By George Orfanakis / info@eurohoops.net
n recent years, European basketball has seen many top-shelf athletes making the big leap and trying their luck in the NBA.
However, more than a few players have followed the opposite route, leaving the USA to shine on the courts of Europe’s top competition.
With the help of certain criteria, Eurohoops presents this season’s Top 10 American players in the EuroLeague. The criteria that were used are the following:
Individual performance
Player’s skills/ quality
Role and contribution in the team’s game
Team’s course
As is readily understood, the subjective aspect always influences these kinds of features. Besides, the competition was huge and many big names, such as James Gist, Anthony Randolph, Bryant Dunston and Jamel McLean, were left out of the Top 10.
10. Norris Cole (Maccabi Tel Aviv)
Stats: 12.6 points, 3.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds, 11.1 PIR
Appearances: 28 games
Norris Cole is a top-class player! Besides, who can forget the time he won two Championship rings in the NBA (2012, 2013) alongside LeBron James and, in fact, with an important role in the rotation of the Miami Heat?
The American’s arrival caused a lot of enthusiasm for Maccabi Tel Aviv’s fans, but the team’s course didn’t live up to the expectations. Cole played very well, averaging 12.6 points and 3.8 assists in 28 games, but the coveted qualification for the playoffs of the EuroLeague did not come.
This particular development took a few points off Cole, who was thus placed 10th in the Top 10 American players…
9. Jaycee Carroll (Real Madrid)
Stats: 9.4 points, 45.4% in three-point shooting, 7.1 PIR
Appearances: 34 games
Jaycee Carroll was born to shoot the ball and, in the playoff series against Panathinaikos, he proved that and then some! The American sharpshooter was amazing in those 4 games, averaging 12 points and 8-for-13 in three-point shooting (61.5%) and, as a result, Real Madrid got the break and qualified for the Final Four in Belgrade.
The 35-year-old shooting guard was inconsistent throughout the season, but he has the experience that’s needed to raise his game at the right time. What coach wouldn’t want the best shooter in the EuroLeague on his team, one that has a unique ability to come off a screen and execute immediately?
8. Chris Singleton (Panathinaikos)
Stats: 10.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 46.1% in three-point shooting, 12.5 PIR
Appearances: 34 games
Chris Singleton wasn’t as good as he was in the 2016-2017 season but he was still better than most of his compatriots in the EuroLeague. Together with James Gist, he met the needs of the line of big men almost exclusively and, with 10.3 points and 5.8 rebounds, he maintained his numbers at very satisfying levels.
A special mention has to be made regarding the 46.1% with which Singleton executes from the 6.75 line, as this particular figure makes him dangerous from any range and forces rival big men to constantly follow him. The only shortcoming was the lack of willingness he sometimes showed in defense.
If Panathinaikos had defended their home court against Real Madrid and had managed to qualify for the Final Four, the American would have been even higher on the list.
7. Anthony Gill (Khimki)
Stats: 11.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 47.8% in three-point shooting, 13.1 PIR
Appearances: 32 games
When, in the summer of 2017, Eurohoops presented the Top 5 Rookies that would command our attention within the season, Anthony Gill had a prominent position. Sure enough, a few months later the American forward is rightly considered one of the top players in the EuroLeague and his future, assuming he will choose to stay in the competition, looks bright.
Gill played in 32 games and, with 11.8 points and 4.5 rebounds, he helped Georgios Bartzokas’s Khimki reach the playoffs like few others did. There, the 25-year-old improved even more and finished the series with 16.8 points, 4 rebounds and 5-for-10 in three-point shooting.
He was, without a doubt, Khimki’s second best player behind Alexey Shved, and his characteristics as a player make him a must choice for any coach. A modern and athletic forward who can set up plays for himself and threaten both with his back against the basket as well as from long-range.
6. Kyle Hines (CSKA Moscow)
Stats: 8.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 11.8 PIR
Appearances: 29 games
What can one say about Kyle Hines? From 2010, when he played in the EuroLeague for the first time, until today, he’s been a model athlete, on and off the court. He managed to play in 29 games in the regular season (8.2 points, 4.2 rebounds), before being injured and watching the playoffs against Khimki… on TV.
This was essentially the reason he’s not higher on the list, seeing that he remains the best center in the competition and is after the 4th EuroLeague trophy of his career.
He did promise, though, that he’ll be playing in the Final Four, which means that CSKA will be even stronger. The American sets up great screens, he’s fast, extremely efficient and uses his body in the right way in order to win every battle in the paint.
5. Brandon Davies (Zalgiris Kaunas)
Stats: 9.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 9.8 PIR
Appearances: 34 games
If this feature had been written before the playoffs, Brandon Davies might not have made the cut. But his amazing performances during the most crucial part of the season take him right up to No.5, higher than any other American center.
In the series against Olympiacos, Davies averaged 17 points (66.7% FG), 4 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 19.8 points in the rating system. He was without a doubt the MVP of the series, dominating the Reds’ big men, and now he will be one of the players who will draw our attention in the Final Four.
The 27-year-old rookie extended his contract with Zalgiris Kaunas until the summer of 2020 and it will be very interesting to see which teams will be interested in him after the end of the season. He has the talent, the body and the moves to hold his own in any roster and, in fact, with a leading role.
4. Will Clyburn (CSKA Moscow)
Stats: 11.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 14.3 PIR
Appearances: 34 games
Will Clyburn is a complete player who immediately adapted to CSKA’s needs and helped Dimtris Itoudis’s team reach the Final Four of the EuroLeague.
The American forward can do everything on the court! He sets up plays for himself, scores after a dribble, has a very good shot (37.7% in three-point shooting), he runs the court with ease and provides important help in the game over the rim, being, in fact, the 4th best rebounder in the competition.
The season is going swimmingly for Clyburn, who counts 34-for-34 appearances and who was just as good in the playoffs. With 12.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and a PIR of 15.5, he helped cover for the absences of De Colo and Hines, and is now eager to win the 1st EuroLeague trophy of his career.
3. Mike James (Panathinaikos)
Stats: 16.2 points, 4.1 assists, 15.7 PIR
Appearances: 12 games
Mike James is a player with lots of talent and an ability to take out any opponent on his own. He started the season in the NBA with the Suns, where he was more than eye-catching, before becoming a free agent and finally returning to Panathinaikos to finish a job he had left undone.
Unfortunately for Panathinaikos and the American, something like this never took place. James put up impressive performances in the playoffs, averaging 19 points, 4.3 assists and a PIR of 18.5, but Real Madrid found the way to get 3 wins and the ticket to the Final Four.
Of course, this doesn’t take away anything from Mike James’s value and, in a few weeks, he’s going to be one of the hottest names on the market. His name has already been mentioned in transfer speculations and it will be very interesting to see whether tomorrow will find him in the EuroLeague, the NBA or somewhere else.
2. Brad Wanamaker (Fenerbahce)
Stats: 11.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 12.7 PIR
Appearances: 34 games
When Bogdan Bogdanovic chose to continue his career in the NBA in the summer of 2017, Zeljko Obradovic was called to pick his replacement. The player who was chosen in the end was Brad Wanamaker and this development is indicative of the American’s quality.
The 28-year-old combo guard is having an excellent season as he hasn’t missed a single game, while he averages 11.4 points, 3.8 assists and 12.7 points in the rating system in almost 26 minutes of playing time. Wanamaker didn’t need much time to adjust, showed amazing consistency and found chemistry with his teammates immediately.
Fenerbahce’s comfortable qualification, combined with the player’s consistently good performance and the confidence he inspires when the ball is in his hands, got the American in No.2.