By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Most pundits were not expecting SIG Strasbourg to make it to the Basketball Champions League Final 8, let alone the Semifinals. Taking in the recent roster shakeup and the above-average issues stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, the French outlet ranking fourth in the season-ending tournament of FIBA’s premier European club competition was a massive success.
It certainly was a crazy run through the trip to Nizhny Novgorod with large chunks of domestic action pushed back and the team forced to focus on its European campaign. Maybe a bitter taste at the end but still a great season for Strasbourg. A memoir would heavily feature the MVP of the 2020-21 season, Bonzie Colson.
“It’s definitely a blessing for me to be the MVP. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it. We heard it in the middle of the shootaround today, and I was excited,” mentioned Colson after the Final 8 Semifinals loss to Hereda San Pablo Burgos, “All the hard work I put into this game, in the summertime, the grind, has all paid off. It definitely feels good. Another individual accomplishment for me. But I am still motivated, humble, and hungry.”
The former Notre Dame standout talking to Eurohoops earlier in the season vowed to continue improving after one of the multiple key buckets keeping Strasbourg on track, perhaps the one making the most noise, the game-winning buzzer-beating triple versus VEF Riga. That shot earned him praise from former teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Colson, 25, walked through his team’s character after that trip to Latvia. His incredible win-clinching effort was a sign of more success to come for both himself individually and his team advancing to the Final 8 and capturing fourth place, merely a few months in the rebuild launched in early 2020.
“It’s been great. A lot of us had different stories. We were motivated, everybody on our team, individually. And we work hard,” he said summing up the Champions League season and his team, “We are Strasbourg, we work hard, we grind, we focus and we get better.”
The American forward finished his first BCL season with 18.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.2 steals per contest. He added his name next to Jordan Theodore, Manny Harris, Tyrese Rice, and Keith Langford, the most valuable players of the previous four seasons. But most importantly, he indeed produced his best effort in every single game.
“I was grasping a lot of information on how to be a pro from Giannis (Antetokounmpo), George Hill, Khris Middleton, Eric Bledsoe, Pat Connaughton, Pau Gasol, a bunch of guys,” he had told Eurohoops commenting on what he learned during his NBA stint at the Milwaukee Bucks, “They gave me a lot of confidence to go out there and play. It was definitely a great opportunity for me. I am thankful they gave me the opportunity to play for sure. I tried to use what they taught me, the passion for the game, the dedication, the nutrition part, all that stuff.”
Fresh off the Bucks experience, he moved his talents to Europe joining Darussafaka Tekfen, in July 2019. One year later, he landed in Strasbourg, a team pressing the reset button after the departure of long-serving head coach Vincent Collet. An extended run in the Basketball Champions League was an achievement nearly immediately unlocked. “I think we have shown a lot of teams that we can play with the best,” Colson proudly points out seven months later.
A bright future ahead for both the lasting BCL original finally enjoying success at the latter stages of the tournament and Colson himself as a leading member of a balanced squad recognized as the MVP of the season. However, this is not over just yet, with a talented and determined player in Colson hoping to wrap up his extremely solid campaign with additional fireworks in the Jeep Elite Pro A.
Action at the domestic level was mostly halted for several months before the top-flight teams recently returned to a normal schedule. Lassi Tuovi’s side is currently ranked third carrying a 16-6 record. Right after the BCL Final 8, Strasbourg is bouncing right back into important games, the remaining fixtures of the 2020-21 French league schedule. Colson has put up 17.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per appearance so far.
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League