 To a short list of players who have registered three consecutive double-doubles in Euroleague games this decade, add a new name, the youngest yet: Lior Eliyahu of Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, the December MVP. At just 23 years old, Eliyahu this month joined that exclusive club of double-double experts like Mirsad Turkcan, Tanoka Beard and David Andersen while pacing Maccabi to a perfect 3-0 record and a place in the Top 16. The month started with his career-best Euroleague game, in which he posted the season's highest individual performance index rating, 42, on the way to three-game averages of 20.3 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Not coincidentally, Eliyahu's explosion coincided with the return of head coach Pini Gershon three seasons after the former first came to Maccabi while the latter was leaving. Their mutual understanding has been almost instantaneous, and as he said in an interview after being announced as December MVP, Eliyahu welcomes the responsibility that Gershon has placed on him. "It's Maccabi, and it's never different than any other season: We always aim as high as possible, and can't allow anything less than that," Eliyahu said. "Now that Pini is with us, because of his history, the expectations might be even bigger, but for the players it has always been and will be the same: to go as far as possible and win every game."
Congratulations, Lior on being named December MVP. You have been at your career best this month with three great games in a row. What brought about this surge in production, confidence and consistence?
"I had a good time in these last weeks, and Pini deserves a lot of the credit for this. He gave me time to play and show what I can do. We made some changes since he arrived and they have proven to be good ones, because we registered some very important wins. The fact that I played so much helped me get more confidence. In the last three games, I played over 30 minutes in each, and that's a credit I never got from any coach in Maccabi before. It gave me more time to show what I can do, and to feel more comfortable on court."
In the three December games, not only did your scoring jump, but you rebounded like never before and had some killer assists. How do you explain everything coming together at the same time like this?
"I hear some people say that it looks as though everything comes easy for me, but it's far from the truth. I work hard to get any play done, and try to do the best I can. Even if it looks easy from the outside, because of my style, it's not like that. I learned over the years that in order to be a good player on a big team you need to do a lot of things. It's certainly not only about points and not just rebounds. There are things you don't see on the stat sheet, like a key pass that came before the assist, or an off-ball move that forces the defense to react. I just try to do as much as possible and hope it will work out."
The month began with your Euroleague career-highs of 24 points, 17 rebounds and 6 assists in that crucial, difficult home game against Cibona. Did you feel a big game coming before it started?
"To be honest, coming into that game, I actually didn't feel good. Certainly, I didn't have any great feeling that I would have a big game. I wasn't sure what was in front of me. I came off the bench quickly, and things started to flow. I wasn't the only one, though. Carlos Arroyo and Marcus Brown also had good games. They helped to move the game through me. I'd like to avoid cliches, but basketball is a team game, and that night it was me, another night it can be someone else, and we'll need to go through that guy."
 Next came a big game at Avellino, where it was easy to see that your confidence had grown. Were you already feeling that you had a bigger role on the team by then?
"I felt the guys were looking for me more than before because I had good momentum. At these levels, you go with the hottest player you have that night. This time it was me, but it could have been anyone else on the team."
Last week against Le Mans, it was easy to see a budding on-court relationship between you and point guard Carlos Arroyo. What is it like to play with Arroyo?
"First of all, Carlos is a great guy and a great teammate who's doing his best for the team. He came from the NBA and people have great expectations for him. He has super individual skills, and I think as time goes by, he understands better the European game, which is different from the one in the NBA. I'm sure that as the season progresses, he'll play better basketball."
Pini Gershon is your fifth coach at Maccabi in just two-and-a-half seasons at the club. What affect has the coaching carousel on the bench had on you?
"I would like to think it had no effect, because professionals need to do the best they can to ignore whatever is going outside the court, like when a coach or players change, and focus on basketball. It's very easy to lose your head and get into unpleasant situations. The smart thing to do is keep it behind and stay focused on how to make the team work better and benefit most from the new situation."
Even though you are still quite young, after three seasons at Maccabi do you feel yourself developing into one of the team leaders?
"I'm only 23 years old but I have already played six years as a senior in the Israeli League, and it's my third season in the Euroleague with Maccabi. In a way, I'm both young and experienced to some extent. I'm in a different place than I was when I first came to Maccabi, but I do think it will benefit me most in three or four years, when I'll be 26 or 27, with even a more substantial period of experience, and it will give me advantages over other players. I know you always learn new stuff, but I still feel that I pick up new things, like the need to always be 100-percent ready to play, because you can never know when the chance will come, as happened to me in the semifinals of the Euroleague last season."
One of the players that influenced you the most when you first came to Maccabi was center Nikola Vujcic, whom you will face in Maccabi’s next game after the winter break. What is it like to now play against him?
"For sure, Nikola was a very big influence on me. I feel as though he was my tutor. Maybe he didn't even mean to do it, but I learned so much from him. He's a great person and teammate, someone you always want to be on your team. It will certainly be strange to play against him, and Yotam Halperin, too, in Nokia Arena. I wish both of them the best of luck on any other night than that one."
 Before this season, some of you best games were when it mattered most, like against CSKA in the 2007 Quarterfinal Playoffs or at last season’s Final Four semifinals against Montepaschi in Madrid. Do you consider yourself to be a big-game player?
"I want to play good on any night, and if it's on a key game, then it's even better. Whenever I go on court, I still feel I need to prove myself, and can't rest on what has been done in past games. I don't feel any special rush or sting before big games, but I hope it will stay this way in future big games."
This time last season, nobody expected to see Maccabi in the Euroleague final, but you made it. Now, with Pini back, the opposite is true: high expectations for a return to the Final Four. Do you and your teammates share and assume the responsibility for those high expectations?
"It's Maccabi, and it's never different than any other season. We always aim as high as possible, and can't allow anything less than that. Now that Pini is with us, because of his history, the expectations might be even bigger, but for the players it has always been and will be the same: to go as far as possible and win every game."
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