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By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Who is the best young player in the Euroleague? Who will receive the tournament’s “rising star” award in a few days? Eurohoops looks back in the season, chooses the predominant candidates and makes a selection.
Eligible for the award are all those who were younger than 22 years of age on the 1st of July of the year the season started, in our case anyone who hadn’t yet become 22 on 1/7/2014.
The future of the player who will eventually be selected as the ‘rising star’ of the Euroleague is bright. Six of the last seven winners (before last year’s Bogdan Bogdanovic) went on to a career in the NBA!
Let’s take a look then at who the dominant candidates are to win the award this year.
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[lptitle title=”6. Luka Mitrovic“]
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(Crvena Zvezda)
8,6 points, 5,2 rebounds, 2,3 assists, 9,7 ranking in 25’
If the award were given every Christmas then there would be no doubt that Crvena Zvezda’s leader (just 22) would be the big favorite to become the season’s ‘rising star’. In the regular season Luka Mitrovic had 11,7 points and 5,9 rebounds per game and he was impressive. However, in the Top 16 his performance dropped and with it, his chances for this particular distinction.
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[lptitle title=”5. Alex Abrines“]
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(Barcelona)
7,6 points, 1,5 rebounds, 1,3 assists, 6,7 ranking in 18’
In his fourth year in the Euroleague, Alex Abrines plays more than ever in Barcelona and has an enhanced role after the departure of Kostas Papanikolaou, who was the Euroleague’s ‘rising star’ two years ago. The 22-yearold Spaniard had several ups and downs in his performance, but there were many nights when he played like a mature veteran.
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[lptitle title=”4. Cedi Osman“]
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Anadolu Efes
6,7 points, 3,7 rebounds, 1,1 assists, 6,7 ranking in 19’
He’s the new big prospect of Turkish basketball and after last year’s baptism of fire in the Euroleague, he is now indispensable in Dusan Ivkovic’s rotation in Efes. A few days ago Cedi Osman became 20 years of age and in the next couple of years his chances of winning the award will definitely be higher.
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[lptitle title=”3. Bogdan Bogdanovic“]
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Fenerbahce
10,7 points, 2,9 rebounds, 2,7 assists, 10,1 ranking in 28’
Last year, the numbers of the 23-yearold guard for Fenerbahce (and the oldest on the list) were much better, when he was the indisputable leader of Partizan and he ultimately won the Euroleague’s ‘rising star’ award. Bogdanovic however, after a mediocre start, had an excellent Top 16 and good enough playoffs though having several lapses in his performance. In any case, his improvement is significant, especially in defense.
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