Top 16, Round 4 co-MVPs: Ioannis Bourousis of Laboral Kutxa, Jan Vesely of Fenerbahce

Ioannis Bourousis of Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz and Jan Vesely of Fenerbahce Istanbul are two of the top big men in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague and now they have something else in common; they are the Euroleague co-MVPs for Round 4 of the Top 16. And each did it in a different way. One week after registering season lows in scoring and performance index rating, Bourousis roared again by leading his team to a fantastic 81-71 victory over CSKA Moscow with his seventh double-double of the season. Vesely remained red hot as he helped Fenerbahce outgun Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul 100-106. Each posted a performance index of 30, which was the highest among all players in Round 4. Bourousis tallied 19 points and did much of his damage from the foul line; he drew 6 fouls and made 9 of 10 free throws. The big man also posted 13 rebounds and 3 assists. Vesely scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting, added 13 rebounds and 1 block. Vesely teammate Bobby Dixon was one of three players with a 27 index in Round 4. The other two, Derrick Brown of Anadolu Efes Istanbul and Sergio Rodriguez of Real Madrid, both did so in a losing effort. Dixon made 6 of 8 three-pointers for 24 points. Brown missed just a single shot in racking up 17 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks in an 84-80 defeat at Cedevita Zagreb. Rodriguez went for 18 points on 4-of-5 three-point shooting and dished 13 assists in a last-second loss to FC Barcelona Lassa.




Individual leaders: Sergio Rodriguez of Real Madrid, 13 assists

Dixon tied FC Barcelona Lassa hero Justin Doellman, who shot 6 for 6 from downtown and set a Top 16 record for the most threes in a game without a miss, as the round’s leading scorers with 24 points each. Injured CSKA guard Nando De Colo missed his second straight game with an ankle injury, but remains the competition’s leading scorer with an average of 19.1 points per game. Bourousis and Vesely were not only co-MVPs, but also co-rebounding leaders with 13 each. Bourousis raised his league-best average to 9.1 rebounds per game, Vesely is third with 7.4 Rodriguez topped the weekly assists charts with 13 to raise his average to 7.1 per game, which places him third for the season. Thomas Heurtel of Anadolu Efes Istanbul leads all players with 8.0 assists per game. The title of the Round 4 steals leader goes to Brose Baskets Bamberg guard Nikos Zisis with 4. Panathinaikos Athens playmaker Nick Calathes is the Euroleague steals leader for the season with 2.1 per game in the 2015-16 campaign. Brown’s 3 blocked shots topped the weekly charts. Fenerbahce Istanbul center Ekpe Udoh and Zvezda forward Quincy Miller share the top spot for the season with averages of 1.7 blocks per game. Round 4 saw six players rack up double doubles: Luka Babic (12 points, 10 rebounds) of Cedevita, Bourousis, Kyle Hines (11 points, 11 rebounds) of CSKA and Vesely did so with points and rebounds. Rodriguez and Heurtel (12 points, 10 rebounds) did it with points and assists.