Latest:
oct 29 2026The American, who also made his ACB debut with Real Madrid, is the only point guard to have posted the best average efficiency rating in a season
Theo Maledon has won the October MVP award and leads the efficiency rating standings after five matchdays with an average of 25.8, followed by Jassel Pérez's 23.8, TJ Shorts' 21.6, and Francis Alonso's 21.2. Amine Noua is the top interior with 20, placing him in fifth position. Rounding out the Top 10 are Dominik Mavra (19), Ricky Rubio (18.6), Zach Perrin (17.4), Marcelinho Huertas (17.2), and Tryggvi Hlinason (17.2). We see seven point guards and shooting guards among the top ten ranked players, which is undoubtedly a statistical anomaly in the Liga Endesa.
What is most notable is the fact that a point guard is leading this ranking in the ACB, since in its entire history only one has won this statistic: Mike Anderson in the 1995/96 season.
Obviously, writing articles like this after just five matchdays could turn out to be a correct prediction or prove to be nothing, but it serves to discuss the excellent start to the season by the French point guard and the historical dominance of big men in this ranking, highlighting in contrast the standout performances of some shorter players throughout the competition's history.
First, let's talk about Maledon's start and whether it's unrealistic due to "unsustainable" shooting accuracy
Theo Maledon, MVP Candidate or Illusion from a "Hot" Start?
In November 2024 we dedicated an article to the excellent performance of the former NBA player with LDLC Asvel Villeurbanne. In that piece we analyzed that the key to going from notable performance to truly outstanding was three-point shooting accuracy. In this start his three-point percentage is impossible to maintain as he's shooting 12 of 16. It's obvious that this unrealistic (for any player) 75% will drop and with it his efficiency rating average.
https://piratasdelbasket.net/theo-maledon-o-la-importancia-del-triple-en-los-exteriores-modernos
Maledon's numbers in this start are 18.4 points, 3 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 6 fouls drawn, and 25.8 efficiency rating. Looking back at his shooting reliability, we also see that his free throw performance is key with an excellent 92.3%, being the player making the most free throws with 7.2 per game, but his two-point shooting is below his usual percentages with a modest 40%. In this latter percentage it would be logical for him to improve and partially compensate for the completely predictable drop in three-pointers.
To continue analyzing, his EuroLeague start is a data point to keep in mind. His start has been very notable with numbers of 15.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 5 fouls drawn, and 18.6 efficiency rating, placing him tenth in that ranking. The averages are very similar, except for 3 fewer points scored and 7 fewer assists averaged. The key is indeed three-point accuracy: 5 of 21, or a poor 23.8%. In two-point shooting we see that in the European competition he's better at 47.5%. Just as his three-point percentage will drop in ACB, in EuroLeague it should rise and with it increase his points and efficiency rating.
Given two such disparate performances in three-point percentage, it's impossible to predict how that will continue (beyond the logical drop in ACB) and how it will ultimately affect the efficiency rating. In EuroLeague he's top 10, which is very good, and is susceptible to improvement.
What is indisputable is that Maledon's start to the season is absolutely outstanding and he is becoming one of the leaders of this new Real Madrid under Pedro Martínez, but we'll have to wait to see if he has real chances of finishing the season as the second point guard to lead this statistic alongside Mike Anderson.
Mike Anderson, the "Point Guard-Center" of the 90s Who Dominated the Statistic
Perhaps the term "point guard-center" is exaggerated, since Mike Anderson was a pure point guard, American-style that is, who directed several ACB teams with a brilliant career and triumphant moments like when he led Caja San Fernando to the league finals in the 1995/96 season. But the author of this piece couldn't resist because he perfectly remembers the debut with Real Madrid of a small but strong point guard who didn't shine especially at that level in playmaking or long-range shooting, but who constantly rebounded on offense (2 offensive rebounds average, 5.2 total) and would rise up colliding with rival giants to score impossible baskets in the paint.
After not succeeding at Real Madrid under George Karl in the year of Fernando Martín's tragic death, he returned to his country to play in the CBA and in 1992 returned to the ACB to play temporarily with Elosua León. The following year he played some games with Girona and Zaragoza, but his establishment came in the 1994/95 season in Murcia. That season he already finished third in average efficiency rating with 25.4, behind Kenny Green's 26.5 and the unreachable, in every sense, Arvydas Sabonis' 33.2.
His great moment was the 1995/96 season as we've already mentioned. He experienced his greatest team success by leading Caja San Fernando to the ACB finals and it was the season he was the most valued player, being the first and only time in history that a point guard achieved this. His numbers were 22.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2.6 steals, 7.3 fouls drawn, and 27 efficiency rating.
The following was his last season in the ACB and he also achieved a very notable fifth place with 23.1 and his Caja San Fernando fell just short of the playoffs, with the average deciding against Unicaja and TDK Manresa.
Dzanan Musa and Edwin Jackson the Only Other Pure Perimeter Players to Achieve It
We've focused the beginning of the article on the fact that only one pure point guard managed to be the most valued player, but there's no doubt that we must highlight the fact that only three purely perimeter players (counting Mike Anderson) have achieved it. The names are Dzanan Musa and Edwin Jackson.
Big men have always dominated this statistic because in addition to scoring points they lead a key statistic like rebounding. To this must be added that they also accumulate many fouls drawn by playing with constant contact and they have blocks to add some more numbers. They usually lose fewer turnovers by dribbling less and their shooting percentages are much better by making their plays close to the basket. Below we reproduce the list of leaders from all ACB seasons with this almost absolute dominance of big men.
List:
25/26 Luka Bozic 24.3
24/25 Ante Tomic 20.6
23/24 Chima Moneke 20.4
22/23 Edy Tavares 18.5
21/22 Dzanan Musa 23.1
20/21 Giorgi Shermadini 22.2
19/20 Nikola Mirotic 22.7
18/19 Tornike Shengelia 18.2
17/18 Henk Norel 19.5
16/17 Edwin Jackson 21.8
15/16 Dejan Musli 19.7
14/15 Andy Panko 18.9
13/14 Justin Doellman 17.8
12/13 Nacho Martín 18.2
11/12 James Augustine 18.6
10/11 Nik Caner-Medley 17.6
09/10 Tiago Splitter 21.3
08/09 Felipe Reyes 21.4
07/08 Marc Gasol 28.2
06/07 Curtis Borchardt 23.8
05/06 Lou Roe 22.2
04/05 Lou Roe 24.8
03/04 Lou Roe 24.3
02/03 Walter Hermann 25.4
01/02 Tanoka Beard 25.5
00/01 Lou Roe 25.9
99/00 Darryl Middleton 25.1
98/99 Tanoka Beard 22.2
97/98 Alfonso Johnson 25.4
96/97 Kenny Green 27.3
95/96 Mike Anderson 27
94/95 Arvydas Sabonis 33.2
93/94 Arvydas Sabonis 28.3
92/93 Joe Arlauckas 27.2
91/92 Darryl Middleton 31
90/91 Walter Berry 36.9
89/90 Arvydas Sabonis 25.6
88/89 Ray Smith 29.7
87/88 Joe Kopicki 25.4
86/87 Rolando Frazer 26.6
85/86 Mike Phillips 28.8
84/85 Mike Phillips 25.7
83/84 Essie Hollis 22
Analyzing the list there could be debate about other possible perimeter players. Walter Hermann and Andy Panko were two players whose natural position was small forward, but they played the power forward position during full seasons. Alfonso Johnson was already defined as a 3-4 and Walter Berry in his time in Spain did whatever he wanted but mainly from the power forward position. The legendary Essie Hollis was a perimeter player who spent more time in the paint throwing down dunks and blocks than outside of it.
Dzanan Musa and Edwin Jackson can be classified in the small forward position, but they have played as much or more as shooting guards and there's no doubt that despite their great physical attributes they have always been purely perimeter players.
The former Real Madrid and Río Breogán player was the most valued of the 2021/22 season, when he became the idol of the walled city and one of (or the best of) its legends. The talented Bosnian got the Lucense team into the Copa del Rey with averages of 20.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 23.1 efficiency rating.
Edwin Jackson arrived at Movistar Estudiantes after being a rotation player at Barcelona and Unicaja. With the Madrid team he assumed all the prominence and led the efficiency rating ranking thanks to his 21.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 21.8 efficiency rating. Despite having a great physique, the French perimeter player officially measures just 1.90m and is the shortest after Mike Anderson's 1.84m to lead this ranking.
Without getting into positions, the only players to lead this ranking without reaching two meters are the aforementioned Mike Anderson, Edwin Jackson, Essie Hollis (1.98m), and Chima Moneke (1.98m).
Other "Shorter" Candidates
At the beginning of the article we already highlighted that seven of the top ranked players after these five matchdays are players who perform in the point guard and shooting guard positions. The only interior player reaching a 20-point average at this moment is Amine Noua with 20.
The other three standout players are Jassel Pérez, Francis Alonso, and TJ Shorts. The first two would fall into that category of pure perimeter players, but it would be too bold to classify them as pure point guards in case of winning, since although they are playmakers, they perform fundamentally as shooting guards.
TJ Shorts, who is currently third with 21.6, would indeed meet the criteria of being the second pure point guard and would become the shortest player to lead this ranking. For the talented left-handed player it has become routine to be the shortest to monopolize all kinds of distinctions in multiple competitions as we already analyzed in this article:
Jean Montero Has Been Close in Recent Seasons
Seeing Theo Maledon's performance in the start of his first season under Pedro Martínez's direction, many comments have been read and heard comparing whether the French point guard will be the "new" Jean Montero for Martínez. Although Maledon's sample is still too small for analysis, both have reached their highest performance moment under the Catalan coach's direction, but it's also clear that they are two of the great young talents in European basketball, who were already standing out in previous seasons and who are in constant evolution always toward improvement.
There could also be debate about whether we're talking about a pure point guard or not, but there's no question that the talented Dominican player has been the 1.88m perimeter player who has come closest to leading the efficiency rating ranking.
-Season 25/26: 3rd with 18.7, far from Luka Bozic's 24.3
-Season 24/25: 2nd with 18.9, close to Ante Tomic's 20.6
-Season 23/24: 2nd with 20, just 0.4 behind Chima Moneke, in the season he played with MoraBanc Andorra
