More History for Ragland: Second MVP of the Month Season Prize
By the Eurohoops team/ [email protected]
Joe Ragland just turned 33 last November, but shows no signs of slowing down. He led Hapoel Atsmon Holon to their place in the round of 16 and won his second MVP of the month this season in the Basketball Champions League.
The points god of Holon has already been selected as October’s MVP, he has now added the January MVP trophy to his already impressive collection. Since the introduction of the MVP of the Month award in 2020, Joe Ragland is the only man to win it twice in a single season.
“It is an honor to receive this award again, my individual success is a direct reflection of our excellent coaching“, Ragland dished out another assist, this time off the pitch, in his statement to the championsleague.basketball.
He started the month with a double-double of 12 points and 14 assists to give Holon a 1-0 lead over Igokea m:tel in the Play-In series. If the BIH champions had any ideas to even the series at home, Ragland wiped them out in 36 minutes of work – he finished with 20 points, 13 assists and 4 steals.
The month ended with another big game for Ragland in Strasbourg. It took two overtimes for SIG Strasbourg to edge ahead of Holon, but despite the loss, the point guard had one of the best individual games in BCL history with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, becoming the second player to get 27+, 8+, 8+ in a game, after Norris Cole did it with 33, 8 and 9 in 2018.
“I thank Coach Guy Goodes for allowing me to be myself, while being his extension on the field, as well as my teammates and coaches who continue to help me be productive.,” he said.
Ragland now has up to 10 double-doubles with points and assists, tied with Marcelinho Huertas for the most all-time in the BCL, four double-doubles ahead of all other players on this list.
However, knowing Joe’s personality, it’s clear that he would trade all individual accolades for Holon to reach the Final Four again.
“It’s a group effort here in Holon! We will continue to fight together to achieve our goalshe said of February’s opener – Holon will face Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem in an all-Israeli affair in the BCL on Wednesday.
This also marks the start of the next chapter for Ragland. His 2022 has been a momentous year, but the way 2023 has started, it looks like he could be on the way to even bigger things. Still progressing at 33, like the big guys do.
Ragland will receive their second monthly award of the season in person, in front of fans in Holon, before the denunciation on Wednesday.