Yesterday evening, the Euroleague held their traditional Gala in the Teatro Centro Price in the heart of Madrid. This was an occasion to honor some people and also to have a drink and chat with Euroleague people from on and off the court.
First of all, this event was also the moment to declare the season MVP as well as the all-Euroleague teams. While the first decision was not a big surprise to me with the selection of Ramunas Siskauskas, the first team did have some surprises.
First of all, the point guard spot went to Terrell McIntyre ahead of Theodoros Papaloukas. Why this was surprising to me? Well, even if Theo did not play a great season, for me he was the favorite, as he has the “bigger name.” However, the well-deserved first team nomination was justice for once for the Montepaschi PG. I guess that he would have preferred to be on the 2nd team and play the final like Papaloukas does tonight.
Trajan Langdon may be also a surprise, but for me he is at his spot in the first team together with Ramunas Siskauskas and Terrence Morris on the wings. But the strangest decision in my eyes was the preferrence for Tiago Splitter at center over Nikola Pekovic. Even if Splitter dominated Pekovic in the quarterfinals, the Montenegrin who already did not get honored with the Rising Star trophy sees another trophy taken away from him via curious voting. By the way, Nikola was not present in Madrid and it was the former NBA-player Predrag Danilovic and current Partizan Belgrade board member.
The post-ceremony reception was not that interesting, as most to all players were quickly heading back to their hotels either to rest up for the game tonight or were simply not interested in staying in a lobby with drinking journalists. They surely preferred to get dinner in the Madrid’s lively center with their lovely and beloved wives.
