All-Euroleague First Team
The All-Euroleague first team has been announced, after voting by fans and accredited media members. The voting is made without regard to player positions. The 2016-17 MVP will be revealed at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Awards Ceremony on Saturday, May 20 during the Final Four in Istanbul!
Sergio Llull – Real Madrid
Sergio Llull is the undisputed leader of Real Madrid, the team that posted the best record in the regular season and heads into its fourth Final Four appearance in five years. Llull, 29, is the motor of Madrid’s finely-tuned offense and this, his 10th EuroLeague season, has proven to be his best to date. Llull ranked third in the league in assists (5.9 apg.) this season, fifth in scoring (16.4 ppg.) and eighth in performance index rating (16.8), which were all career highs. When the stakes were raised, the Madrid playmaker boosted his number to 18.5 points and a 17.8 index rating for the playoff series against Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul. Llull started in each of his 31 appearances this season and led the team in minutes played (27:44 per game) while making a total of 70 three-point shots for the season, another personal best and the fourth most in the competition. Llull was named MVP of November, a month during which he averaged 21.4 points per game. He also earned MVP honors for Rounds 7 and 27. For Llull this is the second All-EuroLeague selection; he was named to the 2010-11 All-EuroLeague Second Team.
Nando De Colo – CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow’s historically prolific offense has become hard to imagine without Nando De Colo, who never lowered the bar he set last season when he became the first player ever to win the Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy and to be voted both the full-season and Final Four MVP. De Colo simply continued where he left off; he was the competition’s second-best scorer (19.4 ppg.) this season and posted the second-highest average performance index rating (21.5). De Colo scored in double figures in all but one of his 26 appearances and his consistent all-around contributions are perhaps best showcased by his five MVP of the round honors this campaign, which was more than any other player this season and one shy of the all-time single-season record. De Colo was second in the competition in free throw accuracy (95.6%) and third free throws made (129). He also dished 4.0 assists per game. De Colo had the highest average performance index rating of the regular season (22.7), which all built his case in earning his third consecutive All-EuroLeague selection and second in a row as a member of the first team.
Bogdan Bogdanovic – Fenerbahce Istanbul
Bogdan Bogdanovic spent nearly half of the regular season sidelined due to an injury, but when he came back the two-time EuroLeague Rising Star Trophy winner made up for lost time. Bogdanovic fueled Fenerbahce’s return to its third consecutive Final Four by putting together the best season of his career. Bogdanovic, 26, ranked sixth in the competition with an average performance index rating of 17 and also led Fenerbahce with 14.5 points and 1.1 steals per game while dishing the second-most assists (3.9 apg.) and collecting the fourth-most rebounds (3.7 rpg.) on the team. Bogdanovic was at his best when his team needed him most with a historic performance in the playoffs when his average index rating of 26.0 was the best ever in a series that finished in three games. He was MVP for both Games 1 and 2 of the sweep of Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens and went on to rank second in the playoffs with 19.3 points per game. His 4.0 three-pointers made per game matched the highest average in playoffs history, and he was tied for third among playoff rebounders with 7.0 per game, which was the second-highest ever for a guard. It all amounted to MVP of April honors for Bogdanovic, and now his first All-EuroLeague selection.
Georgios Printezis – Olympiacos Piraeus
A two-time EuroLeague champion and veteran of 14 EuroLeague seasons, Olympiacos Piraeus power forward Georgios Printezis finds himself among the All-EuroLeague honorees for the first time in his career. The 32-year old Olympiacos hero is playing the best basketball of his career, which has resulted in one of his finest campaigns by the numbers. This season, Printezis helped guide the Reds to their fourth Final Four appearance in the past five years by leading the team with 12.9 points and an average performance index rating of 15.2 per game. He was also second best on the team with 39.7% three-point accuracy and 5.2 rebounds per game. Printezis totaled career-bests for a single-season in assists (31) and steals (20), too. He has been especially consistent since January, after returning from injury. In 18 games since then, Printezis scored in double figures 15 times and earned MVP honors in Round 22. A driving force for the team from Piraeus, Printezis now returns to Istanbul, the scene of his iconic last shot in the 2012 Final Four, to try to lift Olympiacos to glory again.
Ekpe Udoh – Fenerbahce Istanbul
A massive presence in the paint for Fenerbahce Istanbul, big man Ekpe Udoh has had a season like few other big men in EuroLeague history. Udoh was the EuroLeague leader in rebounds (7.6 rpg.) and blocked shots (2.1 bpg.), in which he is the also competition’s career leader with 2.2 per contest. Even more important than his numbers was his consistency, as Udoh had either multiple blocks or at least 5 rebounds in all but one game he played this season. The Fenerbahce center also led his team in minutes played (31:38), spending more than 30 minutes on the floor in 21 of his 29 appearances. Udoh, who was the runner-up in voting by the head coaches of the league for the EuroLeague Best Defender Trophy, also took care of business on offense. He was second on the team in scoring (12 ppg.), and fourth in both assists (1.9 apg.) and steals (1 spg.). He earned MVP honors in Round 4 of the regular season and Game 3 of the playoffs, which led to Udoh’s second consecutive All-EuroLeague selection, and his debut on the All-EuroLeague First Team.