Each month our team will pick five players (usually two guards, two forwards and one big) that we think had a month of great performances and that they deserve a spot in our All-Month Team.
The focus won’t be just on the “mainstream/top tier/NBA talent” prospects but we will go deeper and highlight other players as well. We will also try to not repeat the same players every month and we will look for different players that had a breakout month or a really dominant performance.
We are aware that our teams won’t always be perfect and that sometimes a player that had a dominant month will be left out, either because we couldn’t watch his matches or we just weren’t aware of his performances, but we will try our best to not miss on those prospects too many times.
Nikola Topić (PG | 198 cm | ’05) ~ Crvena zvezda U18 & OKK Belgrade
Nikola Topić probably stood out the most in March. He played three great games in Serbian league for OKK Belgrade and averaged 22.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.3 steals in the three matches with his best one being against Sloga when he finished with 33 points and 5 assists. At the end of the month (and first days of April), he shined again at the ANGT Belgrade tournament and finished as tournament MVP. He tied the tournament record with 49 points in the match against NGT Belgrade and almost single-handedly force the game into overtime where Crvena zvezda prevailed. He showed the quailities that the point guard on the highest level should possess. He was great leader on the floor, communicating a lot with his teammates and also setting them up for scoring opportunities but when the game was on the line, he took the matters into his own hands. He was also calm and reliable at the free throw line and against NGT Belgrade he sinked all of his 20 free throw attempts! Nikola had a lot of high basketball IQ plays as well and usually made the correct decision on the floor. Definitely a month to remember for Nikola Topić and his performances should not go unnoticed.
Luka Krajnović (G | 196 cm | ’04) ~ KK Bosco Zagreb
Strong month for Luka Krajnović in Croatian 1st League. He finished the month with averages of 22.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.6 steals on 62.2/53.8/75.0 shooting splits. He scored 20 or more points in 4 of his 5 matches in March with the career-high 36 points vs Gorica. He played more away from the ball in the scorers role and that fits him better than the playmaking role that he was forced to play in some of the previous seasons. Luka was scoring points in different ways – from cuts, making shots from mid-range, spot up shots from deep or bringing the ball to the rim for a layup. This versatile scoring repertoire keeps the defenders guessing and makes Luka one of the best scorers in the Croatian 1st league in this season and a great finish of the season could get him offers from higher ranked clubs for the next season.
Quinn Ellis (G | 193 cm | ’03) ~ JB Monferrato
Quinn Ellis had a great game against Serbian national team at the end of February when he scored 22 points and added 5 rebounds and 2 assists to his account and it looks like he brought good games into March as well. He averaged 14.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in the last month of the Italian 2nd league and led his team to three wins in four matches. With his athleticism he was creating a havoc on open court and with drives and usually the defenders had minimal chances of stopping him when he went all the way. He transfered his energy from the lower body into his upper body very well and leaned into the defenders to absorb the contact for the finish. Shooting from distance is still a work in progress and the majority of his shots were bad misses but in the game against Treviglio he was 3 out of 4 from three-point range and he was reliable from the charity stripe over the whole month too which gives some positive hopes about his shooting projections. Showed some advanced pick & roll and drive & dish passing skills and had the career-high 11 assists vs Agregento.
David Mirković (PF | 205 cm | ’06) ~ SC Derby & Next Gen Team Belgrade
David Mirković had a very good ANGT tournament in Belgrade. He finished with 17.5 points and 9.3 rebounds and was one of the best players in the Next Generation Team. The performance against Crvena zvezda – when he finished with 32 points and 10 rebounds – was one of the best performances in this season of ANGT tournaments but there was Nikola Topić with his maestral game that took all the spotlight. David had good games in March in the Montenegrin league as well and played for the 1st and 2nd team of SC Derby in 1st and 2nd Montenegrin league respectivelly. He showed his versatile skillset and high basketball IQ on many occassions. He made great reads when to roll or when to pop and did a lot of damage to the defenders with that. Made some nice plays on post ups too, where he used his advanced footwork and soft finishing touch to finish the plays.
Tosan Evbuomwan (PF | 203 cm | ’01) ~ Princeton Tigers
Tosan was one of the best European players in this year’s edition of March madness. He played an important role for the Princeton Tigers in their run that ended in the Sweet 16 against Creighton. Even before the start of the playoffs, Tosan had a few great games and finished the month of March with the averages of 17.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists. Definitely showed his versatility and what he can offer to his team on both ends. He played inside or outside, it depended who was defending him and used his size & strength or his technique & athleticism for his advantage. He made some shots from deep but not a reliable shooting threat yet, lacked touch on some finishes at the rim too. What really stood out in his game was his ability to deliver the passes to cutters and find the right passing angles and he made some tough passes look like they were easy. Tosan was able to cover multiple positions in defense too and offers a lot of value to teams that are fans of “positionless basketball” and I’m curious where he will end in next season since he decided to enter the NBA draft and forgo his remaining college eligibility.
