Who could have imagined such a fate less than four years ago when Mouhammadou Jaiteh was moping at the end of the Limoges bench, dismissed in favor of Samardo Samuels? Former great hope of French basketball, the Francilien seemed to have lost his way over several delicate years between Strasbourg and the CSP. In the end, he hadn’t gotten lost, he had simply taken a small detour on the path that was supposed to lead him to the continental peaks.
“The qualities he had before, he reinforced them x10”
Almost ten years after being the hit of the year in LNB through an incredible season in Pro B in Boulogne-sur-Mer, when he was barely of age, Mam ‘Jaiteh is fulfilling the promises born of SOMB. With hindsight, nothing could be more beneficial for his career than this deadlock situation at Beaublanc. Forced to go abroad, the international (28 selections) relaunched his career thanks to this exile. Blossoming in Turin, Saratov and Gaziantep, he was finally able to set foot in a big European last summer: Virtus Bologna. To play a complementary role? No, to dominate.
Certainly even more responsible than expected by the injury of Ekpe Udoh from the first official, the child of Malakoff has established himself as one of the leaders of the Italian giant. “What impressed me is that all the qualities he had before, he reinforced them x10,” his teammate Isaïa Cordinier told us last January. “He’s just super efficient. Mam’ has further reinforced his strengths and that’s what makes him so dominant now. Also highlighted by his privileged relationship with Milos Teodosic, Mouhammadou Jaiteh has thus added a prestigious distinction to his CV: at 27, he was elected MVP of the EuroCup, becoming the first French player in history to receive such an honor!
18.1 rating in only 22 minutes average
Fifth best evaluation of the competition (18.1), the former interior of Nanterre locked his trophy during the playoffs. In the quarter-finals, when Virtus Bologna was on the brink against Ratiopharm Ulm, he held his team at arm’s length, the only transalpine to finish with more than 10 points on the clock. For a real demonstration in the end: 27 points at 12/16 and 11 rebounds for 38 evaluation. Which does not even represent his best performance of the season since he had risen to 41 in evaluation one evening in February in Venice.
Starting slowly (3 points at 36% and 6.3 rebounds between the 2nd and 4th day), he finally became the best player (12.8 points at 71%, 7.5 rebounds, 1 assist and 0.7 against average in just 22 minutes) of the best team in the competition. Finally, the second part of the sentence still remains to be proven… Virtus Bologna hosts Bursaspor on Wednesday in the EuroCup final, where Mam ‘Jaiteh will find himself within reach of a dizzying double.
