Dante Exum made a case for the dunk of the year in the EuroLeague playoffs opener in Barcelona. He received high praise from his head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius.
If there were an award for the most spectacular player of the year in the EuroLeague, we would already have a winner in Palau Blaugrana.
Fans already witnessed a bunch of incredible jumps from Dante Exum, who is breaking the laws of nature. But the 26-year-old Australian managed to stun Palau's crowd at the beginning of the fourth quarter, making a strong case for the dunk of the season.
On his way to the basket, Exum saw Bayern's center Othello Hunter, one of the best rim protectors in the tournament. But the Barcelona player didn't hesitate. He never does.
Exum took off and dunked on Hunter so hard that Palau was shaking. Hundreds of Barcelona fans gave Exum a standing ovation for another physical play he had in another possession a few moments later.
It's hard to stop somebody who's not afraid of anybody. But it seems like the physicality feeds this player.
Asked where he would rank Exum among the most explosive players he ever played with or coached, Jasikevicius was clear.
"He's the No. 1. I don't know who I could compare him to," Saras was honest. "When he gains speed, I can see some similarities with Aaron White. But Exum's physicality is elite in the entire world, not only in the EuroLeague."
The Indiana Pacers floor general Ricky Rubio, who watched the game in Palau, probably would agree with it. They were teammates together in the Utah Jazz.
"We discussed this dunk in the locker room if it was even better than the one in El Clasico. This one was even more impressive to me," the New York Knicks draftee Rokas Jokubaitis smiled.
Dante Exum
| Team: |
FC Barcelona |
| Position: | PG |
| Age: | 26 |
| Height: | 198 cm |
| Weight: | 86 kg |
| Birth place: | Melbourne, Australia |
"I'm speechless. Exum is just flying on the court and shows his best shape. He's very important to us. It's a lot of fun to play with him," Jokubaitis added.
Exum's energy on both ends of the floor (14 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL) boosted Barcelona to a challenging Game 1 victory over Bayern 77-67.
"Congratulations to our players and fans. Thank you, Palau, for a good atmosphere," Jasikevicius started his post-game statement.
"It was one of those games you could expect. I was hoping that our team would come out very serious and play very serious basketball. I thought we did it. I thought we were physical, just like Bayern," he continued.
"I think our point guard game was excellent in the first two quarters. Unfortunately, we lost our focus in the third quarter and started playing slightly slower. And this is exactly when Bayern took advantage of it. Just like they do all the time in the last year and a half.
It was a classical game of Bayern, and as soon as you give them a chance, they show their character, and they come back to the game immediately. It's good we gathered ourselves and we found some solutions. I thought a lot of our players contributed today.
Compared to the last ten days, it was a step forward. Most importantly, you have to improve with every new game and situation. We have to improve going to game 2, or it will be very difficult."
BasketNews Talks with Dante Exum:
EuroLeague playoffs predictions:
FC Barcelona
FC Bayern Munich