By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
With ten minutes remaining in the game between Anadolu Efes and Panathinaikos in Istanbul, Nick Calathes already had 16 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds. To say that he wouldn’t finish the match without a triple-double was pretty much unthinkable.
Alas, while the Greek guard registered career-high numbers in points (29) and PIR (42), en route to leading his team to its third EuroLeague victory in a row with an epic display, he grabbed only two rebounds in the fourth quarter.
Although his performance remains absolutely phenomenal, it fell one board short of the triple-double achievement that would transcend it to monumental heights. Don’t forget that finishing in double figures in three (or more) statistical categories in a EuroLeague game, is as rare as hen’s teeth.
In fact, only one player in the modern era (post-2000) has managed to register a triple-double: Nikola Vujcic.
Considered as one of the best passing big guys in European hoops history, the great Croatian center, five-time All-EuroLeague selection and continental champion with Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2005 & 2006, posted a triple-double not once but twice in his career.
The first game arrived on November 3, 2005, when he scored 11 rebounds, captured 12 rebounds and sent 11 assists to his teammates, leading Maccabi to a 95 – 68 win over Polish Prokom.
Almost one year later, he had a humongous performance of 27 points, 10 rebounds plus 10 assists in just 26 minutes thanks to which the “Yellows” beat Union Olimpija in Tel Aviv.
Since then, no other player has succeeded in finishing a EuroLeague game with triple-double numbers. This is why this feat has now reached a somewhat legendary status, which pretty much says everything about how outstanding was what Calathes came just one rebound short of accomplishing.