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.
BALDASO IS A WILD CARD
Ok, so hang in there with us on this one because on the face of it, recommending a player whose top score in the BCL so far this season is 5 points might seem like a wild gamble. And don't get it twisted, Tommaso Baldasso is absolutely a wild card pick, but he might just be a game-changing one.
But after all, it is the start of the Play-Ins and wild things happen in the Play-Ins. If ever there was a time to gamble a little, this is it.
The first suggestion that could be a good idea for the Play-Ins is to attack fixtures as much as picking players. Teams haven't played in the BCL for nearly a month so form and minutes are slightly harder to predict. Going for a game where you feel remotely confident there might be a favorite makes a lot of sense.
In this case, Bertram Derthona Basket may not be on the best run of form after losing out to BAXI Manresa for the top spot in Group G last December, they have gone 2-1 in the Italian Serie A since, but they have been good enough across the season that it's not unreasonable to expect a strong performance at home against Peristeri Domino's on January 7.
If they do have a strong performance, one player who has been stepping up for them in a big way recently is shooting guard and sixth man, Tommaso Baldasso.
Baldasso currently has an efficiency score of -1.4 on the BCL stats page so will cost you absolutely nothing whilst allowing you to spend all of your 55 efficiency points on your four remaining players.
So, why are we saying he's a good pick?
Well, despite the underwhelming numbers so far in the BCL, Baldasso has been on fire for Derthona in the Italian Serie A. On January 4 against Napoli Basket, he had 16 points and 5 rebounds in 24 minutes whilst shooting 60 percent overall and 57 percent from deep.
Before that, on December 29 in a convincing win over Trento he put up 17 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists whilst shooting 57 percent overall and 40 percent from deep.
And finally, on December 22 against Pistoia, the game directly after that disheartening loss to Manresa, he had 13 points and 4 rebounds in 17 minutes whilst shooting 50 percent overall and 80 percent from deep.
It looks like Baldasso has really stepped up his game recently and in reality, it probably shouldn't come as a shock. He averaged 12.5 points in the BCL last season and 11.8 points across all competitions so, if anything, this hot streak is actually more of a case of Baldasso's numbers returning to the mean.
Like any pick, there is an element of risk as we mentioned earlier, but the reward of being able to afford four premium picks as well as Baldasso makes him an almost irresistible option for your team 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.