By Stelios Toromanidis/ info@eurohoops.net
Who are the leading passers in Europe in the season that just ended? Eurohoops singles out the best from the top 7 championships in Europe.
The third and last feature for the best players of the top 7 championships of the old continent is going to focus on the athletes who dished the most passes on average as well as their most… productive game in the year in terms of creation.
A reminder that the championships that are part of the survey are the Basket League (Greece), ACB (Spain), Lega Basket (Italy), LNB Pro-A (France), VTB League (Russia, Belarus, Czech Republic, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Kazakhstan), BBL (Germany) and Super League (Turkey).
In terms of the players’ appearances we have included the games of the regular period as well as the playoffs. Also, a necessary condition for a player to be included on the list is for him to have played in more than half of the games of the regular period.
Basket League (Greece)
Nick Calathes (Greece)
Team: Panathinaikos
Games: 35
Assists (on average): 6,3 Total: 220
Best performance in assists: 11 (Panathinaikos – Arkadikos 90-69)
In the season that just ended he had a leading role in Panathinaikos, he excelled even further through his creative qualities by making excellent use of the greens’ big men, who he supplied quite a few times with impressive assists.
Furthermore, he was ranked first in evaluation, first in steals and second in rebounds for his team. He reached the championship final with the greens but wasn’t able to lift the trophy.
Enjoy two spectacular assists by Nick Calathes:
ACB (Spain)
Sergio Rodriguez (Spain)
Team: Real Madrid
Games: 42
Assists (on average): 5,9 Total: 247
Best performance in assists: 19 (Real Madrid – Fuenlabrada 129-81)
“Chacho” is an artiste of the pass. He’s among the best European creators of the last decade, with a four-year term in the NBA. He can supply his teammates in… myriads of ways, making their job on the court much easier. This is the second season in a row that Rodriguez dishes the most assists (on average) in the Spanish league. He was without a doubt one of Real Madrid’s most important… machines on their journey towards their third championship in the last four years.
Enjoy a video of magic assists by Sergio Rodriguez:
Lega Basket (Italy)
Peyton Siva (USA)
Team: Caserta
Games: 21
Assists (on average): 6,5 Total: 137
Best performance in assists: 13 (Caserta – Brindisi 80-75)
He missed the first few games of the season due to an injury, but when he rejoined the team he became at once their leader in the creative part of the game. The small American (1,83 m.) with the rich college career helped Caserta in scoring as well (13,3 points per game).
What’s interesting is the fact that Caserta had on their roster the best rebounder as well as the best passer in the league but still finished in 14th place of the ranking.
LNB Pro-A (France)
Souleyman Diabate (Ivory Coast)
Team: Rouen
Games: 26
Assists (on average): 6,5 Total: 168
Best performance in assists: 13 (Le Mans – Rouen 82-81)
He was without a doubt the mastermind of Rouen, who nevertheless came up short in France’s top division. His team got relegated, but the explosive Diabate had his second best season of his career in points, assists and evaluation.
Souleyman Diabate’s highlights from the 2015-16 season:
VTB League
Paul Stoll (USA/Mexico)
Team: Avtodor
Games: 25
Assists (on average): 7,6 Total: 190
Best performance in assists: 14 (Avtodor – Astana 132-72), (Zenit – Avtodor 95-91)
Avtodor found their leader in the face of Paul Stoll in terms of scoring and creation this season. The American-Mexican guard dished one assist after the other, while he was… lethal from the perimeter as well (46% in three-point shooting). He got 5 double doubles (points-assists) in 25 games and helped his team win ten games in a row in the season (!) and get in the playoffs of the VTB, where they were knocked out in the first round by Zenit Saint Petersburg.
Paul Stoll’s highlights from the 2015-16 season:
BBL (Germany)
Jared Jordan (USA)
Team: Tubingen
Games: 27
Assists (on average): 8,5 Total: 229
Best performance in assists: 18 (Wurzburg – Tubingen 66-81)
One of the best passers playing on European courts has emerged once again at the top of the relevant list. Jared Jordan managed to finish the season with 8,5 assists on average, while helping Tubingen remain in Germany’s top division!
Jared Jordan in action:
Basketball Super League (Turkey)
J. R. Bremer (USA)
Team: Konyaspor
Games: 26
Assists (on average): 6,8 Total: 178
Best performance in assists: 13 (Banvit – Konyaspor 92-90)
After a stint at PAOK, the 35-year-old American with a Bosnian passport returned to Konyaspor in the 2015-16 season. Even though he did everything in his power to keep his team in Turkey’s top division, in the end he wasn’t able to do so as Konyaspor got relegated with a 6-24 record. Aside from this, Bremer was also his team’s top scorer with 11 points per game.