In a week full of surprises, Aaron Jackson of Gescrap BB was at the center of one of the biggest. Just one week after his team was battered by 16 points in a loss at Real Madrid, the men in black turned the tables en route to a 93-69 victory. And no man was more responsible for the turnaround than Jackson, the Top 16, Week 4 bwin MVP. The point guard, who had 2 points and a 0 performance index rating in Madrid, collected 5 points and 4 assists in the first quarter alone as Gescrap raced out to a 34-14 start and never looked back. He finished the impressive outing with season-highs of 15 points and 10 assists. He missed only 2 shots and added 2 rebounds, 1 steals and committed only 1 turnover in compiling a performance index rating of 28, which was the highest of any player on a winning team this week. Moreover, Jackson became the first Gescrap BB player to ever earn Euroleague weekly MVP honors. The player with the week’s best index rating was center Giorgi Shermadini of Bennet Cantu. Shermadini was at his best with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists, though it wasn’t enough in Tel Aviv, where Cantu fell to Maccabi 75-60. The big man most impressed by drawing 10 fouls and going 11 for 11 from the line, which helped him amass a career-high index rating of 31. Another player who performed his best, but was unable to claim victory was Anadolu Efes guard Oliver Lafayette, who scored a season-high 22 points and matched his best with a 26 index in a 65-67 loss to Olympiacos. Rounding out the list of the week’s top performers were the competition’s all-time leading scorer, Juan Carlos Navarro of FC Regal Barcelona, and Gescrap forward Alex Mumbru. Navarro tallied 18 points, 5 assists and 2 steals for a 23 index in a 59-67 road win at Zalgiris Kaunas, while Mumbru missed only 2 shots en route to 16 points and 4 assists in Gescrap’s big win.
Individual highs: Mirsad Turkcan, 13 rebounds
The best two scoring efforts in Top 16, Week 4 came from games in Istanbul. Oliver Lafayette was joined by GS Medical Park’s Josh Shipp in netting 22 points in their respective games. Montepaschi Siena guard Bo McCalebb is the Top 16’s leading scorer with 18.5 points per game. The Euroleague’s all-time rebounding king, Mirsad Turkcan of Fenerbahce Ulker, topped the league in that category this week with 13 boards. Turkcan’s average of 11 rebounds per game in the Top 16 is best in the league. The week’s MVP, Aaron Jackson, was also its top passer with 10 assists. No player has served up more Top 16 assists than EA7 Emporio Armani playmaker Omar Cook with 5.5 per game. The 4 steals picked up by Galatasaray guard Jamon Lucas, Olympiacos’s Vassilis Spanoulis and Sasha Vujacic of Anadolu Efes were the most in Top 16, Week 4. Lucas is the Top 16 leader with 3 steals per game, while Vujacic is tied for fourth with half as many. Among the four players who rejected s shots this week is Maccabi Electra big man Richard Hendrix, whose 2.5 blocks per game leads the Top 16. The only double doubles recorded this week came from the players with the best index ratings, Jackson and Shermadini.
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LEADERS TOP 16, WEEK 4
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TOTAL REBOUNDS
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