From Valencia’s young playmakers to Paris and ASVEL’s emerging talents, Niang’s surge highlights a small but influential group reshaping the league’s youth landscape.
Stats review: In a league ruled by experience, Saliou Niang’s 17–17 statement stands tall
Stats
3 Mins read
Saliou Niang took home Round 22 MVP honors following a 17-point, 17-rebound performance in Virtus Bologna’s road victory over Dubai Basketball. At 21 years old, the young forward beat the odds with the best performance of his career in an important win and one of the better performances by a Rising Star Trophy candidate of the last several seasons.
To put Niang’s performance in perspective, it is critical to understand the EuroLeague landscape. With parity and efficiency at all-time highs, experience is nearly an imperative as teams construct their rosters. The average age of a player checking into a EuroLeague game this season reflects that at 28.5 with the average age on the floor sitting at a whopping 29.4 on the year so far. As hard as it is to crack a roster at this level for young players, playing time is even tougher to come by — 12 teams have had a Rising Star eligible player on the floor less than 1% of the time this season and they have played only 2.4% of minutes across the league this season.
That does not, however, mean that there are not young players breaking the mold and even contributing at a high level on winning teams. The table above lists the oldest and youngest teams in the EuroLeague this season based on the average age of a player on the floor at any given point. As the numbers suggest, even this season’s youngest team, Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, is not an outlier relative to the league averages, nor are they relying on players in their early 20s. That puts the caliber of the young players earning minutes this season in perspective.
There are six Rising Star Trophy contenders averaging over 10 minutes per game this season, two of which not only play regular minutes for fourth-seeded Valencia Basket, but also spend those minutes on the ball. Around a third of Valencia’s ball screen production has come from the combination of 20-year-old Sergio De Larrea and 22-year-old Jean Montero. No team has played Rising Star-eligible players as often as the Spanish club, which only needed 20 rounds to match its win total from its last EuroLeague campaign.
Niang joins Montero as the Rising Stars Trophy contenders playing over 20 minutes per game this season. After competing in the BKT EuroCup the last two years, Niang has turned a corner in the EuroLeague in recent weeks, embracing an expanded role based around his knack for using his energy and athleticism around the rim. He’s averaged an eye-opening 9.8 rebounds per game over the last four games, cleaning the glass impressively even before his breakout performance last week.
Another young player making an impact around the rim, Momo Faye of Paris Basketball, has been one of the EuroLeague’s top-10 players in rebound percentage this season as his combination of reach and leaping ability makes him a presence in close — particularly on the offensive side.
The other two Rising Stars seeing regular action this season play for LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. Melvin Ajinca and Adam Atamna have both gained valuable experience for stretches this season. It should not be understated how much of an accomplishment that is, given how high the bar players have to clear to even see the floor is in the EuroLeague right now.