By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Dylan Osetkowski of Unicaaja, Matt Mitchell of SIG Strasbourg, Errick McCollum of Pinar Karsiyaka, TJ Shorts of Telekom Bonn, and Joe Ragland of Hapoel Holon are the five candidates for the first Basketball Champions League MVP of the month award.
Per the press release: With the end of the month, it is time to honor those who have been the most successful on the court in October. Five players from five different teams made it to the Team of the Month, one of them will also be named the MVP of October on Monday.
In a small-ball lineup, Dylan Osetkowski is the tallest player selected. Unicaja’s 206cm/6’9” big man only played a total of 36 BCL minutes in October, and yet managed to get 33 points in that period, averaging 16.5 points in 18 minutes per game.
Osetkowski is a 26-year-old who can spread the court with his 6-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc in the first two games. Unicaja won both of them, taking an early lead in their second BCL campaign.
Matt Mitchell is the other big guy on the team of the month. SIG Strasbourg’s powerful forward played three games so far, winning two of them, averaging 22.0 points, shooting 55 percent from the floor. The 23-year-old showed throughout October why he is on everybody’s radar this season.
He would be one of the biggest candidates for the most improved player award if there was one handed out in the BCL. In his first 16 BCL games, he got to 20+ points only once, now he has back-to-back 20+ point games, including a BCL career-high 26 points against UCAM Murcia.
Errick McCollum leads the scoring in the BCL, earning a spot on the Team of the Month. Pinar Karsiyaka’s guard is already 34, but shows no signs of slowing down, powering through for 80 points in his first three BCL games.
McCollum had 33 points against UNAHOTELS Reggio Emilia, tying the BCL season-high. Pinar Karsiyaka are up to a 2-1 start to the season behind McCollum’s scoring, which has been on his usual levels, getting all the off balance jumpers and runners to drop without breaking a sweat.
But McCollum is not alone at the top of the scoring charts. TJ Shorts also has 80 points, and he’s playing in the exact same group as Errick, taking Telekom Baskets Bonn to a 2-1 record while averaging 26.7 points per game.
Shorts is only the second man in BCL history to have three straight 25+ point games, following Kevin Punter who did it back in January and February 2018. TJ’s explosive scoring is not his only weapon, he also dishes out 7.7 assists per game and grabs 4.7 rebounds every night.
Finally, the last spot on the Team of the Month belongs to Joe Ragland. Hapoel Atsmon Holon’s point guard just continued with his last season’s performances this season, dishing out a league-leading 10.3 assists per game.
The 32-year-old also had a 31-point game this season, his career-high in all European competitions, and he’s averaging 18.7 points per game, making Hapoel Atsmon Holon one of only two 3-0 teams this season, along with BAXI Manresa.
The MVP of October will be announced on Monday.