By Michalis Gioulenoglou and Stefan Acevski/ info@eurohoops.net
The EuroLeague regular season is slowly entering its final stretch, with just nine rounds remaining.
The standings are chaotic enough on their own: only a few teams have been eliminated from contention for the next phase, while as many as 14 or 15 teams legitimately hope for the playoffs or at least the play-in tournament. This is best evidenced by the fact that just two wins separate third place from tenth place.
The match that could clarify many things – or perhaps complicate everything again – is the one all of Europe eagerly awaits. On Friday in Athens, Olympiacos Piraeus will host Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens.
Olympiacos won the Greek championship game and triumphed in the first EuroLeague matchup at Telekom Center Athens, but Ergin Ataman’s team, which has since added Nigel Hayes-Davis, got revenge in the Greek Cup. A spectacle is clearly in store.
And while Sasha Vezenkov will sit this one out, he is bound again to a duel with Kendrick Nunn, two players in the race for the MVP award as well as the trophy for the competition’s top scorer.
Kendrick Nunn vs. Sasha Vezenkov
The duel between the American and the Bulgarian has become something of a fixture in the EuroLeague. For the second consecutive season, these two are competing for top individual honors, and it will be the same this season. With nine rounds remaining, they are completely tied.
Interestingly, Nunn and Vezenkov have identical scoring averages this season at 19.3 points per game. Vezenkov has played slightly more games, having missed only two and going for a third one, while the Panathinaikos guard has been absent seven times – six due to injury and once due to illness in the recent loss to Paris.
When comparing shooting percentages, Vezenkov has a slight edge. The Olympiacos forward is shooting 61.1% from two and 42.3% from three, with 89.1% from the free-throw line. Nunn, meanwhile, is at 57.3% from two and 39.3% from three, but he surpasses the Bulgarian from the free-throw line at 91%.
There is no doubt that Athens will provide a spectacle, and the winner of the Top Scorer award might be decided by this duel. Panathinaikos has the advantage that Hayes-Davis might be the player capable of containing Vezenkov, who scored 24 points in the first EuroLeague matchup between the two teams. Thomas Walkup will most likely be the primary defender on Nunn, who scored 32 points in the first game between these same rivals.
Nadir Hifi: From the shadows to the top spot
While attention focuses on the main players of the Athens rivals, Paris guard Nadir Hifi currently holds the top spot on the scoring list nine rounds before the season’s end. Hifi has fully capitalized on the departure of TJ Shorts and his emergence as the primary offensive option, averaging 19.5 points this season – 0.2 more than Nunn and Vezenkov. A lead is a lead, but in this case, it’s easily within reach.
Paris plays at the fastest pace in the league, and despite having the least playing time among the three players mentioned, Hifi has taken by far the most shots and maintains the lowest efficiency: 45.7% from two, 35.4% from three and 82.3% from the free-throw line.
Hifi has recovered from a rough patch and has scored 20 or more points in his last three games. While Paris will not make the playoffs this season – unlike last year – the entire team will surely try to help Hifi secure this nice individual accolade, which would mean a great deal to him and the entire club.
Kendrick Nunn chasing second consecutive trophy
Kendrick Nunn won the Alphonso Ford Trophy last season after finishing the regular season with an average of 21.1 points per game. Before him, Markus Howard won this honor while playing for Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz having posted 19.4 PPG, and Vezenkov took the award in the 2022-23 season with 17.6 PPG.
Vasilije Micic was the EuroLeague’s Top Scorer in the 2021-22 season with 18.1 points. The season before, Alexey Shved led scorers with 19.8 points. Due to the COVID-19 season interruption, the award was not given in the 2019-20 season. It’s worth noting that Shane Larkin was having one of the best individual seasons in history at that time, averaging 22.2 points when the season was halted.