By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
While the MVP award is recognizing personal achievements, it’s also tied to the team success. Unless a player has registered an amazing feat – averaging, for example, a triple-double like Russel Westbrook did last year in the NBA – the MVP award is usually given to the best player of the top team in a league.
That’s why once more Nando De Colo should be considered the favorite to win the title in the VTB United League. He won after all the MVP monthly award of November, an honor which was bestowed also to Quino Colom of Unics in October, to Mardy Collins of Lokomotiv Kuban in December, to Sergey Karasev of Zenit St. Petersburg on January and to Justin Robinson of Avtodor Saratov on February. The pick of Robinson – which is more than justified – is quite interesting because his team is currently sixth in the standings, while all the other recipients of the awards are part of top four of the league. So far, among the six best teams in the league, only a member of Khimki Moscow Region has not won the monthly award and Alexey Shved, last season’s MVP, remains one of the easiest to thing candidates.
And that brings us to the bottom line. Who are the favorites in the race for the league MVP award? Here’s our Top Five.
Nando De Colo (CSKA Moscow)
He is also a candidate for the MVP award in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, he is currently fifth in efficiency (16.7) and fifth in scoring (17.4) in the league and while CSKA Moscow is currently second in the standings with a 17-2 record, nobody would bet against them for the top of the league standings.
In recent years De Colo is the “safe” candidate for any MVP award in every competition he is part of. And it usually it comes down to the numbers. At this point, while he is not a lock to win the title, he seems to be the more likely candidate. His consistency in one of the best teams in Europe is his calling card.