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.
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.
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%.
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.
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.
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.
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