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, before we discuss this week's picks, let's take a look at the players who put up the biggest numbers in the previous round and then also have a look at our leaderboard.
Neftali Difuidi was arguably the standout performer of the round. The SIG Strasbourg guard celebrated his 25th birthday in style, putting up 31.9 FPTS to lead all picks in a commanding 95-70 win over Cibona.
He finished with 23 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and a block in a superb all-round display, and he wasn't the only one making history.
Teammate Jaylen Hands also went over 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, making them the first pair of teammates in BCL history to achieve that feat in the same game. Not a bad birthday present!
Robert Lee Bonham of BK KVIS Pardubice was another big time points collector. He poured in 30 points and recorded 25 EFF against BC Juventus Utena, although it wasn't quite enough to prevent a 98-95 overtime defeat. A huge individual scoring night, just shame the Fantasy scoring bonus went the other way.
Amine Noua was another player who couldn't really have done much more. The Unicaja forward finished with 27 points and five rebounds, recording 27 EFF in a 99-94 win over Pallacanestro Reggiana.
If you'd picked Noua, he'd have scored you a monster 29.7 FPTS. He also made five of his seven attempts from beyond the arc, continuing what has been a breakthrough season for Noua so far.
He's currently top of our MVP Race as a result.
His teammate Kendrick Perry was just as influential, finishing with 26 EFF after putting up 17 points and nine assists. That's the sort of all-round contribution that makes him an interesting Fantasy option, particularly when Unicaja are winning games.
Over in Reggiana's ranks, Jaylen Barford also finished with 26 EFF. He had 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists, but ended up on the losing side despite an excellent individual performance.
However, since Reggiana lost the game Karl Chavis' 24 EFF in Salon Vilpas' impressive 77-69 win over scored him 26.4 FPTS and took him above Barford as a pick.
There were plenty of other big contributions too. Zach Freemantle led Legia with 23 points in that same game, while Joel Aminu also scored 23 as Telekom Baskets Bonn beat Bnei Penlink Herzliya 101-89.
On the leaderboard, we need to shoutout Edgaras M. and his team P23. Maybe he was hoping for 23rd place but he's currently in first, after recording 162.5 round points and adding 740k to his team value.
His picks were:
Zoltan Perl (25.2 FPTS)
Jarred Godfrey (23.1 FPTS)
Karl Chavis (26.4 FPTS)
Amine Noua (29.7 FPTS)
Lovro Mazalin (25 FPTS)
and Gyorgy Goloman (16.5 FPTS).
That double bet on Salon Vilpas really paid off. Let's see if he can keep guessing right this week.
The Picks
Let's get into this week's picks. I've gone position by position, with a few familiar faces making the cut and one or two players who might not be at the very top of everyone's shortlist.
The idea is simple: find players who can put up big efficiency numbers, while giving ourselves a decent chance of picking up that all-important 10 percent winning bonus.
Center
Arturas Gudaitis - Rytas Vilnius
Let's start with the big man. Gudaitis has been a reliable presence in the paint for Rytas, and he comes into this round after putting up 21 points and 5 rebounds in their win over Trabzonspor.
That's exactly the kind of scoring threat you want from your center, particularly when he's getting plenty of opportunities close to the basket. He's a top four center in the BCL for efficiency this season with 18 EFF.
Rytas travel to face Nanterre 92 on Wednesday, and Gudaitis will be looking to carry that form into another important game. He's a strong option to anchor your team.
Forwards
Adama Sanogo - Hapoel Holon
Is there really much explaining to do here?
Sanogo has been an absolute Fantasy machine so far this season. He's averaging 25.7 EFF, which makes him the top scorer in the entire league, getting 22.3 points and 8 rebounds per game and an average of 26.3 FPTS every week.
That's an extraordinary level of consistency, especially when you consider the volume of production he's bringing on both ends of the floor.
Holon face RASTA Vechta on Tuesday, and with Sanogo continuing to shoulder such a huge share of the offensive workload, he's a no-brainer to have in your team. If you do have him, you should also seriously consider making him your captain.
Brandon Angel - ALBA BERLIN
Angel is player who was going under the radar to start the season. His performances and ALBA's record this season put an end to that in a hurry.
He's averaging 20.7 EFF across his three BCL appearances, but that average only tells part of the story. He has already produced a monster 30 EFF performance last time out, which earned his owners a whopping 33 FPTS, showing just how high his ceiling can be.
ALBA face Surne Bilbao on Tuesday in what should be a much tougher test than some of their previous games.
But Angel has shown that he can contribute across the boxscore, and that versatility is exactly what we're looking for in Fantasy. If they win, the Germans could be the first team to secure a spot in the Round of 16.
Mohamed Diarra - Cholet Basket
Diarra is another player putting up excellent numbers, averaging 21 EFF after three games. He's already shown a ceiling of 28 EFF against Holon in early October, so there's plenty of potential here if he puts everything together again.
His average of 22.2 FPTS ranks him top five for the season and also makes it a bigger risk to go without him.
Cholet host Spartak Office Shoes on Tuesday in a matchup between two teams who have both had positive starts to the campaign. Diarra will be looking to make sure Cholet stay top of Group F.
Guard
Ty Nichols - Peristeri Betsson
Nichols rounds out the starting five. He's averaging 20 EFF and 22 FPTS this season, which makes him the second-highest scoring guard in the game so far.
Peristeri travel to face Pallacanestro Varese on Wednesday, and Nichols has been a key contributor to their strong start. He's the dictionary definition of consistency so far and Peristeri are absolutely flying in Group D with a 3-0 record.
Sixth Man
Bastien Vautier – Surne Bilbao
And finally, for our sixth man, we're heading to Bilbao for Bastien Vautier.
The French center is averaging 20.5 EFF and 20.4 FPTS across his two BCL appearances, with a minimum of 19 in either game. That's a pretty impressive floor, and exactly what you want from someone coming off the bench in your Fantasy lineup.
Bilbao face ALBA BERLIN on Tuesday, so it's not an easy matchup by any means.
But Vautier has already shown that he can produce consistently, and his rebounding and scoring around the basket give him multiple ways to build up his efficiency. He's a very solid option to round out the six.
Formation is function
There is no need to overthink this one for Gameday 6. There are four forwards in the Top 5 fantasy scorers thus far this season and three of them play this week; Adama Sanogo, Brandon Angel, and Mohamed Diarra.
Even if you wanted to break the template slightly, Frankie Fidler of Sabah BC and Gytis Radzevicius of Rytas Vilnius play this week and both make the top 10 fantasy scorers for the season.
Given how popular this game is in Lithuania, you already know that Radzo will be heavily favored this week, which only makes the risk of going without him even higher.
No matter who you pick, the obvious choice is to fit them in a 1-3-1 formation, and we're not talking about a trapping zone defense designed to prevent middle penetration.
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.