BKT EuroCup RS – Round 12 MVP: TJ Shorts, Paris Basketball

TJ Shorts fueled one of the best offensive performances in BKT EuroCup history on Wednesday night, leading Paris Basketball to a playoff-clinching 120-91 home win over Veolia Towers Hamburg and in the process earning MVP of the Round honors for Round 12.

His season highs of 26 points and a 37 PIR came in just 22 minutes and 26 seconds on the court. Shorts made 11-of-13 field goals and hit all 4 of his free-throw attempts. What’s more, the Paris playmaker dished 7 assists, had 3 rebounds and made 2 steals, as the French side’s point total was the EuroCup’s second-highest total of all-time in regulation. Shorts now has three MVP honors in 12 games in his first EuroCup season.

The next two best performances in this round belong to players on losing teams. Ondrej Balvin of Prometey Slobozhanske had PIR of 35 in a heartbreaking 89-88 loss at the London Lions, amassing 14 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. Tyrone Wallace of Turk Telekom Anakara collected 30 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists for a 33 PIR in an 85-95 loss against Aris Midea Thessaloniki. Rounding out the list of top performers in Round 12 are four players with a PIR of 31. Isiaha Mike of Mincidelice Bourg en Bresse had 28 points and 8 rebounds in an 89-98 win at U-BT Cluj-Napoca. Xavier Munford of Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv recorded 25 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds in a 100-81 victory over Umana Reyer Venice. Paulius Valinskas of 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys had 24 points and 10 assists in a 94-90 triumph over ratiopharm Ulm. Dusan Miletic of Slask Wroclaw finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals in a 79-80 loss against Buducnost VOLI Podgorica.

Individual highs: Ondrej Balvin, Prometey, 16 rebounds

Wallace was this round’s top scorer with 30 points. Shorts leads the EuroCup in scoring with 18.1 points per game.

Prometey’s Balvin led all rebounders in Round 12 by pulling down 16 boards. Trevion Williams of Ulm is the EuroCup’s top rebounder with 11.5 per game.

Vaidas Kariniauskas of Wolves Vilnius had 12 assists in this round, more than any other player. Shorts leads the EuroCup in assists, averaging 7.4 per contest.

Karel Guzman of U-BT Cluj-Napoca, Mikael Jantunen of Paris and Ulm duo Karim Jallow of Ulm and L.J. Figueroa each collected 4 steals in Round 12. Andres Feliz of Joventut Badalona tops the steals charts with 2.7 per game.

Balvin and Miletic each had 3 blocks this week. Miletic improved his EuroCup-best 2.3 blocks per game.

Seven players recorded a double-double in Round 12: Balvin (14 points, 16 rebounds), Miletic (17 points, 11 rebounds), Valinskas (24 points, 10 assists), Feliz (18 points, 10 assists), Kyle Alexander of Hapoel (18 points, 11 rebounds), Angel Delgado of Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Gabe Olaseni of the London Lions (19 points, 10 rebounds).