MIES (Switzerland) - Season X of the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL brought plenty of excitement in the third and fourth week.
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 continue 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 chance 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 (VIII, 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) Did he attend the same high school as a platinum-selling recording artist who loves saying his name in songs?
(See? Number five is just random.)
#10 Adam Somogyi (NHSZ-Szolnoki Olajbanyasz)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 2-1. (2) Is he the reason why? Number one in assists in BCL this season, so this is a yes. He's the brain of the operation. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 13.3 points, 57 percent from the field, 46 from three, 8.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 19.0 efficiency rating per game. How do you say yes in Hungarian? (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Probably not. Because he's a pass-first guy and because Brady Skeens will probably have a game-winning block, instead of somebody making a clutch bucket for Szolnoki. (4.5) So... Adam is good, but not the leader of the race here? Exactly. Potential MVP, for sure, if they make a run to the Quarter-Finals and beyond.
#9 Olivier Hanlan (Spartak Office Shoes)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 2-1. (2) Is he the reason why? Bro. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 20.0 points, 63-54-88 shooting splits, 4.0 assists, and 20.3 efficiency rating, all done in 26 mins per game. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Of course. (5) Did he attend the same high school as a platinum-selling recording artist who loves saying his name in songs? Nope. But get this, he went to the same high school as Noah Vonleh, Darius Songaila, Rashad McCants, Elijah Bryant and Zach Auguste. None of them are platinum-selling recording artists, though, so he's not our leader this week.
#8 Will Cummings (Galatasaray MCT Technic)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 3-0. (2) Is he the reason why? This guy has been so amazing for so long now. Like, if you're a young player just starting your journey, this is the guy you should look up to. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 18.0 points, 5.3 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 19.3 efficiency rating per game. Solid. (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... (4.33) ...okay. Thing is, with all his incredibleness, he's - statistically - only the second best Galatasaray player this season. (4.66) That sounds crazy. He's not the MVP Race leader this week? Nope, not this week.
#7 Tyson Perez (Unicaja)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 16-0. (1.5) Excuse me!? Ah, that's their record in BCL over the last 16 games at home. But yeah, they are 3-0 this season. (2) Is he the reason why? Sure. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 10.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, and 17.7 efficiency rating, all done in 17.4 minutes per game. (3.33) Okay. Doesn't sound too MVP-ish, does it? Unicaja are a +58 team in his 52 minutes this season (3.66) Oh boy. That's impressive! Tyson is a game changer. (4) Moving on - If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Nope, not really. That's the constant issue with Unicaja, they've got so many MVPs on their team that it's hard to single out just one guy. Like, it's Tyson now in the MVP Race. Does Kendrick Perry deserve a mention? Of course. Does Tyler Kalinoski deserve a mention? Of course. So dominant as a team, individual awards are tough. (4.5) Got it. Good, but not the MVP Race leader? Nope. Unreal, sublime, divine... But not the MVP Race leader (today).
#6 Marek Blazevic (Tofas Bursa)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 2-1. (2) Is he the reason why? Yep, Top 10 in points and rebounds and efficiency rating this season. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? I JUST SAID HE'S TOP 10 IN POI... Okay, calm down. Caps lock off. Yes. 20.0 points, fifth in the BCL; 7.7 rebounds, ninth in the BCL; and 22.0 efficiency rating, third in the BCL. All while shooting 71.4 percent from the field and 80.0 percent from the free throw line. (4) Moving on - If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Yeah, as previously mentioned here, we already have a decent sample size suggesting Tofas would draw something up for him. (5) Did he attend the same high school as a platinum-selling recording artist who loves saying his name in songs? Not really sure there are any platinum-selling recording artists from Lithuania. So no, not the leader.
#5 Gytis Radzevicius (Rytas Vilnius)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yes, 2-1. (2) Is he the reason why? Mr. Consistency. Mr. Reliable. Mr. Metronome, always in rhythm. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 13.7 points, 52-42-100 shooting splits, 5.0 rebounds, and 14.0 efficiency rating per game. (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, they do have plenty of options this season, but you know he'll be lurking around and getting the game winning tip-in or put-back somehow. (5) Did he attend the same high school as a platinum-selling recording artist who loves saying his name in songs? Not really sure there are any platinum-selling recording artists from Lithuania. So no, not the leader.
#4 Jeremiah Hill (Elan Chalon)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 3-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Jeremiah is always the reason why. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? This is a bit tricky: 15.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists. (3.5) What's tricky about that!? Those are clearly MVP numbers. Yeah, but Lionel Gaudoux gets 10.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game, so in theory, he's actually the best Elan Chalon player. (4) Okay, so similar to the cases of Will Cummings or Tyson Perez, got it. But if his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Our columnist Diccon Lloyd-Smeath sent us a group message this week, saying he thinks Jeremiah has a restriction in his contract for first three quarters, because he always lights it up in the fourth. Jeremiah is arguably the clutchest of them all here. (5) Did he attend the same high school as a platinum-selling recording artist who loves saying his name in songs? No record of such artist from Richmond Hill High School in Georgia. So not the leader of the MVP Race.
#3 Fabian White Jr (Galatasaray MCT Technic)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 3-0. (2) Is he the reason why? He leads the BCL in efficiency rating this season. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? I JUST SAID... (Sigh.) 18.3 points, 64.3 percent from three-point range (LOL), 7.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.0 steals, and a league leading 22.3 efficiency rating per game. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Unless it's Will Cummings. Or James Palmer Jr. Or Freddie Gillespie. Or... (5) Okay, got it, Galatasaray are loaded. Did he attend the same high school as a platinum-selling recording artist who loves saying his name in songs? He did attend Kingwood High School in Texas, and The Powell Brothers also went there. But they aren't platinum-selling, nope.
#2 Ante Tomic (Joventut Badalona)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yes, 3-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Joventut Badalona are +49 in Ante's 64 minutes this season. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 12.3 points, 64 percent from the field, 100 percent from the line, 5.0 assists, and 4.7 rebounds, yes, that's right, a 217 cm / 7'1'' guy averages more assists than rebounds, while only having two (yes, 2) turnovers this season. Up to 18.7 efficiency rating per game in 21.5 minutes. Majstor. (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'll never know because Joventut keep beating everybody by double digits. (5) Did he attend the same high school as a platinum-selling recording artist who loves saying his name in songs? Plenty of impressive artists came from Dubrovnik, like Tereza Kesovija or Milo Hrnić. However, they never said their names out loud in a song. Seriously, though, Tereza went platinum in the 1980s.
#1 RaiQuan Gray (AEK BC)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 3-0. (2) Is he the reason why? AEK's points difference this season: +32. RaiQuan's +/- this season: +31. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 12.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.0 steals, +10.3, and 19.3 efficiency rating. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? He did exactly that last season. PAOK were up by two against AEK with two seconds to play in a win-or-go-home, Game 3 of the Quarter-Finals in the Greek League, and then he hit a turnaround jumper with 0.1 to play to save the season. AEK won in OT and moved to the Semi-Finals thanks to this guy. (5) Did he attend the same high school as a platinum-selling recording artist who loves saying his name in songs? YES!!!
RaiQuan went to Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the same place where another guy started learning about music, before becoming a global superstar. Which guy? Say it with me: JASOOON DERULOOOOO
There you have it - Jason Derulo and RaiQuan Gray went to the same high school, therefore RaiQuan Gray is the leader of the MVP Race this week.
(In all seriousness, though, Gray is for real. Keeping him for another season was the biggest win AEK had over the summer. He's a leader, so keep following him.)
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