By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The playoffs race is just heating up, the top teams are keeping their distance, and the EuroLeague stars are scoring tones of buckets. As you can see in the standings. There’s a lot to be decided yet, and just before the start of Round 15, let’s take a look at what happened during the last two days, starting by the MVP.
MVP
Mike James
He needed just 23 minutes to score 29 points, and as coach Dimitris Itoudis said, he wanted to rest him. If not, his numbers would have been even more impressive, but “the natural” and CSKA are aiming much higher than a home win against Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade.
BEST FIVE
- Jimmer Fredette: It was a close call between him and Facundo Campazzo, but Jimmer scored 22 points and was almost perfect from the free-throw line (10/11 FT) in a more than a crucial win against Fenerbahce BEKO for Panathinaikos.
- Mike James: He is by any measure the MVP of this week.
- Giorgos Printezis: He had an excellent performance with 26 points and seven rebounds in Olympiacos overtime win against Khimki Moscow, putting on a clinic near the basket.
- Bojan Dubljevic: He set the tone as Valencia destroyed Baskonia with 25 points and 5/8 threes.
- Greg Monroe: An old-school big had a double-double with 17 points, and ten rebounds as Bayern Munich beat ALBA Berlin in the German showdown.
Coach of the round: Pablo Laso
In the duel against AX Armani Exchange Milan and Ettore Messina, Laso and his team emerged victoriously. Madrid is a known quantity and a perennial contender during the Laso era, and the game against the Italians once more validated the work of the Spanish coach.
The big issue: No fans and missed call
The EuroLeague went by the rules and did the right thing according to them. There were no fans at OAKA because of the incidents in the game against Olympiacos, and the league issued a press release after the game in which a severe referees’ mistake was acknowledged. This is not the first time that such a press release is issued, there has also been a recent similar incident for the game between Crvena Zvezda and Valencia. You can’t do much about mistakes; they do happen. And you should punish the clubs for the bad behavior of their members and their fans. Still, at least the no fans in the stands rule should be under future debate, as coach Zeljko Obradovic said.