NEWCASTLE (Paul Nilsen's Women's Basketball Worldwide) - The winners of the annual EuroLeague Women Awards were recently celebrated at the Final Four in Istanbul, but with another season in the books, there are some alternative awards to now hand out.

So, without any further delay, here are the unofficial awards you never knew existed.

'The Stats Don't Tell My Story' Award - Briann January, Sopron Basket

Anyone taking a glance at the stats of the vastly experienced January who hasn't seen her up close will probably shrug their shoulders - maybe even make the noise 'meh'. But defensively and composure-wise, newly crowned EuroLeague Women champions Sopron Basket have utilized a player that was calmness personified under intense pressure. The gameplan of Sopron was spot on, but the main architect of ensuring it was implemented was surely January.

While Jelena Brooks dazzled in the Semi-Final and Final respectively, have a think about this for a second. January played 35 minutes in both of those high-pressure and intense games but only turned the ball over twice in each. When you have a player that can hold her nerve, stay calm and run the show and only spill it every 17-18 minutes, that increases your chances of success by a mile. Ok, maybe the stats do tell the story - just not those ones that most people go to.

'Leap of the Year' Award - Maria Conde, ZVVZ USK Praha

Did you see Maria Conde making a run for EuroLeague Women MVP? Did Maria Conde see Maria Conde making a run for MVP? Well, credit to the Spanish winger because she was on absolute fire and while sometimes 'Most Improved Player' accolades can be deemed patronizing, I have went a step beyond. She's leaped from competent performer in the competition to bonafide difference-maker and standout star.

It was a real disappointment when she got hurt in the Semi-Finals in Istanbul, but even then it was hard not to love the way she still showed immense passion from the bench. She was frustrated on the sidelines but still engaged and I loved her holding the ice-pack on the nose of her teammate Teja Oblak for a long period in the Third Place Game. Now the challenge is to keep this up - that is her red hot form by the way, not her ice-pack game.

'For the Underdogs and Fairytales of the Future' Award - Sopron Basket

The competition has made so much progress in terms of its profile on social channels and presence generally. It is growing and the event that saw 9,500 fans in attendance for the title game in Istanbul as superb. While it fell flat for most of the Fenerbahce fans who made it such an amazing occasion as their team fell short, this was a big boost to the 'non-giants' of the competition.

You have to push the rewind button all the way back to 2015 and ZVVZ USK Praha to find a club that truly defied the odds, expectations and completed the fairytale. If there was one absolutely golden lining in respect of Sopron winning, it was that it gives fuel to those underdogs of the future. The dream of another fairytale is alive again. And, for those who try to dilute that by saying it only happened because UMMC were not there, maybe there is a big element of that. But, let's face it, Fenerbahce Safipiort were massive favorites and still nobody predicted Sopron to conquer!

'The Longest Wait To Make History' Award - KSC Szekszard

While it could be handed to Fenerbahce after they lost their fourth Final in pursuit of a maiden EuroLeague Women title, I have to give it to the winless KSC Szekszard. I must confess that as a  neutral, I was rooting for them from about Week 9 of the Regular Season to at least get that historic first-ever victory. It is a tough pill to have to swallow that they signed off having played 14 games and left still waiting for that historical landmark triumph. They had some nail-biters along the way and yes, they were not quite good enough, but I do feel they deserved a victory and their record underlines what a brutal and elite level EuroLeague Women really is. 

'The Truth Bomb' Award - Elizabeth Williams, Fenerbahce Safiport

"We couldn't hit a shot. Overall, the hardest to deal with is that we played our best all year and today we were not at our best - which we had to be if we wanted to win it." That is what the EuroLeague Women Defensive Player of the Year said after the Final. It was tough to have to confess it after such a crushing disappointment. But there were no excuses. Only reasons and I respect that a lot. Anyone who watched the game saw it plain and clear. Fenerbahce shot the ball terribly (including poor decision-making) and were not at their best. The truth does hurt, but it's out there. 

'Redefining what Third Place means' Award - ZVVZ USK Praha and Perfumerias Avenida

"It's the game that nobody really wants to play in." Those words have come out of my mouth. They have probably come out of yours too? Well all of us really. Yet this year, the battle for third place was quite something. A physical, bruising and feisty encounter that had so many 'spiky' moments which underlined that third place does matter. Silvia Dominguez was very enthusiastic about it, plus, Katie Lou Samuelson came to the press conference with her medal and Roberto Iniguez spoke about his pride at finishing in the top three too. There was an Olympic podium-esque vibe to it this year and it has maybe redefined what has went before.

The 'Age Ain't Nothing But A Number' Award - Zsofia Fegyverneky, Sopron Basket

She's 37-years-old and has been one of the most underrated ballers of the modern EuroLeague Women era - maybe in part, because she has chosen to stay in Hungary. But for many who have followed her career, she is a legend and not only in her homeland, but in the context of the competition. She was not only crowned a champion for the first time in her 18th season, she played so well in terms of using her experience and especailly defensively. The fact she also made what proved to be the winning free-throw was special too. There's no skool quite like the old skool as they say!

Paul Nilsen
FIBA

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