MIES (Switzerland) - The official Basketball Champions League Fantasy game is available to all for the second straight season, thanks to the Scorestars mobile app.
The new app brings a lot of improvements and new features: All players are available to every user, and there's more tactical gameplay and more daily manager missions.
There is also a new in-app currency called basketballs, the possibility to improve your team's players, collect daily rewards, and progress in divisions throughout the season. By default, you get to spend 55 efficiency points on your five starters. Here to help you with the selection are our Fantasy Tips.
Gates, a game-changer for Murcia
Since Kaiser Gates arrived in Murcia on January 20, he has gone from strength to strength. It may have taken him a couple of games in the final week of January to get up to speed: against Barcelona he put up 10 points and pulled 6 rebounds in a 95-90 loss, followed up with just 6 points against Nanterre 92 three days later.
But February into March has been a completely different story.
Since February began, Gates has played four games and averaged 16 points and over 5 rebounds, leading the team in offensive rebounds in the process.
In an 88-79 win over Zaragoza, Gates made his intentions clear with 20 points and 6 rebounds on 50 percent shooting, which also included 6-of-12 from three-point range, highlighted by the poster dunk in the video below that earned the top spot in the top plays of the Gameday.
UCAM Murcia may not have been as consistent since Gates arrived, splitting the six games with wins over Nanterre, Zaragoza, and Granada, whilst losing to Barcelona, ERA Nymburk, and suffering a 78-77 loss to La Laguna Tenerife.
But it's clear from their transfer activity that Sito Alonso and the club are determined to get back to the Final Four this year and even better their third place finish from Belgrade in 2024.
After adding Gates, they have now picked up Kostas Antetokounmpo and now have length and athleticism across every position in their roster.
The fact that Gates has only played twice in the BCL for Murcia this season means that you can still add Gates for just 7.5 efficiency points.
You will be hard-pressed to find better value than that anywhere in the league this week, especially considering Gates's form in February all but guarantees he outperforms that number in Murcia's next outing.
Next up for Murcia is a trip to Hungary to take on Falco-Vulcano Szombathely on Wednesday. The last time Murcia played Falco in Hungary was in Season 7, when they lost to Zoltan Perl and his team.
They did, however, win the home game that season and this is a very different Murcia team now. They will be traveling across the continent determined to improve their 1-1 record in Group L against a Falco team that is yet to win in the Round of 16.
No doubt Gates will be looking to have another big night to help them achieve that.
The fact that you can have a player like that for only 7.5 of your 55 efficiency points, giving you to spend 47.5 points on the remaining 4 roster spots should allow you to have at least two more premium assets and might be exactly what you need to help you get a better chance of promotion through divisions or even better, get the bragging rights in your group of other BCL Fantasy game contestants.