By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The summer of 2018 proved to be more than turbulent for European basketball leagues. While the sport is making progress on a continental level, the landscape of the domestic leagues changed a lot and most of the changes are not for good.
Compared to last season, it has to be noted that once more the Top 10 Leagues remain the same. Countries like Belgium or Poland which are missing the cut. Despite having some solid clubs, they are not yet part of the top level leagues. On the other hand, it’s obvious that the Top 10 can be divided into three tiers. Spain, VTB United League and Turkey are the three leagues which belong to the top tier. Italy, Greece, France, and Germany are the second tier, while the Adriatic League, Lithuania, and Israel are the third.
However, if something doesn’t change drastically it seems that Turkey is heading to the second tier, while the German ambition for BBL to be the top domestic league in Europe by 2020, can’t be a reality. Having said that, the differences between the 4th and the 7th league are practically minimal and the leagues which seem to be making real progress as a whole seems to be France and Italy.
OVERALL RANKING
- ACB Liga Endesa – Spain (-)
- VTB United League (+1)
- BSL – Turkey (-1)
- Lega Basket Serie A– Italy (+1)
- Jeep ELITE ProA – France (+1)
- HEBA Basket League – Greece (+1)
- Easy credit BBL -Germany (-3)
- Adriatic League (+1)
- LKL – Lithuania (+1)
- Winner’s League – Israel (-2)
FIRST TIER
ACB Liga Endesa – Spain (-)
The best domestic league in Europe remains on the top of the rankings. In recent years, only Turkey briefly challenged the ACB’s dominance, but since then many things changed.
The Spanish league has a strong selection of clubs, four teams in the EuroLeague, a solid fan base, a good television contract and television distribution outside the Spanish borders. It can’t get better than this, despite the occasional financial issues of certain clubs with Joventut Badalona being the latest team which suffered such a hardship.
In any case, Spain is the model that everyone follows and the standard by which all other European domestic leagues are measured.
VTB United League (+1)
It’s quite clear that the VTB United League is the only league in Europe near the ACB level. VTB has a great lineup of clubs, two EuroLeague representatives, and an overall quality of on-court play that’s top notch.
The fact that the VTB announces publicly the clubs’ budgets is also a big plus. And the numbers prove that no other league can compete with VTB on money spent. Add to the mix a successful All-Star Game and things are going in the right direction. The main issue for the VTB remains limited fan interest, especially compared to the quality of basketball played.
BSL – Turkey (-1)
Back in the 2015-16, we have ranked Turkey as the top league in Europe, giving them a slight advantage over Spain, due to the financial crisis that was plaguing Southern Europe. Now the tables have turned.
The Turkish financial crisis has obvious results in the BSL, which will have only 15 clubs this season after Trabzonspor’s withdrawal. While the country still has three EuroLeague teams in Fenerbahce, Anadolu Efes, and Darussafaka, most teams simply don’t have the money that they used to. This might even be the last season of Turkey in the top three of the European leagues, if something doesn’t change drastically.
SECOND TIER
Lega Basket Serie A– Italy (+1)
Italy is making the right steps towards its old glory. And while the differences with France, Greece, and Germany are small, there are a few details which give to Italians the edge.
Italy is represented in all top European competitions – EuroLeague, EuroCup, Basketball Champions League – AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milano is acting as the locomotive for the rest by signing big names like Mike James and Nemanja Nedovic and there’s no other domestic league in Europe that has a Hall of Famer coach. Larry Brown is coaching Turin, Norris Cole is playing in Avellino and Italy is making progress. The league is interested in presenting the games the best possible way and the cherry on the top is the collaboration with “La Giornata Tipo”, a Facebook page that went viral with a unique mix of humor and basketball.
Jeep ELITE ProA – France (+1)
France is doing everything right and the main reason they are behind Italy is that they still don’t have a team in the EuroLeague. That’s expected to change next season with ASVEL, so France is expected to make one more step forward.
To put a perspective into things, France has solid clubs, like Monaco and Strasbourg, which produce good results in Europe. The league has also a solid television contract – tied with the national team games tv rights – and as it happens in the VTB United League, the budgets are also officially announced. The level of play is not bad at all, even if most teams are notorious for being based on their players’ athletic abilities and less on tactics. What’s really missing in France is a real powerhouse – in Paris maybe? – that would create mainstream interest in the league.
HEBA Basket League – Greece (+1)
Greece could have been even higher, but it’s a league that had many ups and downs during the last few years and remains pretty unbalanced. The top clubs simply can’t be compared with the bottom. However, for the first time in recent years, the league has a two-year television contract and some kind of financial security. The defending Basketball Champions League champion AEK is hailed all over Europe as the third big power behind Panathinaikos and Olympiacos and the overall quality of teams seems to be the best of the last decade.
Of course, money remains an issue. Small teams have to make ends with budgets that might be less than one million euros, but the top clubs of the league provide games that are top-level European basketball. One strange detail that has to be noted is that despite its progress, Greece remains the only country of the Top10 without a team in the Eurocup, meaning that the country has no chance to get a third team in the EuroLeague.