By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Which players made their debut on the courts of the Euroleague this season and have stood out most with their performances? Shortly before the end of the regular period, Eurohoops.net evaluates the rookies and ranks them.
The Euroleague is a competition that is difficult and tough, and you have to experience it for a while before you can be able to cope. Most players need time in order to be able to adapt to the demands and get used to the level of competitiveness. Head coach Andrea Trinchieri of Brose Baskets Bamberg made an excellent analysis of this in the “Coaches Corner” column on the Euroleague website.
Most players need time and several games’ worth of experience in order to perform according to their actual capacity and rise to the level of the competition. But there are some who stand out, some who have shown this kind of quality early on and have are candidates for best rookie at this early stage of the season.
The evaluation wasn’t made based on statistics, but rather on the players’ performance, the role that they have within their teams, and the effect that they have on the overall performances of their teams.
Tyler Honeycutt
Khimki Moscow Region
Age: 25
Country: USA
Position: Forward
Height: 2.03 meters
Previous teams: UCLA, Sacramento Kings, Reno Bighorns, Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Ironi Nes-Ziona
Tyler Honeycutt is currently in his second year with Khimki, but this is his rookie season in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague. The American forward is on a roster full of stars, especially in the backcourt, but he’s extremely valuable for Rimas Kurtinaitis, serving many functions on the court. Besides, it’s not common for a player who averages just 5.2 points to have a 10.3 performance index rating. Honeycutt doesn’t shoot a lot, but makes a difference in other ways, such as the 19 rebounds he pulled last week, the second-most by a Euroleague player this decade.