February 09, 2012
MVP for January: Lazaros Papadopoulos, Dynamo M.
Lazaros Papadopoulos, Dynamo Moscow - January MVP The five regular season games that filled the first month of 2007 changed a lot of fortunes in the Euroleague, but no team seized the opportunity of a new year quite like Dynamo Moscow, which went 5-0 during January with three road victories. There is no doubt that one major pillar of Dynamo's success has been its man the middle, Lazaros Papadopoulos, Euroleague Basketball's choice as MVP for January. Papadopoulos, 26, had missed five of nine regular season games before Dynamo entered 2007 as close to last place in Group A as it was to first place. A month and five victories later, Dynamo finished with the best second-place record in the first round, earning the right to head a Top 16 group. Papadopoulos put his stamp all over Dynamo's perfect month. By the end of January, he was leading Dynamo in points, rebounds, steals, blocks and index rating. Had it not been for those six games he missed, he would have ranked second among all Euroleague players on the performance index. One stat says it all about Papadopoulos, however: without him, Dynamo's record is 2-3; with him, the team is 8-1. Of course, as a former Euroleague and ULEB Cup champ - one of just two players to win both titles - not to mention a European gold and World Championships silver medallist with Greece, Papadopoulos is accustomed to success. And now, for helping to lift a Euroleague newcomer to the head of the class in the Top 16, Papadopoulos can add the January MVP award to his list of accolades.

Euroleague Basketball's MVP of the Month honor is in its third season. Although statistics and performance 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 January was based on the five regular season games played by all teams during the month that ended with the last day of the regular season on February 1.

Lazaros Papadopoulos, Dynamo Moscow - January MVP Dynamo opened the new year and Papadopoulos returned to the starting lineup in Bologna, Italy against Climamio. The visitors sent a message of how they can play with their big man back by rolling up an 80-101 victory in which Papadopoulos scored 14 points, including 5 in a 3-12 run that broke open a one-point game late in the third quarter. He added 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists. Next, at home against Prokom, Dynamo again won by 21 points, 95-74 as Papadopoulos scored 10 points to go with 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Back on the road at Le Mans the next week, Papadopoulos took over with 27 points on 11-for-17 two-point shooting and 8 rebounds. His 5 points in the final minute included the game-winning free throw as Dynamo escaped with a 69-70 victory. Showdown’s with two direct rivals would finish Dynamo’s magic month. First, Dynamo downed the team it was chasing, Olympiacos, by 84-69 with a strong support performance of 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals from Papadopoulos. That left a trip to play Efes Pilsen with second-place riding on a Dynamo victory. And win the visitors did, by 72-76 in a thriller as Papadopoulos put up 14 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

Not so much for his scoring as for providing whatever his teem needed at a given time, Papadopoulos proved throughout January that his presence turns Dynamo from a good team into an elite challenger. His trophy for the January MVP award will be presented at a future Dynamo home game.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Euroleague.net
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