The title of MVP for Round 11 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season was a virtual lock after the week’s first game ended on Wednesday.
Nicolo Melli’s performance for Brose Bamberg on the road in a convincing 70-85 victory over Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv was filled with career highs and resulted in the second-highest performance index rating (PIR) by any player this season. The forward set personal bests in the EuroLeague with 27 points, 14 rebounds and 6 three-pointers made for an PIR of 40. Melli’s rebounding and three-point totals were each just one short of the high for any player this season.
And his PIR, points, rebounds and threes were all the second-most or tied for the second-most ever by a Bamberg player in a EuroLeague game. Melli only missed 2 three-point tries and also collected 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block in his monster game.
The second-highest index rating of the round came from All-EuroLeague center Ekpe Udoh of Fenerbahce Istanbul, who had one of the best games of his career in an 87-72 victory over Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade. Udoh scored 15 points, collected 9 rebounds, dished a career-high 5 assists and blocked 5 shots in posting an index rating of 34, which is also a personal best.
Chris Singleton of Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens was the engine that fueled the Greens’ 85-58 rout of Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals for a performance index rating of 25, which was the third-highest of the round. Completing the list of Round 11’s top performers were a pair of Real Madrid players: 17-year-old sensation Luka Doncic and center Gustavo Ayon. Doncic, who led the way to a 96-91 victory over Zalgiris Kaunas with a pair of late three-pointers, scored a career-high 17 points in addition to 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals for an index rating of 24. Ayon’s PIR was 23 as he amassed 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
