For the first time in its history, we have a repeat Baller of the Week! Juan Ferrales is back to #BOTW status after having a massive game in Norway over the weekend for the league-leading Kongsberg Miners. He was also named Baller of the Week in November 2016 but Ferrales had an even more impressive game this time around, scoring a career-high 40 points while dropping five dimes and adding three rebounds in his team's 98-82 victory of Gimle.
The fourth-year guard also went a scorching 6-of-7 from beyond the arc as he helped his team stretch their undefeated streak to ten games to start the season. Ferrales is averaging a career-high 23.9 poitns per game, good for fourth-highest in Norway's BLNO, but this scoring outburst for the hottest team in the country got our attention enough to give him Baller of the Week honors again in 2019!
Well, we did it. We made it through an entire off-season of hoops! (insert praise hands emoji here)
Though the NBA regular season officially kicked off last night, the international hoops season is nearly in full swing. Several countries started their domestic leagues in late September/early October, and now with the NBA starting we've got basketball going strong all around the world! And with that, it's time to get back to one of our favorite recurring features - Baller of the Week!
As we wind down the regular season in leagues across the world, we've slowed down our Baller of the Week feature. However, a big game from Askia Booker got our attention and we decided to continue with Baller of the Week through the month of May. Booker's team, UCAM Murcia, is fighting off relegation, and his huge performance this week against Baxi Manresa helped spur his team on to victory. Booker scored 40 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists, as well as hitting an incredible nine three-pointers in Murcia's 96-86 victory over sixth-place Manresa. The fifth-year pro has had several big games in the past month and is doing his best to keep his team in Liga Endesa next season, and such a big performance in crunch time made his an easy choice for Baller of the Week.
Greg Whittington has been putting up impressive numbers all month, but it's his most recent performance that's got us talking. Whittington scored a season-high 29 points to go along with 14 rebounds and five assists in Hapoel Gilboa Galil's 96-93 victory over Ironi Nahariya in the Israeli Winner League. The big man is averaging a solid 18.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, but he really elevated his stats as his team tries to snag one of the final playoff spots. Gilboa Galil currently sits in tenth place in the league standings with a 10-17 record, two games back of eighth place, but if Whittington can continue to produce performances like he did next week, Gilboa Galil could be a force to be reckoned with.
|