ABA League reveals its Ideal Starting Five, Best Defensive Player / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: ABA League Credit ABA League

Head coaches of ABA League teams, journalists and the fans have selected the league's 2021-22 Ideal Starting Five, composed by Kevin Punter, Jaka Blazic, Nikola Kalinic, Zach LeDay and Kenan Kamenjas.

2-pointers this season

53%19,9Points made:19,9Accuracy:52,8%Place in standings:6Record max:28Record min:13Most made 2FGs:Nikola KalinicTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Crvena Zvezda forward Nikola Kalinic is the player that received the highest percentage of combined votes of the head coaches, journalists and fans in the voting for the Ideal Starting Five of the season. He won the total of 13.9% votes and is followed by Jaka Blazic (12.1%), Kevin Punter (10.7%), Zach LeDay (9.1%) and Kenan Kamenjas (7.4%).

Justin Cobbs (7.3%), Bryce Jones (6.9%), Mathias Lessort (2.7%), Dalibor Ilic (2.6%) and Willie Reed (1.9%) are the ones that follow them.

In the voting of both the ABA League teams' head coaches and journalists, Nikola Kalinic received the highest number of votes ahead of Jaka Blazic in both cases, while in the voting of the fans, Kevin Punter finished atop of the voting and his teammate of Partizan Zach LeDay finished second.

Moreover, Zvezda's swingman Branko Lazic has been voted the Best Defensive Player of the ABA League for the second time in a row.

Lazic won the total of 17.8% of the combined votes. He has been followed by his teammate Austin Hollins (16.9%) and Partizan player Aleksa Avramovic (15.3%).

Zvezda's captain has once more taken his team to the first place in the regular season standings, with a 24-2 record. While doing so, he has been averaging 7.1 points, 1.9 rebounds, and a PIR of 6.5 per game.

In the traditional ABA League voting for the Ideal Starting Five of the AdmiralBet ABA League season and the individual honors, the final results of the voting combine the votes of the head coaches of ABA League teams (50% of the total voting results), the votes of basketball journalists from the ABA League countries (30% of the total voting results) and the votes of fans (20% of the total voting results).

Jaka Blazic

Team:Cedevita Olimpija LjubljanaPosition:SGAge:31Height:196 cmWeight:96 kgBirth place:SloveniaProfileNewsStatistics

Kevin Punter (Partizan NIS) – The black and white sharp-shooter has joined the ranks of Partizan this season and has quickly demonstrated his true qualities, as he led his squad to the second place in the Regular Season, averaging 11.5 points, 3.1 assists, 2.6 rebounds and a valuation of 11.1, while spending 24.2 minutes per game on court on average.

Jaka Blazic (Cedevita Olimpija) – Cedevita Olimpija captain for the third season in a row, has been an undisputed leader of the Ljubljana squad, as he led them to the ABA League Playoffs for the first time since the merger of Petrol Olimpija and Cedevita Zagreb. He has been averaging 14.6 points, 5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and a valuation of 16 in the Regular Season, while leading the Dragons towards the fourth place in the standings.

Nikola Kalinic (Crvena zvezda mts) – Nikola Kalinic has joined the ranks of Crvena Zvezda ahead of this ABA League season and his first season in the red and white jersey has been a success already. He has been averaging 11.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and a valuation of 13. However, his greatest success for the Regular Season has not been his individual impact, but rather his contribution to the team’s success, as he has pushed Crvena Zvezda mts to the first place in the Regular Season.

Zach LeDay (Partizan NIS) – Partizan NIS has been strong in the paint all season long and for sure one of the main reasons is the big man Zach LeDay, who has been shining ever since he has joined the ranks of the Steamroller, averaging 11.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and a valuation of 17 in 26.7 minutes spent on court per game on average, while leading the Belgrade powerhouse to the second place in the Regular Season.

Kenan Kamenjas (SC Derby) – Kenan Kamenjas is a newcomer on this level of the regional competition, as he has advanced from the NLB ABA League 2 to the ABA League, while joining SC Derby from the ranks of Spars. His first ABA League season has been a breakthrough one, as he has been shining for the Podgorica squad with an average of 14.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.1 steal and a valuation of 21.

Ideal Starting five awards so far in the ABA League

2013-14 – DeMarcus Nelson (Crvena zvezda mts), Bogdan Bogdanovic (Partizan NIS), Dario Saric (Cibona), Joffrey Lauvergne (Partizan NIS), Boban Marjanovic (Crvena zvezda mts)

2014-15 – Malcolm Armstead (Krka), Suad Sehovic (Buducnost VOLI), Aleksandar Pavlovic (Partizan NIS), Milan Macvan (Partizan NIS), Boban Marjanovic (Crvena zvezda mts)

2015-16 – Jacob Pullen (Cedevita), Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (Mega Leks), Tadija Dragicevic (Buduncost VOLI), Miro Bilan (Cedevita), Maik Zirbes (Crvena Zvezda mts)

2016-17 – Stefan Jovic (Crvena zvezda mts), Charles Jenkins (Crvena Zvezda mts), Marko Simonovic (Crvena zvezda mts), Novica Velickovic (Partizan NIS), Miro Bilan (Cedevita)

2017-18 – Taylor Rochestie (Crvena zvezda mts), Nemanja Gordic (Buducnost VOLI), Dzanan Musa (Cedevita), Novica Velickovic (Partizan NIS), Uros Lukovic (Mornar)

2018-19 – Joe Ragland (Crvena zvezda mts), Jacob Pullen (Cedevita), Stratos Perperoglou (Crvena Zvezda mts), Jock Landale (Partizan NIS), Goga Bitadze (Budućnost VOLI)

2020-21 – Jordan Loyd (Crvena Zvezda mts), Nikola Ivanović (Buducnost VOLI), Jaka Blazic (Cedevita Olimpija), Marko Simonović (Mega Soccerbet), Filip Petrusev (Mega Soccerbet)

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