By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
It’s just the second EuroLeague round and as you see in the standings. only four teams remain perfect. And as you can see in the results, those teams are CSKA Moscow, Real Madrid, Fenerbahce, and Olympiacos.
It’s only natural that our MVP is a player from those teams and the pick is kind of old school.
MVP
Nikola Milutinov
According to the numbers, he will share the EuroLeague MVP award of this week with Anthony Randolph. And while Randolph also had an amazing night – their stats are very similar – Milutinov gets our award because contrary to the versatile undersized big men trend, he is one of the few seven-footers in the league who gets the work done strictly in the paint. And that’s why very few players will be able to stop him if he continues to play like this. He had one the road against Baskonia 23 points on 9/13 FGT and 11 rebounds.
BEST FIVE
- Nando De Colo: He had 23 points, shooting the lights out as usual and also he had five assists and four steals in CSKA Moscow‘s win against Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv.
- Nihad Djedovic: He scored 19 points leading Bayern Munich in the upset against Panathinaikos. That’s enough to give him a spot here.
- Evans Christoper: Like Djedovic, he had 19 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in Gran Canaria’s unexpected win over Barcelona.
- Anthony Randolph: He put Real Madrid back in the game against Milan with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 assists.
- Nikola Milutinov: He was a monster in the paint.
Coach of the week: Sarunas Jasikevicius
One week after losing at home, Zalgiris beat Anadolu Efes on the road. For sure Saras managed to turn things around and with one home game coming in two days against Fenerbahce, things are going to get even more interesting for last season’s Final Four participants.
Last word: Every basket counts
Kostas Sloukas made a shot at the end of the game between Fenerbahce and Khimki, making the final score 93-85 and coach Giorgos Bartzokas was furious with his players. It’s a simple as that. Any basket can make a difference in a possible tiebreaker and everything counts. So, never let your guard down…