The Basketball Champions League (BCL) returns this week and BallinEurope’s Emmet Ryan casts his eye over the contenders, pretenders, and stories to watch. Defending champions Unicaja Malaga return stacked and it’s going to be tough for anyone to dethrone them.
Yes, the image for this article is bizarre but, trust me, it makes sense. If anything, bizarre but makes sense sums up the Basketball Champions League. The staggered nature of its sprints means that there is an advantage to a hot start yet still hope if you falter early. That or you could be like Unicaja Malaga and just try to go undefeated.
The champs are BIG
Unicaja Malaga went through last season’s Basketball Champions League campaign in largely dominant fashion. The Spanish side wasn’t truly tested in games that mattered until the Final Four in Belgrade.
Looking at this line-up, it’s reasonable to think they might enjoy a similar run this campaign. Unicaja Malaga list four centres in their roster in what is a front court heavy line-up. This team seems to have a simple approach to life. Hand Kendrick Perry the ball and let everyone else smash.
In a group with Filou Oostende, King Szezcecin, and Aliaga Petkimspor, it’s reasonable to expect them to take top spot. A straight shot through to the round of 16 looks likely. Nobody should want to face this line-up in elimination play.
Breaking Spain’s stranglehold?
Last season enjoyed the broadest possible spread of trophies in European basketball. The six club competitions, four men’s and two women’s, were won by clubs from six different nations. The Basketball Champions League was the lone trophy lifted by a Spanish club.
While there may be other titles going to Spain this season, it will be tough for anyone to break Spanish dominance of the BCL. In addition to Unicaja Malaga, there’s UCAM Murcia, La Laguna Tenerife, and Baxi Manresa. All the Spanish clubs will be favoured to make at least the round of 16, if not the playoffs.
This speaks to Spain’s depth more than anything. The obvious places to look for potential sides that could grasp the trophy are Germany and Greece. What sort of sides Peristeri, AEK, and Promitheas Patras put out this season will tell us a lot. Similarly, Telekom Basketbs Bonn won the title two seasons ago and Rasta Vechta seems to be a fun outfit. There’s one other German side that we have to mention.
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The cool underdogs
Niners Chemnitz are part of the fun brigade in this year’s Basketball Champions League. That’s not any disrespect to teams like Unicaja Malaga or Tenerife but they’re among the favourites. No, give me a team that has a mascot that is Karl Marx in a basketball uniform because the city used to be called Karl Marx Stadt. Throw in that they are FIBA Europe Cup champions and they earn a special place in my heart.
Falco Szombathely also made this list for me. The past two seasons I’ve been fortunate enough to commentate on their last game of the group stage. On both occasions, despite already being eliminated, they treated it as a championship game. Zoltan Perl went god mode and brought out the best from my lungs. This season, they’re in a group with Reggio Emilia, Rytas Vilnius, and Slask Wroclaw. Falco should fancy their chances of at least reaching the play-ins.
Finally in this section, a shout out to Benfica. The Portuguese champions are the kings of the qualifiers. They have once again made it to the regular season of the campaign. Having experienced a game between them and Porto a few years ago in Lisbon, they’ve got some really cool fans. I’m hoping for fun things from them.
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A really fun format
Our preview finishes with an appreciation for how the season plays out. The Basketball Champions League is designed to maximise how many games are relevant. Only the group winner in the regular season goes straight to the round of 16, yet only the bottom team is immediately eliminated.
The play-in format combined with the extra reward for winning a group reduces the number of dead rubbers. This website is always going to root for more games that matter. The breather in the round of 16, for national cups and the international break, is a nice additional touch.
For full disclosure, this is my third year as a broadcast commentator on the BCL. Despite that, I’m really excited about seeing such a variety of teams do battle over the next few months. That is, until, inevitably, or probably, someone for Spain wins it all.
For those that made it to the end. The image represents three of the teams mentioned here. The Karl Marx bust for Niners Chemnitz, the 25 de Abril bridge in Lisbon for Benfica, and the Alcazaba fort for Unicaja Malaga.
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