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Round 8 roll call: New names fueled big wins

Round 8 roll call: New names fueled big wins

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19 November 20226 Mins read

Round 8 roll call: New names fueled big wins

Ivanovic shined under new boss

Zvezda playmaker Nikola Ivanovic entered Round 8 having scored a total of 35 points this season, and only 8 in the last four games combined. On Thursday night, in his first game under a new head coach, Dusko Ivanovic - no relation, but both are Montenegrin - the 28-year-old point guard downed 16 points on 3-for-4 three-point and 7-for-8 free throw shooting. He added 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 rebounds for a PIR of 22 – all his season-high numbers. "He was not only our top scorer, he was our best player," Coach Ivanovic said after Zvezda beat LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne for its second win of the season.

Evans had his best scoring game for Zalgiris

In his 41st game over two seasons, Zalgiris Kaunas guard Keenan Evans pumped in a career-high 23 points in helping to defeat EA7 Armani Exchange Milan. Known mainly for defense in his EuroLeague debut last season with Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv Evans is doing much more in roughly the same minutes with Zalgiris. He's ranked in the top 10 in both points (15.5) and three-pointers made (2.4) while leading Zalgiris in assists. He has improved his accuracy from deep to 43.2% from 32.9% last season, making him an all-around threat who still plays great defense.

Poirier rose above for Real

With his biggest minutes of the season, Real Madrid center Vincent Poirier proved again why he is capable of taking over games. Poirier led Real in scoring (19 points), rebounds (7) and blocks (3, tied with Walter Tavares) in a dominant home win over dangerous ALBA Berlin. His 28 PIR was the second-best over his 45 games to date in a Real uniform. He logged 23:30 minutes, up from 16:45 in the previous game, after having averaged 10.5 through the first six. He was near perfect, too, shooting 7-for-9 on two-pointers and 5-for-5 at the foul line.

Cordinier set the tone for Virtus

Cordinier entered Thursday's game against Valencia Basket with 4:33 left in the first quarter and his team, Virtus Segafredo Bologna, up 14-7. A minute later , Cordinier started an 8-1 run during which he scored all of Virtus's points and added a block to end the first quarter with the hosts in control, 24-8. Cordinier added another basket early in the second quarter to help Virtus open a 35-11 lead, after which there was no coming back for Valencia. Cordinier finished with a EuroLeague-best 15 points in 22 minutes on the floor in a much-needed 30-point victory for Virtus.

M'Baye anchored the Efes defense

With 3 blocks in the first three quarters in Thursday's Round 8 opener, Anadolu Efes Istanbul forward Amath M'Baye tripled his previous high in 37 EuroLeague games. His aggressiveness around the rim had everything to do with Efes keeping FC Barcelona on its heels all night for a crucial 96-86 victory. His were the most blocks by any Efes player this season. That's saying something when the EuroLeague's all-time shot-block leader, Bryant Dunston, is playing next to M'Baye. In fact, they teamed up on one of the blocks credited to M'Baye.

Booker blocked his best

The top shot-blocker of the week was Devin Booker of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, who blasted away 4 shots in Fenerbahce's home win over Panathinaikos Athens. He even had two blocks within a couple of seconds on a single play against a pair of brothers – Panagiotis and Georgios Kalaitzakis – which has to be some sort of first, maybe in basketball history. Booker is known for his flashy dunks than his blocks – he's had more than 1 block just five times now in 96 career games – so if this is a new part of his game, watch out even more for first-place Fenerbahce.

Laprovittola made it rain again

There may be no more dangerous EuroLeague shooter when he's hot than Nicolas Laprovittola of FC Barcelona. Laprovitolla used a technical free throw early in the fourth quarter, when Barca trailed host Efes 71-57, to light his own fuse and pour in 17 more point in the game's final 7 minutes. Alas, that got Barca no closer than 8 points to the lead, but it left Laprovittola with his career high, 28 points, after 117 EuroLeague games. He has now made at least 5 triples at 50% accuracy or higher over the last 3 games.