As the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup Regular Season reaches its halfway, one of the hotter players in the recent weeks is Hapoel center Kyle Alexander.
Who's hot: Kyle Alexander, Hapoel
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The 27-year-old big man Kyle Alexander has been a consistent, productive and, at times, dominant presence under the rims on both ends of the floor for Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv (5-2).
Ever since making his competition debut in Round 3, Hapoel center has been one of EuroCup's best rebounders.
Alexander averages 8.5 rebounds for the season, having pulled down at least 6 boards in each of his six appearances. Over the last five games, Alexander ranks fifth in the competition with 51 total boards, good for a 10.2 average.
Alexander has been a force under both rims. He ranks third in the EuroCup with 6.0 defensive rebounds per game, but he has also been giving Hapoel's offense second-chance opportunities with 2.5 offensive rebounds on average.
He has shined especially in the rebounding department in Rounds 4 and 5, when he first had 10 rebounds in a win at Veolia Towers Hamburg and then topped it with 13 to help beat London Lions a week later.
In his first three appearances this season, Alexander averaged 5.7 points on 50.0% shooting. However, in the last three, he has started putting the ball in the basket, too.
Since Round 6, Alexander is averaging 14.0 points and has improved his tallies each week. He first scored 12 points against Paris Basketball in Round 6, followed by scoring 13 points vs. Prometey Slobozhanske in Round 7, before finishing with 17 points last week against Joventut Badalona.
What has been really impressive is that Alexander has done so on 69.6% two-point accuracy despite an increased volume of shots.
Only three EuroCup players have made more two-point shots than Alexander's 16-for-23 over the latest three-game span. In addition, has been perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line, additionally proving how confident he has been feeling shooting the ball.
Alexander's scoring has helped Hapoel's offense keep humming at a historic rate. It's current 97.9-points average is at least 5 points better than any team in the competition history.
Hapoel and Alexander will have it tough to keep those numbers ticking over in Round 9, when they welcome the EuroLeague-best defense of Besiktas Emlak jet Istanbul (7-1), which allows just 72.5 points per contest.