By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Four of the Basketball Champions League playoffs teams carry additional experience into the upcoming stage of the 2020-21 season. AEK, ERA Nymburk, Lenovo Tenerife, and SIG Strasbourg, in alphabetical order, competed in the first BCL season in 2016-17, clinched a playoff berth this year, and were part of every single Champions League edition in between. The Spanish and Greek teams went all the way in 2017 and 2018, and were runner-ups in 2019 and 2020, as well.
Eurohoops dives into the Basketball Champions League originals, AEK, Nymburk, Tenerife, and Strasbourg. What worked and what went wrong in the first four campaigns of the BCL loyals in FIBA’s premier club continental competition.
AEK and Strasbourg will meet again as two of the four Group K Final 8 hopefuls. Six games in Group J for Tenerife and in Group L for Nymburk are coming up to add to their rich BCL history. Action resumes next week, March 2.
AEK
The Queen in 2016-17 ranked second in Group E and eliminated Juventus prior to falling to AS Monaco in the Round of 16. The French team moved on past Dinamo Sassari into the Final Four, but AEK kept revenge in mind.
The Greek team advanced through Group C in the 2017-18 season and eliminated both CEZ Nymburk and SIG Strasbourg on their way to the Final Four. Packing the home-court advantage, the Yellow-Blacks survived UCAM Murcia in the semifinal and defeated Monaco in the championship match.
First place in Group C granted yet another playoff berth in the 2018-19 season. AEK went by PAOK but fell to Brose Bamberg in the quarterfinals.
The 2019-20 season, completed late with a Final 8 in Athens due to the coronavirus pandemic, saw AEK make it all the way to the final. Second place in Group B, eliminating Telekom Baskets Bonn, ERA Nymburk, and Casademont Zaragoza done, but Hereda San Pablo Burgos was crowned champion.
ERA Nymburk
The Czech side finished third in Group C of the 2016-17 season but was eliminated by Dinamo Sassari in the Playoffs qualifiers. One point separating them from progressing through a home-and-away series became a trend.
Nymburk indeed jumped right back into the playoffs landing second place in Group D the following season. This time AEK got the best of them on the advancing end of a one-point edge in the aggregate score.
The third time was certainly no charm as seventh place in Group C generated an early exit in 2018-19.
A superb Group C showing resulted in a 12-2 record in the 2019-20 Regular Season. Nymburk then swept Bandirma breaking the postseason curse, but got host AEK in the Final 8 quarterfinal and bowed out. An extremely different outcome would be likely if the coronavirus pandemic did not halt the action.
Lenovo Tenerife
The Spanish club based in the Canary Islands became the inaugural champion after going 11-3 in the Regular Season, taking out PAOK and ASVEL in the playoffs, beating Venezia in the Final Four semifinal, and Banvit in the championship match. A season to remember, not only for Tenerife but for the entire Basketball Champions League family.
The first-ever defending champions finished Group B with a 12-2 tally in 2017-18. However, UCAM Murcia stopped Tenerife in the all-Spanish Round of 16 meeting.
The 2018-19 season generated another 12-2 record, again enough for first place in Group B. The Spanish team then took out Promitheas and Hapoel Jerusalem, also defeated Telenet Antwerp Giants in the Final Four semifinals but lost to Virtus Bologna in the final.
The 2019-20 season impacted but not stopped by the pandemic had Tenerife held to second place in Group C behind ERA Nymburk with an 11-3 record. Txus Vidorreta’s side eliminated Filou Oostende in three games stretched by the long hiatus but was defeated by Casademont Zaragoza in the Final 8 quarterfinal.