By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Milos Teodosic, Derek Needham, Will Cummings, Mam Jaiteh, and Jaron Blossomgame earned the 7DAYS EuroCup honors and were named to the First Team of the competition for the 2021-22 season.
Per EuroCup Basketball:
With the climax of the season still ahead, Euroleague Basketball continues to honor the individuals who made this 7DAYS EuroCup season such an exciting one. All five members of the All-EuroCup First Team played major roles for their respective teams this season, and they have been rewarded in voting by fans, media, head coaches and team captains.
Jaron Blossomgame, ratiopharm Ulm
With his strength, speed and aggressive play, Jarod Blossomgame made sure he was noticed by fans, experts and opponents alike in his first season in the competition. Blossomgame led ratiopharm Ulm to the quarterfinals before bowing out against Virtus Segafredo Bologna. He ranked fourth in PIR this season with 19.8 per game. Blossomgame was the sixth-best scorer in the competition (16.2 ppg.) thanks to excellent shooting accuracy from all angles (55.8% 2FG, 41.9% 3FG). He also helped on the boards, ranking second overall in defensive boards (6.1) and third in total rebounds (7.6). Blossomgame was the regular season Round 4 MVP after posting 26 points, 11 rebounds and a PIR of 35 in a road victory against eventual quarterfinalist Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana. Blossomgame had two more double-doubles in regular-season action and scored 21 points in his team’s historic eighthfinals road win at Joventut Badalona. Blossomgame made 6 of 10 three-pointers on his way to 22 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks in the quarterfinals against Virtus, rounding out a great season that landed him on the All-EuroCup First Team!
Will Cummings, Boulogne Metropolitans 92
Will Cummings has been named to the All-EuroCup team for the first time in his fourth season in the competition. A EuroCup champion with Darussafaka Istanbul in 2018, Cumming has been Boulogne Metropolitans 92’s floor general and undeniable leader throughout this season He came to play every night, posting PIRs of at least 14 in all except two of his 20 games played. Cummings ranked second in averaged PIR (21.1) and was also the second-best scorer in the competition with 17.9 points per night. He buried 41.1% of his three-point shots and made 87.2% of his free throw attempts. Cummings was among the top 10 in average steals (1.4, ninth) and fouls drawn (6.0, second) while also posting 3.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists for a true all-around performance. Cummings helped Metropolitans lock up third place in its regular season group with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals in a 76-69 home victory against Lietkabelis Panevezys. He led Metropolitans past Umana Reyer Venice in the eighthfinals, 87-66, with 12 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. In his final game of the season, Cummings had career highs of 31 points and 37 PIR in a losing effort against Valencia Basket in the quarterfinals.
Mam Jaiteh, Virtus Segafredo Bologna
In his fifth season in the EuroCup – and first outside his native France – Jaiteh has dominated like never before. The 27-year-old center set career highs in nearly every major statistical category while serving as an unstoppable force in the middle who does maximum damage in minimum time. Jaiteh set a career high in scoring with 20 points against ratiopharm Ulm on opening night and went on to improve that mark three more times, highlighted by a 27-point effort in the quarterfinals against the same Ulm squad. In total, he had five 20-point games and Virtus won all of them. Jaiteh ranks fifth this season in PIR with 18.6 per game and leads the competition in that stat on a per-minute basis with 33.6 prorated over 40 minutes of action. His 7.6 rebounds per game are fourth-best in the EuroCup, he is fifth in two-point shooting (70.9%) and his 13.2 points lead Virtus’s high-octane offense. Jaiteh is the only player on a playoff team to post two of the top 10 games in performance index rating this season; he went for 38 against Ulm in the quarterfinals and 41 against Umana Reyer Venice in Round 14.
Derek Needham, Frutti Extra Bursaspor
A floor general who helped lead Frutti Extra Bursaspor further than anyone expected, point guard Derek Needham has used his experience to put together the best of his three 7DAYS EuroCup seasons to date. At age 31, Needham posted his finest numbers yet in the competition while guiding a Cinderella to the EuroCup Final. Needham ranks sixth among all EuroCup players in average minutes, 30:20, showing just how invaluable he has been for Bursaspor head coach Dusan Alimpijevic. Needham posted EuroCup career highs across the board, too, including averaging 13.2 points and a 10th-ranked 5.0 assists. He tied for sixth in the league in steals (1.4) and ranked eighth in three-point shooting accuracy (49.1%). Needham has been rock-solid in the most important games of the season, as well. He combined 14 points with 5 assists in Bursaspor’s eighthfinals upset of host Partizan NIS Belgrade; collected 20 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in a quarterfinal win at Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana; and registered 13 points and 7 assists during a third consecutive road win, against MoraBanc Andorra in the semifinals. In his third season in the competition, Needham has been selected to the All-EuroCup team for the first time.
Milos Teodosic, Virtus Segafredo Bologna
Despite injuries costing him several games, Teodosic remained the motor of the powerful Virtus attack and led the EuroCup in assists with one of the highest averages in competition history. He has been worth 8.5 assists per game and his per-minute average of 13.9 assists prorated over 40 minutes is a EuroCup single-season record. Teodosic tied for the most assists in a single game this season with 13, a feat he accomplished three times, including in back-to-back wins over playoff-bound Umana Reyer Venice and Frutti Extra Bursaspor in Rounds 10 and 14. Perhaps most impressive about Teodosic’s many assists is not the pure volume but the artistry with which he dishes them, whether they be no-look passes or behind-the-back, through an opponent’s legs or passed at an angle no one else might have seen. Of course, Teodosic’s greatness is not limited to passing. He has also averaged 10.8 points and posted double-figure performance index ratings in all but three games for an average of 15.8. This is his second straight selection to the All-EuroCup Team. Teodosic is also a six-time All-EuroLeague pick, a two-time EuroCup Regular Season MVP and the 2010 EuroLeague MVP.