MIES (Switzerland) - BasketNews and the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL, have officially partnered to launch the BCL Fantasy League. The league is hosted exclusively on BasketNews.
The league enables fans and fantasy freaks to build super teams and manage their roster like Sam Presti during free agency. If you get it right, there are monthly prizes to be won, with the grand prize being a trip to the BCL Final Four with full accommodation.
TWO WAYS TO PLAY
To keep the competition fierce and dynamic, the game features two distinct game modes:
Classic (Budget) Mode:
Build a winning roster while sticking to a strict budget, navigating player market values, injuries, and hot streaks. Managers can also use strategic wildcards to gain an edge over the competition.
Draft Mode:
Set up private leagues with friends and take turns picking players. Since each BCL star can only be selected once per league, every draft pick matters.
HOW TO JOIN
Ready to test your skills and compete for a trip to the Final Four? Sign up now and build your squad at fantasy.basketnews.com!
We'll get you started with some roster-building tips in this article, but the first thing you need to understand is that you have a €10,000,000 budget to assemble a team consisting of 10 players from three different positions:
4 guards
4 forwards
2 centers
The scoring system is based on a simple formula: a player's efficiency points (EFF), plus or minus 10% depending on whether his team wins or loses.
You can read the full rules here but let's get into some basic ideas to build your roster.
Top of the League
Usually, we kick things off by looking at the absolute best five players you could have picked in your starting five for the previous week.
This week however, we are going to look at the team ranked top of the league and give the head coach their flowers. And we are doing that this week because Kornelijus P's team F4 dalyvis have topped the table 2 weeks in a row!
Here's who he went with:
Center - Willy Hernangomez - Unicaja (Captain) 35.2 FPTS
Forward - Amine Noua - Unicaja 17.6 FPTS
Forward - Emir Sulejmanovic - Asisa Joventut 20.9 FPTS
Guard - Zoltan Perl - Falco Vulcano Szombathely 28.6 FPTS
Guard - Leland Walker - Salon Vilpas 18 FPTS
Sixth Man - Jaylen Barford - Pallacanestro Reggiana 11.7 FPTS
Kornelijus nailed his picks and his formation, going with a 2-2-1 and bowling a strike on his Zoltan Perl and Emir Sulejmanovic selections.
His team points for the round were 145.35, his team gained 610k in value and he's sitting pretty with 512.5 FPTS. Great work, but no time to sleep on his your own success.
The next team is just 4 FPTS behind, let's see if he can hold onto top spot for a third week on the bounce.
My Picks
We have another eight games to pick from this week and another chance to climb the table. A lot of the picks this week will be very template because there are players that you just can't afford to take the risk of going without.
Adama Sanogo is the obvious place to start. The Holon big man is averaging a huge 29 EFF, making him one of the most productive players in the entire BCL so far.
He's putting up 25 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3 blocks per game, and his 34.9 minutes per game show just how much Holon are relying on him.
With Holon facing Vechta on Wednesday, Sanogo is just a Fantasy must-have. And not only do you need to have him in your team, you need to selct him as your captain.
Mohamed Diarra isn't far behind. The Cholet forward is averaging 25 EFF and comes into Wednesday's meeting with Spartak Office Shoes with Cholet sitting at 2-0.
That's important in Fantasy: you're not only getting a player producing at an elite level, but one whose team has already shown they can get the job done.
If Diarra keeps filling the boxscore, every time you don't pick him, you run the risk of losing ground on everyone else who does. Diarra is a frontrunner in our MVP Race for a reason.
Then we have a rather intriguing double-up from Sabah BC. Both Nick Perkins and Frankie Fidler are averaging 22.5 EFF each, putting them right up among the leading performers available across the two days.
Perkins is giving you 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, while Fidler is averaging 18 points and 7 rebounds. The only catch? Sabah are 0-2, so you're taking on the risk of losing 10% of their score this week.
However, you can balance that out with the fact that you are safe in the knowledge that both are guaranteed to be high usage players for Sabah every week.
This isn't a Liga Endesa roster where star players can end up playing limited minutes depending on matchups or the outcome of the game. Sabah are chasing their first win and they won't get it without huge contributions from Perkins and Fidler.
Lazar Stefanovic gives us another high-output option, averaging 18.5 EFF for Igokea. He's contributing across the board with 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
He might not have the headline EFF numbers of Sanogo or Diarra, but that all-around production gives him plenty of ways to rack up Fantasy points.
And finally, Ty Nichols rounds out the list as out sixth man. The Peristeri guard is averaging going slightly under the radar as a fantasy pick with an average of 18 EFF - thanks in large part to his 15 points, 6 assists and 2 steals per game.
Peristeri are also 2-0 heading into their game against Murcia, making Nichols an appealing combination of production and win potential.
So, if you're looking for a six-player shortlist rather than simply throwing darts at the board, Sanogo, Diarra, Perkins, Fidler, Stefanovic and Nichols would be my starting point.
The big question is whether you want to play it safe with the players whose teams have already been winning, or chase the bigger upside of the Sabah duo.
After all, Fantasy is all about EFF - but that extra 10 percent for getting the win can make a very big difference.
Wildcard Strategies
If you're thinking about using a Wildcard, hitting the Bench Boost this week, could be a great week to do it. This chip is all about finding those players who don't cost the earth but can still give you a healthy return.
There are a few interesting options across the two days. David Duke of Itelyum Varese will cost you just 810k and he's picked up 13 EFF vs UCAM Murcia, then 16 EFF against Peristeri.
That consistency is what we are looking for here. We don't want players who have a high average over two games because they've dropped one huge game and another where they didn't return much at all.
Sam Griesel of ALBA BERLIN is a bench option that jumps straight off the page. At 840K, he's probably also a sixth-man option.
He's also a player we've seen selected in a lot of the top ranked teams thanks to his returns of 17 EFF and 18 EFF across ALBA's first two games.
Yigit Arslan of Trabzonspor at 700k is also unbelievable value. He's averaging 18 EFF so far and hasn't scored less than 17 in either game.
If you don't have the luxury of a huge team value to play with, and you need a real budget option for your bench, you could do a lot worse than looking at Spartak Office Shoes' Marko Jeremic.
He's going to play 25+ minutes every game and he's put up 12 EFF and 13 EFF in his two games so far. For just 500k, you probably won't find better value on the board
That's really the Bench Boost strategy this week: don't worry about putting six superstars on the bench - find six players who can outperform their price tag.
With two days of games and plenty of affordable options available, you could potentially get 10-15 Fantasy Points from each of your cheaper bench players while saving the big money for your starting five.
If you're ever going to let the bench have its moment in the sun, this looks like a pretty good week to do it.
The Basketball Champions League's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA or the Basketball Champions League.
The Basketball Champions League takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.