By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The Basketball Champions League laying out a six-game round-robin schedule to replace the traditional form of the Playoffs with a Round of 16 group stage generated exciting action all across Europe. Eight teams survived punching in a Final 8 ticket and one player of each advancing side, as picked out by Eurohoops, made their presence felt most.
Group I surfaced Hapoel Unet-Credit Holon and Pinar Karsiyaka. Spanish clubs, Lenovo Tenerife and Hereda San Pablo Burgos progressed through Group J. Nizhny Novgorod and SIG Strasbourg clinched the Group K berths. ERA Nymburk and Casademont Zaragoza got the job done in Group L.
Here are the players, in alphabetical order, with the largest input in those successful Final 8 bids.
Bonzie Colson (SIG Strasbourg)
17.8 PPG, 6 RPG, 2APG, 1.4 SPG, 1 BPG
The former Notre Dame standout was the leading scorer among forwards in the Round of 16. Bonzie Colson’s five appearances included a 23-point showing when it mattered most, against Turk Telekom in the Group K decider.
The 25-year-old American, born in Washington D.C., was on a roll from the Regular Season with key buckets and more leading performances to his name. A valuable asset in a generally balanced squad ready to make some noise in the season-ending tournament.
C.J. Harris (Hapoel Unet-Credit Holon)
17.5 PPG, 4.3 APG, 2.2 RPG, 0.7 SPG
Very few expected Hapoel Unet-Credit Holon to be among the eight finalists of the 2020-21 season. Many players provided strong contributions but C.J. Harris, eight years out of Wake Forest and since constantly widening his European experience, made our list of top players from each Final 8 team.
His 105 points in the Round of 16 ranked third in the overall list. An impressive tally highlighted by the game-high 24 points versus Happy Casa Brindisi that kept his side alive until the game-winning, Final 8-clinching overtime layup hit by Maxime De Zeeuw.