FIBA PREVIEW EUROPE CUP GROEPSFASE-1 / DONAR, ZZ, NEW HEROES E.V.A: 'The grand FIBA Europe Cup Regular Season preview'

Afbeeelding van Fiba.com, bij hun Preview voor 'De Groep Des Doods' waar Donar in terecht is gekomen

15/10/2018

Preview

5 min to read

The grand FIBA Europe Cup Regular Season preview

MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) – There are 32 teams lining up for the Regular Season of yet another edition of the FIBA Europe Cup. Some of them qualified directly, some conquered two Qualification Rounds to be here and even more switched lanes from the Basketball Champions League.
As the Group Phase begins, all of them — big clubs and small — will have ambitions of making it to the Second Round. However, with room for only half of them, only the strongest teams will prevail.

Group A

Afbeelding Fiba.com, de Smaakmakers in de Groep-A waar ZZ Leiden speelt

• s.Oliver Wurzburg (GER) – 9th place in the German Basketball Bundesliga
• ZZ Leiden (NED) – Runners-up of the Dutch Basketball League
• CSM CSU Oradea (ROU) – Champions of the Romanian Liga Nationala
• Sakarya BSB (TUR) – 8th place in the Turkish Basketball Super League

There are many familiar names in Group A, but none of them competed in the Regular Season last year. In their own unique ways, three of them — CSM CSU Oradea, s.Oliver Wurzburg and ZZ Leiden — were already in the FIBA Europe Cup orbit, having either played in seasons past, fallen short in the Qualifiers or even, in the case of Oradea, both. Making their international debut, Sakarya are the only true newcomers to the competition, who will have to learn on the fly in order to overcome their lack of international experience.

Frontrunners: Sakarya BSB and s.Oliver Wurzburg
Star: Toney Douglas (Sakarya BSB)
Top Prospect: Badu Buck (s.Oliver Wurzburg)

 

Group C

• Istanbul BBSK (TUR) – 11th place in the Turkish Basketball Super League
• Pinar Karsiyaka (TUR) – 10th place in the Turkish Basketball Super League
• Spirou Basket (BEL) – 3rd place in the Belgian Basketball League
• Donar Groningen (NED) – Champions of the Dutch Basketball League

No one else in the Regular Season can claim the Group of Death title, as it quite clearly belongs to the talent-packed Group C that will undoubtedly leave someone disappointed. The free-for-all will feature last year's FIBA Europe Cup Semi-Finalists Donar Groningen, a much-improved Spirou Basket side and two traditionally strong Turkish teams – Istanbul BBSK and competition newcomers Pinar Karsiyaka, who played in the Basketball Champions League Quarter-Finals last season.

Frontrunners: Istanbul BBSK and Pinar Karsiyaka
Star: Semih Erden (Istanbul BBSK)
Top Prospects: Yordan Minchev (Istanbul BBSK) and Rienk Mast (Donar Groningen)

  

Group D

Afbeelding Fiba.com de Smaakmakers in de Groep-D waar New Heroes Baketball speelt

• Ironi Ness Ziona (ISR) – 8th place in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Avtodor Saratov (RUS) – 6th place in the VTB United League
• New Heroes Den Bosch (NED) – 5th place in the Dutch Basketball League
• BK JIP Pardubice (CZE) – 3rd place in the Czech National Basketball League

Everything is on the cards in Group D, with Avdoror Saratov being the only returning team from the 2017-18 campaign. Technically speaking, Pardubice also competed in the Qualifiers last year but were bounced by Spirou Basket in Qualification Round 2. This year, both of the teams transferred directly into the Regular Season from the Basketball Champions League. Meanwhile, two competition newcomers, Ironi Ness Ziona and New Heroes Den Bosch, qualified via the FIBA Europe Cup Qualifiers.

Frontrunners: Avtodor Saratov and Ironi Ness Ziona
Star: Daequan Cook (Ironi Ness Ziona)
Top Prospect: Nikita Mikhailovskii (Avtodor Saratov)


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