By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Eurohoops presents five players who could contend for the Sixth Man of the Year award if there was one in the EuroLeague.
TYRESE RICE
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens | Guard | May 15, 1987 | USA
10.2 pts | 1.2 reb | 2.8 ast | 0.3 stl | 0 blk | 1.8 tov | 17:20 min | 9.1 PIR | 26 G | 0 GS
Tyrese Rice returned to the EuroLeague this season after three years away, but it’s as if not a day has gone by. His role on a team like Nick Calathes’s Panathinaikos OPAP Athens may mean that he has zero starts, but he is one of those players who makes the difference coming off the bench. His career-best 41-point outburst to lead the Greens to a 99-93 overtime win against archrival Olympiacos Piraeus at OAKA in Round 12 made him the ninth player with 40 or more points in a game in the history of the competition and it’s still being talked about. He’s one of four players on his team with a double-digit scoring average, is second in assists and fifth in PIR.
TYLER DORSEY
Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv | Guard | February 18, 1996 | Greece
9.9 pts | 2.2 reb | 1.4 ast | 1 stl | 0.2 blk | 1.4 tov | 18:29 min | 7.2 PIR | 25 G | 1 GS
Only a few games were more than enough for Tyler Dorsey to adapt to Europe in his first season on this side of the Atlantic and Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv couldn’t feel more relieved in a season full of injuries. He has become a barometer for the team, something that was seen again last week in Valencia, where his three-pointers in the last minute-and-a-half determined the final result in Maccabi’s favor, 82-85. He’s fourth in scoring among his teammates, while he makes sure to fill up the stat sheets with whatever else each occasion calls for.
JORDAN MICKEY
Real Madrid | Center | July 9, 1994 | USA
9 pts | 4.2 reb | 0.6 ast | 0.4 stl | 1 blk | 1.5 tov | 16:35 min | 10.8 PIR | 26 G | 2 GS
Jordan Mickey’s performances with Khimki Moscow Region last season, his first in the EuroLeague, were more than enough to get him a contract with Real Madrid. Despite the presence of several big men on the roster and, generally, several starring men in each game, Mickey has managed to stand out just as much. The confirmation comes from the fact that he’s fourth in scoring, second in rebounds and blocks and fourth in PIR for Los Blancos. His athletic qualities make him one of the most watchable centers in the competition.
LUKAS LEKAVICIUS
Zalgiris Kaunas | Guard | March 30, 1994 | Lithuania
11 pts | 1.4 reb | 2.8 ast | 0.5 stl | 0 blk | 1.5 tov | 19:51 min | 10.6 PIR | 24 G | 3 GS
Zalgiris Kaunas, then Panathinaikos, then Zalgiris again. Green seems to suit Lukas Lekavicius, this season more than ever since it’s the best of his career. He’s third in scoring for Zalgiris with just 0.5 points per game fewer than Marius Grigonis, who is first. Lekavicius also ranks second in assists and fourth in PIR on the team. Above all, he’s one of the main reasons that he and his teammates can count seven wins in their last 10 games and are back in the playoff race. Lekavicius scored in double digits in seven of those games.