Barça power forward Nikola Mirotic was recognized as the most decisive player in Europe in the survey that the Euroleague carries out in the middle of the regular phase to the general managers of the eighteen teams participating in the competition, published this Tuesday.
The brand new ‘MVP’ of the month of December, an award that Mirotic won for the second time this season after achieving it previously in October, was chosen with 88.9% of the votes as the candidate with the most options to be named best player in the league. season in the Euroleague.
After 18 days, the Barça star leads the competition in points (17.9), valuation credits (22.2) and percentage of success in triples (50%), in addition to being the thirteenth player with the most rebounds captured per game (5.7).
“For Mirotic it is very easy to score 20 points, I keep his leadership. He is taking a step forward, he is no longer just a great scorer, ”Barça coach Sarunas Jasikevicius declared on 10 December after beating Real Madrid at the Palau Blaugrana (93-80).
An assessment shared by the eighteen executives surveyed, who designated the Hispano-Montenegrin as the best leader in the Euroleague with 33.3% of the votes.
Reliability in the shot should have been a determining factor for the eighteen respondents, who voted Mirotic as the best player in the decisive minutes (33.3%), a virtue that was demonstrated in the basket on the horn to win on the court of the Fenerbahce last October (74-76).
The regularity is another facet of the Barça star to stand out, who this season has only remained below ten points in a Euroleague match and, also for this reason, was the most voted by the team directors as the reinforcement dreamed of for their respective teams (27.8%).
Mirotic shared the limelight in the aforementioned poll with other Barça teammates, such as Lithuanian Rokas Jokubaitis, chosen with 38.9% of the votes as the emerging star of the competition.
At 21 years old and in his first experience outside of Zalgiris Kaunas, the guard is responding with a note to higher demands than those foreseen due to the accumulation of injuries in Barça’s outside game and averages 3.3 assists and 7.8 points (with 56.4% success on shots of two, 50% on triples and 86% on free throws) in less than 19 minutes per game.
The point guard Nick Calathes, who could only play the first ten days before being injured, was chosen with 66.7% of the votes as the best passer in the Euroleague, a recognition of the third highest assistant of the course (5.7 ) and the second in the history of the competition (1,583, 24 of the record of Vassilis Spanoulis).
Likewise, guard Kyle Kuric (8.8 points per game with 48.8% accuracy in shots of two, 39.7% in triples and 90.5% in free throws) was in second position in the category of best pure shooter (27.8%), behind Alba Berlin forward Marcus Eriksson (33.3%).
But if Barça, the leader of the Euroleague (15-3), stands out for something, it is because of their power as a group and this coral strength was also recognized by rival executives, who chose the Barça team as the most uncomfortable rival (33.3 %) and the one with the most options to contest the final four of the competition (94.4%).
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