By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
EuroLeague Regular Season Round 8 is in the books with six sides at 6-2 and in first place of the standings. CSKA Moscow, Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv, Anadolu Efes and Khimki Moscow Region are the top-placed clubs with a representative in our Best Five, out of which only one single player can be called our MVP of the Week.
Eurohoops MVP
Jonas Jerebko
Khimki Moscow Region topped AX Armani Exchange Milan to get to first place with several players producing solid outings. We picked out Jonas Jerebko who scored 19 points behind 6/6 inside the rainbow although Alexey Shved poured a game-high 24 points. The Swedish forward moved to Russia to push Khimki to the next level and seems up to the task following his best-ever EuroLeague performance.
Eurohoops Best Five
- Mike James: His career-high 38 PIR sent CSKA Moscow to the win over Fenerbahce Beko, was built on 31 points with 6/8 beyond the arc, four assists, two rebounds, one steal and seven earned fouls.
- Scottie Wilbekin: His latest solid performance led Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv to the away win opposite to KIROLBET Baskonia with the 26-year-old guard banking six three-pointers en route for 20 points and dishing six assists as well.
- Vasilije Micic: Averaging over 20 PIR this year, the Serbian guard seems to always find his way into our Best Five, this time around went for 7/7 from the field including 3/3 threes and 7/7 free throws for 24 points in Anadolu Efes’ victory versus Zenit Saint-Petersburg.
- Jonas Jerebko: Our MVP lifted Rimas Kurtinaitis’ side to a big win.
- Tonye Jekiri: The Nigerian center added on his great season with 18 points and 19 rebounds on the road for the “W” over Crvena Zvezda mts, just noting that LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne is only one win behind the leading pack.
Coach of the week: Aito Garcia Reneses
Aito has been around winning all sorts of titles through his lengthy coaching career. ALBA Berlin certainly presents an alternate challenge for the 72-year-old Spaniard, but leading the German club to the win on the road against Panathinaikos OPAP was more than enough for our Coach of the Week award. ALBA is only 2-6, but proved ready to assume the spoiler role at Athens on the big night of Ioannis Papapetrou who scored 39 points. It was a great performance which can’t be included in the best five, because Panathinaikos lost.
The big issue: Heated “Clasico” environment
In recent years, issues between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos OPAP kept EuroLeague busy. Add the rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona into the mix as “El Clasico” is steadily building an environment similar to the Greek derby. From the Whites doctor calling Barca a “band of rats” to Nikola Mirotic holding the last laugh for himself, the Round 8 collision itself was overshadowed.
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