By Antonis Stroggylakis / astroggylakis@eurohoops.net
After 12 Rounds of the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season, there are several rookies in the competition who are playing, in one way or another, important roles on their teams.
Some are showing star potential and are already making a bid for the All-EuroLeague Team, while others with plenty of promise are still working on successfully adapting to this level.
Eurohoops chose 10 notable newcomers to evaluate their progress so far in this campaign.
Johnathan Motley (Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul)
Season averages: 14.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 16.6 PIR in 21:37 minutes
It didn’t take long for center Johnathan Motley to not only establish himself as one of the top, most reliable and steadiest contributors for Fenerbahce but also to emerge as one of the most unstoppable big men in the EuroLeague. While having to work his way through the rich and sometimes complex systems of a demanding coach like Dimitris Itoudis, Motley has become one of the main reasons behind his team’s competition-best 10-2 record.
Already the leading scorer and rebounder of Fenerbahce, Motley is also averaging the highest PIR among EuroLeague rookies. It seems that his standout 2021-22 7DAYS EuroCup run with Lokomotiv Kuban was a true sign of greater things to come.