By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
A mix of old and new, this week’s Basketball Champions League team includes familiar faces, veterans who enter their spotlight and also young guns who are eager to prove themselves. According to the BCL press release the team inludes the following players.
Tyrese Rice, Guard
Yes, the Brose Bamberg playmaker can do it all when the rock’s in his hands. The skillful Rice displays so much panache that he’s a one-man thrill show, yet he’s unselfish at the same time. In his tantalizing performance last week at home against Fuenlabrada, he had 8 assists to go with his 33 points. He might have made the Team of the Week then had Bamberg not been shot down by that buzzer-beating (Pako) Cruz missile. This week, he had 5 dimes to go with his 20 points in a 73-64 win over JDA Dijon. The 31-year-old, who finished with a +18 efficiency, poured in 12 of his points over the last five minutes when Bamberg took control.
Giannoulis Larentzakis, Guard
Already a winner of this competition as a member last season’s AEK squad, Larentzakis looks hellbent on carrying his team back into the Play-offs. He drilled 7 of 8 shots from behind the arc and finished with 23 points. While logging 31 minutes, the 25-year-old shooting guard, a player that has gained additional confidence by putting on the Greece shirt in 6 of their 8 wins in the European Qualifiers for the World Cup, also had a couple of steals. He finished with a +27 efficiency rating.
Austin Daye, Forward
It takes some doing to stand out as the best player in a clash like Wednesday’s 111-104 double-overtime triumph over UNET Holon because there were so many magnificent performances. Daye did stand out, though, especially considering how the veteran forward came through again and again when the game was on the line. He was 11 of 20 from the field, 2 of 3 from deep and 6 of 7 at the free-throw line. He was Zag-tastic, corralling 11 rebounds, handing out 3 assists and swatting a shot. Daye ended up with a game-high +33 efficiency rating.
Matt Costello, Forward
The 25-year-old Costello only missed one shot from the field on Wednesday in a 96-77 rout of MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg in Germany. He drilled 8 of 9 attempts from the floor and finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds and walked off the court with a sparkling +29 efficiency rating after playing 29 minutes of action. Costello also had one of the plays of the week, getting a swat before hustling down the floor for a dunk late in the third quarter. There’s going to be a lot more to come from him this season!
Babacar Toure, Center
It’s impossible to look past the numbers of Toure, a 33-year-old Senegalese who dominated for Fribourg on Wednesday in a 97-79 victory over Opava. Toure tore apart the opposition with 23 points and he also had 16 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks and a steal! It all added up to a +32 efficiency and a spot on the Team of the Week as Fribourg celebrated their first-ever Regular Season triumph in the Basketball Champions League.