Crandall wins Player of the Month award
LEICESTER Riders’ Geno Crandall has been selected as the Molten BBL Player of the Month for November.
The American point guard has made an excellent start to the campaign that has seen him build on his BBL Player of the Season award from 2021/21.
Crandall has already been selected in the weekly BBL All-Star 5 on five occasions this season, more than any other player and including twice in the last three weeks.
In his five games in November, Crandall averaged 19 points, eight assists, four rebounds and two steals per outing, shooting 50 per cent from the three-point range and 90 per cent at the free-throw line.
Perhaps most importantly, Crandall made a crucial contribution in Leicester’s BBL Cup quarter-final win over Cheshire Phoenix, finishing with 24 points and seven assists in a narrow one-point win.
Checking back into the game with four minutes to play after being in early foul trouble, Crandall scored eight points down the stretch and finished with the key drive-and-dish for Jubril Adekoya that won the game with just a few seconds to play.
Crandall was close to a doubledouble in all three of his BBL Championship outings in November, finishing with nine assists on each occasion, while scoring 20 or more points in backto-back games last weekend, including 24 against Surrey Scorchers on 5-7 (71 per cent) three-pointers.
Crandall is currently second in the league in assists (8.8) during BBL Championship play, and jointsecond in steals (2.8), while leading the BBL Cup competition in steals (3) and also total freethrows made (45).
Building on from his fantastic debut season, Crandall’s longrange threat is perhaps his most improved area as he is currently shooting 42 per cent on more than four attempts per game, upping that to 50 per cent on five attempts in November, and compared to 29 per cent on three attempts per game in his two previous professional seasons.
Led by Crandall, Riders went 4-1 in all competitions last month, and are currently a perfect 4-0 in the defence of their BBL Championship title.
Crandall also faces a busy December with six games, including that crunch BBL Cup semi-final against London and starting this weekend with a home tie against Glasgow Rocks.