Alberto Diaz chosen MVP of EuroCup Finals
Diaz's contributions to Unicaja's remarkable victory were recognized when he was chosen as EuroCup Finals MVP by the media in attendance
Malaga native Alberto Diaz truly represented the heart and soul of Unicaja as his team fought back from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Valencia Basket 58-63 in Game 3 and to become the 7DAYS EuroCup champion for 2017. Diaz's contributions to Unicaja's remarkable victory were recognized when he was chosen as EuroCup Finals MVP by the media in attendance. Diaz averaged 9.5 points on 3-of-6 three-point shooting, 3.5 assists and 2 steals in Unicaja's two wins in the best-of-three series. The MVP trophy was presented to Diaz by Giannis Theodoropoulos, Marketing Manager of Chipita 7DAYS.
Diaz, who started all three games of the series, made his biggest impact on the defensive end, but he walked away from Game 3 as his team's leading scorer with 12 points. He also collected 2 assists and 2 steals in the victory. Diaz started strong with a three-pointer to open the scoring and had amassed 7 points as Unicaja soared to a 6-14 start. His biggest contributions came later. After sitting for the final 5 minutes of the third quarter, Coach Joan Plaza brought Diaz back in with 8:21 left in the fourth and the team down 13. Diaz was seemingly everywhere to lead a ferocious defense that caused Valencia to miss its remaining 16 shots as Unicaja stormed to the lead and the title. Diaz assisted Jeff Brooks on the game-tying basket and later added free throws with 1:41 remaining to make it 56-61.
Year Winner Team
2003 Dejan Tomasevic Valencia Basket
2004 Kelly McCarty Hapoel Jerusalem
2005 Robertas Javtokas Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius
2006 Ruben Douglas Dynamo Moscow
2007 Charles Smith Real Madrid
2008 Rudy Fernández Joventut Badalona
2009 Marijonas Petravicius Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius
2010 Matt Nielsen Valencia Basket
2011 Marko Popovic Unics Kazan
2012 Zoran Planinic Khimki Moscow Region
2013 Richard Hendrix Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
2014 Justin Doellman Valencia Basket
2015 Tyrese Rice Khimki Moscow Region
2016 Stephane Lasme Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul
2017 Alberto Diaz Unicaja Malaga
Diaz, who started all three games of the series, made his biggest impact on the defensive end, but he walked away from Game 3 as his team's leading scorer with 12 points. He also collected 2 assists and 2 steals in the victory. Diaz started strong with a three-pointer to open the scoring and had amassed 7 points as Unicaja soared to a 6-14 start. His biggest contributions came later. After sitting for the final 5 minutes of the third quarter, Coach Joan Plaza brought Diaz back in with 8:21 left in the fourth and the team down 13. Diaz was seemingly everywhere to lead a ferocious defense that caused Valencia to miss its remaining 16 shots as Unicaja stormed to the lead and the title. Diaz assisted Jeff Brooks on the game-tying basket and later added free throws with 1:41 remaining to make it 56-61.
Year Winner Team
2003 Dejan Tomasevic Valencia Basket
2004 Kelly McCarty Hapoel Jerusalem
2005 Robertas Javtokas Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius
2006 Ruben Douglas Dynamo Moscow
2007 Charles Smith Real Madrid
2008 Rudy Fernández Joventut Badalona
2009 Marijonas Petravicius Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius
2010 Matt Nielsen Valencia Basket
2011 Marko Popovic Unics Kazan
2012 Zoran Planinic Khimki Moscow Region
2013 Richard Hendrix Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
2014 Justin Doellman Valencia Basket
2015 Tyrese Rice Khimki Moscow Region
2016 Stephane Lasme Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul
2017 Alberto Diaz Unicaja Malaga
E. Carchia
@Sportando
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