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
MARKO GUDURIC
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul | Guard | March 8, 1995 | Serbia
Marko Guduric was already having a breakout season but the playoffs require even better performances from everyone, and this is precisely what he provided. Especially after Zalgiris Kaunas won in Istanbul in Game 2. With 17 points in Game 3, Guduric was the top scorer in the Zalgirio Arena and one of the main reasons Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul took the lead. He continued as the only player on the team to score in double digits throughout the series, and finished with +4.1 points and +4.4 performance index rating over what he had in the regular season. He will travel to Vitoria-Gasteiz for the second consecutive Final Four of his career with the aim of finishing the job this time.
REGULAR SEASON vs. PLAYOFFS
8.9 pts 13
2 reb 2
2.2 ast 1.3
0.8 stl 1
0.2 blk 0.3
1.3 tov 1
21:00 min 27:00
9.6 PIR 14
NIKITA KURBANOV
CSKA Moscow | Forward | October 5, 1986 | Russia
A EuroLeague champion in 2006 and 2016, and about to play in his eighth Final Four, few players have achieved what Nikita Kurbanov has achieved. Even fewer have done it so effectively and quietly. The scene was repeated in the series against KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. CSKA Moscow needed him in Game 4 like never before and he was there with 15 points, 7 rebounds and just 1 turnover in 30:43 (second in playing time) to prevent the possibility of a Game 5. In a team with so many big names, he was fourth in the PIR in the playoffs and well above his average in the regular season.
REGULAR SEASON vs. PLAYOFFS
5.4 pts 9.3
3.5 reb 4
0.8 ast 0.8
0.6 stl 0
0.2 blk 0
0.7 tov 1.3
16:36 min 23:50
7.4 PIR 11