By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Team of the Month in the Basketball Champions League features Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Levi Randolph, Pierre-Antoine Gillet, Gytis Radzevicius, and David McCormack.
The five standout players of December were officially confirmed on Thursday. One out of the five will be named MVP of the Month on Friday.
Earlier in the 2023-24 season of the Champions League, Vernon Carey Jr. of Pinar Karsiyaka and Justin Tillman of AEK Betsson earned the MVP awards in October and November, respectively.
Per championsleague.basketball: “The time has come for the final Team of the Month announcement in 2023. There were plenty of candidates for the five spots in the December lineup, but the five players selected on the Team of the Month for December combined excellent performances with assisting their respective teams to advance to the next stages of the Basketball Champions League.
Darussafaka Lassa saw a lot of roster changes in December, and were facing elimination in a direct head-to-head matchup with the Latvian champions, VEF Riga. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman however decided the timing was not right yet for the men in green-and-black to put their passports away.
The Dacka guard exploded for 33 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, propelling his team to a six-point win and a place in the Play-Ins. He was also impressive in the Istanbul side’s first December game, scoring 25 against Cholet Basket in France, more than enough to take the first guard spot on Team of the Month for December.
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The other guard spot belongs to Levi Randolph. Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem had a much easier December than November, playing two games this month compared to four the month before. But, really, when it comes to Randolph, you wish he played a game every week with the run he’s been having.
Randolph scored in double figures in every single BCL game this season, putting up 13 points and 5 rebounds against PAOK mateco, following it up with 29 points against SL Benfica, in just 25 minutes of work. Jerusalem won their group and advanced to the Round of 16 directly.
Filou Oostende looked down and out when they lost the tiebreaker against EWE Baskets Oldenburg. However, the perennial Belgian champs did not give up, and with Pierre-Antoine Gillet there to lead them, they climbed up to a 3-3 record with back-to-back wins over SIG Strasbourg and Pinar Karsiyaka.
They clinched the latter on a Gillet triple from way deep, with 3.3 seconds left in the game.
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Gillet has scored in double figures in all six BCL games this season, collecting a combined 29 points in the two aforementioned wins on 10-of-16 shooting from the field, including the three-pointer that saved Oostende’s campaign.
The other forward spot belongs to Gytis Radzevicius. Similar to Gillet, he also performed his own act of clutch heroics, hitting the game-winning putback against JDA Bourgogne Dijon to earn Rytas Vilnius the homecourt advantage for the Play-Ins in January.
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Radzevicius ended December with two double-doubles, collecting 13 and 10 against BK Opava and following it up with 18 and 10 against Dijon. Rytas lost their first two games of the BCL season without Radzevicius, but won all four since he returned to the team.
Finally, the man in the middle is once again David McCormack. He started the season impressively with Darussafaka, but has since moved to Galatasaray EKMAS, and it seems the move was a successful one for all sides involved.
McCormack had 19 points and 10 rebounds against SL Benfica for Galatasaray to punch their ticket to the Play-Ins and avoid elimination. He then added 10 points and 7 rebounds in just 23 minutes of work for the yellow-reds to take down PAOK mateco on the road, too.
One of these five players will also be named the MVP of December. Tune in on as we announce it on Friday.”
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League