POSTED BY: Eurobasket News
Aurelijus Pukelis
28-year old power forward Aurelijus Pukelis (205-PF-1994) put on an extraordinary performance in the last round for Suduva-Mantinga and receives a Hoops Agents NKL Player of the Week award for round 18.
He had a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds, while his team beat Palanga (#9, 7-11) 71-66. Suduva-Mantinga maintains the 3rd position in Lithuanian NKL. They are still close to the very top. Suduva-Mantinga would have been even better if they kept winning the games like in the last round. They have a solid 12-3 record. In the team’s last game Pukelis had a remarkable 60.0% from 2-point range. He turned to be Suduva-Mantinga’s top player in his first season with the team. Pukelis has impressive league stats. He is in league’s top in points (4th best: 15.8ppg), rebounds (2nd best: 9.7rpg) and averages solid 64.2% FGP.
Second best performed player last round was Tadas Rinkunas (195-G/F-1991) of Stekas. He is a swingman in his 2nd season at Stekas. In the last game Rinkunas recorded impressive 28 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Of course he led Stekas to another comfortable win 93-75 over slightly higher-ranked Silute (#6, 9-8) being unquestionably team leader. Stekas’ 7th position in the standings has not changed. His team is not often considered as one of the league’s best with a mere 8-9 record. Rinkunas is well-known at Stekas and he already established his position as one of the team’s leaders.
Third place about best performers goes to guard Gediminas Lesciauskas (197-SG-2001) of Neptunas-Akv. (#14). Lesciauskas scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Despite Lesciauskas’ great performance Neptunas-Akv. lost 71-86 to the higher-ranked Telsiai (#2, 16-2). But his team cannot count on just a single player as he also needs help of the other teammates. Neptunas-Akv. can only dream about fighting for top spots in the league. They have extremely bad season and 2-16 record places them at the very bottom of the standings. Lesciauskas has a very solid season. In 6 games in Lithuania he scored 13.0ppg.
Other top performing players last week:
4. Motiejus Krivas (214-C-2004) of Zalgiris II – 17 points and 11 rebounds
5. Povilas Gaidys (206-C-1991) of Delikatesas – 17 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists
6. Karolis Kokoska (196-PF-1992) of Vytis – 22 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists
7. Adas Simonis (192-SG-2001) of Rytas 2 – 27 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists
8. Maksym Lutsenko (188-F/G-1993) of Kretinga – 24 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists
9. Arturas Jomantas (200-G/F-1985) of Mazeikiai – 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists
10. Karolis Babusis (190-PG-2000) of Mazeikiai – 23 points and 2 rebounds
The Player of the week is selected based on efficiency calculation, but also including game result, importance of the game, if played recorded double-double/triple-double, etc.
The efficiency formula is a combination of various formulas used by different basketball organizations/leagues. We got involved many basketball scouts and journalists to assure it’s accuracy.
The formula: 1.5*PTS + 3* (REB+AST+ST+BL-TO) – 2*BSAG – 4*PF + 3*PFRV + 4* (2FGPM+3FGPM) + 1.5*FTM – 3* (2FGPA-2FGPM) – 3* (3FGPA-3FGPM) – (FTA-FTM)
Tags : AURELIJUS PUKELIS, SUDUVA-MANTINGA MARIJAMPOLE, LITHUANIAN BASKETBALL
