By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
In the past few seasons, a number of pleasant surprises were registered even in the second round of the Basketball Champions League. Teams from countries that don’t have a strong league made their case and stole the show.
However, in the 2022-23 season with the level of the competition arguably stronger than ever, the countries represented in the Round of 16 are more than expected. Greece, Germany and Lithuania have one team each, Israel has two, Turkey has three, France has three and Spain has five (!).
And in reality that doesn’t shock anyone. It’s not only about the clubs themselves, even if UCAM Murcia, Surne Bilbao, BAXI Manresa, Unicaja Malaga and of course the defending champions Lenovo Tenerife are great teams.
After all, four of them started the Round of 16 with Murcia being the only one which got a defeat, but from a fellow Spanish club, Tenerife. And in Group L, three out of the four teams is coming from Spain with Darussafaka being the only exception.
However, in the case of the Basketball Champions League this is not only a testament to the competition level of the teams themselves, but also a proof about the level of the domestic league they are competing.
There’s no question that Liga Endesa is the strongest league in Europe and in the last few years this remains the status quo. The fact that seven domestic leagues are represented in the Round of 16, also proves that in order to have strong teams, you have to have a strong league. The number of teams from each country pretty much proves this with Italy being a huge questionmark for the result of their teams, despite on paper having a very improved league this season.
What can’t be denied is the fact that Spain is dominating also in this competition field and the others countries and the other clubs must follow their lead on the domestic front in order for things to get better for the sport in general.