2019–20 Basketball Champions League

The 2019–20 Basketball Champions League is the fourth season of the Basketball Champions League (BCL), a European-wide professional basketball competition for clubs, that was launched by FIBA. The competition began in September 2019, with the qualifying rounds, and was supposed to conclude in May 2020. It featured 16 domestic champion teams. On 12 March 2020, the competition was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

Basketball Champions League
Season2019–20
Dates17 September 2019 – 4 October 2020
Teams48 (total)
32 (regular season)
Regular season
Season MVPUnited States Keith Langford
Finals
ChampionsSpain San Pablo Burgos (1st title)
  Runners-upGreece AEK
Third placeFrance JDA Dijon
Fourth placeSpain Casademont Zaragoza
Awards
Final Eight MVPGeorgia (country) Thad McFadden
Statistical leaders
Points United States Justin Dentmon 20.9
Rebounds Jamaica Shevon Thompson 10.1
Assists Brazil Marcelinho Huertas 8.1
Index Rating United States TaShawn Thomas 20.9
Seasons

San Pablo Burgos won its first Champions League title after defeating AEK.[2]

Format changes

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For this season, eight teams will come from two qualifying rounds.[3] The round of 16 and quarter-finals changed to best-of-three playoff series instead of two legs.[4] From this season no teams were sent from the regular season to the FIBA Europe Cup, which was the case in each previous BCL season.

Changes due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic

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On 12 March 2020, FIBA suspended all its competitions, including the BCL, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] On 31 March, the BCL decided the season will have to be finished with a "Final Eight" tournament planned for 30 September until 4 October.[5] The tournament was to be held in a single venue and would be a single-elimination tournament. Two games which were still not played in the Round of 16 took place beforehand.

Eligibility of players

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In 2017, FIBA agreed to adopt eligibility rules, forcing the clubs to have at least 5 home-grown players in rosters of 11 or 12 players, or at least four, if the team has got fewer players.

Team allocation

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A total of 48 teams from 29 countries will participate in the 2019–20 Basketball Champions League.[6] On June 24, 2019, Benfica entered in the first qualifying round and Mornar were upgraded to the second qualifying round after the Openjobmetis Varese's withdrawal.[7]

Teams

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League positions after eventual playoffs of the previous season shown in parentheses (FEC: FIBA Europe Cup title holders. WC: Wild card).[6]

Qualified teams for 2019–20 Basketball Champions League (by entry round)
Regular season
  Gaziantep (5th)   SIG Strasbourg (6th)   Iberostar Tenerife (9th)   Happy Casa Brindisi (5th)
  Beşiktaş Sompo Sigorta (6th)   AEK (3rd)   Rasta Vechta (4th)   Filou Oostende (1st)
  Türk Telekom (7th)WC   Peristeri Winmasters (4th)   Brose Bamberg (5th)   ERA Nymburk (1st)
  Teksüt Bandırma (8th)WC   PAOK (5th)WC   Hapoel Jerusalem (3rd)   VEF Rīga (1st)
  JDA Dijon (3rd)   Casademont Zaragoza (4th)   Hapoel Holon (5th)WC   Neptūnas (3rd)
  Pau-Lacq-Orthez (5th)   Baxi Manresa (8th)   Dinamo SassariFEC (2nd)   Anwil Włocławek (1st)
Second qualifying round
  Telenet Giants Antwerp (2nd)   Telekom Baskets Bonn (7th)   Lietkabelis (4th)   Polski Cukier Toruń (2nd)
  San Pablo Burgos (11th)   Ventspils (2nd)   Mornar (2nd)   Nizhny Novgorod (8th)
First qualifying round
  Kapfenberg Bulls (1st)   Bakken Bears (1st)   Donar (2nd)   Inter Bratislava (1st)
  Tsmoki Minsk (1st)   Karhu (1st)   Legia (8th)   Södertälje Kings (1st)
  Balkan (1st)   Falco Szombathely (1st)   Benfica (2nd)   Fribourg Olympic (1st)
  Keravnos (1st)   Sigal Prishtina (1st)   Oradea (1st)   Kyiv Basket (2nd)

Round and draw dates

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The schedule of the competition is as follows.

Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg Third leg
Qualifying rounds First qualifying round 4 July 2019 17 September 2019 20 September 2019 -
Second qualifying round 26 September 2019 29 September 2019
Regular season Matchday 1 15–16 October 2019
Matchday 2 22–23 October 2019
Matchday 3 29–30 October 2019
Matchday 4 5–6 November 2019
Matchday 5 12–13 November 2019
Matchday 6 19–20 November 2019
Matchday 7 3–4 December 2019
Matchday 8 10–11 December 2019
Matchday 9 17–18 December 2019
Matchday 10 7–8 January 2020
Matchday 11 14–15 January 2020
Matchday 12 21–22 January 2020
Matchday 13 28–29 January 2020
Matchday 14 4–5 February 2020
Play-offs Round of 16 18 February 2020 3–4 March 2020 10–11 March 2020 17–18 March 2020
Quarter-finals 30 September–1 October
Final Four Semi-finals 2 October 2020
Final 4 October 2020

Qualifying rounds

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Draw

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The 16 teams that entered in the first round were divided into two pots. Seeded teams would play the second leg at home.[8]

Seeded teams
  Bakken Bears
  Balkan
  Donar
  Fribourg Olympic
  Kyiv Basket
  Legia
  Oradea
  Tsmoki Minsk
Non-seeded teams
  Benfica
  Kapfenberg Bulls
  Falco Szombathely
  Inter Bratislava
  Karhu
  Keravnos
  Södertälje Kings
  Sigal Prishtina

First qualifying round

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A total of 16 teams will play in the first qualifying round. The first legs will be played on 17 September, while the second legs on 20 September 2019.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Inter Bratislava   132–156   Fribourg Olympic 82–67 50–89
Karhu   160–154   Tsmoki Minsk 93–86 67–68
Södertälje Kings   153–146   Balkan 79–64 74–82
Kapfenberg Bulls   129–139   Kyiv Basket 66–66 63–73
Falco Szombathely   161–158   Oradea 71–62 90–96
Sigal Prishtina   162–166   Legia 79–81 83–85
Benfica   161–141   Donar 95–65 66–76
Keravnos   180–164   Bakken Bears 86–95 94–69

Second qualifying round

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A total of 16 teams will play in the second qualifying round: eight teams which enter in this round, and the eight winners of the first qualifying round. The first legs will be played on 26 September, while the second legs on 29 September 2019.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Keravnos   137–148   Lietkabelis 55–71 82–77
Benfica   150–167   Mornar 68–96 82–71
Karhu   151–152   Polski Cukier Toruń 93–82 58–70
Falco Szombathely   148–124   Ventspils 75–69 73–55
Södertälje Kings   133–150   Telenet Giants Antwerp 60–82 73–68
Kyiv Basket   145–182   San Pablo Burgos 83–86 62–96
Legia   124–152   Nizhny Novgorod 61–74 63–78
Fribourg Olympic   138–160   Telekom Baskets Bonn 66–80 72–80

Regular season

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The 32 teams are drawn into four groups of eight, with the restriction that teams from the same country cannot be drawn against each other. In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away, in a round-robin format. The group winners, runners-up, third-placed teams and fourth-placed teams, advance to the round of 16, while the remaining four teams in each group of the Regular Season will be eliminated.

A total of 32 teams play in the regular season: 24 teams which enter in this stage, and the eight winners of the second qualifying round. The regular season will start on 8 October 2019 and end on 5 February 2020.

Draw

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Teams were divided into two pots according to the club ranking published by the organization. Twelve teams were named seeded teams while the rest would be unseeded teams.[8] The seeded teams will be split, allocating three per group.

Firstly, the eight teams from qualifying round will be split in the four groups, with a maximum of two teams per group.

Seeded teams
  AEK   Hapoel Jerusalem
  Beşiktaş Sompo Sigorta   Iberostar Tenerife
  Brose Bamberg   Neptūnas
  ERA Nymburk   PAOK
  Dinamo Sassari   SIG Strasbourg
  Filou Oostende   Teksüt Bandırma

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification TTE DIN OOS LIE MAN HOL SIG TOR
1   Türk Telekom 14 11 3 1173 1075 +98 25 Advance to round of 16 64–56 72–66 92–83 78–72 85–71 75–83 100–87
2   Dinamo Sassari 14 11 3 1181 1088 +93 25 92–89 90–71 79–78 73–74 83–73 90–67 91–71
3   Filou Oostende 14 8 6 1059 1085 −26 22 67–85 88–82 80–66 85–72 101–86 64–71 105–103
4   Lietkabelis 14 7 7 1079 1077 +2 21 77–91 82–86 68–76 77–61 78–72 82–69 98–83
5   Baxi Manresa 14 7 7 1095 1069 +26 21 80–75 61–64 85–58 76–70 65–67 92–68 85–81
6   Hapoel Holon 14 6 8 1164 1170 −6 20 79–82 92–94 58–59 68–69 90–88 101–94 99–86
7   SIG Strasbourg 14 4 10 1082 1155 −73 18 89–90 83–88 77–64 63–66 81–63 81–86 75–97
8   Polski Cukier Toruń 14 2 12 1231 1345 −114 16 73–95 95–113 70–75 81–85 102–121 105–122 97–81

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification JER AEK SPB BAN VEC ANW PAU TGA
1   Hapoel Jerusalem 14 11 3 1254 1151 +103 25 Advance to round of 16 85–78 96–91 83–72 98–87 112–94 98–76 94–72
2   AEK 14 9 5 1093 1039 +54 23 91–78 74–66 84–96 75–79 83–72 102–82 62–51
3   San Pablo Burgos 14 8 6 1203 1132 +71 22 91–84 93–76 92–84 87–71 110–78 78–82 90–76
4   Teksüt Bandırma 14 8 6 1149 1111 +38 22 69–73 50–68 84–81 82–70 86–87 81–66 89–81
5   Rasta Vechta 14 6 8 1135 1166 −31 20 74–83 70–81 87–93 73–81 89–76 93–86 79–72
6   Anwil Włocławek 14 5 9 1212 1279 −67 19 102–107 77–79 100–90 84–89 103–92 95–87 80–71
7   Pau-Lacq-Orthez 14 5 9 1087 1171 −84 19 81–75 67–79 80–76 76–96 75–90 85–77 75–57
8   Telenet Giants Antwerp 14 4 10 1026 1110 −84 18 73–88 73–61 60–65 93–90 74–81 99–87 74–69

Group C

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification NYM TFE NIZ PER BRO GAZ MOR VEF
1   ERA Nymburk 14 12 2 1147 1014 +133 26 Advance to round of 16 68–78 76–72 84–72 91–71 74–72 91–74 75–56
2   Iberostar Tenerife 14 11 3 1134 973 +161 25 84–89 81–67 72–68 82–64 69–67 91–61 92–59
3   Nizhny Novgorod 14 9 5 1073 1042 +31 23 73–82 75–72 82–76 76–75 89–64 89–69 80–78
4   Peristeri Winmasters 14 8 6 1027 1026 +1 22 75–65 54–80 71–74 78–75 87–79 72–67 91–83
5   Brose Bamberg 14 7 7 1076 1057 +19 21 80–84 98–96 58–73 72–69 86–81 81–76 91–53
6   Gaziantep 14 4 10 1040 1117 −77 18 69–79 65–88 79–76 64–70 66–76 86–79 86–79
7   Mornar 14 4 10 1059 1157 −98 18 66–98 74–81 87–66 65–73 77–73 84–77 106–99
8   VEF Rīga 14 1 13 997 1167 −170 15 72–91 64–68 74–81 64–71 55–76 81–85 80–74

Group D

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification ZAR JDA BON BJK FAL NEP PAOK BRI
1   Casademont Zaragoza 14 10 4 1136 1094 +42 24 Advance to round of 16 75–60 72–77 80–73 70–69 86–70 86–76 96–93
2   JDA Dijon 14 9 5 1159 1069 +90 23 73–105 66–78 88–47 87–68 92–71 81–76 95–79
3   Telekom Baskets Bonn 14 8 6 1143 1146 −3 22 85–71 83–72 86–82 91–77 97–85 83–85 101–93
4   Beşiktaş Sompo Sigorta 14 7 7 1068 1079 −11 21 73–74 65–98 80–76 74–49 76–69 98–83 96–67
5   Falco Szombathely 14 6 8 1115 1109 +6 20 70–77 82–81 91–59 79–83 97–73 76–66 93–83
6   Neptūnas 14 6 8 1137 1166 −29 20 91–73 75–89 93–68 86–80 87–83 80–86 81–71
7   PAOK 14 5 9 1143 1186 −43 19 93–78 77–84 103–84 60–69 80–89 72–94 95–91
8   Happy Casa Brindisi 14 5 9 1203 1255 −52 19 91–93 88–93 76–75 84–72 98–92 96–82 93–91

Playoffs

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The playoffs started on 3 March 2020.

In the playoffs, teams play against each other over two legs on a best-of-three basis, except for the Final Four. In the playoffs draw, the group winners and the runners-up are seeded, and the third-placed teams and the fourth-placed teams are unseeded. The seeded teams are drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group cannot be drawn against each other.

Bracket

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Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
 
              
 
 
 
 
  Türk Telekom2
 
30 September
 
  Beşiktaş Sompo Sigorta0
 
  Türk Telekom82
 
 
 
  JDA Dijon 83
 
  JDA Dijon2
 
2 October
 
  Nizhny Novgorod1
 
  JDA Dijon 69
 
 
 
  San Pablo Burgos 81
 
  Hapoel Jerusalem2
 
30 September
 
  Peristeri Winmasters0
 
  Hapoel Jerusalem 65
 
 
 
  San Pablo Burgos92
 
  Dinamo Sassari0
 
4 October
 
  San Pablo Burgos2
 
  San Pablo Burgos 85
 
 
 
  AEK 74
 
  Casademont Zaragoza2
 
1 October
 
  Lietkabelis0
 
  Casademont Zaragoza87
 
 
 
  Iberostar Tenerife81
 
  Iberostar Tenerife2
 
2 October
 
  Filou Oostende1
 
  Casademont Zaragoza 75
 
 
 
  AEK 99 Third place game
 
  ERA Nymburk2
 
1 October4 October
 
  Teksüt Bandırma0
 
  ERA Nymburk82   JDA Dijon 70
 
 
 
  AEK 94   Casademont Zaragoza 65
 
  AEK2
 
 
  Telekom Baskets Bonn0
 

Round of 16

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The first legs were played on 3–4 March, the second legs on 10–11 March. Third legs will be played on 16 September 2020.

Team 1 Series Team 2 Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
Hapoel Jerusalem   2–0   Peristeri Winmasters 91–78 79–73
Casademont Zaragoza   2–0   Lietkabelis 76–67 90–88
ERA Nymburk   2–0   Teksüt Bandırma 92–70 86–72
Türk Telekom   2–0   Beşiktaş Sompo Sigorta 89–78 84–66
Iberostar Tenerife   2–1   Filou Oostende 85–75 69–75 62–54
Dinamo Sassari   0–2   San Pablo Burgos 81–84 80–95
JDA Dijon   2–1   Nizhny Novgorod 88–73 79–88 75–67
AEK   2–0   Telekom Baskets Bonn 92–85 90–86

Final Eight

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The concluding Final Eight tournament will be played in Athens, Greece, between 30 September and 4 October 2020.[9][10]

Quarterfinals

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The quarterfinals were played on 30 September and 1 October 2020.

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Hereda San Pablo Burgos   92–65   Hapoel Jerusalem
Türk Telekom   82–83   JDA Dijon
Casademont Zaragoza   87–81   Iberostar Tenerife
ERA Nymburk   82–94   AEK

Semifinals

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The semifinals were played on 2 October 2020.

Team 1  Score  Team 2
JDA Dijon   69–81   Hereda San Pablo Burgos
Casademont Zaragoza   75–99   AEK

Third place game

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The third place game was played on 4 October 2020.

Team 1  Score  Team 2
JDA Dijon   70–65   Casademont Zaragoza

Final

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The final was played on 4 October 2020.

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Hereda San Pablo Burgos   85–74   AEK

Awards

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Season awards

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The annual season awards were announced on 28 and 29 September.[11]

Award Player Club
Most Valuable Player   Keith Langford   AEK
Final Eight MVP   Thad McFadden   San Pablo Burgos
Best Defender   Moustapha Fall   Türk Telekom
Best Young Player   Carlos Alocén   Casademont Zaragoza
Best Coach   Oren Amiel   ERA Nymburk

Star Lineup

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First Team Second Team
Player Team Player Team
  Marcelo Huertas   Canarias   Dylan Ennis   Zaragoza
  Keith Langford   AEK Athens   Vítor Benite   Burgos
  Vojtěch Hruban   Nymburk   Dyshawn Pierre   Dinamo Sassari
  TaShawn Thomas   Hapoel Jerusalem   Kyle Wiltjer   Türk Telekom
  Giorgi Shermadini   Canarias   Moustapha Fall   Türk Telekom

All Defensive Team

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Player Team
  Lamonte Ulmer   Dijon [12]
  Lahaou Konaté   Canarias
  Yorman Polas Bartolo   Türk Telekom
  Marcus Slaughter   AEK
  Moustapha Fall   Türk Telekom

Game Day MVP

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After each gameday a selection of five players with the highest efficiency ratings is made by the Basketball Champions League. Afterwards, the official website decides which player is crowned Game Day MVP.

Regular season

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Gameday Player Team EFF Ref.
1   Dyshawn Pierre   Dinamo Sassari 35 [13]
2   Adrian Banks   Happy Casa Brindisi 34 [14]
3   James Feldeine   Hapoel Jerusalem 27 [15]
4   Nicolas de Jong   Pau-Lacq-Orthez 30 [16]
5   Kyle Wiltjer   Türk Telekom 33 [17]
6   Adam Smith   PAOK 28 [18]
7   Zoltán Perl   Falco Szombathely 26 [19]
8   Brandon Brown   Nizhny Novgorod 28 [20]
9   Howard Sant-Roos   AEK 25 [21]
10   TaShawn Thomas   Hapoel Jerusalem 32 [22]
11   J'Covan Brown   Hapoel Jerusalem 31 [23]
12   Robin Benzing   Casademont Zaragoza 30 [24]
13   TaShawn Thomas   Hapoel Jerusalem 38 [25]
14   Earl Clark   San Pablo Burgos 28 [26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "FIBA suspends all competitions indefinitely over health concerns - Sportsnet.ca". www.sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  2. ^ "Hereda San Pablo Burgos crowned 2020 Basketball Champions League winners". Basketball Champions League. 4 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Coast To Coast Podcast Episode 29: Basketball Champions League CEO Patrick Comninos and Star Lineup Picks". Basketball Champions League. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Basketball Champions League draw explained". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Basketball Champions League to schedule a Final Eight in late September to conclude the 2019-20 season". 31 March 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Strongest lineup ever ahead of season 4". Basketball Champions League. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  7. ^ League, Basketball Champions (24 June 2019). ".@SLBenfica are entering QR1 & @MornarBar are upgraded to QR2, replacing Openjobmetis Varese! #BasketballCL". Twitter. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Basketball Champions League draw explained". Basketball Champions League. 1 July 2019.
  9. ^ "Basketball Champions League to schedule a Final Eight in late September to conclude the 2019-20 season".
  10. ^ "Athens to host Basketball Champions League Final 8".
  11. ^ "Star Lineup revealed, Alocen Best Young Player". Basketball Champions League. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  12. ^ "Top 5 Basketball Champions League defensive players". Eurohoops. 2020-02-27. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  13. ^ "Dyshawn Pierre claims MVP of the Week honor". ChampionsLeague.Basketball. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  14. ^ "Adrian Banks named MVP of the Week". ChampionsLeague.Basketball. 25 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  15. ^ "James Feldeine claims MVP of the Week honor". ChampionsLeague.Basketball. 1 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  16. ^ "Nicolas De Jong named MVP of the Week". ChampionsLeague.Basketball. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  17. ^ "Kyle Wiltjer claims MVP of the week honor". ChampionsLeague.Basketball. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  18. ^ "Adam Smith named MVP of the week". ChampionsLeague.Basketball. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  19. ^ "Zoltan Perl first Hungarian-born player to claim MVP of the week honor". ChampionsLeague.Basketball. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  20. ^ "Brandon Brown named MVP of the week". ChampionsLeague.Basketball. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  21. ^ "Howard Sant-Roos claims MVP of the week honor". ChampionsLeague.Basketball. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  22. ^ "TaShawn Thomas claims MVP of the Week accolade". ChampionsLeague.Basketball. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  23. ^ "J'Covan Brown claims MVP of the Week honors". ChampionsLeague.Basketball. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  24. ^ "Benzing claims MVP of the Week honors". ChampionsLeague.Basketball. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  25. ^ "Thomas claims MVP of the Week honors for second time this season". ChampionsLeague.Basketball. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  26. ^ "Clark becomes first Burgos player to claim MVP of the Week honors". ChampionsLeague.Basketball. 7 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
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