By Kostas Ioakeimidis/ info@eurohoops.net
In Eurohoops.net’s standard assessment of national championships the VTB League is in third place, leaving behind a number of powerful leagues, with only Spain and Turkey ahead of it. Third place is usually perceived as a success, since it doesn’t leave you with the bitter taste of second place and, at the same time, doesn’t have the “odorless” quality of fourth place. But is this result positive for the league itself? Let us consider.
The first and most obvious answer? Of course! The Bank league is among the three top European championships and this, for a competition that started out eight years ago, experimentally for the first few seasons, is a big success. The VTB League changed format, its “wrapping” and protagonists. But what remained unchanged was the desire to create a quality basketball product that was also the main catalyst for the growth of the competition. As the years went by, we can safely say that the experiment has succeeded. It’s precisely the quality of the basketball that makes the VTB League sharply stand out from the other European championships. Clearly speaking, the VTB League has nothing to envy from the two top leagues.
Of course, the presence in the league of teams such as CSKA, Khimki, UNICS, Lokomotiv and others, by itself brings quality to the competition. In recent years, all theses clubs have managed to bring great successes on the European stage, and every year they add the best material available on the European market. The duels between them attract a lot of interest from the fans and the players duly compensate, since it’s a rare occasion when the big games of the VTB championship can be described predictable. The critics will say: but the outcome of the season and the ultimate champion are predictable. However, even at this point there are some counter-arguments.
To start with, let’s not forget that in 2011 Khimki were crowned the champions of the VTB and CSKA Moscow won the Russian championship, and we shouldn’t confuse these concepts. Secondly, even if we ignore the legal aspect, every year the competitors are getting closer and closer to CSKA. In every respect: in the composition of the coaching staff, in the organization. The semifinals of the 2012-13 season, when “Loko” were a few minutes away from one of the biggest upsets in the history of the championship, will stay in our memory for a long time. But then CSKA reacted and kept the title in Moscow. Last year’s finals didn’t manage to fascinate either in the way they turned out. However, be sure that this time neither Khimki nor “Loko” are willing to surrender without a fight.
A recent study conducted by Eurohoops.net showed that the teams of the VTB League bring the best results in their assignments abroad. Three teams are taking part in the Top 16 of the Euroleague, and a score of teams are still competing in the Eurocup and the FIBA EuropeCup. A coincidence? On the contrary, a foreseeable development. When you have to play the top clubs in the domestic league every week, it’s impossible to be scared of teams from Hungary or Belgium.
The personalities are those that elevate the team level. In this regard, the VTB League is higher than any other in Europe. You won’t find such a brilliant constellation of basketball talent anywhere else. And it’s not only the stars of Teodosic, De Colo, Delaney and Langford’s caliber. The mid-range teams of the championship are trying to bring over executioners that are able to steal the show on a permanent basis. Victor Rant, D. J. Kennedy, Gerry Johnson, Paul Stall, and the list goes on and on. These players know how to play beautifully and effectively, something that can only be gratifying to the audience. The VTB League is the most productive competition among the top championships in Europe, by a long margin from the second in line too. Yet another sign of its quality. To their credit, the league’s management does not confine everything within the borders of a single country.
The VTB League began as a multicultural project that aimed to bring together different countries, languages and schools of basketball. We have to admit that the absence of Lithuanian and Ukrainian teams, which would give a unique color to the competition and add even more quality to it, is noticeable. But how can we overlook the contribution of Astana from Kazakhstan, who, from a Cinderella, has managed to win with their sword a permanent spot in the playoffs? How can we forget the Latvian VEF Belarus and Tsmoki-Minsk, the Estonian Kalev and the Czech Nymburk, clubs with a very successful presence all these years in the competition? The geography of the project remains broad, which adds prestige to the competition.
Just as important is this: The clubs of Europe want to play in the VTB championship as they realize the importance, the size and prospect of the project. Which emerging European team would refuse to host Khimki or CSKA? Probably none, since everyone wants to take part in something big. The entry in the VTB League also provides the opportunity not just for flashy visitors, but also the possibility of broadening one’s horizons on an ongoing basis. Playing with the best makes us better too. And this also implies extra interest from the public, sponsorship prospects, the development of infrastructure, of social responsibility, all those orientations professional sports should look to in the modern era. Finally, there is also the basketball of younger ages, to which the necessary attention is given through the Youth System of the VTB, the graduates of which slowly start to find their way in the youth teams.
In terms of its overall financing, the VTB League is again at the top European level among the certified powers. At this point, we return to our initial question: whether the project is successful according to the ratio of investments/results. The size of investment creates certain obligations that the clubs have to abide by. And if the overall quality of basketball is especially high, the remaining issues need to be worked on.
This is something that the League’s president, Sergei Kusenko, stresses all the time, as do the owners of the participating clubs. The number of visitors, the marketing and the television coverage are issues that require special attention. Even though this concerns the clubs themselves more than the League that provides them with a platform and the tools to grow, hence the results will have to be of interest primarily to those that participate in the process.
The example of Lokomotiv from Krasnodar proves that nothing outlandish is needed to achieve a quality promotion of the product. The only thing that is needed is the right attitude and a serious and professional group of people. The result will be a recognizable brand in the region that will translate in full arenas, which in turn will make the players happy as they like to play in front of an audience that will support them in every game and not only against the first-class opponents. However, it wouldn’t be right to only single out Lokomotiv in this area. In Moscow, in Saint Petersburg, in Saratov and in Minsk there is also serious work being done in this direction. In the last seasons, there was a big interest form the fans of Volgograd for the games of the local Red October, and there is no doubt that in the new basketball arena that interest is not going to wane.
Fifty games of last season’s Bank league were broadcast on public television in Russia, thirty-seven of them live. In the 2015-16 season, this figure will rise: The VTB League features prominently on the newly established “MatchTV” channel. The collaboration with “MatchTV” will help improve the quality of the broadcasts of the competition’s games, an area in which there has been significant progress in recent years, but there is no limit to perfection. The broadcasting of the games on Russia’s public channels is extremely important in promoting the sport. In the other countries, there are no serious problems regarding the broadcasts of the games, although the issue of improving the coverage of the games still exists and is still pertinent. The most important thing is that this is well known within the League as well.
The VTB League reaches 8 years of life. On the one hand, this period of time in the rapidly changing world in which we live is big. During this time the League has managed to establish itself on the European basketball map, occupying a strong position in order to prepare the ground for the next offensive. On the other hand, this period cannot be considered big if we compare it to traditional European leagues, which took a lot of years to earn the love of the public and find the appropriate development model.
The status of the third in order European league can function as an excellent basis for further progress. We are dealing with a case where third place should not disappoint but rather provide the spark for new successes.