Nando de Colo named regular season MVP

CSKA guard Nando de Colo has been named the 2014-15 VTB United League regular season MVP. The award ceremony was held today in Moscow prior to Game 1 of the playoff semifinals between CSKA and Nizhny Novgorod. De Colo received the award from VTB United League deputy general director Ilona Korstin.

The prize for the Most Valuable Player is awarded jointly by the VTB United League and Sport-Express newspaper. Several factors go into determining the winner: monthly MVP and All-League selections, input from the league's expert panel and Sport-Express, efficiency rating and online fan vote. The league's expert panel features ten basketball legends from across Eastern Europe: Gundars Vetra (Latvia), Ivan Edeshko (Russia), Jiri Zidek (Czech Republic), Ilona Korstin (Russia), Hanno Mottola (Finland), Martin Muursepp (Estonia), Tomas Pacesas (Lithuania), Sergei Tarakanov (Russia), Valery Tikhonenko (Kazakhstan) and Heino Enden (Estonia).

The regular season MVP goes to CSKA's Nando de Colo, who earned 8 points. Avtodor guard Courtney Fortson also received 8 points, but de Colo won the tiebreaker by virtue of receiving more votes from the league's expert panel and Sport-Express. Khimki guard Tyrese Rice joined de Colo and Fortson in the top three (6 points).

Nando de Colo played in 23 games during the regular season, averaging 14.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.5 steals and an efficiency rating of 16.0. Led by de Colo, the Army Men finished in 1st place, recording a 26-4 record. Two of the team's four losses (on the road to Lokomotiv-Kuban and at home to Avtodor) came without de Colo in the lineup. The French guard played a huge role for CSKA all season and was one of the league's most exciting players to watch. Not surprisingly, he was selected to the league's All-January, All-March and All-April squads during the regular season.

Joining de Colo on the 2015 All-VTB United League squad, as selected by the league's expert panel and Sport-Express, are Lokomotiv-Kuban forward Derrick Brown, CSKA forward Andrey Vorontsevich, Khimki guard Tyrese Rice and Avtodor guard Courtney Fortson.

- It's great to receive this prize, - Nando de Colo told VTB-League.com. - We all worked hard and finished 1st in the regular season and we continue to battle for a championship in the playoffs. Of course, I'd like to thank my teammates and the coaching staff. Each one of us is striving to help each other get better and any one of my teammates is worthy of a similar distinction.

Regular Season MVP Selection Process:

Fan Vote (Top 3):
1. Courtney Fortson (Avtodor) - 3 points (37.1%)
2. Walter Hodge (Zenit) - 2 points (35.8%)
3. Derrick Brown (Lokomotiv-Kuban) - 1 point (8.3%)

Efficiency Rating (Top 3):
1. Ian Hummer (Bisons) - 3 points (20.7 per game)
2. Courtney Fortson (Avtodor) - 2 points (19.72)
3. Trey Thompkins (Nizhny Novgorod) - 1 point (19.67)

MVP and All-League Selections*:
1. Courtney Fortson (Avtodor) - 3 points (4 points: 1 MVP and 2 All-League selections)
2. Taylor Rochestie (Nizhny Novgorod), Kyrylo Fesenko (Avtodor), Tyrese Rice (Khimki), Scott Machado (Kalev) - 2 points (3 points: 1 MVP and 1 All-League selection), Nando de Colo (CSKA) - 2 points (3 points: 3 All-League selections)
3. Milos Teodosic (CSKA), Rasid Mahalbasic (Astana) - 1 point (2 points: 1 MVP), Andrey Vorontsevich (CSKA), Krunoslav Simon (Lokomotiv-Kuban), Walter Hodge (Zenit) - 1 point (2 points: 2 All-League selections)
* - 1 point for being on an All-League team, 2 points for winning an MVP

VTB United League Expert Panel:
1. Nando de Colo (CSKA) - 3 points (4 votes)
2. Tyrese Rice (Khimki) - 2 points (3 votes)
3. Taylor Rochestie (Nizhny Novgorod) - 1 point (2 votes)

Sport-Express Experts:
1. Nando de Colo (CSKA) - 3 points
2. Tyrese Rice (Khimki) - 2 points
3. Derrick Brown (Lokomotiv-Kuban) - 1 point

Final Results:
1. Nando de Colo (CSKA) - 8 points
2. Courtney Fortson (Avtodor) - 8 points
3. Tyrese Rice (Khimki) - 6 points
4. Taylor Rochestie (Nizhny Novgorod), Walter Hodge (Zenit), Ian Hummer (Bisons) - 3 points
7. Derrick Brown (Lokomotiv-Kuban), Kyrylo Fesenko (Avtodor), Scott Machado (Kalev) - 2 points
10. Trey Thompkins (Nizhny Novgorod), Milos Teodosic (CSKA), Rasid Mahalbasic (Astana), Andrey Vorontsevich (CSKA), Krunoslav Simon (Lokomotiv-Kuban) - 1 point