{"id":412060,"date":"2024-11-04T14:18:57","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T13:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=412060"},"modified":"2024-11-04T14:18:57","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T13:18:57","slug":"euroleague-barcelonas-kevin-punter-named-october-mvp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/euroleague-barcelonas-kevin-punter-named-october-mvp\/","title":{"rendered":"Euroleague: Barcelona’s Kevin Punter named October MVP"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Punter’s lethal shooting lifted Barcelona to the upper echelons of the standings and made him Euroleague Basketball’s choice as MVP for October<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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FC Barcelona<\/a>\u2019s signing of\u00a0Kevin Punter<\/a>\u00a0over the summer has paid immediate dividends, with the guard offering scorching-hot shooting to put his team within one win of the top of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings. The club authored a five-game winning streak between Rounds 2 and 6 to temporarily enter into a tie for the best record in the season, and Punter was at the heart of his team\u2019s success. Punter\u2019s efficient and outstanding scoring numbers to put his club into the top quartet of teams in the standings led to his selection as Euroleague Basketball\u2019s MVP for October.<\/p>\n

Through October\u2019s seven games, Punter averaged 18.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 steals. He made 62.2% of his two-pointers, 47.5% of his threes and 95.8% of his free throws for a performance index rating of 19.9. Those numbers rank Punter second in the league in scoring and sixth in PIR. No player ranked among the top 10 scorers has been more efficient than Punter, who ranks 20th in the league in true shooting percentage (71.0%), but first among players with at least 10 shots attempted per game.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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Punter wins monthly MVP for first time<\/h3>\n

The MVP of the Month is named by Euroleague Basketball based on his and his team’s performances. The award for October covered the seven games played by all teams between Thursday, October 3, and Friday, November 1.<\/p>\n

This marks the first time that Punter has snagged monthly MVP honors and it is the 14th time it has gone to a Barcelona player, which is third most in competition history behind only CSKA Moscow (18) and Real Madrid (15). He is the first Barcelona winner since\u00a0Nikola Mirotic<\/a>\u00a0was the MVP for December 2021.<\/p>\n

A magnificent opening salvo with Barcelona<\/h3>\n

Punter has settled into Barcelona better than anyone could have expected. The 31-year-old scorer has reached double figures in scoring and made at least 1 three-pointer in every game he has played. He has been particularly lethal in Barcelona\u2019s victories. Punter has averaged 20.2 points on 14-of-29 three-point shooting (48.3%), 2.8 assists and 1.8 steals for a PIR of 21.8 in his team\u2019s five wins.<\/p>\n

After a bumpy start, Punter hit his stride by Round 3. He opened the season with an 11-point output in\u00a0an opening-night loss at Zalgiris Kaunas<\/a>. He wasn\u2019t needed much as Barcelona bounced back to\u00a0beat ALBA Berlin by 15 points<\/a>\u00a0in Round 2. Punter contributed 14 points to that effort. He then scored at least 20 in each of the next four games; Punter netted 21 in\u00a0an 86-71 victory over AS Monaco<\/a>, 26 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting in\u00a0a 94-98 overtime win at Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade<\/a>, 20 in\u00a0a 90-83 triumph over LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne<\/a>; and 20 in\u00a0an 88-97 road win at Anadolu Efes Istanbul<\/a>. In Barcelona\u2019s final game of the month,\u00a0a 95-74 road loss at Olympiacos Piraeus<\/a>, Punter again led<\/a> Barcelona in scoring with 18 points.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

One of the best scorers on the continent<\/h3>\n

This is Punter\u2019s fifth EuroLeague campaign with as many different clubs. He debuted with Olympiacos in 2019 before a mid-season move to Zvezda. After reaching the 2021 Final Four with EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, Punter joined coach Zeljko Obradovic at Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade for three years \u2013 the first of which was in the BKT EuroCup. There, Punter became a superstar, earning All-EuroCup honors for the 2021-22 campaign before being named to the 2022-23 All-EuroLeague Second Team.<\/p>\n

After starring at the University of Tennessee, Punter began his career in Greece and also played in Belgium and Poland before making a name for himself by winning the Basketball Champions League in back-to-back seasons with AEK Athens (2018) and Virtus Segafredo Bologna (2019). And ever since, he has been one of the most dangerous scorers at the highest levels of European basketball. Punter is only 75 points shy of another milestone \u2013 2,000 career points in the EuroLeague, which only 67 players have ever reached.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n

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THE MVP OF OCTOBER IS KEVIN PUNTER \ud83d\udd35\ud83d\udd34<\/p>\n

A first ever monthly MVP for @KPJunior_<\/a>!<\/p>\n

In October\u2019s seven games, he averaged 18.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 steals \ud83c\udfc6 @PaniniAmerica<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/0es8YlhHJU<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) November 4, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n