By Nikos Varlas / varlas@eurohoops.net
The premiere of the Euroleague has arrived! The curtain opens and a flurry of thoughts and images overwhelms the mind. What are we going to see this year? Especially since the changed format with the expanded Top16 and the 14 games that look like a round of death, the league becomes more and more unpredictable, more thrilling, more competitive.
The gates of the Final Four remain open throughout the season and give everyone a chance. But only a few will be able to endure to the end, in a long journey that, aside from talent, quality and luck, requires experience in navigating…
The way teams manage bad nights but also “rough seas,” how effectively they isolate the feelings of joy and sorrow and move on focused on the next challenge, has proved to be the biggest key, the most important virtue ever since the Euroleague changed the format to include 24 stops for someone to reach the playoffs.
Only 4 clubs will have the fortune of crossing the Brandenburg Gate in May in Berlin!
The road to the Final Four is long. There are so many things that one can think and write about the Euroleague that “spreads open its wings” within the week for a brand new, bright season!
We “lock in” the first 10 thoughts from the brainstorming that the official tip off brings about. Let’s list them together!
Real Madrid: Back2back aspirations
Pablo Laso and his players got used to – even “spoiled” – with titles. The EuroBasket whet the international players’ appetite even more and it is certain that the repeat is on everyone’s mind in Madrid. Rightly so! How many teams have had the same body for so many years? Besides, apart from the given talent which exists in excess, we’re talking here of an advantage of homogeneity as well!
The queen has everything. The air and mentality of a European Champion, the same excellent and still young body, players with big personalities and lots of ambition. What’s missing? Nothing! Reasonable grounds for their Back2back aspirations…
Flights around Euroleague Turkish Airlines
The Turkish element is more acute than ever in all levels of the tournament! Four teams represent the TBL, three from Istanbul and the champions Karsiyaka from Smyrna! Notable brands, quality rosters, sophisticated and multiple-winning coaches, players from the NBA, fans and organizations with huge appetites and expectations make up the puzzle of Turkey’s extended representation. After many years we saw a Turkish team in the Final Four. The chances of that happening again seem high. Or is it time for something bigger?
A mosaic of philosophies
Every team, a different story! Fenerbahce brought three players over from the NBA, signed many top-notch athletes and wants to return to the Final Four, but this time to win it all! Anadolu Efes also did some top-shelf shopping with 3 big men and Jayson Granger, but is also betting on the golden new blood of the next big generation of Turkish players! Darussafaka is a great new entry for the Euroleague. A model team, with the Dogus group investing in a long-term, thought out program on all levels and very soon with a privately owned arena, a benchmark not only in terms of basketball, but environmentally as well!
Karsiyaka? Yes, they don’t have the biggest budget, but they do have a “family atmosphere,” a coming together and a chemistry that works wonders! It’s been proven! Many protagonists of last year’s fairytale season to the title have left for other states, but the secret ingredients of success remain in Smyrna, like Ufuk Sarica.
Maccabi matching their DNA
When we say Maccabi, our mind takes us to a full stadium with yellow and blue the prevailing colors. To an environment that refers to a basketball ritual, to aggressive and fancy basketball. Very fancy! We feel that the roster that’s been created is Maccabi… through and through! The fiery offensive duo of Taylor Rochestie and Jordan Farmar is going to light up at some point, the forwards (Devin Smith, Brian Randle) are… airborne and the overall mixture points to promising, explosive moments! Yalla Maccabi!
They want the present, they take care of the future
There is no bigger motivation than failing in all your goals and in the same season your biggest rival winning everything! Last season is “nourishing” Barcelona who armored their frontline with athletic qualities and lots of energy. They bought experience (Carlos Arroyo) alongside Tomas Satoransky who looks ready to explode, added more quality pieces to the puzzle and as always, invested in the future with targeted moves. Time will tell whether Xavi Pascual’s team will be more successful. They’ll definitely be fiercer!
More humble, more dangerous
Do you recall many summers where CSKA wasn’t a protagonist in transfer moves? We don’t! The organization shut out the easy criticisms after losing in the semifinal and the 4th consecutive appearance in a Final Four without a title, trusted the same coach and the same leaders, created a more low profile team compared to previous seasons and this is enough for them to appear emotionally discharged and less pressured. More humble means more dangerous! Besides, top class players remain on the roster.
Khimki 4×4
Everything’s determined on the court, but the backcourt that Khimki is presenting could constitute the line of guards of a European Champion! From the spring of ’14 onwards, Tyrese Rice is not letting his foot off the gas. Petteri Koponen is maturing and entering the peak of his career. Zoran Dragic couldn’t get established in the NBA but he can leave his mark in the Euroleague. Alexey Shved also chose the top league in Europe after leaving the NBA behind. You have four guards before you, each more dangerous than the other! It’s a challenge for coach Kurtinaitis to find some chemistry and a challenge for the fans to watch this team!
Six years later
Many have said so, among them, Zeljko Obradovic! “The best Final Four in the Euroleague’s modern history in terms of quality, took place in 2009 in Berlin.” Six years later, in the impressive Mercedes Benz Arena, the big celebration, the ultimate meeting, returns to the same city, at the same place. A sign of a big and historic Final Four? Quite possibly, since the league looks more competitive than ever at the top level!
The group has gotten bigger
The Euroleague has taught us that any kind of prediction is risky. You can’t underestimate any team. If we try to separate, at their starting point, the clubs that have quality and the special weight of getting themselves into the playoffs and realistically seek the entry into the Final Four, we come to realize that the group of top clubs is characterized by an increasing trend this year!
Real, CSKA, Barcelona, Olympiacos, Fenerbahce, Panathinaikos, Anadolu Efes and Maccabi make up a group of 8 candidates. But take a look at the rosters of teams like Khimki and Darussafaka… Even Lokomotiv or Armani Milano. So, this is why we say that the contenders are many this year and the conditions for the best Top16 ever… Until the next one!
Giants with their feet planted firmly on the ground
When we talk about competitiveness, our mind spontaneously takes us to the Greek teams. How can one explain the fact that, while the crisis has been plaguing Greece since 2010, the only time we didn’t have a Greek presence in the Final Four was in 2014, and that from those six seasons, the trophy ended up with a Greek team three times? Just like 2009, when the Greek giants still had the biggest budgets in the tournament!
Panathinaikos is the only team that has won 4 trophies in the Final Four system in the modern era of the institution. Olympiacos has created a small “miracle.” In the last 4 seasons, has to show 3 appearances in finals and two wins. This year? No one can risk excluding these clubs from the right to dream. The Greek teams look like “vampires” in the Euroleague that feed not on blood but on successes. Many times, actually, one on the successes of the other!