EuroLeague coach of the year race: three front-runners with three special stories / News - Basketnews.com

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With EuroLeague playoffs just around the corner, MVP conversations are getting hotter. However, coach of the year debate might be even tighter.

Points this season

48%80,4Points made:80,4Accuracy:48,1%Place in standings:6Record max:101Record min:67Best scorer:Aleksandr VezenkovTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

The EuroLeague awards the coach of the year after the season. The playoffs and the outcome of the Final 4 might completely change the direction of this race.

But so far, three primary candidates to win the trophy have emerged.

Georgios Bartzokas

Georgios Bartzokas couldn't rebuild Olympiacos Piraeus any better in the post-Spanoulis era.

Olympiacos are having the most successful EuroLeague season in the new format era since 2016, if we include wins against Russian teams (22) or measure the regular season performance by a winning percentage (67.9%).

After three seasons, Olympiacos finally are back in the playoffs, and that starts with coach Bartzokas.

Although some may judge him on what they see on the sidelines, Bartzokas is a very calm and positive guy on a daily basis. Players like his consistency on and off the court.

A 56-year-old Greek is not known for 'killing' his players in practices or film sessions. He likes to keep things short and to the point.

The same qualities fit his game plan. Bartzokas has clear ideas on the floor that don't confuse his players.

That's how he adjusted to a long ten-month season, trying to keep his team mentally fresh. For example, you can argue about his rotations, but the way he uses his players has brought success so far.

His players have time to catch the rhythm in long stretches. They're not afraid to end up on the bench again after one mistake.Finally, Olympiacos finished the regular season as one of the least injury-affected EuroLeague teams.

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The fact that Greeks are 4th by offensive rating and 3rd by defensive rating (per BBallytics) comes as no surprise.

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Kostas Sloukas is the brain and soul of this team. He's very well accompanied by one of the deadliest scorers Tyler Dorsey, one of the best perimeter defenders Thomas Walkup and solid backup Giannoulis Larentzakis.

They have superefficient Sasha Vezenkov at forward, experienced Kostas Papanikolaou, and Georgios Printezis, who bring character, a lot of size and versatility with Shaq McKissic, Livio Jean-Charles, and Hassan Martin as well.

Also, 2.18 m center Moustapha Fall fits this group very well, changing shots under the rim, moving well on the switch, kicking the ball out to the perimeter, and finishing in the paint.

Olympiacos are arguably one of the most attractive teams to watch this year.

Sasa Obradovic

They used to talk about the greatness of another Obradovic. But this time, Sasa Obradovic deserved to be in the EuroLeague spotlight.

At the beginning of December, some AS Monaco players were on suitcases. They considered leaving Monaco before the EuroLeague transfer deadline because their season was going off the rails.

AS Monaco's front office took a painful decision to fire their long-time coach Zvezdan Mitrovic who won the EuroCup last season and was always in a great relationship with the ownership. But that was a much-needed change for a team that couldn't click both on and off the court.

The Monegasque club was in the mix between 13th and 16th seeds. They were 5-9 (35.7%), dysfunctional on the court, and broken off the court.

But when Sasa came in, he solved problems that seemed unsolvable.

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Under a 53-year-old Serbian coach, Monaco won 14 of 19 EuroLeague games (73.7%). On their way to the playoffs, Monaco won 7 of 8, including challenging games against AX Armani Exchange, Anadolu Efes, and Olympiacos. Out of these five losses, only a single one appeared in double digits.

Obradovic readjusted roles very clearly and used the strengths of this roster.

Since Obradovic took over AS Monaco, his team has produced the best offensive rating in the EuroLeague.

He changed the stagnant offense and found a good balance between the perimeter and the paint. Under Obradovic, Monaco were 2nd in 3P% (40.2%) and third in 2P% (57.4%).

Before Obradovic's acquisition, Mike James averaged 13.2 points and 4.4 assists on 44% 2-point and 27.2% 3-point shooting. Since the coaching change, James' numbers climbed to 17.6 points (53.8% 2-point and 37.7% 3-point shooting) and 6.3 assists per game.

Donatas Motiejunas improved from 8 points and 3.8 rebounds to 12.2 points and 5.3 rebounds on 66.7% 2-point shooting.

Alpha Diallo emerged as one of the most intriguing rookies in the EuroLeague with 10.9 points, 5.5 rebounds (2.2 ORP), 2.4 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, with Obradovic at the helm.

Obradovic was known as a very demanding and disciplined coach before. There were many doubts if his personality fits this locker room. But he has changed and adapted better than anybody expected.

He's more flexible with his discipline, controls his emotions better, and finds a better way to connect with his players. For example, he's not hesitating to pass the ball to his player during morning shoot-around on game days, and AS Monaco stars respect that.

He still has the difficult task of keeping everybody on the same page. But AS Monaco already overachieved by making the playoffs and securing the spot in the EuroLeague for the following year.

If Sasa Obradovic fails to win the coach of the year award, he should get an alternative, a turnaround of the season, prize.

Sarunas Jasikevicius

Let's show some respect for perfection.

Barcelona won the EuroLeague regular season for the second year in a row. If we count the results against the Russian teams, the Sarunas Jasikevicius team managed to match the previous season's record of 24 wins.

But this time, it was more complicated than it looked.

Due to injury, Saras didn't have his best scorer Cory Higgins available for two-thirds of the season. His main point guard Nick Calathes missed 10 EuroLeague games. So basically, Saras was left without two key backcourt star players.

However, Barcelona still managed to stay on the top. Barcelona didn't lose more than two games in a row this season, and Saras found new stars.

Nicolas Laprovittola made Real Madrid's front office regret their summer decision to swap him with a former Barcelona point guard Thomas Heurtel.

Laprovittola went off for a EuroLeague career-high 8.9 points per game, becoming the third-best active scorer for the Barcelona team this season. He made 42.9% of his threes and dished 3.4 assists per game.

On top of that, Laprovittola has the third-best+/- in Barcelona. Per BBallytics, he makes the biggest positive defensive impact on the Barcelona roster. Barca's defense improves by 7.3 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor.

A 21-year-old point guard Rokas Jokubaitis gave a solid energy boost, too. With Calathes sidelined, Jokubaitis averaged 9.4 points and 4 assists. Surprisingly, he leads the EuroLeague in a 3-point shooting percentage (56.8%).

Barcelona is one of the complete teams in the tournament, with the 3rd best offensive rating and 4th best defensive rating, per BBallytics.

A 46-year-old Saras puts his players in the best position to score. Barca leads the EuroLeague in 3-point shooting (41.2%), true shooting percentage (61.3%), and ranks fourth in 2-point accuracy (54.9%). Jasikevicius players share the ball at the league-best rate (18.6 APG).

On the other end, Barcelona makes others' life difficult. Barca limit their opponents to 3rd worst 3-point (33.8%) and 2nd worst 2-point accuracy (50%). They also cut the ball movement, limiting the opposition to the lowest assist rate in the league (13.9 APG).

Saras is very demanding, but at the same time, he is fair to everyone. Nikola Mirotic or Sergi Martinez, everybody is aware that if they fail to follow the rules, they will hear about it from the sidelines.

He might be tough, but that's his winning formula, and it put Barcelona on a winning track.

Honorable mention

Andrea Trinchieri, forovercoming enormous issues that FC Bayern Munich faced this year and making the playoffs for a second consecutive season.

Ettore Messina, for orchestrating the AX Armani Exchange to the best season (by winning percentage) since the EuroLeague regular-season format change.

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