The players with the most double-doubles

By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net

Which players have the most games in which they’ve achieved a double-double in this year’s Turkish Airlines Euroleague? Eurohoops.net counted the games in which these players had double-digit numbers in points and rebounds or assists, and highlights the best!

On this list, big men are clearly favored, since it’s easier for someone to score a double-digit number of points and get a double-digit number of rebounds than to dish a double-digit number of assists.

Besides, the only player who has gotten a triple-double in the history of the Euroleague is the unique Nikola Vujcic, who twice posted double-digit numbers in points, rebounds and assists for Maccabi Tel Aviv!

But let’s focus on the double-doubles. The record for the most double-doubles in one season in the Euroleague is held by Boban Marjanovic, who had 16 in a total of 24 games last season with Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade!

This year, there are several players with one double-double, 12 who have had two and just five who have three or more. Let’s take a look first at the list with those who have achieved a double-digit number of points and rebounds twice this year.

Four more players this season have achieved two double-doubles each in points and assists.

Now let’s take a look at this season’s players who have more than three double-doubles!

Jan Vesely
Fenerbahce Istanbul
Born: 14 April 1990
Position: Forward
Country: Czech Republic
Double-doubles: 3

Vesely is having by far the best season of his career, having raised his performance levels considerably. He is Fenerbahce‘s best rebounder and third-best scorer in the Euroleague. He has put together double-digits in both points and rebounds three times this year. In all three of those instances, his team won!

Even from his first years in the Euroleague, Vesely achieved double-doubles due to his aptitude for getting rebounds, even though he wasn’t playing as a center. In his first season in the Euroleague with Partizan (2008-09), in a game against Panionios, he scored 19 points and got 10 rebounds.

The next year, he did it twice: against FC Barcelona Lassa in the Top 16 (13 points, 15 rebounds) and against Olympiacos Piraeus in the semifinal of the Final Four (13 points, 10 rebounds). In the colors of Fenerbahce he did so once last year, again against Barcelona (16 points, 10 rebounds), so this year he’s already achieved a career best with three double-doubles.

Mateusz Ponitka
Stelmet Zielona Gora
Born: 29 August 1993
Position: Forward
Country:  Poland
Double-doubles: 3

He’s the only player on the list who has achieved three double-doubles – all in points and rebounds – whose height does not exceed 2 meters (to be precise, he’s 1.97 meters)!

Ponitka shined during the regular season with Zielona Gora, when he ranked seventh among all Euroleague players in average performance index rating!

In fact, the 22-year-old Pole grabbed double-digit rebounds in four of the 10 games he played, but in one of those instances he was not on target shooting and was limited to 6 points.

Paulius Jankunas
Zalgiris Kaunas
Born: 29 April 1984
Position: Forward
Country:  Lithuania
Double-doubles: 4

Jankunas is now one of the most experienced players in the Euroleague, appearing for 13 consecutive seasons in the competition (12 of those with Zalgiris and one with Khimki Moscow Region). This season, however, he has reached a personal best by posting double-doubles in points and rebounds during four games. Three of those were during the regular season.

The 31-year-old Lithuanian big man’s four double-doubles this season are as many as he had from the 2010-11 to 2014-15 seasons combined! His most productive year until now in double-doubles was 2006-07, when he posted three.

Gustavo Ayon
Real Madrid
Born: 1 April 1985
Position: Center
Country: Mexico
Double-doubles: 6

Ayon is having an amazing Top 16, with double-doubles in five games out of nine so far, making him far the best big man in this phase of the competition, with an average performance index rating of 21.9!

Madrid’s Mexican center has 6 double-doubles in total this season, while throughout all of last season he had only one. His ascension is also reflected by the fact that he has scored in double-digits in eight of the nine games of the Top 16, constituting a solid option for the European champions on offense.