By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Vasilis Spanoulis is the third scorer (2535 points) in Euroleague history, after he passed Jaka Lakovic and his next target is to surpass Marcus Brown! But he’s the only player who is both a member of the all time scorers and passers top five. Eurohoops spoke with him about that, his beloved centers and the wish of a fourth child.
The game against Neptunas was a night to remember for Vasilis Spanoulis. On the road against the same opponent, the captain of Olympiacos scored 34 points in his career best night. In Greece, he scored the three points needed to overtake Jaka Lakovic and became the third all time scorer in the Euroleague.
His next target is Marcus Brown who scored 2.739 points during his Euroleague career. If Spanoulis continue to score like this (19 ppg so far in the season) or like all past years (13.7 ppg), he is expected to surpass the American guard in second place of the all time list during the Top16 this Spring! Juan Carlos Navarro has a comfortable lead as the best all time scorer, but Spanoulis is optimistic that he can dethrone him.
Moreover, the captain of the Reds is the only player who is both among the Top5 scorers and passers in Euroleague history. Juan Carlos Navarro is close but though he’s the leading scorer, he’s sixth in the all time passers list. Spanoulis is the all time fifth in assists so far and he is on course to surpass during this season Sarunas Jasikevicius and Pablo Prigioni and get to the Top3.
What kind of help will he need? Spanoulis is one of the experts in the pick and roll offense and Eurohoops asked him about the type of the big guys that he likes to cooperate with. “I like to play with centers, who screen very well and move quickly because in that way they create space for me to shot or pass them”.
A little before the end of the regular season in the Euroleague, we can assume without any hesitation that this is one of the best seasons of Spanoulis in scoring. We can compare it only with the season 2011-12, when Olympiacos won the Euroleague and its leader was scoring 19.8 points per game during the regular season and finished with 16.7, his best number all these years.
Also, according to the omens, Spanoulis wins a Euroleague title every time his wife gives birth to a son. He has three Euroleague titles (2009, 2012 and 2013), MVP awards and the same number of sons! So, does he intend to go on? “If the God help us, yes! My wife wants this too, so why not?”