Eurocup Round 1 MVP: Ante Tomic, Joventut Badalona

Ante Tomic turned back the clock as he played a key role in Joventut Badalona grabbing a 78-75 overtime victory against Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv, which saw him earn MVP of the Round honors in the opening round of the 2024-25 BKT EuroCup season.

The 37-year-old center finished with a PIR of 32, a career-high in the EuroCup and the most of any winning player in Round 1. He also had 17 points and tied his career-best mark in rebounds with 12. As such, this was his third double-double in the EuroCup, with the others coming in Rounds 2 and 14 of the 2023-24 season. Tomic was near-perfect from the field, shooting 8 for 9 on two-pointers, and he made his 1 free throw. He drew 3 fouls on the night, too.

Coming is second place is Dolomiti Energia Trento’s Jordan Ford, who had a round-high 36 PIR but ended up tasting defeat against Dreamland Gran Canaria. Ford made a gigantic impression on his EuroCup debut, netting 32 points after going 11 for 11 on two-pointers, 3 for 4 on triples and 1 for 1 from the charity stripe. His 14 made field goals are the joint third most all-time. In third spot is U-BT Cluj-Napoca guard Zavier Simpson, who finished with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal and a 28 PIR on his first-ever game in the EuroCup, an 86-93 loss to Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana. The fourth-highest PIR belonged to Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem guard Jared Harper, as his EuroCup debut saw him record 27 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists en route to a 27 PIR in his team’s 64-80 defeat to Valencia Basket. Rounding out the list of best performers in Round 1 is ratiopharm Ulm’s Noa Essengue, who smashed his previous career high with a 26 PIR in his side’s 93-96 overtime win at Trefl Sopot. He also set career-best marks in points (18), rebounds (6) and blocks (2), while he tied his personal bests in assists (2) and steals (1).