Latest news with #Hayes-Davis
USA Today
3 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Report: Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla in Turkiye scouting sharpshooting forward
Report: Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla in Turkiye scouting sharpshooting forward Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has reportedly made the trip to Turkiye to see a Fenerbahce big man, presumably as a potential depth option at power forward for the Celtics next season. With star Boston swingman Jayson Tatum sidelined for most or even all of the Celtics' 2025-26 campaign, Boston will need to find a way to add depth to the team on the cheap, with the storied ball club simultaneously trying to navigate a way to shrinking a historic payroll and tax bill. Enter Fenerbahce forward Nigel Hayes-Davis, who has been playing well for the EuroLeague squad this season, putting up 16.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.1 steals per game with the Turkish club in EuroLeague play while hitting 42.3% of his 3s and shooting 46.0% from the field overall. Per Eurohoops, Mazzulla "travelled to Turkiye to take a look at" Hayes-Davis. The 30-year-old, 6-foot-7 wing could help Boston weather the Tatum absence -- as well as help shore up the wing if Boston elects to move off reserve forward Sam Hauser to save money as well. Hayes-Davis, a native of Westerville, Ohio, has previously played short stints with the Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors, and Sacramento Kings at the NBA level in the 2017-18 season. The Wisconsin alum headed overseas to play in the Turkish Basketball Super League and the Euroleague afterward, setting the modern individual player scoring record (50 points) in that league in 2023-24.
Al Etihad
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Al Etihad
EuroLeague basketball: Fenerbahce find Final Four glory in Abu Dhabi classic
27 May 2025 00:44 KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)The 2025 Final Four of the basketball's second-biggest event – the EuroLeague – will go down as a special one for various reasons, and not just because it was staged outside of Europe for the first time, with Abu Dhabi playing the neutral host to the top four clubs of the Türkiye fans, the Turkish Airlines-sponsored event saw Fenerbahce being crowned EuroLeague champions and after an eight-year wait for the club's second title. They were favourites on paper to win the title against Monaco, whom they beat 70-81 in a low-scoring final at the Etihad Arena on Sunday Monaco were no pushovers. Both finalists were responsible for knocking out two more illustrious Greek sides in the semi-finals – Panathinaikos and Olympiacos.'We were prepared to suffer, as I reminded the boys, before the match. And we had to work hard, man to man, quarter by quarter,' said coach Sarunas Jasikevičius, who incidentally became only the fourth player in history to win the EuroLeague both as a player and a coach; Sunday's feat adding to his four titles as a a satisfactory twist in the happy ending for the Turkish club was the fact that Nigel Hayes-Davis was adjudged Most Valuable Player, the American having fallen out of favour with Jasikevičius at their previous club, Barcelona. A season non-regular Hayes-Davis moved to Fenerbahce first and immediately notched the record for most points (50) scored in a game in his first season. But then Fenerbahce chose to bring in Jasikevičius as they coveted the EuroLeague title. And on Sunday, Jasikevičius admitted relations with the power forward sidelined had been frosty early in the season. 'After I arrived, we had a talk and Nigel told me what were the areas where he disagreed with my plans. And he was right. So I decided to change and now all is good,' the coach said absorbed early pressure as Monaco took a slender lead in the first quarter at 20-18. However, the Turkish side fought back for a 17-13 score in the second quarter and led 35-33 after the first half. The third quarter was even more keenly fought with Fenerbahce edging ahead 54-51 in the low-scoring encounter. But then Fenerbahce found an extra gear when it mattered, taking the fourth quarter by a 27-19 led the way with 23 points and nine rebounds, with Marko Guduric scoring 19, while Devon Hall and Wade Baldwin netted 13 apiece. Alpha Diallo paced Monaco with 19 points, Mike James scored 17, Matthew Strazel had 13 and Daniel Theis contributed 12. While the coach was his usual animated self as he called out instructions, players rallied around the calm Hayes-Davis, who remained non-fussed in expressing his delight at becoming the MVP. 'I thought I'd be probably crying or something like that, but I've just played it over so much in my mind that, you know, in life if you do something a thousand million times, it's not that exciting on the millionth time. And I feel like that's what I'm a victim of right now,' Hayes-Davis said, words struggling to come out of his the new-found harmony between the duo showed as Hayes-Davis explained the team's strategy - quoting from his coach's playbook - to neutralise Monaco's 'physicality' in their approach. And then in a dramatic moment before Hayes-Davis left the news conference, he poured a full bottle of water over the coach in a moment of light-hearted celebration. The Lithuanian coach took it on the chin amid loud cheers from the back where the support staff were seated.
USA Today
26-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Former Wisconsin basketball star pockets EuroLeague title, Final Four MVP
Former Wisconsin basketball star pockets EuroLeague title, Final Four MVP Former Wisconsin basketball star Nigel Hayes-Davis guided Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul to a 2024-25 EuroLeague title on Sunday. Fenerbahce clinched the title with an 81-70 victory over Monaco, securing the club's first championship since 2017. Hayes-Davis' 23 points, nine rebounds and two steals across nearly 37 minutes of action netted him 2025 EuroLeague Final Four MVP honors, capping a stellar playoff run for the former Wisconsin star. Most notably, Hayes-Davis went 14-of-14 from the charity stripe for his squad, a bounce-back effort from his seven-point outing in the semifinals against reigning champion Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens on May 23. Hayes-Davis averaged 15.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 1.0 steals per game in the Final Four. In 39 total games during the 2024-25 slate, Hayes-Davis averaged 16.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals in 31.2 minutes per appearance. He did so off 49.8% from the field, 41.0% from beyond the arc and 90.8% from the charity stripe in one of the more efficient individual seasons across EuroLeague action. Hayes-Davis' recent title comes less than one year after he secured a Turkish League Championship and MVP honor in Turkey's Basketbol Süper Ligi Finals. In that series, the Ohio native averaged over 17 points per game to snag finals MVP honors. Hayes-Davis also competed alongside the USA Men's National Team during their exhibition schedule prior to the Olympic Games Paris 2024. He and fellow former Badger Micah Potter suited up in exhibitions in Las Vegas, London and Abu Dhabi as practice players for NBA veterans including LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. While Hayes-Davis has already celebrated his 30th birthday, his success overseas could ignite some NBA rumors this offseason. He suited up in nine games for the Kings, Lakers and Raptors during the 2017-18 slate following his career in Madison. During that four-year tenure, Hayes-Davis was named Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year (2014), was a two-time third-team All-Big Ten (2015, 2017) honoree and made the All-Big Ten first team in 2016. Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion
