By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Basketball Champions League Final Four has been set and a number of players stood out as they led their teams to the final tournament of the season.
Five of them earned a place on the Team of the Month for April and they are the following: Giorgi Shermadini, Chima Moneke, Chris Johnson, Joe Thomasson and Jonah Radebaugh.
Per the Basketball Champions League:
April was a successful month for BAXI Manresa, Lenovo Tenerife, Hapoel U-NET Holon and MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg. Reaching the Final Four also meant five of their players reached the Team of the Month.
The backcourt belongs to Joe Thomasson and Jonah Radebaugh.
Thomasson was the go-to guy for BAXI Manresa, getting 15.0 points per game, done on 50 percent shooting from the field. His most impressive sequence was the game-winning jumper that sent Unicaja packing, and got Manresa fans planning their road trip to Bilbao for the Final Four.
The 28-year-old is averaging 13.0 points per game this season, but has been more than impressive over his last seven BCL games, getting to double digits in all of those, hitting 16 points on four different occasions.
Jonah Radebaugh played three games in the Quarter-Finals, and was the best player for MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg in the series against U-BT Cluj Napoca. He averaged 16.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in April, doing a bit of everything in the crucial Game 3 – 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals.
Radebaugh was the MVP of October, and has been consistent all season long, with 14.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game. If his free throws were on a higher level, he would’ve been chasing the 50-40-90 season, but at 49.7-43.8-70.7 it doesn’t seem possible with two games left to play.
The wings belong to Chima Moneke and Chris Johnson.
Johnson is on a seven-game long streak of scoring 10+ points, and putting up 16.5 points on 64.7 percent shooting was enough to get Hapoel U-NET Holon through to the Final Four, while ending SIG Strasbourg’s campaign.
The co-captain of Holon had a season to remember so far. Chris scored in double digits in 15 of Holon’s 17 BCL games, and the only two times he failed to get to 10 or more, he had 8 and 9 points, respectively. With 15.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, he is a candidate for the MVP of the Season, award.
Same goes for Moneke. BAXI Manresa’s charismatic leader had 17.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in April, while playing only 24 minutes per game. In Game 1 against Unicaja, Moneke had his first double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Moneke has been in double figures in all games since the start of the Round of 16, averaging 17.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 63 percent from the field in that period.
The center of April was Giorgi Shermadini.
Lenovo Tenerife’s giant had 14.5 points on 62.5 percent shooting during the month. Shermadini missed the start of the season due to injury, but has been back to his usual dominance ever since, putting up 13.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game all season long.
With Shermadini being efficient in the middle, Lenovo Tenerife managed to defeat Tofas Bursa in two close games in the Quarter-Finals. They are unbeaten since January, and their Play-In Series battles with Pinar Karsiyaka.