By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Before Gran Canaria and Turk Telekom meet in the 7DAYS EuroCup final Wednesday, the latest recognition of standout efforts in the 2022-23 campaign draws up the All-EuroCup First Team
Axel Bouteille, Jerian Grant, John Shurna, D.J. Stephens, and Ante Tomic made the squad, Euroleague Basketball announced Monday.
Per the press release: “The countdown to the 2023 7DAYS EuroCup Final is underway. However, before a champion is crowned, it is only fitting to stop and salute the standout performers who made the 2022-23 a success. The five players selected to the All-EuroCup First Team through voting by fans, media, head coaches and team captains are first-time honorees who led their respective teams deep into the EuroCup Playoffs.
John Shurna, Gran Canaria
He may not boast the stats of some of the other All-EuroCup selections, but John Shurna has been an integral part of Gran Canaria’s success in 2022-23. The forward averaged 11.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and a 13.2 PIR in 23:11 minutes on the floor during 15 regular-season appearances before taking his game up a notch in the postseason. In Gran Canaria’s wins against Frutti Extra Bursaspor and Paris Basketball in the eighthfinals and quarterfinals, respectively, Shurna made his presence felt by scoring 17 points on both occasions. Shurna deserves his flowers for an impressive campaign, which has Gran Canaria on the brink of a return to the EuroLeague for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign.
Axel Bouteille, Turk Telekom Ankara
Alex Bouteille is the top scorer among teams that won a game in the EuroCup Playoffs this season. The French sharpshooter played all 21 games for Turk Telekom this season and he hit double digits for points in all but two fixtures. Bouteille closed the regular season with an average of 17.7 points, the most on Turk Telekom’s roster and the fourth highest in the EuroCup, before going on to score 21 in the eighthfinals, 18 in the quarterfinals and 16 in the semifinals. He also grabbed 8 rebounds in the road win at Prometey to earn Semifinals MVP honors. No player in the EuroCup has made more three-pointers than the 60 scored by Bouteille this season. Add in his 4.8 boards per game and there’s no denying Bouteille’s impact on this year’s EuroCup finalist.
Jerian Grant, Turk Telekom Ankara
Turk Telekom Ankara’s success this season has been in part a result of the excellent play of Jerian Grant. The guard played all 18 games in the regular season and averaged 14.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.4 steals for a PIR of 18.5 as Turk Telekom finished with a 13-5 record. His totals for assists and PIR rank him among the top four in each category. Grant was the Quarterfinals MVP after going for 20 points and 7 assists against ratiopharm Ulm. Coach Erdem Can relied on him for 40 minutes in the semifinal victory over Prometey Slobozhanske, in which he recorded 19 points, 6 assists and 2 steals. Turk Telekom will take on Gran Canaria in Wednesday’s final with a place in next year’s EuroLeague up for grabs.
Ante Tomic, Joventut Badalona
Ante Tomic continues to play a huge role for Joventut Badalona, both with his scoring and playmaking from the 5 position, as the player who tends to make everything tick for the Spanish team. The 36-year-old led Joventut in scoring during the regular season with 13.2 points per game, while he also grabbed the most rebounds (5.3 rpg.) and was among the team’s leading assist providers with 3.4 helpers per night. Yet, in the playoffs, Tomic’s influence grew even more as he tried to help Joventut get back into the EuroLeague after a 14-year absence. Joventut’s dream came to an end in the semifinals with a loss to Gran Canaria, but the Croatian center averaged 16.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists across the eighthfinals, quarterfinals and semifinals. It was yet another very impressive campaign by Tomic.
D.J. Stephens, Prometey Slobozhanske
All season long, EuroCup fans have been able to enjoy the high-flying dunks of Prometey Slobozhanske forward D.J. Stephens. Yet, he is so much more than that. In his second season in the competition, the 32-year-old averaged 13.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and a 15.1 PIR while helping lead newcomer Prometey to the semifinals. Stephens played in every possible fixture for his team this season and was a key reason behind Prometey’s 13-game winning streak. That run helped the team wrap up the No.1 spot in Group A and took it as far as the last four, where it lost to Turk Telekom. In the postseason, Stephens improved on his regular-season averages by posting 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds. Stephens ranked fourth in the competition in two-point accuracy at 72.8%.
All-EuroCup Second Team
J’Covan Brown, Onuralp Bitim, Sam Dekker, Bruno Caboclo, and Tyrique Jones were later named the members of the All-EuroCup Second Team.
Per the press release: “The final week of the 7DAYS EuroCup season is upon us, and with it we continue to honor the stars who made the 2022-23 season a success. It’s time to applaud the five players selected to the All-EuroCup Second Team through voting by fans, media, head coaches and team captains. These five players are all receiving this honor for the first time.
J’Covan Brown, Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv
Hapoel had the EuroCup’s top offense and Brawn was the man running it. The veteran point guard led the competition in assists with 6.7 per game, while helping Hapoel reach the quarterfinals. Among his 18 appearances, Brown reached double figures in assists in three games, which included tying the EuroCup’s single-game assist record with 16 in a Round 11 win over Paris Basketball. That was one of Brown’s two MVP of the Round honors, too. For the season, the 33-year-old posted 12.3 points and 3.1 rebounds for an average PIR of 15.8, the second-highest on the team. Brown also shined shooting free throws, making 57 of 62 for the season, ranking third in accuracy at 91.9%.
Onuralp Bitim, Frutti Extra Bursaspor
The second season in the competition for Bitim has been a stellar one. The athletic 24-year-old forward ranked third this season among all EuroCup scorers with 18.1 points per game. He scored 15 or more points in 15 of his 19 appearances this season and never had fewer than 8 points in a single game. Bitim used well his playing time, 32:06 minutes per game, third highest in the competition, to also post 3.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists on average for Bursaspor, and he was the lone player this season to average more than 16.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists. He finished third in the EuroCup with 5.5 fouls drawn per game and had an average PIR of 16.3.
Sam Dekker, London Lions
It was a memorable return to the competition for Dekker, who led London to a historic eighthfinals berth as one of the best and most consistent performers in the competition. Dekker appeared in 16 games and played the fourth most minutes, 30:49 per game. He finished the season ranking second among all EuroCup scorers with 18.2 points, having scored more than 10 points in all but two appearances – his first and last of the season. Dekker’s average performance index rating of 19.6 was third-best in the competition. He also posted 5.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and a team-high 1.2 steals during the season.
Bruno Caboclo, ratiopharm Ulm
The most impactful in-season addition of any team in the competition, dominated after joining Ulm in January. He posted a double-digit performance index rating in 10 of his 11 appearances, with Ulm going 7-4 in those games, for an average of 19.6, which was second-best in the competition. Caboclo also ranked second in blocks (1.5 bpg.) and two-pointers made (5.2), fifth in points (17.4 ppg.), sixth in rebounds (7.8 rpg.) and seventh in offensive rebounds (2.5 orpg.). In Round 13, Caboclo tied a club record with 33 points and set another with 14 two-point shots made on 17 attempts. The 28-year-old took his performances to another level in two playoff games, averaging 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and a PIR of 25.0.
Tyrique Jones, Turk Telekom Ankara
A fixture on the weekly highlight reels, Jones made an impact from the get-go in his first season in the competition and first with the club, which he helped reach the EuroCup Finals. Jones had two of his five double-doubles in the first two rounds of the season and continued to produce, ruling the paints across the EuroCup with averages of 12.5 points and 7.8 rebounds. His 18.5 PIR average was the fifth highest in the competition, while he ranked sixth in both rebounds and offensive rebounds (2.7 orpg.), as well as two-pointers made (5.3). During the three playoff victories on the way to the finals, Jones improved his averages to 15.0 points and 9.3 rebounds for an average PIR of 23.3.”
Previous annual awards featured Gran Canaria’s Olek Balcerowski as the Rising Star and Turk Telekom’s Erdem Can as the Coach of the Year.