Last summer, Maccabi Tel Aviv had to make a difficult decision, with the one who became the ex-yellow player, Keenan Evans, at the center of it. The club Migal Alon decided to give up the American guard, who eventually moved to Jagiris and now gets a chance to lead the Lithuanian team. In fact, Evans isn’t just leading his new team to a great season, he’s doing so with a remarkable breakout season.
In the video player: Evans’ performance against Bayern Munich
The yellow ex became a landlord like he has not seen for years in Zalgiris, this when he records particularly impressive averages with 16.7 points (seventh place in the Euroleague), 3.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists on the way to an average of 18 points per game, which gives him the eighth place in the Euroleague . Evans enjoys imaginary percentages of 56.2% for 2 points and no less than 45.6% for 3. For comparison, last year at Maccabi Tel Aviv he registered in these two categories with 51.5% and 32.9% respectively.
In the last round, Evans recorded his record game in the EuroLeague and perhaps in his entire career, as a heat and with 32 points (11 of 15 from the field), 4 assists and 4 rebounds which gave him no less than 39 index points and the MVP title of the cycle. In fact, only Marcus Howard, who scored 33 points against Partizan Belgrade and Maccabi Tel Aviv star Lorenzo Brown, with his 36 points against Bayern Munich, scored more than Evans in a single game in the Euroleague this season.
Even more impressive is the fact that Evans made history with Zalgiris, when with his 21 points in the first half against Bayern, he became the Lithuanian player with the most points after two quarters in the EuroLeague, at least since data collection began in 2007. At the same time, his 32 points in the entire game was the fourth most The best of a Jagiris player in the history of the EuroLeague, this is when only Justin Dentamon (36), Tanoka Bird (35) and Saulius Stumbargas (33) are ahead of him.
Even if you look at the advanced statistics, Evans is one of the leading players in the Euroleague. According to the “global rating”, a statistical tool developed by the American website ‘Hops Hype’ and giving a score that combines individual statistics with team success, Evans is the fifth best player in the organization. The American received a score of 19.24, with only Sasha Wezenkov (25.84), Mike James (21.63), Vasilia Micic (21.20) and Will Clyburn (20.44) ahead of him.
“Keenan Evans has been reborn since he left Maccabi Tel Aviv”, enthused in Lithuania, while his teammate, Thomas Dimsa, also praised: “As everyone can see, he is simply impressive. There is no doubt that he is our most important player – the ball in his hands. Every Our game revolves around him, it just depends on whether he hits his shots. We know he can explode, but he proves time after time that he is a coach. We know he can be even better, it’s really not the end of the road for him.”
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