FCBARCELONA.CAT

06.04.2007 12:58

Collector of awards

Juan Carlos Navarro is a legend in the making. The Winterthur FC Barcelona guard was named MVP of the week in the Euroleague play-offs after scoring 25 points in 18 minutes against Unicaja.

In game two of the series against Malaga, Juan Carlos Navarro posted yet another exemplary performance. ‘La Bomba’ scored a perfect 4/4 in free throws and field goals (3 out of 3), and managed an exceptional 83 per cent in three pointers (5 out of 6). In the two games played against Malaga last week, the guard averaged 20 points, 1.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and received an average of 7 fouls and an evaluation score of 23.

Awards galore

Last season, the player from Sant Feliu de Llobregat was named MVP of the ACB regular season, including two MVP of the week awards, won the World Championship with Spain in Japan and was named in the Euroleague’s Ideal X.

This season, things got off to another good start when he starred in Barcelona’s historic victory against the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. The only European team to have ever beaten NBA opposition before that had been Maccabi Tel Aviv, and Navarro contributed to the win against Allen Iverson and company with no fewer than 18 points.

Only Epi, Jiménez and Solozábal ever played more matches for Barcelona than Navarro, and he still has a long career ahead of him. The Catalan has been named Spanish player of the week twice this season, first in game six when he was evaluated at 31 for his 18-point performance against Akasvayu, and five games later it was Caja San Fernando who suffered at the expense of ‘La Bomba', who registered 22 points and an evaluation of 23.

Consolidated in Europe

In Europe’s premier club competition, Navarro leads in evaluations with an average of 23 points. In pure point scoring terms, he is second only to Igor Rakocevic, who leads the category with an average of 20.5 points a game. It would appear extremely likely that Navarro will once again be named in the Euroleague’s Ideal X, and the way things are going, he may well end up as MVP of the entire tournament.

The Winterthur Barça guard was the top scorer over the regular season in Europe, averaging 18 points, and in the Top 16 he continued among the leaders with an average 14.3 points placing him seventh. And when combining scored from all phases of the Euroleague, he is the outright leader with 17.4 points a game.

Top scores in Europe

Highest evaluation 35 ZALGIRIS KAUNAS vs. FC BARCELONA 11/9/2006
Points 32 ZALGIRIS KAUNAS vs. FC BARCELONA 2/23/2006
Offensive rebounds 3 BENETTON BASKET TREVISO vs. FC BARCELONA 2/7/2001
Defebnsive rebounds 5 FC BARCELONA vs. LONDON TOWERS 1/11/2001
Total rebounds 6 FC BARCELONA vs. LONDON TOWERS 1/11/2001
Assusts 9 PANATHINAIKOS vs. FC BARCELONA 2/21/2007
Steals 4 ZALGIRIS KAUNAS vs. FC BARCELONA 2/23/2006
Blocks 1 FC BARCELONA vs. PARTIZAN BC 2/11/2004
Minutes 38 FC BARCELONA vs. ZALGIRIS KAUNAS 3/16/2006