The 31-year-old, a two-time Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion with Anadolu Efes Istanbul, came to the fore against both LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne and Valencia Basket over the last few days.
Larkin, Efes bounced back to complete perfect double-round week
Article
3 Mins read
Two-time Turkish Airlines Euroleague champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul had a rough start to the 2023-24 season, losing its two first games against a couple of Spanish giants.
In the opening game of the campaign, Efes lost 91-74 on the road at FC Barcelona, while Real Madrid spoiled the Turkish team’s home opener by coming away with an 80-103 blowout-win in Round 2. Against Los Blancos, Shane Larkin was a shadow of himself, recording just 5 points in 24 minutes and a painful -47 in the plus-minus category.
Getting back on track
But everything changed in the first double-game week of the new EuroLeague season, as Efes grabbed two important, hard-fought wins at home against LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, 89-84, and a previously unbeaten Valencia Basket side, 77-73. In both games, Larkin displayed the best version of himself, putting in back-to-back MVP-level performances.
When Efes took on ASVEL, Larkin ended the night with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and a PIR of 23, while he was a +16 in his time on the floor. Seventy-two hours later, Larkin excelled again against Valencia by flirting with a triple-double, providing 15 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and a PIR of 26. Across those two games, he averaged 16.5 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, elevating his team’s performance to the level the home fans expected.
“I’ve got to be better at that, I’ve been in these situations before and I cannot let my team down like that. They built me up today,” Larkin confessed after beating Valencia.
Larkin showed his clutch gene once more
The best version of Larkin emerged in the second half of this game, as he came to the fore and helped Efes rally from a 9-point deficit in the third quarter. Later, he also kept his team calm with 3 made free throws in crunch time.
“I think in the second half we really locked in our defense,” he added. “They are the best offensive rebounding team in the league, but we were better on the defensive end in the second half and that got us transitions and we picked up a big [win] at home.”
After clinching these two wins, Efes improved to 2-2 and can now look forward with renewed confidence and ambition. One of the main reasons for that is Larkin bouncing back and leading the team to a perfect double-round week.