EuroCup Rising Star, Balcerowski put some amazing numbers this season
7DAYS EuroCup Rising Star for the 2022-23 season has been announced and the new winner is actually an old winner, Aleksander Balcerowski, the center from Gran Canaria. He received this award after the one in 2021 due to the fact that he helped his team reach the EuroCup final this season. This success helps him join Bojan Dubljevic, who until now was the only player to win this trophy twice; among the most important names that won the trophy are: Victor Claver, Donatas Motiejunas, Jonas Valanciunas, Kristaps Porzingis and Dzanan Musa. For Gran Canaria, the performance is huge, they also hold the title from 2022 through Khalifa Diop, a player who is also in the running for the award this year.
The young Spanish star had an extremely good season, with 8.8 points, 3.7 rebounds in just 16:47. What is more impressive for such a young player is the shooting percentage, 72.9% from the 2-point line (62/85) and 40.9% from the 3-point line (9/22). The best performances were: in round 3 with London Lions 16 points and 9 rebounds, 7/7 from the 2-point line; round 13 with Paris Basketball 20 points, 5 rebounds and in the QuaterFinals against all those from Paris 16 points and 3 rebounds.
In 2014, he joined Herbalife Gran Canaria at the age of 14, less than three years later Balcerowski became the second youngest player to be on the Herbalife Gran Canaria men’s team. Balcerowski was awarded the EuroCup Basketball Rising Star 2021, he made 65.6 percent of his two-point shots, averaging 6.5 points and 3.7 rebounds, which shows an improvement in shooting. Balcerowski is a strong, mobile center with very good shooting mechanics and range beyond the three-point line. He can convert layups around the rim and excels at scoring on off-ball plays.
There are chances that the Poles will have a new Marcin Gortat and if he continues the good developments, he will take the step to the NBA and maybe he will succeed in improving Gortat’s performance. Until then, a final awaits him against Turk Telekom, the 3rd match against them this season, scoring 11 points in each of the first 2. This trophy forces him to have a Rising Star performance in the final and make a difference.
Valentin Petruta
Credit image: EuroCup
