Top players to watch from each group in BCLAmericas 3rd season

 MIAMI (United States) - The third season of the Basketball Champions League Americas, which starts on Friday December 10, will host some of the best players in the region. There is a lot of talent in each of the clubs and some of these players are called to take on a leading role to guide their team to victory. Here are some players you won’t want to miss in the first window:

Jezreel De Jesús - Real Estelí - Group A

The Puerto Rican point guard was already a key piece in the previous season (20.1 points and 3.4 assists) that led the “Tren del Norte” to the final. He will now again be the focal point of the Nicaraguan team's offense.

Playing with the Ponce and Arecibo franchises (Puerto Rico), De Jesus averaged 19 points and won the championship. He also took charge in the first window of the FIBA Basketball ​​World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers, by averaging 17.0, plus 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists. Now, a similar performance is expected of him with Estelí, who will need to defend their home court.

Bruno Caboclo - São Paulo - Group B

Not many people remember that at the beginning of the previous decade a very young and slim Caboclo played for Pinheiros in the old Liga de las Americas. After that experience, a short time later, he was drafted by the NBA’s Toronto Raptors and was even called the "Brazilian Kevin Durant."

Now the power forward is back in his country and a more mentally and physically mature player. In the Brazilian league, he is averaging 17.7 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks, numbers that make it clear how important he will be on both sides of the ball for São Paulo.

Pedro Barral - Obras - Group C

"Pepo" is back with his lifelong team, after his two-season stint in the French and Spanish leagues. He has only recently returned to the organization but in his last game in the Argentine league, he showed that he can be a force, by leading his squad to victory with 16 points and 3 assists.

Obras, which did not fare well last season, will look to improve this time and for that they will need the best version of Barral, who at 27 must become the leader of a very young team.

Brandon Robinson - Flamengo - Group D

As a BCLAmericas veteran, Robinson knows very well how to win in these matches as he led Quimsa to be the first season’s champions. Now he will represent the current defending champion, Brazil’s Flamengo, where he seems to fit in perfectly with their winning culture.

He has the responsibility to fill the gap after Marquinhos’s departure to São Paulo, but if anyone is qualified to wear those shoes, it is precisely the American forward. In the NBB of Brazil he has averaged 15.4 points, with 40 percent effectiveness in three-pointers and 5.1 rebounds. Robinson will have a lot of help with a talented Flamengo team. He will be able to play with more ease than he did in the past with Quimsa.

FIBA