By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The 2023-24 season is here with a fresh format that lets just 12 teams out of 20 make it to the knockout stage, making the BKT EuroCup more competitive already by definition.
This time around, 40% of the teams will not make it past the group stage and that makes each game even more interesting.
Thankfully with just three newcomers – Besiktas, Aris and Wolves – it’s easy to get a solid picture of the competition from day one, thanks to a solid sample of teams from last year.
So, are we going to have back-to-back champions? Or is there a contender ready to challenge GranCa? Here’s how things are before the tip-off.
BKT EuroCup Power Rankings Vol. 1
20. Slask Wroclaw
The Polish representatives need to do much better in order to be competitive, as last season’s 1-17 record indicates.
19. Dolomiti Energia Trento
In theory, Trento has the experience and the know-how to do better. But in general, the EuroCup has not been Trento’s cup of tea, as evidenced by just four wins last season.
18. U-BT Cluj-Napoca
The Romanian club, in its second season in the competition, will need to fight more and get more things going than just having an admirable home-court support. That’s their challenge this year.
17. Veolia Towers Hamburg
The German club was the pleasant surprise of the competition in the 2021-22 season, but last year they got just six wins. Can they do better this year? It’s debatable.
16. Wolves Vilnius
They are named Wolves but maybe there are dark horses. The Lithuanian club embarks on a season where they can be considered capable of turning heads. They have an experienced coach in Kestutis Kemzura and two players who stole the show in the recent World Cup, Arturs Zagars and Vaidas Kariniauskas, plus former Real Madrid forward Jeffery Taylor.
15. Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
This is an ambitious project, led by Italian coach Simone Pianigiani, who will try to turn Cedevita’s fortunes around after two disappointing EuroCup campaigns when on paper the team was a contender, but last season managed just three wins.
14. London Lions
Last year London had a nice debut, but things are harder this time around with just six teams from each group qualifying for the quarterfinals. So, can they take a step forward? The duo of Sam Dekker and Gabe Olaseni must deliver big time.
13. Aris Midea Thessaloniki
Also back to the EuroCup after seven years, Aris is a club with a huge basketball tradition and familiar former Olympiacos and Panathinaikos players like guard Lefteris Bochoridis, Dimitris Katsivelis and Vassilis Toliopoulos. Add to the mix a strong home court and rabid fans and they might have a chance to just make it to the postseason.
12. Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul
After seven years, Besiktas returns to the EuroCup behind the competition’s former Coach of the Year, Dusan Alimpijevic, who led Frutti Extra Bursaspor to the EuroCup Finals in 2022. That’s why there are expectations for this club to make it to the postseason and then try to take the tournament by storm.
11. Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse
In their fourth consecutive EuroCup season and second under head coach Frederic Fauthoux, the French will try to do something better than just make it to the playoffs. Having said that, with NBA prospect Zaccharie Risacher on their roster, that’s one team that everyone will watch.
10. Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
This is their 17th season in the EuroCup so they really know what to do. The issue here is that they never got past the quarterfinals, and it remains to be seen if Brandon Paul, a German champion with Ulm and a EuroLeague veteran, can help them make the jump.
9. Umana Reyer Venice
Umana Reyer Venice enters its fifth consecutive season in the EuroCup and it has reached the knockout stages in three of those, so we expect pretty much the same or even more under coach Neven Spahija, who in the past won the trophy in 2010 with Valencia.
8. 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys
New head coach Roberts Stelmahers won this trophy as a player when it was called the ULEB Cup back in 2005 with Lietuvos Rytas. Since then, a lot has changed, but a solid local core gives this roster the chance to have a good season. Still, Lietkabelis need to make a splash in the playoffs, something they didn’t do last year losing to Paris.
7. Paris Basketball
Paris needs to prove that last season was not a fluke and having the Basketball Champions League MVP TJ Shorts on their roster, together with coach Τuomas Iisalo, who led Bonn to that title, is the guarantee that they mean business. Last season they made it to the EuroCup Quarterfinals, and now they want more.
6. Prometey Slobozhanske
The Ukrainian club was the pleasant surprise of the last EuroCup season, and they can do it again. Head coach Ronen “Neno” Ginzburg brings seven players back from last year, so they are contenders once more.