By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The nature of competitive sports align with teams and attached players dealing with upsets, eliminations, and more, besides actually achieving success.
The 2022-23 edition of the Basketball Champions League provides a large sample of early exits. Projected contenders bowing out displayed the solid playing field across the board for the Regular Season and Play-In rounds.
Eurohoops picked five players plus one head coach to be missed the most in the Round of 16.
Following the eight teams knocked in the Regular Season, eight more failed to convert the second opportunity via the Play-Ins. The 16 surviving sides certainly deserved to move on but forcing plenty of household names to spectator status for the remainder of the season adds to the intrigue spilling out of a very exciting season.
Errick McCollum
Widely considered the biggest upset of the season so far, Pinar Karsiyaka was swept by UCAM Murcia in the best-of-three series of the Play-In stage. The team based in Izmir was limited to 2-4 in Group B of the Regular Season narrowly missing the chance for homecourt advantage in the Play-In. Counting the Murcia series, the extremely disappointing overall W-L tally of 2-6.
Starpower on the roster included Errick McCollum, coincidently turning 35 today (22/1). Coming in packing a legendary career overseas, mainly in Europe, he was labeled as the leading player in a club seeking an extended run. For the second year in a row after reaching the championship game of the 2020-21 season, Karsiyaka fell in the Play-Ins.
The experienced guard produced team highs of 18.8 points, 6.5 assists, and an efficiency rating of 16.9 over the eight outings in the Champions League. But not enough to make the Round of 16.
Toney Douglas
A veteran of 409 NBA games, Toney Douglas switched to Europe over the last six years. Arriving in the BCL Qualifiers for the second time, he instead enjoyed reaching the Regular Season and also being part of this season’s Cinderella story. Benfica exceeded expectations but was overpowered by Darussafaka in the Play-Ins.
The Portugal champions making it through the Lisbon Qualification Group was initially considered a stretch, considering strong teams the likes of Brose Bamberg and Budivelnyk among the other challengers. The veteran point guard delivering 9.0 points, 4.0 assists, and 2.3 rebounds per game helped in a big way.
Douglas, 36, added team highs of 14.6 points, 3.9 assists, and an efficiency rating of 15.3 per contest over the eight games between the Regular Season and Play-Ins in an improbable run to remember coming to an end.
Breein Tyree
The first overseas experience included a brilliant run at the continental level for Breein Tyree. The former Ole Miss standout was the main scoring force for Filou Oostende in the latest impressive run of a roster packed with young players in the Champions League.
The Belgium champions probably deserved more. They lacked the clinching win after beating Bahcesehir Koleji in Game 1 of the best-of-three series on the road. Consequently, Tyree highlighting a long list of promising upstarts will not continue in the BCL season.
Tyree, 25, tallied a team-high 17.4 points to go with 3.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.1 steals per game over nine appearances in FIBA’s club continental competition.
Justin Johnson
Another Game 1 win turning into a disappointing exit was connected to MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, a two-time Final Four participant including the berth in the 2022 season-ending tournament in Bilbao. Limoges CSP stormed back from a 22-point deficit and Bryce Jones sealed the deal with an overtime game-winning buzzer-beater.
Looking really good for the German outfit guided by Josh King was Justin Johnson. Following two FIBA Europe Cup campaigns as a member of UnaHotels Reggio Emilia, adjusting his game to the Champions League powered a 4-2 record and a second-place finish in Group E of the Regular Season. Certainly, there was more to come if Limoges did not complete the biggest comeback of an away team in competition history.
Johnson, 26, went for 11.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.0 steals per contest over nine BCL appearances. Averaging an efficiency rating of 15.8 was the highest among Ludwigsburg players.
Maurice Kemp
Besides the teams knocked out in the Play-Ins, those getting stuck in the Regular Season featured players possibly deserving more, including Maurice Kemp of Bnei Ofek Dist Herzliya. He returned to FIBA’s competition in style, much improved compared to the first spell playing for Montakit Fuenlabrada.
The Israeli side ranked behind Lenovo Tenerife, Rytas, and Peristeri bwin in Group H. Losing to Peristeri on Gameday 6 led to the exit, while a win would be enough for the second or third seed.
Kemp, 25, averaged a league-high 25.4 points per contest building yet another league-high efficiency rating of 27.2 per game.
Vassilis Spanoulis
Five players and one head coach, as noted. The latter mention comes in the form of Vassilis Spanoulis. Early post-playing days experience opened a coaching career and the path to the BCL. Certainly, most would like to see more of the legendary player guiding Peristeri, but that was not the case for JDA Dijon.
The Greek outfit was overpowered by La Jeanne in Game 1 and Game 3 on the road, after winning Game 2 in overtime. The end of the road for this season but surely far from a conclusion for Spanoulis showing signs of solid coaching and potential for future success on the bench.
Spanoulis, 40, completed his first season in the Champions League with four wins in nine games.
Round of 16
Fans can expect much more to come as action switches to a six-game double-legged round-robin schedule across four groups of the Round of 16. Plenty of star power left with each group awarding two spots in the Quarterfinals, the last stage before the Final Four.
Group I: SIG Strasbourg, Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem, Hapoel Atsmon Holon, JDA Dijon.
Group J: Telekom Baskets Bonn, Baxi Manresa, Bahcesehir Koleji, Rytas.
Group K: Galatasaray Nef, Unicaja, AEK, Limoges CSP.
Group L: Surne Bilbao, Lenovo Tenerife, UCAM Murcia, Darussafaka.
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League