By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Shane Larkin‘s historic 49-point game in a Round 11 win by Anadolu Efes over Bayern Munich should be treated as nothing less than one of the true wonders of modern European basketball.
And while scoring 49 points had been unprecedented in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague annals, it’s mainly the context behind the number that makes Larkin’s performance truly extraordinary.
Larkin has been hosting offensive fiestas of the highest order in 2019 but this was unheard of. It took him 31 minutes to score 49 points. He accomplished it by attempting less than 20 shots from the field and making a viciously efficient 5 of 7 two-pointers, 10 of 12 three-pointers and 9 of 10 free throws.
“I was in shock when I saw the box score. I could never imagine anyone scoring that much in a EuroLeague game,” former Olympiacos Piraeus and current Utah Jazz guard Nigel Williams-Goss told Eurohoops.
There have been more than 130 times in the EuroLeague this century during which players attempted 20, or more, shots in a single game. None came close to what Larkin achieved. He was just so phenomenally connected to the basket. It was as if a magnet was pulling the ball from his hands to the hoop.
“He only missed five shots during the whole game,” Kyle Hines, four-time EuroLeague champion and two-time Defensive Player of the Year, commented to Eurohoops. “I think it has to be one of the most impressive scoring efforts of all time because of that.”
“Amazing! How efficient do you have to be as a scorer in the EuroLeague to even accomplish such a thing?” pondered former All-EuroLeague First Team selection Sonny Weems to Eurohoops.
“It’s very rare that you see a player do what Shane did in Europe. I was extremely impressed, to say the least,” former All EuroLeague guard Drew Goudelock said. Goudelock was the one to set the record for most three-pointers made in a single EuroLeague game with the 10 he hit in a Fenerbahce win over Bayern Munich in 2014. It was this three-point mark that Larkin tied.
“The best part about seeing the performance was the joy that he had while doing it and his teammates being equally as happy for him,” Goudelock added.