He became known as something special almost as soon as he landed in Europe, and nearly a decade later, nothing has changed for a classic pro who is Euroleague Basketball's MVP for February, point guard Tyus Edney of Olympiacos. With Edney as their general each step of the way, the Reds started February in survival mode and ended it as a Top 16 group co-leader. In a must-win game to start the month, he led all scorers in a blowout home win over dangerous Cibona. Then, he orchestrated his team's confidence-boosting first road victory by eliminating a shocked Armani Jeans Milano just after its back-to-back wins over the last two Euroleague champions. Finally, Olympiacos started the Top 16 by ending Unicaja's 12-game win streak with Edney as team-high scorer, assist man and rebounder. Over the whole undefeated month, he averaged 19.6 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds while playing 35 minutes per game. Such big-game heroics recalled his title-winning rookie season in Europe, with Zalgiris in 1999 under current Olympiacos coach Jonas Kazlauskas, and this time made Tyus Edney the hands-down choice as Euroleague Basketball's MVP for February.
Euroleague Basketball's MVP of the Month honor is in its second season. Although statistics and index ratings are taken into consideration for the award, they alone do not determine who is honored. The winner is named by Euroleague Basketball based on his and his team's performance during the previous month. The award for February was based on the last two regular season games and the first of the next round, the Top 16.
Olympiacos was in a do-or-die situation when Cibona came to Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus for the next-to-last regular season game. But the Reds never had a worry as Edney dominated the proceedings, making 12 of 12 free throws among his 24 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds in a blowout 99-70 victory. Next, Olympiacos went to Milan not needing to win while Armani Jeans was looking to qualify for the Top 16 after having beaten Maccabi Elite and Winterthur FCB in succession. Nonetheless, Edney marched the visitors to a comeback 75-84 victory with 17 points, 9 assists and 4 rebounds, helping Olympiacos walk tall into the next round with its first road win all season. The Top 16 started back in Piraeus with the best team of the regular season, Unicaja, in town for a visit. By the time the Reds were finished, Unicaja's 12-game win streak was over following the home team's rally to an 87-84 decision. This time, Edney had team-highs of 18 points and 7 assists, not to mention 7 rebounds, more than any player on Unicaja. In that game, the 1.78-meter point guard even punctuated an incredible month with his first blocked shot in a couple of seasons.
From near-elimination at the beginning of the month to a strong Top 16 start, Olympiacos made a turnaround in February that might not have been possible without a big stamp from Tyus Edney, the team's undisputed leader. Edney will receive the new trophy awarded to the Euroleague's monthly MVP at an upcoming Olympiacos home game.