04 October, 2022
14 May, 2023
1 Jordan Davis (UCAM)
27/10/2022
Review
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Seven takeaways from Wednesday: Murcia's streak at 11 games, big night for Jordan Davis

MIES (Switzerland) - Four games were on this Wednesday, and Hapoel Atsmon Holon were the only team that got to 3-0. SIG Strasbourg were stopped in Spain, Tofas Bursa and Filou Oostende got their first wins of the BCL season.

As this is Season Seven, we will break down all the action in seven takeaways from this Gameday.

#1 UCAM Murcia unstoppable at home

When somebody says "the hottest home court in the BCL," one would probably mention Galatasaray or Holon or Bilbao, maybe Falco. One would be wrong.

The toughest home court in all of BCL belongs to UCAM Murcia. Their 80-78 win over SIG Strasbourg was their 11th straight home win in this competition. Yes, 11 in a row at home, most people don't even remember the last defeat that happened over there.

But the ground is giving in a little bit, UCAM Murcia's home wins aren't exactly blowouts. Instead, their last four wins in that run were all by three or less points' difference, the slightest of margins on their way to a 2-1 record in this group.

In other UCAM Murcia related news, they scored 26 free throws against SIG. They scored more than 25 in each of their first three BCL games this season. Before this season, UCAM Murcia only had two 25+ free throws made games in this competition. Aggressive approach is all they ask for from the stands.

#2 Jordan Davis' big night out

Usually coaches talk about team efforts and working hard as a unit. Wednesday is not one of those days, because Jordan Davis was allowed to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, wherever he wanted to do it.

"I would like to start by saying: Thank you, Jordan! Because this rhythm is incredible. And you are this kind of player. With this kind of rhythm, we're a much better team, believe me. Congratulations. Unbelievable game," coach Sito Alonso gave Davis his flowers.


Davis finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds, picking up his first double-double in what was his 14th BCL game. However, this wasn't his best scoring output ever. He had 35 back in December 2019, when he was still a part of Rasta Vechta in Germany, and he faced Hereda San Pablo Burgos.

Against SIG Strasbourg, he shot the ball 9-of-17, got to the free throw line with ease to get 10-of-12 there, and he actually led the team in blocks with two of them. Explosive, efficient, electric. If he keeps this up, he'll join the MVP talks pretty soon.

#3 Tough as Tofas

Tofas Bursa finally looked like a 3-1 team from the Turkish League, and not the 0-2 team from the BCL. They showed no mercy against the Hungarian champs, and beating Falco Vulcano Szombathely 90-63 isn't something that a lot of teams can do.

In fact, nobody does that. This was Falco's heaviest defeat in the BCL, and Bouba Toure was feeling good with 23 points and 8 rebounds, while hitting all eight of his attempts from the field. Rob Gray scored 14, Arturas Milaknis played his first BCL game and put together a rock solid 13-4-4 line with four threes to his name.


Honorable mention goes to Tyler Ennis and Berk Ugurlu, 14 points, 13 assists between the two point guards. Tofas were a +30 team with Ennis on the floor.

UCAM and SIG at 2-1, Tofas and Falco at 1-2 - this group could easily end in a four-way tie at 3-3...

#4 Best start ever for Holon

Hapoel Atsmon Holon defeated Galatasaray Nef 82-73 to remain the only unbeaten team in Group C. It was just another proof that stats are so complicated, because Galatasaray Nef were better than Hapoel Atsmon Holon in rebounds, offensive rebounds, points from turnovers, fast break points, second chance points, points in the paint and points from the bench.

They had 8 steals. They had just 6 turnovers.

But all of those numbers don't mean a thing when you're shooting 25-of-72 from the field, while your opponents get 52 percent of their threes to fall.


Erick Green and Joe Ragland combined for 37 points on the night, allowing Erick to send out a message.

"We're the best backcourt in the league, hands down. We're the best one-two punch and we're gonna keep showing it every single night. We're on a mission to keep proving that. Whoever guard us, it's gonna be a heck of a night for y'all,” Green said after the game.

He is not wrong. Hapoel Atsmon Holon have been around for six of the seven seasons in the BCL. This is the first time that they started the campaign at 3-0.

#5 Feelin' you, Oostende

Over the weekend, Filou Oostende lost to Spirou Charleroi by 22. The last time Filou Oostende lost with a margin that big was back in May 2018, so you can imagine how unhappy Dario Gjergja was, and how motivated the Belgian champs were to fight for redemption.

They defeated Legia Warszawa 68-59 on the road, with 18 points from Breein Tyree, and a bit of everything by Pierre-Antoine Gillet, who had 8 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists.

The 59 points allowed is the second best mark ever for coach Gjergja and Oostende. The only time the other team scored less was back in December 2019, when it was Hapoel Holon on the other side, and they had 58 that day.

#6 Troubles for Galatasaray and Strasbourg?

We always emphasize that nobody should view BCL as an isolated competition. Galatasaray Nef and SIG Strasbourg are giving us amazing examples why watching them play their domestic leagues counts, too.

Because 2-1 records in the BCL aren't bad at all, in fact, they are still alive to win the group. But when you see their domestic records (SIG 1-5, Galata 1-3), you start to wonder if this is a matter of missing the confidence to steer the ship back home to safety.

They have the time to fix this, they won't play the BCL until late in November now. By then, they could be back to .500 domestically, so let's not panic about the troubles they are having at this moment.

#7 Round of 16 shaping up

Is it time to talk about the Round of 16 already? Well, yes, it is. That's because groups are beginning to take shape here, and we have some clear favorites in them, meaning we could play the good old, "what if the Regular Season ended today?" game here.

We will have the Play-In Series in January, where the second- and third-placed teams from neighboring groups (A2 v B3, B2 v A3, C2 v D3, D2 v C3, etc) will fight for a place among the sweet 16.

But let's give that one a rest for now and talk about the group winners, moving straight to the Round of 16. So, if the season ended today, we would have UCAM Murcia and MHP RIESEN in the same group; Telekom Baskets Bonn and BAXI Manresa would be in the other group; Hapoel Holon and Unicaja would also be stuck together; and the last one would belong to Surne Bilbao and Peristeri bwin.

Long story short, some of these would be crazy good and we can't wait for the Round of 16 to start! In order to better understand the format, click here and read all about it.