The backcourt duo have helped Saras Jasikevicius oversee a 3-0 start since arriving at the Istanbul club.
Nick Calathes, Scottie Wilbekin keep shining as starters for new-look Fenerbahce
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Regular Season
Round 16 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul has started the Saras Jasikevicius era with three straight victories in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. In particular, one of the main reasons for that has been veteran stars Nick Calathes and Scottie Wilbekin starting those three games together.
Wilbekin poured in 20 points with 5 three-pointers while Nick Calathes scored 4 points and dished a season-high 13 assists in Fenerbahce’s 82-91 at ALBA Berlin in Round 16. Thanks to this result, the Turkish side moved to 9-7 overall and 3-0 since Jasikevicius’s arrival.
Against a young and energetic ALBA team, the leadership of Wilbekin and Calathes proved to be crucial as Fenerbahce notched just its second road win of the season.
“[Facing] ALBA is always difficult and they played exactly the basketball that we expected,” Jasikevicius stated after the game. “They succeeded against us in many ways. They forced many turnovers, they got us out of the system a little bit. But every time, we were solid in playing our game, we were making runs. We were very good.”
One of the first things the Lithuanian play-caller did when he replaced Dimitiris Itoudis as Fenerbahce boss was install the 30-year-old Wilbekin and 34-year-old Calathes – and their combined 543 EuroLeague games and 453 starts – back into the starting lineup together.
Wilbekin had played in all 13 games under Itoudis but started just twice, whereas Calathes was in the first five in seven of his 10 appearances. Not once, however, did they start a game together in the first 13 rounds of the season.
Wilbekin has really impressed of late
In the three-game stretch since Jasikevicius took over as head coach, Wilbekin is averaging 16.7 points on 45.8% three-point shooting, 4.7 assists and an average performance index rating of 19.3. He also has played at least 24:56 minutes per game, including 25+ in each of the last two.
Before Jasikevicius’s arrival, Wilbekin was shooting 38.8% on three-pointers and scoring 12.6 points while dishing 2.7 assists for a PIR of 11.5. He reached the 25-minute mark in just four games, too.
Calathes has had a resurgence, too
Calathes, meanwhile, has played at least 20:22 minutes in his three games under Jasikevicius, who coached him at FC Barcelona. The playmaker reached that playing time just four times under Itoudis and Calathes featured for just 4:58 minutes in the Round 13 game against Barcelona, the third game he did not even play 8 minutes.
In the three-game winning streak, Calathes is averaging 5.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.3 assists in 26 minutes a contest.
Lots of observers will look at Jasikevicius coming in and Fenerbahce winning its first three games under the new coach and give him all the credit.
But a lot of credit also should go to Wilbekin and Calathes performing at a high level – or at least finally getting a chance to really do so.