Ricky Hickman named Euroleague Top 16 Week 3 MVP

Ricky Hickman

Ricky Hickman came through when needed most on Thursday night to lead Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv to its first win of the Top 16 and in doing so he also claimed Top 16, Game 3 bwin MVP honors. Hickman scored 17 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter as Maccabi exploded past Fenerbahce Ulker 91-73 at Nokia Arena. He missed only 4 shots, went 9 for 9 from the free throw stripe, added 5 rebounds and 5 assists, committed just 1 turnover and drew 9 fouls in amassing a performance index rating of 34, which was the best among all players on winning teams during the week’s eight games. The top overall performance came from Brose Baskets Bamberg forward Bostjan Nachbar, who recorded a career-high and set a team Euroleague record with 35 points in a 90-83 loss at CSKA Moscow. Nachbar made 6 of 7 three-pointers as part of a 36 index. One of the men that matched up with Nachbar, CSKA forward Viktor Khryapa, is next on the list after he produced 19 points, 14 rebounds and 4 steals en route to an index rating of 32. Rounding out the list of the week’s elite are Shawn James from Maccabi and Tomas Ress of Montepaschi Siena. James recorded 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting for a 31 index. Ress tallied 16 points, 10 boards and 4 blocks for a 28 index.

Individual highs: Bostjan Nachbar sets Bamberg record with 35 points

Nachbar’s great scoring night of 35 points was the best of the week and vaulted him to second in the scoring race with 17.9 points per game. Bobby Brown of Montepaschi remains the league leader with 20.9 points per game. The week’s best rebounding numbers belonged to Khryapa with 14. He is the leader among all Top 16 players with 7.2 per game. Another CSKA player, former MVP Milos Teodosic, was the week’s top assist man with 9, which moved him to fifth for the season with 4.9 assists per game. That category is now led by another former MVP, Dimitris Diamantidis of Panathianikos, with 5.9 per game. Khryapa and Bamberg’s Teddy Gipson each had 4 steals in their game, which led the weekly charts. Hickman, with 2 steals per game, is the full season leader. Three players – Pete Mickeal of Barcelona, Ress and Marcus Slaughter of Real Madrid – each rejected 4 shots to lead all players in Top 16, Game 3. Ress rose to fifth place for the season with 1.4 blocks per game. The league leader is Stephane Lasme of Panathinaikos with an even 2 blocks per game. Five players added double-doubles to their resumes this week: Khryapa, Ress, Deon Thompson (16 points, 10 rebounds) of Alba Berlin, Ante Tomic (15 points, 12 rebounds) of Barcelona and Maciej Lampe (12 points, 10 boards) from Caja Laboral Vitoria.

2 Comments

  1. Paul Hooks on January 15, 2013 at 22:55

    Ricky plays great lately ( last two seasons ) !!! Congrats.

  2. Tin on January 14, 2013 at 19:24

    Hickman is playing well!

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