MIES (Switzerland) - Season X of the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL brought plenty of excitement in the first week already.
You know all the scores and matchups, you know about the biggest upsets and the biggest blowouts. Now it's time to focus on individuals.
It's time to start the MVP Race for the tenth time in our history. The checkpoints are in no way official, it's more of a tool for you to keep up with the biggest favorites to win the MVP of the Season award on the final Saturday of the season in May.
To figure out who has the best chances to win the award, we have to take a look at the profiles of previous MVPs in the Basketball Champions League.
Jordan Theodore (Season I), Manny Harris (II), Tyrese Rice (III), Keith Langford (IV), Bonzie Colson (V), Chima Moneke (VI), TJ Shorts II (VII) and Marcelinho Huertas (VII, IX) all reached the Final Four, all played crucial roles in their teams getting there, all made clutch shots during the seasons and had the numbers to prove they were the Most Valuable Players.
With that in mind, during the MVP Race, we will have four serious questions to help us figure out who the leader is at each checkpoint:
(1) Does his team have a winning record?
(2) Is he the reason why?
(3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP?
(4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it?
Since this is a column and - we repeat - not in any way an official ranking, we need the grand separator to figure out the leader.
That's why the fifth question will always be random, to give you a hint of who's the guy in the lead.
This week, it's pure and simple:
(5) Does he share a birthday with the author of the MVP Race which is probably the biggest reason why he's #1 right now?
(See? Number five is just random.)
#10 Boogie Ellis (ALBA BERLIN)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Nope, 0-1. (1.33) ...okay, off to a great start. What's he doing here then? He put up 27 points with 7 boards in just 25 minutes of work. If ALBA bounce back and get far this season, he's the guy you want to focus on, because he's so special he even deserved a shoutout in both the Tactics Board and the New Kids on the BCL Block.
(5) Just curious, does he share a birthday with the author of the MVP Race? Nope, born December 12, 2000. Twelve-twelve, cool. Moving on.
#9 RaiQuan Gray (AEK BC)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 1-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Kinda, sorta, probably. (2.25) That doesn't sound convincing. Dimitrios Katsivelis is the biggest reason why AEK defeated VEF in the Acronym Derby. (2.5) So why is RaiQuan here? Because he's the best player on that team, period. A big guy who casually dishes out 8 assists in 25 minutes of a low scoring affair, yeah, he's basically the one that fuels AEK's offense. (2.75) But he's not the MVP Race leader? Nope. (5) Same birthday as the author? July 7, 1999. Not even close.
#8 Sir' Jabari Rice (ERA Nymburk)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 1-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Yep, 22 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, +25 in his 23 minutes. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? I just told you, bro. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? This is impossible to say. Nymburk are off to usual Nymburk things, four wins in four games in all competitions this season, scoring 93 points or more in each of those. So hard to say they'll ever be in a situation they need just one shot to save the season. And with Jaromir Bohacik and Vojtech Hruban on that team, it could be somebody not named Rice taking the last shot. Wow this turned into an essay. (4.33) ...okay. Anyway, he's good. Another New Kid on the BCL Block. (4.66) But not the MVP Race leader this week? Nope, not this week. (5) Birthday? December 28, 1998. Close, but not close enough.
#7 Isaiah Wong (Dreamland Gran Canaria)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 1-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Yep, top scorer in their first game. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 16 points, +19, done in just 18 minutes. (3.33) What are you not telling us? Just 1-of-5 from deep, just one assists, just one rebound, just one steal. So not exactly MVP numbers. (3.66) Yeah, but it's just one game. True. And still the top offensive option for a legit contender. So maybe more of a Final Four MVP, Tyson Carter type, than Season MVP, Marcelinho Huertas type. If that makes sense. (5) It does. So he's not the MVP Race leader, but somebody who can win individual games by himself, got it. Tell us the birthday? January 28, 2001. Youngest on the list so far!
#6 Jeremiah Hill (Elan Chalon)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 1-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Oh yes. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 15 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, +9 in a five-point game, on the road in Berlin. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? LOL. (5) Birthday? September 4, 1995. So yeah, that strong of a candidate for the MVP award, that only a random (5) question keeps him out of the top positions after Gameday 1.
#5 Ante Tomic (Joventut Badalona)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 1-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Yep, he's what they call "majstor" in Croatia. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 0 turnovers. Perfection. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? No, but he's the one dishing out the no-look assist on a backdoor cut that nobody else saw coming and probably even the guy who finishes the play is laughing while getting the ball because Ante is a majstor and there's nothing you can do about it. (5) Does he share a birthday with the author of the MVP Race which is probably the biggest reason why he's #1 right now? The fact that I know his birthday is February 17, 1987 without even checking is a bit worrying. So he doesn't share a birthday with the author here, but that's okay. He shares it with that guy, whatshisname, you know, the one that also played baseball and golf and keeps talking about it, you remember him, ahh that's right, Michael Jordan. So if at some point of the season we determine Ante Tomic should be leading this race, (5) question will probably be about him sharing his bday with MJ.
#4 Kendrick Perry (Unicaja)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 1-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Yeah, he's the one with the masterplan for the entire team, not just himself. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 14 points in 18 minutes. If you know Unicaja's minutes and stats, this is like somebody scoring 25+ on another team. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? We don't know. Could be him, could be Tyler Kalinoski, could be Chris Duarte, could be Killian Tillie, could be Tyson Perez, could be David Kravish, could be... (5) Okay, we get it, they are a team first and foremost. He's not the MVP Race leader, but when is his bday? December 23, 1992.
#3 Jerrick Harding (Rytas Vilnius)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 1-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Yep, he's even better than the last time he played BCL and averaged 17.4 PPG across 15 games. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 20 minutes, 20 points. Easy. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Hopefully. He had a nasty fall on his neck while attempting a dunk, had to be taken to hospital, but was able to walk out on his own, which is huge considering how scary the fall was. While all of us at the BCL MVP Race Headquarters hope he'll be back soon, we would still recommend him to take it slowly. One step at a time. (5) Birthday? April 13, 1998. How is Jerrick only 27!? Anyway, he's a formidable candidate for MVP honors at the end of the season.
#2 Marek Blazevic (Tofas Bursa)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yes, 1-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Rarely do you see a player come in and just take over like this. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 25 points, 12 rebounds, +12 in a four-point game, 28 efficiency rating. Oh, and he scored 20+ in both games in Türkiye, too, against Fenerbahce and Galatasaray. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Absolutely. Scored the go-ahead bucket against Galatasaray with three seconds left on game clock (Will Cummings won the game for Galatasaray, though), had a game-tying bucket late against Fenerbahce, had the last lead changing two-pointer against Bnei Penlink Herzliya. Telling you, took over like that. (5) Does he share a birthday with the author of the MVP Race which is probably the biggest reason why he's #1 right now? September 1, 2001. Yeah, you're gonna hear about Marek in years to come, for sure.
#1 Fabian White Jr (Galatasaray MCT Technic)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 1-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Dude knocked down six three-pointers against Igokea m:tel. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 26 points in 28 minutes, 10-of-14 from the field, 6-of-8 from deep, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, +16 with him on the floor, efficiency rating of 27. Those look like MVP numbers, sure. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Well, up for discussion because Will Cummings won the game against Tofas with 0.3 to play. But Fabe could be the one, for sure. (5) Does he share a birthday with the author of the MVP Race which is probably the biggest reason why he's #1 right now? YES! Born November 29, 1998. Okay, okay, the author is a bit older, but let's not talk about it.
Matching bday silliness aside, let's talk about Fabian White Jr. Galatasaray saw what he could do last year, when he was part of Manisa Basket's roster, and the decision to bring him in might be what makes this season special for coach Yakup Sekizkok and his team.
And they were already a BCL Finalist last year.
If he's that missing piece to go one better, he could be the MVP of the Season, for sure.
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