Mam Jaiteh is named Eurocup MVP

The French center has been rewarded for his tremendous contribution to Virtus Bologna European campaign.

This year, Jaiteh averaged 12.8 points on 71.1% shooting while also adding 7.5 rebounds. He’s been his team’s top scorer and rebounder. He leads the competition in PIR on a per-minute basis, averaging 32.9 over 40 minutes.

Per the Euroleague:

Jaiteh started the season with a bang by scoring 20 points on 8-for-10 two-point shooting in an 87-76 victory over Ratiopharm Ulm in Round 2. He struggled a bit in the next few weeks as Virtus dropped back-to-back games, but when Jaiteh hit his groove, the team became tough to stop. Virtus went 5-0 this season when he scored at least 20 points. His best game of the season came in Round 14 when he posted one of his four double-doubles, 24 points, and 12 rebounds against Umana Reyer Venice. Jaiteh made 9 of 11 two-point shots that night in compiling a PIR of 41 to earn the MVP of the Round honor.

When the playoffs began, Jaiteh was ready for the bright lights. He made 9 of 10 shots for 20 points and a PIR of 18 in an eighth finals victory over Lietkabelis Panevezys. Next, he exploded for 27 points on 12-for-16 shooting and 11 rebounds in recording a PIR of 38 to beat Ulm in the quarterfinals. It was the highest PIR in a quarterfinals game since 2014 and gave him two of the 10 highest single-game index ratings in the EuroCup this season, Jaiteh’s fifth in the EuroCup.

Jaiteh will be front and center when Virtus hosts Frutti Extra Bursaspor on Wednesday, May 11, in the EuroCup Final, with the winner of that do-or-die game earning a place in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague next season.

Photo: Euroleague