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Bonn, Tenerife, Unicaja, Hapoel and Manresa with players on Team of the Month

MIES (Switzerland) - The Quarter-Finals are over and now we know the four teams that made it to the Final Four. Each of the contenders for the crown has a player on the Team of the Month for April, and there is also a player whose team narrowly missed out on the Semi-Finals, despite playing elite basketball across three games.

 

TJ Shorts picked up where he left off in March, claiming another spot on the Team of the Month. Telekom Baskets Bonn's point guard was in control in a matchup for the ages against SIG Strasbourg's Marcus Keene, and Bonn edged out the French side in three games to reach their first Final Four in BCL history.

Shorts had 19.3 points and 5.3 assists per game in April, making a strong case to pick up the MVP of the Season award. The 25-year-old is averaging 18.7 points, 7.1 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game during the entire 2022-23 campaign.

  MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK
TJ Shorts statlines
vs SIG Strasbourg (G3) 31 24 1 6 2 0
vs SIG Strasbourg (G2) 30 10 5 4 0 0
vs SIG Strasbourg (G1) 31 24 5 6 2 0


Joining him in the backcourt is Lenovo Tenerife hero Bruno Fitipaldo. With Sasu Salin out because of an injury, Txus Vidorreta needed the Uruguayan guard to step up in the series against BAXI Manresa, and that's exactly what he did to send the defending champions back to the Final Four.

Fitipaldo delivered 18.3 points per game, done on 55.0 percent shooting from beyond the arc. His five triples in Game 3 were too much for BAXI Manresa, and the 31-year-old will enter the Final Four on 35-of-68 shooting from deep for the season.

  MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK
Bruno Fitipaldo statlines
vs BAXI Manresa (G3) 29 22 1 2 2 0
vs BAXI Manresa (G2) 28 17 1 6 2 0
vs BAXI Manresa (G1) 17 16 0 3 1 0


Dario Brizuela is the only member of the Team of the Month who needed just two games to reach the Semi-Finals. The 28-year-old led Unicaja to their first Final Four appearance with 18.0 points per game against UCAM Murcia, completing a stress-free sweep .

Brizuela shot 13-of-23 from the field, including 5-of-10 from the three-point range, and made all five of his free throws in the Quarter-Finals. With 13.1 points per game in just 18.6 minutes, he's also making a strong case in the MVP of the Season discussion.

  MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK
Dario Brizuela statlines
vs UCAM Murcia (G2) 21 17 0 4 1 0
vs UCAM Murcia (G1) 24 19 3 3 2 0


Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem will also celebrate a famous first as they reached their maiden Semi-Finals in this competition. They have Levi Randolph to thank for that result, the forward went crazy in the Quarter-Finals against AEK, putting up 65 points in three games.

Randolph was extremely efficient in Games 2 and 3 in the series, going 10-of-13 from the field in Athens, and 8-of-14 in Jerusalem in the decider. Coach Aleksandar Dzikic always tries to find him when Hapoel need a bucket, his 15.0 points per game for the season are a proof the plan usually works.

  MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK
Levi Randolph statlines
vs AEK (G3) 30 25 5 1 2 0
vs AEK (G2) 34 28 3 0 2 0
vs AEK (G1) 33 12 4 0 1 0


The man in the middle is a player who failed to reach the Final Four, but his performances were simply too good to go unnoticed. Devin Robinson soared through skies to push BAXI Manresa all the way to a close Game 3 in the Canary Islands.

With 16.1 points per game since the start of the Round of 16, Robinson is one of the best mid-season arrivals in BCL history, turning Manresa into a force to be reckoned with once again.

  MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK
Devin Robinson statlines
vs Lenovo Tenerife (G3) 27 14 8 2 1 0
vs Lenovo Tenerife (G2) 26 16 6 0 1 0
vs Lenovo Tenerife (G1) 28 15 6 2 2 1


One of these five players will be selected as the MVP of the Month for April. The official announcement will be made on Wednesday, April 26.