The high-flying forward delivered on his promise on the big stage
Eighthfinals MVP: Devin Robinson, Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
Awards
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Last week in an interview with Euroleague Basketball's Javier Gancedo, Devin Robinson of Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana promised that he and his team were "ready" and "locked in". The high-flying forward more than delivered on that statement on Wednesday as he led Cedevita to a 96-86 victory over Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul while claiming Eighthfinals MVP honors.
Robinson posted a PIR of 30, which topped all players in the first set of postseason games. He tallied 21 points by making 9 of 15 two-pointers, and all 3 of his free throws. Robinson added to that 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 fouls drawn to set a career-high in PIR.
The next-highest PIR in the eighthfinals came from Zavier Simpson of U-BT Cluj-Napoca, who amassed a 28 in his team's double-overtime 99-100 road victory over Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius. Simpson had 26 points, 5 rebounds, a career-high 14 assists, 1 steal and 3 fouls drawn. In that game, Wolves guard Anthony Cowan had 23 points on 6 of 6 free throws, 7 rebounds and 12 assists, good for a PIR of 27. Garrison Brooks also of Wolves, De'Shawn Stephens of Cluj, Kyle Allman of Besiktas and Kyle Alexander of Turk Telekom Ankara, each with PIRs of 24, completed the top individual performances in the eighthfinals.
Individual highs: Allman, Simpson set EuroCup record
There were a lot of stunning individual performances in the BKT EuroCup Eighthfinals. These are the players who led this round in the main statistical categories.
Zavier Simpson of U-BT Cluj-Napoca was the eighthfinals' top scorer with 26 points in his team's double-overtime 99-100 road victory over Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius.
Devin Robinson of Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana and Mfiondu Kabengele led all rebounders by pulling down 12 apiece in this round.
Simpson and Kyle Allman of Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul each dished 14 assists to set a new EuroCup postseason record. The previous playoff record was 12 assists shared by four players: Damir Mulaomerovic of PAOK Thessaloniki (2005), Nemanja Gordic of Cedevita Zagreb (2015), Stefan Markovic of Zenit St Petersburg (2017) and Andrew Albicy of Morabanc Andorra (2019).
Braian Angola of Turk Telekom Ankara collected 4 steals in his team's 93-73 home win over Buducnost VOLI Podgorica.
Angola's teammate, Yoan Makoundou, had 3 blocks, which were more than anyone else in the eighthfinals, and they came against his former team.
Robinson, Allman, Simpson, his Cluj teammate De'Shawn Stephens, Anthony Cowan of Wolves and his teammate Garrison Brooks each recorded a double-double in the eighthfinals.