After earning All-EuroLeague first team honors for the second time last season, Jan Vesely of Fenerbahce Istanbul has started the 2018-19 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season in style, taking the Regular Season Round 1 MVP award with a PIR of 34. Vesely recorded a double-double as Fenerbahce spoiled Herbalife Gran Canaria's EuroLeague debut, 97-72. He had 19 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists in under 22 minutes on a near-perfect shooting performance. He made 7 of 8 two-point shots and 5 of 5 free throws. His 34 PIR was his second-best in 175 EuroLeague games. Vesely now has four MVP of the Round honors in his career. Nate Wolters of Zalgiris Kaunas was next best with a PIR of 27, getting 19 points on 8-of-11 two-point shooting, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 5 fouls drawn against KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. Alexey Shved of Khimki Moscow Region had 34 points and 6 assists on his way to a PIR of 26. Nikola Kalinic of Fenerbahce and Scottie Wilbekin of Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv, each with a PIR of 24, complete the top individual performances in Round 1.
Individual highs: Nick Calathes of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens, 14 assists
Shved, last season's EuroLeague Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy winner, netted 34 points against Olympiacos Piraeus in Round 1 and leads the scoring chart. Vesely grabbed 11 rebounds, more than anyone in Round 1. Nick Calathes dished 14 assists to help Panathinaikos OPAP Athens beat Maccabi. He also led the EuroLeague in assists last season. Stefan Jovic of FC Bayern Munich collected five steals in this round. Nikita Kurbanov of CSKA Moscow, Chris Singleton of FC Barcelona Lassa, Keith Langford and Stephane Lasme of Panathinaikos, Walter Tavares and Ognjen Kuzmic of Real Madrid, Jeremy Evans of Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul, Arturas Gudaitis of AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan and Malcolm Thomas of Khimki each had two blocks in the opening round. Vesely was the only player to register a double-double in Round 1.