MIES (Switzerland) - The Basketball Champions League Season 11, powered by Ameresco SUNEL tipped off with 16 games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday gives us time to reflect on the best individual performances.
The first Team of the Week saw players from Cibona, Rytas Vilnius, AEK BC, Cholet and Unicaja make the cut.
Croatian champions Cibona returned to the BCL for the first time in 10 years, and decided to make their comeback a memorable one.
They defeated Galatasaray MCT Technic 96-76 in Zagreb, with Khalif Battle getting 32 points on 11-of-15 shooting, including 6-of-7 from three-point range, while also dishing out 5 assists to get an efficiency rating of 33.
The defending champions Rytas Vilnius needed a comeback of their own, in their opening game of the season against Sabah BC (82-73).
Gytis Radzevicius did all the Gytis Radzevicius things imaginable, finishing with 21 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and an efficiency rating of 30. It was his ninth BCL double-double, only Joe Ragland (16) and Marcelinho Huertas (12) have more.
We can't keep talking about comebacks without mentioning the comebAEK kings. AEK BC had another special night in Athens, going from -3 with just 20 seconds left to a clutch three-pointer, a defensive rebound and a quick layup for a 95-93 win before overtime.
The Most Valuable Player of Season X returned in the same mood. Frank Bartley had 27 points, 11 of them coming in the final five minutes when it mattered most, including the aforementioned triple. His efficiency rating for the day was 23.
Cholet Basket were also in the 90s in scoring, powering through against Hapoel Maoz Daniel Holon (99-79). Mohamed Diarra needed 24 minutes to score 23 points in impressive fashion.
Diarra shot 8-of-11 from the field, with 5-of-8 three-pointers, while also grabbing 7 rebounds and not committing a single turnover, good enough for an efficiency rating of 28.
Finally, the middle belongs to Willy Hernangomez. The FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Most Valuable Player led Unicaja with 23 points on 8-of-8 shooting, while also grabbing 9 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists.
Unicaja were a +29 team in his 20 minutes of work, and his efficiency rating of 32 was by far the highest among all players from both Unicaja and BC Juventus Utena. Final score: 105-69.
Vote for the Player of the Week here, the winner will be announced on Basketball Champions League social media profiles on Friday.