By Stefan Djordjevic/ info@eurohoops.net
Teams have played out the first half of the 2019-20 Basketball Champions League regular season and it’s time to give some attention to the MVP race. It’s still early in the season with seven more gamedays to be played in the regular part while the BCL MVP also takes into account the playoffs.
So, this list will not give overwhelming importance to the current stat lines of teams and players but will try to predict which squads have the highest chance to make it to Final Four and which player would be the most responsible for them getting there.
In fact, the past three seasons MVPs all led their teams to the Final Four – Jordan Theodore, Manny Harris, Tyrese Rice – while only Harris led his squad to the title.
Without further ado, the top five BCL MVP predictions, in no particular order:
David Holston (JDA Dijon)
Stat Line
13.9 points, 8.1 assists, 2 rebounds, 1.9 steals, 18.6 PIR
The only pick on the list from Group D, David Holston has been the go-to guy for JDA Dijon which holds the top of its group with a 5-2 record and has logged some impressive wins proving they are more than capable to go far this year.
Now, you might think that the stat line above isn’t that impressive but he’s the second-best in assists behind Iberostar Tenerife’s Marcelinho Huertas as the only two players to average more than eight per game. He also logged a double-double with 13 assists last week vs. Besiktas.
More importantly, he has been very clutch for the French squad and even single-handedly secured one of the wins. It was against PAOK on Gameday 4 when he banked three straight shots from deep in the last 90 seconds of the game.
Dyshawn Pierre (Dinamo Sassari)
Stat Line
14.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 18.7 PIR
Dinamo Sassari had a great run last season winning the FIBA Europe Cup and they’ve carried on the momentum to this season as well. They share the top of the Basketball Champions League Group A with a 5-2 record.
Coach Gianmarco Pozzecco’s squad has had some ups and downs but he can count on Dyshawn Pierre to bring the grind every game.
Pierre’s putting on strong stats and what’s even more impressive is that he logged three double-doubles and two of those came with 20+ points and 10+ rebounds. He is a force in the paint, can run in transition, he’s pretty solid from deep making 40% of his attempts and he’s got nerves of steel at the free-throw line when it matters the most.
Howard Sant-Roos (AEK)
Stat Line
13.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 2 steals, 20 PIR
We’ve got a jack of all trades here. Howard Sant-Roos has been doing it all for AEK which shares the top of Group B with Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem with 5-2 records.
Sant-Roos is among the four players averaging 20 PIR so far and it doesn’t come as a surprise as he has been feeling the stat sheet in all categories.
He’s shooting 56.2% from the field (66.7% for two, 45.2% for three) and had one double-double under his belt. He also grabbed ten boards twice this season while he also dished nine assists against Teksut Bandirma.
As if that offensive production wasn’t enough, Sant-Roos is ‘cooling-off’ opponents on defense with two steals per game (ranked among the top six).
Giorgi Shermadini (Iberostar Tenerife)
Stat Line
15.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 16.9 PIR
Iberostar Tenerife is the only undefeated squad this season with a 7-0 record in Group C. Enough said on the title-contender category.
But there is something to be said about being the best player on the best team so far as is the case with Giorgi Shermadini.
The 30-year-old Georgian big uses his experience well on the court dominating the paint and coach Txus Vidoretta uses it as well. Shermadini has 29.1 usage rate proving his the Spanish squads’ go-to guy and especially in combination with Marcelinho Huertas – who leads the league in assists – Tenerife seems unstoppable.