MIES (Switzerland) - BasketNews and the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL, have officially partnered to launch the BCL Fantasy League. The league is hosted exclusively on BasketNews.
The league enables fans and fantasy freaks to build super teams and manage their roster like Sam Presti during free agency. If you get it right, there are monthly prizes to be won, with the grand prize being a trip to the BCL Final Four with full accommodation.
TWO WAYS TO PLAY
To keep the competition fierce and dynamic, the game features two distinct game modes:
Classic (Budget) Mode:
Build a winning roster while sticking to a strict budget, navigating player market values, injuries, and hot streaks. Managers can also use strategic wildcards to gain an edge over the competition.
Draft Mode:
Set up private leagues with friends and take turns picking players. Since each BCL star can only be selected once per league, every draft pick matters.
HOW TO JOIN
Ready to test your skills and compete for a trip to the Final Four? Sign up now and build your squad at fantasy.basketnews.com!
We'll get you started with some roster-building tips in this article, but the first thing you need to understand is that you have a €10,000,000 budget to assemble a team consisting of 10 players from three different positions:
4 guards
4 forwards
2 centers
The scoring system is based on a simple formula: a player's efficiency points (EFF), plus or minus 10% depending on whether his team wins or loses.
You can read the full rules here but let's get into some basic ideas to build your roster.
Top Performers
As always, we kick things off by looking at the absolute best five players you could have picked in your starting five for the previous week:
Holon's Adama Sanogo came out on top last week with 31.9 Fantasy Points (FPTS), thanks to another monster game with 28 points, 5 blocks and 4 rebounds against Spartak Office Shoes. He is now the top average scorer of any player who has played on both gamedays so far. He has the week off for Gameday 3, though, so hold your horses if you were in a rush to add him just yet. The fan vote also confirmed Sanogo's 28-point, 5-block performance as the best showing of the week.
Trabzonspor's GB international Akwasi Yeboah made a great case for himself as a long-term asset to regularly bring into your team. His 22 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals on 64-57-80 shooting splits were a real eye-opener and earned him 26.4 FPTS. Again, he's sitting this week out, but Trabzonspor look like a really dangerous offensive team, and Yeboah is not going to be short of opportunities to rack up big scores moving forward. The BCL has Yeboah down for 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting, along with 6 rebounds and 2 steals.
J'Wan Roberts of Nanterre 92 fills out the best frontcourt of Gameday 2. He was also the third-top scorer last week with 25.3 FPTS after putting up 15 points and 12 rebounds in the French club's statement win over the defending champions, Rytas Vilnius.
Mohamed Diarra of Cholet Basket cemented himself as a borderline must-have with another stat-sheet stuffer. He was one rebound shy of another double-double with 14 points and 9 rebounds on 56-100-100 shooting splits! Wowzers! He picked up 24.2 FPTS, and his average across the first two gamedays is now 27.5 FPTS. Sanogo is the only man with a better average after playing twice.
As you have probably guessed, the way the positions of the top scorers from Gameday 2 shook out forced us into picking a triple-forward formation this week (more on that later). So, the next player has to be our lone guard in this lineup. And the top-scoring guard last week was UCAM Murcia's Michael Forrest. The hot-shooting American playmaker recorded 23.1 FPTS from 25 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in Murcia's dominant win at Bamberg. The BCL confirms Forrest's 25-point outing, with 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range, in the 86-67 win.
Jeff's Picks
Stepping into the hot seat this week to steer you in the direction of mega hauls, we have the Voice of FIBA, Jeff Taylor. You'd never question his calls on the mic, so why question his calls in your Fantasy team?
Kendrick Perry (Unicaja) — 1.37m
Leland Walker (Salon Vilpas) — 1.33m (Captain)
Roko Badzim (Cibona) — 900k
Dyshawn Pierre (Galatasaray MCT Technic) — 1.1m
David Kravish (Unicaja) — 680k
6th Man — Deandre Pinckney (AEK BC) — 740k
Jeff has elected to go big on his backcourt, with Perry, Badzim and Walker. He's also put his trust in Leland Walker with his captaincy pick. That seems like a very sound strategy, as Walker is an absolute points machine and a revelation in every way. We caught up with him about his seamless adaptation to FIBA hoops, so definitely give that a read if you haven't.
Double Unicaja is another sensible call. Txus Vidorreta and the gang have won three of their last four in all competitions and are starting to look like they are ready to steamroller through the Regular Season.
Formation Matters
One trend we are noticing among the teams in the top five places of the league so far is that managers are starting to lean heavily into formations that allow them to spend more of their budget on the frontcourt. It makes sense because, while perimeter players can have higher scoring ceilings if they go off for 30-point games, the bigs are picking up rebounds and are less susceptible to losing points through turnovers and missed lower-percentage shots.
The current No. 1-ranked manager went with three forwards and a center for Gameday 2. F4 Dalyvis and its coach, Kornelijus P, went with Emanuel Cate, Adama Sanogo, Mohamed Diarra and a very shrewd pick-up of Joe Wieskamp. The lone backcourt player in the starting lineup was Ty Nichols. Even his 6th Man was Akwasi Yeboah, another forward. All in, the team amassed 195.8 FPTS and gained 680k in team value.
Great work, Kornelijus!
No time to rest on it, though. No doubt plenty of other coaches will be copying that strategy this week and looking to catch up. The distance to the second-placed team is just 1 FPT, so you can't afford to make any mistakes with your transfers this week.
The Basketball Champions League's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA or the Basketball Champions League.
The Basketball Champions League takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.