CSP Limoges secured a return to Euroleague by taking the Pro A title in France. Emmet Ryan is feeling awfully nostalgic about the former kings of European hoops returning to the top level.
What were you doing in 1993? I was 12 so not a whole lot but it was a different time. This was pre-Euroleague, back then the top level competition in Europe was the FIBA European League and it looked rather different to the competition we know today. All but three teams (Partizan, Badalona, and Treviso) had to play through qualifying rounds before progressing to the regular season. Limoges began their journey to the European title in the second qualifying round, where they disposed of England’s Guildford Kings 143-129 on aggregate. And right away we’ve found a team Limoges beat that doesn’t exist anymore, the Kings went bust in 1994 and professional hoops didn’t return to Guildford until the Heat were formed in 2005. Amongst the notable teams that joined Limoges in the regular season were Bayer Leverkusen (currently in Germany’s second tier), and RC Mechelen (went bust in 1995).
The regular season back then consisted of two groups with 7 in Group A and 8 in Group B. Limoges went 7-5, good enough for second behind PAOK. Those interested in a touch of history will be interested to know that Panathinaikos didn’t make it to the top flight that season. The quarter finals saw PAOK beat Pau-Orthez, Limoges take down Olympiacos, Real Madrid beat Bologna, and Treviso beat Pesaro all in best-of-three game affairs.
The SEF was home to the Final Four that season with Limoges knocking off Real Madrid 62-52 and Treviso beat PAOK 79-77. This set up a final between a French team and an Italian team. Just let that sink in for a moment. These were different times. Limoges took the title with a 59-55 win in the final, ending the European season in mid-April.
Of course we can’t go down memory lane without thinking about what else was happening in 1993. This was one of the biggest hits of the year when Limoges lifted the European title.
And this was the US number one the day they won.
The top grossing movie of the year worldwide was a little ditty about dinosaurs that you may have heard of.
Annnd finally, this was also a big year for Culture Beat
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