By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem is unbeaten in over two months, they put together a string of 14 straight wins in all competitions. The man in the middle, Zach Hankins, is the biggest reason why the red-and-black team looks unstoppable and is just four wins away from winning the Basketball Champions League.
During the Round of 16, the 26-year-old center became the first player in BCL history to pick up 10 or more rebounds in five straight games, a streak which ended due to foul trouble during the last Gameday in Strasbourg.
March saw Jerusalem go 3-0, despite having to travel to France twice in a row, to take on JDA Bourgogne Dijon and SIG Strasbourg. Hankins picked up a pair of double-doubles, while also getting 2 blocks per game, which puts him on pace to finish the season second in blocks on the all-time list in the BCL.
While his numbers aren’t exactly TJ Shorts-kind of eye-popping, he is the most consistent man for Jerusalem, the anchor on the defensive end and the vertical threat on the offensive end. Being his usual self, Hankins doesn’t feel like he did anything extraordinary to win this award in March.
“It’s a reflection of how our team has been doing. Thriving at my position has everything to do with our team’s flow and coaching. Any individual award belongs to the team as a whole,” Hankins told championsleague.basketball.