By Stefan Acevksi/ info@eurohoops.net
So far, 27 rounds of the EuroLeague have been played, with 11 remaining, and we are just now entering the real battles at the top of the competition, where only two wins separate second and 10th place in the standings.
After a rough stretch during part of the season, Olympiacos Piraeus went on a winning streak, taking six of its last seven games, and the Greek powerhouse is currently in second place in the EuroLeague with a 17-9 record.
The biggest credit goes to Sasha Vezenkov and Nikola Milutinov, who are currently the best players in Europe by PIR (Performance Index Rating). Vezenkov is once again the leading MVP candidate, and after pushing through a midseason slump, he recorded a PIR of 30 or more in five of his last eight games. He is currently averaging 19.4 points per game (61% from two, 41% from three, 91% from the free-throw line) and 6.9 rebounds, with a PIR of 23.4.
As for Milutinov, he is also having an outstanding season. The Serbian center is averaging 11.0 points (70% from two, 79% free throws), 7.5 rebounds, and 4.0 fouls drawn per game, giving him a PIR of 21.1.
At the moment, the two rank first and second in the EuroLeague in efficiency rating, and it is worth recalling when, over the last ten seasons of elite competition, teams had two players in the top 10 in this statistical category.
Mirotic and LeDay led Milan
Last season also featured an interesting situation as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan had two players among the top five in PIR. Nikola Mirotic finished third, behind Sasha Vezenkov and TJ Shorts, averaging 17.7 points and 6.4 rebounds, with an efficiency rating of 22.0.
Zach LeDay joined him in the top five, finishing fifth, just behind Theo Maledon. The power forward averaged 16.0 points and 4.5 rebounds, ending the season with a PIR of 19.4. However, the two did not help Milan amount to much as the team finished the season in 11th place, missing the play-in.
The season before that, only Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv had two players among the top 10 in PIR, as Wade Baldwin finished fourth (19.1) and Josh Nebo was 10th (16.7). Maccabi, which hosted its games in Belgrade that season, ended its campaign in the quarterfinals, losing 3-2 to eventual champion Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens. It should be noted that Baldwin missed a significant part of that series due to injury.
Seasons of dominance by Anadolu Efes
In the 2022-23 season, two teams had a duo among the top 10 in this category. One of them was Anadolu Efes Istanbul, with Will Clyburn ranking third with 18.6 and Vasilije Micic being sixth with 17.4. They were joined by Maccabi’s duo of Baldwin (fifth with 17.6) and Lorenzo Brown (10th with 16.1). The Israeli club also finished in the quarterfinals that season, while Efes ended up in 11th place.
Interestingly, it was the third consecutive season that Efes had two players among the top 10 in PIR.
In the previous two seasons, the Turkish powerhouse won back-to-back EuroLeague titles, led by Shane Larkin and Micic, who formed the best backcourt duo in Europe at the time.
In the 2021-22 season, Larkin was second with 18.7 index points, while Micic was seventh with 17.5. The season before that, Larkin ranked eighth and Micic ninth. Also, in 2020-21, Fenerbahce had two players among the top six – Nando De Colo was fourth (18.8) and Jan Vesely sixth (18).
The first season with 10 different teams
The 2019-20 season was the first in which 10 different teams had a representative in the top 10 in PIR. Shane Larkin was by far the most efficient player in the EuroLeague that season with 25.5, and the top 10 also featured notable names such as Bojan Dubljevic, Greg Monroe and Luke Sikma.
Looking back at the 2018-19 season, only one team had a duo in the top 10 – and both were among the top three. That team was Milan, with Mike James finishing first and Arturas Gudaitis third.
The current Monaco player averaged 20.2 index points that season, while the Lithuanian center recorded 18.7. However, in one of the most balanced EuroLeague seasons, Milan finished only 12th with a 14-16 record, one win behind Zalgiris Kaunas and Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, who secured playoff spots at 15-15.
Unicaja, CSKA and Fenerbahce round out the list
Unicaja Malaga has not been part of the EuroLeague for some time, but when they were among the elite, they played a significant role. In the 2017-18 season, the Spanish team had two players among the top 10 in PIR.
Nemanja Nedovic ranked sixth with a PIR of 16.7, while center James Augustine finished 10th in the final season of his career. The former CSKA Moscow and Khimki player posted a PIR of 14.4.
Going back 10 years, to the 2016-17 season, both Fenerbahce and CSKA had duos in the top 10.
The now-famous CSKA backcourt pairing of De Colo and Milos Teodosic led the way, with the French guard finishing second (20.8) and the Serbian fifth (17.1). That same season, Ekpe Udoh was third with 20.7, while his Fenerbahce teammate Bogdan Bogdanovic ranked ninth (16.7).