By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
It’s the target behind the target behind the target: qualification for the playoffs, qualification for the Final Four, winning the trophy. All the teams can see the targets, but not all of them can reach them. Four teams have already hit two out of three and they press on for the third and last one. The horizon was always far from clear, but they had the right kind of help at the right time, and they hit the bull’s eye.
Eurohoops presents the four players – one from each team – that saw in the playoffs what others, mainly their opponents, couldn’t.
JEFFERY TAYLOR
Real Madrid | Forward | May 23, 1989 | Sweden
For the last four seasons, Jeffery Taylor has been an integral part of Real Madrid’s core and he has never disappointed. He didn’t disappoint now, either, when he was assigned one of the toughest missions in his career in the EuroLeague: to stop Nick Calathes. As if it wasn’t enough that he completed the mission successfully, he contributed on offense, too, scoring in double digits all three playoff games. In the sweep against Panathinaikos OPAP Athens, he more than doubled his averages in almost every statistical category compared with the regular season and he also had the fourth-best PIR on the team. The Final Four in Vitoria will be the third in a row for him, as he will seek a back-to-back title with the Whites.
REGULAR SEASON vs. PLAYOFFS
5 pts 12.3
1.4 reb 3
1.4 ast 2.3
0.3 stl 0.7
0.1 blk 0.3
0.7 to 0.3
17:56 min 21:15
4.4 PIR 12