This month’s biggest turnaround team, Maccabi Electra, had a go-to guru in forward Lior Eliyahu, whose three double-doubles made him Euroleague Basketball’s choice for December MVP
By Amy Samin
Lior Eliyahu, currently in his third season with Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, has been honored this month as the Euroleague Most Valuable Player of the Month.
Eliyahu is the first Israeli to ever win this honor.
Today, in an interview with a representative of Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv’s official website, Eliyahu said, “It’s a tremendous honor.
I’m very excited.
I’m happy that the team builds plays around me.
The coach and the players give me confidence.
But we need to remember that we still have a long way to go.”
In the three Euroleague games that Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv played in December, Eliyahu accumulated some amazing statistics: 20.3 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists, and 66.6% when shooting for 2 (26 of 39) per game.
In every single one of those games (all of which Maccabi won, at home against Cibona, and away against
His top performance of the month was, of course, in the game against Cibona Zagreb, where Eliyahu got 42 points on the index – a career high for him, and a season high for the Euroleague – when he scored 24 points, pulled down 17 rebounds, and handed out 6 assists.
That week, Eliyahu won MVP of the Week in the Euroleague.
The MVP of the Month is chosen by the Euroleague and is not solely based on statistics, but on the player’s overall performance and that of his team during the month.
Lior Eliyahu will be awarded a cup as Euroleague MVP of the Month for December at Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv’s next Euroleague game, against Olympiacos, which will take place on
