Melih Mahmutoğlu (born 12 May 1990) is a Turkish professional basketball player and the team captain for Fenerbahçe of the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL) and the EuroLeague.

Melih Mahmutoğlu
Mahmutoğlu with Fenerbahçe in 2024
No. 10 – Fenerbahçe Beko
PositionShooting guard
LeagueBSL
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1990-05-12) 12 May 1990 (age 34)
Istanbul, Turkey
Listed height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Listed weight85 kg (187 lb)
Career information
NBA draft2012: undrafted
Playing career2007–present
Career history
2007–2008Pertevniyal
2008–2010Darüşşafaka
2010–2012Galatasaray
2011–2012Antalya BB
2012–2013Erdemirspor
2013–presentFenerbahçe
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Turkey
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place 2013 Turkey Team

Club career

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Early years

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Mahmutoğlu started to play youth basketball with Genç Boğaziçispor. He transferred to the youth clubs of Efes Pilsen in 1999, and he was developed in the Efes Pilsen junior clubs. He made his professional debut in the Turkish Second Division with Pertevniyal, Efes Pilsen's feeder club, during the 2007–08 season.

He signed a contract with Darüşşafaka in 2008. He averaged 7.3 points and 1.4 rebounds with them in the Turkish First Division, in the 2008–09 season.

He signed a contract with Galatasaray in 2010. He was loaned to Antalya BB for the 2011–12 season, where he averaged 11.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game in the top-tier level Turkish League.

In the summer of 2012, he moved to Erdemirspor. Mahmutoğlu's scoring average with Erdemirspor, of 12.2 points per game, over 30 games played in the Turkish League's 2012–13 season, drew the attention of some bigger European clubs towards him.

Fenerbahçe (2013–present)

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In August 2013, Mahmutoğlu signed a two-year contract with an option to extend it for one more season, with Fenerbahçe.[1] In his first EuroLeague season, he averaged 5.5 points and 1.2 rebounds per game, over 22 games, while shooting 44.8% from the field.

In the 2014–15 season, Fenerbahçe advanced to the EuroLeague Final Four, for the first time in the team's history.[2] On 15 May 2015 Fenerbahçe lost in the EuroLeague semifinal game to Real Madrid, by a score of 87–96.[3]

Before the start of the 2015–16 season, he was named the team's captain, after departure of Emir Preldžić.[4] In 2016, Fenerbahçe won the Turkish Cup, with a 67–65 win over Darüşşafaka. Fenerbahçe also reached the final game of the 2016 Euroleague Final Four, but fell short of winning the EuroLeague championship, after an overtime 96–101 loss to CSKA Moscow.[5] Over 18 EuroLeague games, he averaged 4 points per game. At the end of the season, Fenerbahçe also won the Turkish League championship.

On 27 September 2016 he signed a three-year contract extension with the team.[6]

In 2017–18 EuroLeague, Fenerbahçe made it to the 2018 EuroLeague Final Four, its fourth consecutive Final Four appearance. Eventually, they lost to Real Madrid with 80–85 in the final game.[7]

International career

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With the junior national teams of Turkey, Mahmutoğlu played at the 2006 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, at the 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, and the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, at the 2009 and at the 2010 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championships. He also played for the Turkish national team, and won the gold medal, at the 2013 Mediterranean Games.

He also played with the senior Turkish national basketball team at the EuroBasket 2015.

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

EuroLeague

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Denotes seasons in which Mahmutoğlu won the EuroLeague
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2013–14 Fenerbahçe 22 7 14.5 .448 .415 .923 1.2 .6 .5 5.5 3.6
2014–15 16 2 7.4 .351 .393 .7 .3 2.3 0.8
2015–16 18 2 12.2 .410 .404 .500 .7 .4 .2 4.0 1.5
2016–17 20 4 10.4 .426 .438 1.000 .5 .6 .3 4.0 2.7
2017–18 21 4 6.7 .325 .286 1.000 .5 .2 .1 1.7 0.6
2018–19 31 5 12.0 .508 .461 .950 .8 .5 .2 .0 5.6 4.4
2019–20 21 9 17.2 .463 .508 .800 .8 .5 .3 6.5 3.4
2020–21 28 5 13.7 .415 .328 .857 .7 .3 .2 4.1 1.7
2021–22 23 6 10.7 .385 .297 .727 .3 .3 .3 4.4 1.7
2022–23 19 0 10.4 .438 .403 1.000 .7 .4 .1 5.4 3.6
2023–24 9 0 4.6 .333 .333 .1 .1 .1 1.6 0.7
Career 228 44 11.4 .429 .400 .890 .7 .4 .2 .0 4.3 2.4

EuroCup

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2010–11 Galatasaray 3 1 8.3 .333 .500 1.000 .7 2.3 0.3
Career 3 1 8.3 .333 .500 1.000 .7 2.3 0.3

Domestic leagues

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Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2009–10   Darüşşafaka TBSL 28 18.0 .375 .361 .429 1.3 .8 .4 5.9
2010–11   Galatasaray TBSL 13 7.5 .395 .276 1.000 .7 .5 .2 3.5
2011–12   Antalya BB TBSL 30 26.4 .446 .401 .733 1.9 .9 .4 .0 11.8
2012–13   Erdemirspor TBSL 30 28.1 .451 .384 .700 2.0 .9 .5 .0 12.2
2013–14   Fenerbahçe TBSL 39 19.5 .432 .371 .853 2.0 1.1 .4 6.9
2014–15   Fenerbahçe TBSL 31 14.8 .503 .457 .800 1.0 .8 .1 7.3
2015–16   Fenerbahçe TBSL 42 15.8 .508 .435 .846 1.0 .6 .2 6.0
2016–17   Fenerbahçe TBSL 37 16.2 .489 .415 .905 1.0 1.0 .2 6.5
2017–18   Fenerbahçe TBSL 39 19.8 .529 .439 .857 1.1 1.7 .4 .0 9.4
2018–19   Fenerbahçe TBSL 40 22.6 .454 .381 .862 1.7 1.4 .4 8.9
2019–20   Fenerbahçe TBSL 23 25.2 .514 .395 1.000 1.8 .9 .6 12.8
2020–21   Fenerbahçe TBSL 34 23.3 .497 .450 .968 1.2 .8 .4 .0 11.3
2021–22   Fenerbahçe TBSL 41 17.7 .498 .440 .905 .9 .9 .4 10.4
2022–23   Fenerbahçe TBSL 36 14.4 .431 .418 1.000 .9 .5 .2 .0 6.6
2023–24   Fenerbahçe TBSL 39 19.8 .473 .384 .822 1.2 1.3 .4 9.0

Personal life

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Mahmutoğlu, whose original surname was Brničanin, originates from Serbia's southwestern city of Novi Pazar.[8] He is of Bosniak origin.

References

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  1. ^ "Fenerbahçe Ülker'de 3 yeni isim". fenerbahce.org (in Turkish). Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  2. ^ "Fenerbahce for the first time in the Final Four". eurohoops.net. 20 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  3. ^ "Real Madrid heads to third straight final after beating Fenerbahce". euroleague.net. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  4. ^ Melih is the new captain Archived 2015-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "CSKA Moscow claims its seventh Euroleague crown after OT thriller". euroleague.net. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  6. ^ "Bilgilendirme". fenerbahce.org (in Turkish). 27 September 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  7. ^ "Real Madrid is 2018 EuroLeague champion". euroleague.net. 20 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  8. ^ "Pazarac Melih najbolji trojkaš na turskom Ol-staru". sandzakhaber.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 6 July 2019.
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