Sasha Vezenkov is ready for Monaco's defense but can't figure out EuroLeague awards / News - Basketnews.com

Sasha Vezenkov talks about Olympiacos' Final Four challenge and his personal development that has put him on Sacramento Kings' list. He also comments on Nigel Hayes-Davis' defense against him and questions some of the All-EuroLeague First Team picks.

Credit: Stefanos Kyriazis/ZUMA Press Wire Credit Stefanos Kyriazis/ZUMA Press Wire

Sasha Vezenkov has come a long way to get where he is right now. The undisputed favorite for the EuroLeague MVP award hadn't always been his team's most valuable player, even in some of his best seasons.

3-pointers this season

37%9,7Points made:9,7Accuracy:37,1%Place in standings:5Record max:19Record min:3Most made 3FGs:Aleksandr VezenkovTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

One of the most vivid images from the mixed zone at last year's Belgrade Final Four was Vezenkov approaching the media frustrated and bursting with self-loathing a few minutes after Olympiacos Piraeus had fallen victim to Vasilije Micic's genius.

Vezenkov was the one who guarded the Serbian guard of Anadolu Efes Istanbul in the final possession of the semifinal game but to no avail.

Micic hit the game-winning shot off the dribble, leaving almost 10.000 Olympiacos fans stunned.

Addressing the Final Four outlets, Vezenkov felt the need for some public self-flagellation and took almost full responsibility. Not only for the shot Micic made against him but mostly for the shots he didn't make himself.

"I had my worst game at the worst moment," he said, obviously referring to his 2/10 field-goal attempts. "When you go down this way, it's the bitterness you're left with, not the experience."

Almost a year later, the situation has been completely reversed. The experience is still there, but the bitterness has subsided.

"Yes, there's no more bitterness," Vezenkov admitted.

"It's something you think about those days right after the game's over. In basketball, you must have a short memory, keep working and know that your efforts will be rewarded at some point. It's a game, and one team is always going to win, not all of them," the Bulgarian forward told BasketNews.

The interview took place at the Peace and Friendship Stadium during Olympiacos' media day before the EuroLeague Final Four that will be held in Kaunas from 19 to 21 May. Of course, Vezenkov and his team have every reason to believe they'rephysically and mentally ready to get it right this time.

Aleksandr Vezenkov

Team:Olympiacos PiraeusPosition:SF, PFAge:27Height:206 cmWeight:102 kgBirth place:Nicosia, Côte d'IvoireProfileNewsStatistics

"The way we've been playing all season, both in the regular season and the playoffs," the player promptly cites as the main argument.

Olympiacos finished first in the 34-game marathon for the first time in their history. Then, a narrow 3-2 in the playoff series against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul got the job done for them.

Vezenkov reflects on the hardships the Reds had to go through, which mainly came late and presented themselves throughout the five-game clash with the Turkish powerhouse.

"We had tough matches, but the players on this version of the team feel even closer to each other, and we have developed amazing chemistry. We're going to this Final Four better prepared. Whether we will succeed or not remains to be seen in those three days," he continued.

Olympiacos will take on AS Monaco on Friday's first semifinal before Real Madrid and FC Barcelona square off once again on neutral ground.

It would be rather meaningless to evoke past events and place too much emphasis on specific facts. For instance, the regular season winner has never won the trophy, but the same goes for the winner of the Spanish Clasico.

In an already record-breaking season for Olympiacos, the EuroLeague title won't be the icing but the cake itself. Paraphrasing Giannis Antetokounmpo's viral quote following the Bucks' elimination, it seems that failure isn't a word to be found in Vezenkov's vocabulary.

According to him, it will all depend on how much success this squad can have.

"So far, all the steps we have taken were successful," he stressed.

"We have already achieved two goals: finishing first in the regular season and qualifying for the Final Four. From now on, we're going for some extra success. We've been fighting for it all year long. We set short-term goals so that we could achieve them."

Coach Giorgos Bartzokas pointed out that the EuroLeague is essentially made up of three different tournaments: the regular season, the playoffs, and the Final Four.

And while no one could argue with the back-to-back EuroLeague Coach of The Year, Olympiacos are now entrusted with doing justice and living up to their unique accomplishments.

Vezenkov acknowledges that the Final Four is about which team will have its best night and which one will play harder than the rest.

"I think, no matter how much of a cliché it may sound, 50-50 chances is what all teams are entitled to. It doesn't matter what happened in the regular season because it's a single game. The home-court advantage doesn't come into play, nor is it a series of games," he maintains.

The 27-year-old forward finished the regular season and the playoffs as the league's top scorer with 655 points, an average of 17.2 per contest, and a remarkable level of effectiveness, since he scored 1.22 points per possession. His shooting splits (87.9%/64.9%/38.7%) have produced an overall true shooting percentage of 65.5%.

There has been much discussion this year about how Olympiacos' passing game and ball movement have facilitated Vezenkov's off-ball action and cuts to the basket.

There were games where he would score 20 points with one or two dribbles, as his constant movement gave him chances for easy drives or catch-and-shoot 3-pointers without hesitation or fakes.

According to SDNA's Thanos Tsimbos, Vezenkov scored 655 points off 82 dribbles across 38 games, making an astonishing 7.99 points per dribble. By comparison, Kevin Punter, who is second on the scorers' list, made 82 dribbles in six games.

It is clear that in the Final Four semifinal, Monaco's main concern will be to contain Vezenkov, a task they managed to carry out in both regular season games, where the Bulgarian scored a total of 17 points (13 points in Piraeus and only 4 in the Principality). The plan worked out perfectly for them, as they ended up winning on both occasions.

"The first match was very early in the season," Vezenkov recalled.

"We were coming off four wins. We started the game well but weren't good defensively because we didn't match their energy. The second game was a bit strange for me because I was coming off an injury. It was a contest that ended close to 60 points."

Olympiacos got a taste of their own medicine after knocking Monaco out in the 2022 playoffs. But now, something much more important is at stake.

"Monaco have everything -- offensive talent, energy, and athleticism,' Vezenkov admitted. "But now I'm more ready to play against them."

In the regular season matchups, John Brown was the one to mainly guard Vezenkov with the task of following him everywhere. The Monegasques chose to defend the pick-and-roll in a 2 vs. 2 fashion, deploying a guard and a big man in the action.

That's exactly how Fenerbahce chose to cut him off during the playoffs. Dimitris Itoudis essentially preferred to lose to any Olympiacos player other than Vezenkov. The Reds found their leading men in Isaiah Canaan (Game 1) and Kostas Sloukas (Games 3 and 5) and overcame the hump.

But for most of the series, Nigel Hayes-Davis was glued on his opponent-- sometimes, even to the extent of completely taking his eyes off the ball. He would follow Vezenkov's every move, avoid helping on defense and force him to take almost impossible shots.

However, Olympiacos' standout player isn't sure Monaco will play the same type of defense Fenerbahce played against them, and if so, to what extent.

"In any case, I know what I have to do against that type of defense," he declared.

Vezenkov provided an interesting take when asked whether he thinksBrown and Hayes-Davies are the best defenders he's faced this season. His answer was straightforward and included a certain sense of pride.

"No," he emphatically responded and explained his reasoning. "I said it the other day too. Following and chasing a player all the time doesn't make it harder for him. It makes it easier because you only have one thing on your mind."

"When your coach tells you, 'Follow him and do nothing else,' you only have one thing to do. For God's sake, I'm not suggesting Hayes-Davis isn't a good defender or a good player. I have a lot of respect for him, but I think there's been too much talk about a one-on-one type of defense where you're just following a specific player," Vezenkov said as if trying to get it off his chest.

As the Alphonso Ford Award winner, Vezenkov had his share of big shots in Olympiacos' brilliant campaign.

He singles out thebuzzer-beater in Kaunas that gave his team an important win in a close game, some big baskets against Efes in Piraeus, and the 3-pointer that tied Game 3 against Fenerbahce before Sloukas scored the game-winner.

"I remember plenty of them," he smiled.

It's normal for the team that has racked up more wins than any other this season across all competitions (domestic ones included) to help its players claim individual recognition as well.

In this vein, Vezenkov is up for another accolade, the most prestigious won, as he might win the season MVP award. However, no other Olympiacos player was named to either All-EuroLeague teams.

Thomas Walkup was Vezenkov's only teammate who could have won an award but came up short. The Texas-born guard was up for Defensive Player of the Year, but EuroLeague coaches voted for Edy Tavares instead.

Within a few hours, Kostas Sloukas and Alec Peters publicly reacted to what they perceived as a lack of recognition for Walkup's defensive impact.

Sloukas argued that Walkup deserved it more than Tavares, while Peters questioned the selection criteria, wondering whether the league's 18 coaches were just looking at numbers.

Regardless of whether one should take those reactions as an expression of team solidarity or whether there's a valid point to be made about the selection process, it would be interesting to pick the coaches' brains and grasp why they voted for either of the main candidates.

Vezenkov, for one, admitted to being unaware of "how those voting systems work and how players get selected."

"If we look at the All-EuroLeague starting five, I've got some questions," he continued.

"For instance, how come Mike James and Wade Baldwin aren't on the First Team? We're talking about a player who took his team to the Final Four and another player who made an insane second-round and playoff run."

Instead of James and Baldwin, who were reduced to the Second Team, the combined vote by fans, media, players, and coaches sent Lorenzo Brown and Dzanan Musa to the First Team, along with Vezenkov, Edy Tavares, and Mathias Lessort.

James and Baldwin reacted in their own way to the results, questioning the voters' picks. Monaco's guard joked that the Second Team is made up of guards and forwards who can shoot the ball and suggested they play five-out. Baldwin cited his stats and raking among EuroLeague guards to make his point.

When this interview with Sasha Vezenkov took place, the Second Team selections hadn't been announced yet.

It would be interesting to see, for instance, how Sloukas -- or any of his teammates -- would react to him being left out of this year's choices, as opposed to last season when he was a First Team selection.

In mid-February, the EuroLeague released a seven-player shortlist of potential MVP candidates, where Sloukas' name was mentioned, alongside Johnathan Motley and Vasilije Micic, who also ended up not making the cut.

But Fenerbahce didn't qualify for the Final Four, and Efes' campaign ended in the regular season, while Sloukas was Olympiacos' ultimate go-to guy in the playoffs.

Even though the EuroLeague has clarified that the shortlists are essentially content for people to get a first look at possible candidates, give their opinion, and debate whether certain players deservedly made the shortlist, it seems that even the main protagonists can't figure out how the process works.

"I don't know how people vote," Vezenkov went on to say.

"I'm not saying other guys don't deserve it. But when five players have to be selected, there must be some criteria."

In the case of the Defensive Player of the Year, Vezenkov notes that both Tavares and Walkup were terrific.

"Walkup has to do other things compared to Tavares, who everyone has in mind as this 2.20-meter giant casting his shadow over everything and altering all shooting and passing angles."

According to Bulgarian international, everything goes as long as there's an explanation for it.

"There is no right and wrong. Only one person gets the award. But Thomas Walkup deserved it just as much as Edy Tavares," he underlined.

If one were to consider numbers while observing Vezenkov's progress at Olympiacos since 2018, it wouldn't be hard to notice that he's constantly showing improvement.

Scoring is probably the most apparent aspect of that transformation because he's also been able to increase his numbers in assists and rebounds, which requires a better understanding of space, feeling of the game, and communication with his teammates.

That improvement is also intertwined with the team's progress, as shown by Olympiacos' constant rise from 2020 onwards.

The Reds have gone all the way from being a struggling team (2019-20) to becoming a playoff contender (2020-21) and, from that point on, a solid Final Four candidate (2021-23).

Leaving the team aspect aside, Vezenkov places a great deal of emphasis on his individual preparation from one season to the next and having a different goal in mind each time.

"I am preparing with my development coaches, Michalis Kalavros from Olympiacos, and my personal coach in Bulgaria," he said.

"I put emphasis on the fitness part, but also on basketball. We watch videos and how the sport changes every year. I know it's getting more athletic, it's harder to move and find open spaces. The better you play, the better they guard you.

Every summer, my goal is to get better. Whether you succeed is the result of many factors, but the progress of the team and the fact that we're in the Final Four for the second year in a row play an important role," he commented.

Vezenkov had always been a gifted scorer, at least ever since he wore the Aris jersey and won the Greek League top scorer award in 2015.

But over the past few seasons, he seems to be going for something more. He's come to be considered by many scouts as NBA material, something that wasn't at all apparent in his early years.

Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown recently said that the player his team is coveting ahead of next season could play anywhere if he really set out to do so.

To get to the point of being looked at as having the skillset that NBA teams (like Sacramento) are looking for extends far beyond Vezenkov's impressive stat line.

"The NBA is completely different from Europe," he noted.

"There's much more space there than here. Everyone has a different perception of how a player can be effective in Europe or the NBA. To get this far, I needed work, perception, opportunities from my coaches, but also luck."

How does luck come into play? Vezenkov thinksfortune favors the bold and those who work.

"A match, a shot, or a situation can change your fate. So, luck means being prepared to seize the opportunity."

Over the coming days and weeks, Vezenkov will definitely get a lot of opportunities to decide his team's destiny and also his own future, on and off the court.

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