive and fourth-most efficient offense in the competition while bringing the energy and hustle to help the Blancos “suffocate” their opponents with the top defense per possession (100.5 Defensive Rating) thus far.
Over these seven games, Campazzo has already registered three double-doubles and came within 1 assist of a fourth one. His fierce two-way impact, playmaking, creativity and own scoring completely elevate Real’s game which, so far, looks to be the most unstoppable in the competition.
4. Lorenzo Brown – Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
Season Stats: 15.7 points, 8.5 assists (2nd overall), 1.7 steals (tied for 5th overall), 16.2 PIR
Team Record: 4-2 with one game less (7th overall)
Despite coping with the significant absence of All-EuroLeague guard Wade Baldwin and also facing problems that are unrelated to basketball due to the situation in Israel, Maccabi Tel Aviv has a winning record and a place in the playoff zone. The man responsible for that and the one who has taken the team onto his shoulders is Lorenzo Brown.
In the only game that Maccabi played in Tel Aviv, Brown set the tone with 20 points and 8 rebounds in a win over Partizan and he has been on a roll ever since, scoring in double figures in all games while trailing (barely) only Campazzo on the assists leaders list. He’s actually the one player apart from Mike James who has cracked the top 10 in both points and dimes.
Brown has been doing most of the heavy lifting for Maccabi’s offense and that’s also a reason behind his league-leading 4.2 turnovers, the only slight stain in his numbers and a factor that kept him out of this MVP Ladder’s top 3.
5. Nicolas Laprovittola – FC Barcelona
Season Stats: 11.8 points, 6.2 assists (3rd overall), 16.2 PIR over 22:32 minutes
Team Record: 6 – 1 (2nd overall)
“The team plays with more speed and freedom. We have systems but within the systems, we have more freedom to play. We really enjoy playing like this,” Barcelona wing Alex Abrines told Eurohoops after the road win at Olympiacos Piraeus in Round 2.
One player who has definitely been thriving with this new team philosophy under Coach Roger Grimau is Nicolas Laprovittola. In the above-mentioned game at Olympiacos, he was the leading scorer (17 points) and passer (7 assists). A week later he filmed the remake with a team-high 20 points plus 6 assists in a statement road victory at Partizan Belgrade.
Laprovittola is basically pacing the top offense in the EuroLeague, being the squad’s second-highest scorer and leading passer, standing out among several capable creators. It’s no coincidence that during his two-game absence due to a groin injury, Barca registered by far its lowest-scoring output and its only loss this season when it fell to archrival Real Madrid.
Photos: EuroLeague Basketball
Stats: EuroLeague, 3stepsbasket