Gold 21/22: MIP Candidates

The high mobility in the LEB Oro squads, which are largely renewed every year, means that more than half (55%) of the players who have participated in this 21/22 season did not do so in the previous year . rookies NCAA, foreign bets, ex-ACB and players who make the jump from Silver populate the tracks where, of course, there is also room for a hundred or so players who were in Gold last year and who can choose to be the Most Improved Player of the season, or what is the same: the most improved player. With the regular league already passing through its equator, we can now make a list of the main candidates, which are not definitive. We will use the percentage of growth that each player has had in their assessment as a compass, but that is not the only criterion, as there are subjective or collective factors that cannot be ignored.

TOP7

We have now reached our ranking, in descending order in which all the players have changed teams compared to the previous season, with the striking fact that four of them were teammates at Leyma Coruña.

statistical data corresponding to the first round

one
DUKE DUKAN
Caceres World Heritage Site

The IPM from the first round of the LEB Oro is Dukan, another player who has been wonderfully seated by the Cáceres environment, who arrived from TAU Castelló. Now it is a key piece (26 my), and responds to confidence with solid inside work that he continues to add accuracy from the perimeter (9.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 8.9 PIR, 130% better than last year), waiting for it to smooth out a certain irregularity.

two
ROMARIC BELEMENE
Caceres World Heritage Site

The first of the former Coruña of this TOP7 also ended up in Cáceres, which enjoys the reunion of the LEB Oro with the best Belemene, the one from Oviedo three seasons ago. Under the orders of Roberto Blanco, Belemene takes advantage of his physique to be a much more interior player in 29 minutes on the track (50% more than with Sergio García), with averages of 7.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 8.7 PIR (125% more).

3
AITOR ZUBIZARRETA
Acunsa Gipuzkoa

The season for Lolo Encinas’ men is not being optimal, but their backcourt provides good news, such as the progress of a player who does not stop working with or without the ball. The competition in the position allows you advance only 10% your minutes on track (21 mi) compared to last year in Palencia, but its production does (9.2 points and 10.3 evaluation, 85% more) with figures that show what is also seen on the track.

4
ABDOU THIAM
Juaristi ISB

Although physical problems still prevent him from developing his full potential, the transfer of Leyma Coruña to Juaristi ISB has placed him in the right ecosystem to make the leap that is expected of him. He came from having a testimonial presence due to injuries and now he is an internal reference with almost 20 minutes on court in which his numbers go up to 6.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and a PIR of 7.2.

5
ALEX MAZAIRA
Melilla Sport Capital WBC

After the hard blow received with the relegation of the COB last season, the Galician put himself under the orders of Arturo Álvarez to be a more complete player, who expands horizons beyond 6.75, to average 9.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and a PIR of 8.3 (up 65%) in the same 19 minutes he had in Ourense.

6
OSVALDAS MATULIONIS
HLA Alicante

The Lithuanian flew from Riazor to Pedro Ferrándiz and is having one of his best seasons in a category in which he has already been a benchmark. A great defender, he is essential for Gonzalo (30 my) and average 10.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 11.1 efficiency, which practically equals the increase of Jakštas, who closes the TOP7, but without having to increase his minutes on the track so much.

7
ROLANDAS JAKSTAS
HLA Alicante

He completed the same journey as his compatriot to become important again and leave behind a supporting role in a season in which he had a diminishing return. His decision has been a clear success, with a 40% more track presence (21 mi), averaging 8.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and a PIR of 10.7 (70% more), with the feeling that in the second lap he can still continue his progression.

special mentions

XAVI REY, OLLE LUNDQVIST AND HARALD FREY

The low number of games played by the Catalan center and the Swedish outsider excludes them from our TOP, while the Norwegian point guard has already dropped out of the competition, heading to Germany. However, we are talking about the three players who show the greatest progression this season compared to the previous one.

Xavi King rejoins the league with the season already started. In 2021 he did it at the last minute (end of February) to a Destino Palencia that did not finish carburizing and in which he was also unable to show the role that he is having this year in Levitec Huesca The Magic, where in just 4 games he tripled his averages from the previous year: 12.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and a PIR of 18.8, taking advantage of the 28 minutes per game, which doubles his presence on the track with the purple ones.

The situation of Olle Lundqvist is not very different. The injuries tortured him during 20/21 in which he could barely play 7 games, with a testimonial presence. Physical problems seem to be a thing of the past, since he has already been fully incorporated into the rotation of Palmer Mediterranean Soul Palma, sunk to the bottom of the table despite their 8.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and a PIR of 7.7, which double or triple the values ​​of the previous year.

During the first round, except for the postponed matches, Unicaja Banco Oviedo was able to count on what would surely have been the IPM of the season if he had not flown to German soil, where he will continue his career. We talk about a Harald Frey who also had an injury last year and ended up with a secondary role in which he barely left traces of what would be his appearance this year. A player with control, wrist and presence in hot moments whose rating has also multiplied by three (16.2 pt, 4.7 ace, 18.9 val).

We do not want to fail to mention the step forward that three young talents have taken. Joan Feliu (1999) He is not a rookie in the category because last year he was able to jump on the track for a couple of minutes. However, this year, although he still has a subsidiary file, he is an important piece of Palma (15 dc, 13 mi, 2.3 st, 2.5 val). one year older, Alexis Bartholomew (1998) repeat role in Oviedo (13 mi), where it doubles its digits (4.2 st, 2.4 d, 3.6 val). so does Matthew Diaz (2002), assigned to Caceres by the Breogán of ACB and who continues his training gaining presence on the track (16 my) and assuming many more shots (6.6pt, 3.9val).

Finally, we also do not include in our TOP three players who dominate the ranking of the MVP of the season and who do so after having increased their performance, but they do so from such high values ​​that it is difficult to speak of “most improved players”: the MVP provisional Michael Carrera (Força Lleida: 18.5 pt, 7.2 re, 21.5 val / 25% increase), Óliver Arteaga (OCB: 13.7 pt, 6.1 re, 18.5 val / 30% increase) and Eddy Polanco (CB Almansa with Afanion: 16.9 st, 4.6 d, 18.5 val / 33% inc.