He was the 2011-12 All-Euroleague First Team center and on Friday Nenad Krstic showed again why. The CSKA Moscow big man not only put up the best numbers of any player in Top 16 Game 9, but he did so at the most important times in the game to pave the way to an 80-65 victory over Alba Berlin. For those reasons, Krstic earned bwin MVP honors, becoming the fourth CSKA player this season to do so. Krstic scored 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, grabbed 4 rebounds, dished 4 assists and blocked a shot for a performance index rating of 26, which led the Turkish Airlines Euroleague in Top 16 Game 9. He not only played key role in a 20-1 run that broke the game open in the first half, but after Berlin cut the gap to 5 in the fourth quarter, Krstic put the game to bed with 6 points and an assist in a 10-0 run that sealed the victory. Another two big men were tied for second in the weekly index ratings, Paul Davis of BC Khimki Moscow Region and Randal Falker of Besiktas JK Istanbul. Davis amassed 18 points and 9 rebounds for a 23 index in a road loss at Barcelona Regal. Falker had 11 points, 9 boards and 3 blocks as his team fell to defending champion Olympiacos. Panathinaikos point guard Roko Ukic, one of the tri-MVPs last week, followed up with another strong game and a 22 index in a victory over Anadolu Efes. Ukic strung together 13 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists to lead the Greens. Rounding out the week’s best were Mindaugas Kuzminskas of Zalgiris Kaunas and Bojan Bogdanovic of Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul. Kuzminskas led his team to victory with 15 points and 8 rebounds for a 21 index. Bogdanovic had 22 points in a loss at Siena.
MVP Video
Individual leaders: Stephane Lasme of Panathinaikos, 5 blocked shots
Bogdanovic was also this week’s No. 1 scorer and in doing so padded his Top 16 lead. His 21.3 points per game is an average of 2 points more than the next closest player, Bobby Brown of Montepaschi. Maciej Lampe of Caja Laboral Vitoria gathered 12 rebounds to top the weekly charts. With 7.3 rebounds per game, he is second to only Viktor Khryapa (8.2 rpg.) in the Top 16. Last season’s Final Four MVP, Vassilis Spanoulis, dished 8 assists to lead all players in Top 16 Game 9. Spanoulis is now fourth in the Top 16 with 5.1 assists per game; Zoran Planinic of BC Khimki is the phase’s leader with 6.9 assists per game. Patrick Christopher of Besiktas was the week’s best ball thief with 5 steals. Jamon Lucas of Anadolu Efes sits atop the Top 16 standings with 2.3 steals per game. Panathinaikos bog man Stephane Lasme rejected 5 shots, which was the most in the Euroleague this week. Maccabi center Shawn James is the leading shot blocker in the Top 16 with 2 per game. Only two players, Lampe with 19 points and 12 rebounds, and James with 11 points and 10 boards, posted double doubles in Top 16 Game 9.