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EuroLeague 13/02/2009, 19.43

Top 16 Week 3 MVP: Ersan Ilyasova, Regal FC Barcelona

Serata indimenticabile per Ilyasova e Turkcan

EuroLeague

In a week full of great individual performances, one of the Euroleague's fastest-rising stars sparked his team to an important victory to become MVP of Top 16 Week 3. Barcelona power forward Ersan Ilyasova put on a career-best show for the home fans while leading his team back from a halftime deficit to defeat Alba Berlin 85-69 on Thursday and take exclusive hold on second place in Group F. Ilyasova connected on his first 5 three-pointers of the night and made 6 of 7 altogether from downtown to finish with 30 points, 9 better than his previous career high. He also led Barcelona with 11 rebounds while collecting 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks in just 25 minutes for a performance index rating of 39, another career best. Ilyasova's 2 three-pointers among 8 points in a 21-2 run to start the second half turned the game in Barcelona's favor for good. In his second full Euroleague season, the 21-year-old Ilyasova is making a mark on the competition, having also been named this season's first MVP of the month, in October. Another power forward, Mirsad Turkcan of Fenerbahce Ulker, had the week's second-best individual effort with an index rating of 37. Turkcan hit 8 of his 13 field-goal attempts and recorded a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds to go with 2 blocks, leading Fenerbahce to an impressive 55-65 road victory over Cibona in Zagreb. Tau Ceramica captain Sergi Vidal came off the bench to record the third best performance of the week with an index rating of 33. Like Ilyasova, he landed an impressive 6 of his 7 three-point shots to finish with a game-high 26 points, while leading a 16-4 surge that would turn an even game against Armani Jeans Milano into a one-sided affair in Tau's favor. Nikola Vujcic of Olympiacos and Louis Bullock of Real Madrid both have an index rating of 30 to complete the list of the best performers in Top 16 Week 3. Vujcic had his best game of the season, pacing the Reds to a blowout-win over Asseco Prokom in Poland by making 9 of his 11 field-goal attempts to score a season-high 21 points to go with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steaks and a block. Bullock came through with 24 points, based on 3-for-3 two-point, 4-for-7 three-point and 6-for-6 free-throw shooting. He also dished 3 assists and drew 8 fouls, playing a key role in Madrid's home victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Individual highs: Ersan Ilyasova, Regal FC Barcelona, 30 points

Ilyasova's 30 points made him the best scorer of Week 3, while Turkcan claims the overall Top 16 scoring lead with 22.5 points per game. Having grabbed a week-high 13 rebounds, Turkcan is also the best Top 16 rebounder with 10 per game. Pablo Prigioni of Tau Ceramica led everyone in assists with 7 and had a perfect control over Tau's dominating offence against Milano. Theodoros Papaloukas of Olympiacos is first among the Top 16 assist leaders with 5.3 per game. Six players were tied for the week-high in steals with 4 each: Ramunas Siskauskas of CSKA Moscow, Novica Velickovic of Partizan, Drew Nicholas of Panathinaikos, Ksistof Lavrinovic of Montepaschi Siena, Roberto Gabini of Lottomatica Roma and David Logan of Asecco Prokom. Logan leads the Top 16 steals list at 3.7 steals per game. Stephane Lasme of Partizan and Fran Vasquez of Regal FC Barcelona blocked 4 shots each to top that statistical category in Week 3. Vasquez and D'or Fischer of Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv are tied for the first place among all Top 16 blockers at 3 per game. The week's two best performers, Ilyasova and Turkcan, were also the only two to register double-doubles.

E. Carchia

E. Carchia

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