By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Ormanspor forward Cevher Ozer posted his first career triple-double and ninth overall by any player in the history of the Turkish League. The 37-year-old veteran reached the accomplishment by having 14 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in the 87 – 76 away win of his team over Gaziantep Sunday (1/11).
Ozer spent 34:56 minutes on the floor to fill the stats sheet enough to join the following players in the triple-double annals in Turkey:
Bugrahan Tuncer (Anadolu Efes Buyuksehir) 13 points-11 rebounbds-11 assists
Pierria Henry (Tofas Bursa – Galatasaray) 14 points-10 rebounds-10 assists
Bobby Dixon (Fenerbahce – Besiktas) 23 points-12 rebounds-10 assists
Mark Dickel (Fenerbahçe – Galatasaray) 16 points-13 rebounds-11 assists
Emir Preldzic (Fenerbahçe-Olin Edirne) 10 points -15 rebounds -10 assists
Mire Chatman (Besiktas-Erdemirspor) 12 points-10 rebounds-10 assists
Courtney Fortson (Banvit – IBB) 20 points-12 assists-10 rebounds
Randolph Childress (Kombassan Konya – Mydonese College) 24 points-14 rebounds-14 steals
Triple-doubles in Europe is a rare phenomenon, especially when we are talking about top levels of competition. To put things into context, there have been just three triple-doubles in EuroLeague this century (two by Croatian center Nikola Vujcvic while he was playing with Maccabi Tel Aviv, and one by Barcelona guard Nick Calathes during his stint with Panathinaikos), eight in EuroCup (by Todor Stoykov, Meir Hapiro, Elvir Ovcina, Matt Walsh, Donta Smith x2, Courtney Fortson and Quino Colom) and two in the Basketball Champions League (courtesy of guards Chris Kremer and Arnas Butkevicius), the newest established continental league.
When it comes to domestic leagues, seven triple-doubles have been recorded in the Spanish ACB League which is widely considered the top domestic championship in Europe. The most recent one was made by none other than Luka Doncic when he was 19 years old and a few months before signing with the Dallas Mavericks.