MIES (Switzerland) - Two gamedays in, we already have a sample size to line up the top performers of the Basketball Champions League Season 9. We dubbed it the Ode to Basketball, the Ninth Symphony, and we will be following the progress of the main MVP candidates on a monthly basis.
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, Manny Harris, Tyrese Rice, Keith Langford, Bonzie Colson, Chima Moneke, TJ Shorts II and Marcelinho Huertas 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 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 have his own fashion brand?
(See, number five is truly random.)
#10 Saben Lee (Manisa Basket)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Actually, he's not on the team anymore. (1.33) What? Yeah, he signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv and is already making a difference there, too. (1.66) So why is he on this list? We just wanted to acknowledge his heroics through the first two Gamedays, and show some respect for his 36 points on the road in Spain, and the BCL record-tying 43 points against FMP in Belgrade. Thanks for the memories, best of luck elsewhere!
#9 Bruno Fitipaldo (La Laguna Tenerife)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Has there ever been a time when Tenerife did not have a winning record in the BCL? (1.5) Just answer the question, man. Yes, 2-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Yes, they were playing without last season's MVP Marcelinho Huertas and he took over, both in the BCL and the Spanish Liga Endesa. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 14.5 points, 50 percent shooting from three-point range on six attempts per game, 5.0 assists, 13.5 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? Ehm... Not really. (4.33) What do you mean? It's probably going to be Marcelinho Huertas or Giorgi Shermadini. It could be Bruno, but now that Marcelinho is back, his usage rate will go down a bit again. (4.66) So he is not the leader of the MVP Race? Nope.
#8 Christian Bishop (ERA Nymburk)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 2-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Yep, he's a major part of it. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 13.5 points, 11-of-16 shooting from two-point range for the season, 7.0 rebounds, 17.5 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? Sure, right after Jaromir Bohacik, JT Shumate, Stephen Brown, Tylan Birts, Martin Kriz and Ondrej Sehnal have their attempts. (4.33) ... Well, Bishop is not exactly a go-to guy, Nymburk are not that kind of a team, they destroy you with rhythm and depth. But he's here thanks to the Zach Hankins Paradigm, as the most productive player of a legit Final Four conteder. Same as Hankins in 2019-20, also for Nymburk. (4.66) Not the leader of the MVP Race? Nope.
#7 Breein Tyree (Aliaga Petkimspor)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 2-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Yep, top scorer. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? Yeah, this is tricky. (3.33) Why? Because his averages will suggest 21.0 points and 43 percent on seven attempts from three per game. But they'll hide the fact that he went 1-of-7 from three, 4-of-17 from the field and just scored 9 points in one of the two BCL games so far. Also, he followed up his 33-point performance vs Oostende with 6 points and missed all six threes against Mersin in the Turkish League. (3.66) So he's not the leader of the MVP Race? Nope. But if he had consistency and could put up those numbers like against Oostende on regular basis, he would most definitely be in the Top 2 here. And he wouldn't be number two.
#6 Darius McGhee (Telekom Baskets Bonn)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Nope, 1-1. (1.5) What are we doing here, then!? Just stating that in case Telekom Baskets Bonn reach another Final Four, DMG will most likely be the MVP of the Season, because he's incredible and you should read about what kind of comparisons he draws on his hot nights.
#5 Gytis Radzevicius (Rytas Vilnius)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Nope, 1-1. (1.5) ...two in a row, huh? Yep. But same as McGhee, he's playing his heart out and is the leader of this Rytas Vilnius generation. If the Lithuanian champions pull of the back-to-back wins over Falco-Vulcano Szombathely before our next checkpoint, he could be right up there at the top of the standings in the MVP Race, because 19.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 25.0 efficiency rating per game are serious numbers, for sure.
#4 Ismael Kamagate (Bertram Derthona Basket)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 2-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Oh yes. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? We call him the Copy-Paste Kamagate. He had 14 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks in his first game, and then followed it up with 14 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks in his second game. Everybody expected consistency from him this season, this is what he's giving them. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Not really. Because they have Tommy Kuhse, Christian Vital, Arturs Strautins, Kyle Weems, Tommaso Baldasso... But if you need a block to save the season, call his number. (4.5) But he's not the leader of the MVP Race? Nope.
#3 Dylan Osetkowski (Unicaja)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Of course. (2) Is he the reason why? He saved them in Belgium, that's for sure. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? Yes, and no. Same as with Tyree, he had a hot game against Filou Oostende, and a low production one against King Szczecin, with just 4 points. Unicaja were actually -2 with him on the floor in that one. (3.5) So he's not the leader of the MVP Race? Not right now. But his start to the season has been sublime, and he's the main favorite to win the MVP of the Season award if Unicaja get to the Final Four again.
#2 Zoltan Perl (Falco-Vulcano Szombathely)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep! 2-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Yep, hometown hero, came up big with seven clutch points against Pallacanestro Reggiana. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 24.5 points, 57 percent shooting from the field, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.0 blocks, 23.5 efficiency rating per game. No wonder he was voted Player of the Week twice by the fans. (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) Does he have his own fashion brand? Nope. Although that would be cool, like, the Pearl of Szombathely. Or just those ZOLTAN signs from Dude, Where's My Car?
#1 Zac Seljaas (FIT/One Wurzburg Baskets)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yes, 2-0! (2) Is he the reason why? Yes, check the numbers! (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 24.0 points, 60 percent from three-point range on nearly eight attempts per game, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals, 1.5 assists, 28.0 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? ...and making it, then celebrating with his wife and his three sons, for sure. (5) Does he have his own fashion brand? YES!!! The unique style of mullet and the solo mustache seems to be working for him, and you can try being just like him because the Seljaas Shop invites you to buy the Vokuhila Mann t-shirts, meaning the man with the mullet, or a more international one, with his profile and a thumb up, just saying Mullets.
Can't wait for the next Fall-Winter Collection to drop...
There you have it, Zac Seljaas is the leader of the MVP Race at Checkpoint 1!
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