Which teams do you think will finally tick the win column this week?
(Basketball Champions League) - Big-name teams like SIG Strasbourg, Cibona Zagreb, Muratbey Usak Sportif, Telenet Oostende or Fraport Skyliners find themselves among the 13 sides who enter the third week of action in the Regular Season without having a victory yet to their name.
Which #BasketballCL team you think will finally tick the win column this week? ✌️
— #BasketballCL (@BasketballCL) October 31, 2016
➡️ https://t.co/ouT1Yu9GWv
Fraport Skyliners, the reigning champions of the FIBA Europe Cup and a side that had entered the top-4 of the German BBL last season, stands out among the four teams that are yet to taste victory in Group A.
Slovenian champions Helios Suns Domzale, Danish champions Bakken Bears and ambitious Israeli debutants Ironi Nahariya are the other three Group A teams looking for their first win this week. What makes the situation even more interesting is that one of Helios or Skyliners will drop to 0-3 on Gameday 3, as the two sides clash in Slovenia on Wednesday night.
La @sigstrasbourg renoue avec la victoire en s'imposant face aux @SharksAntibes #GoSIG #SIGSHARKS #ProA https://t.co/4GxDOFNGYo
— SIG Strasbourg (@sigstrasbourg) 29 de octubre de 2016
A similar scenario will play out in Group D on Wednesday, as SIG Strasbourg play host to Telenet Oostende, who are off to a very lukewarm start also in the Belgian league having won three of their first six games domestically.
Strasbourg took the drastic decision last week to terminate the short tenure of Henrik Dettmann and trust the reins of the team again to former boss Vincent Collet. The French coach commenced his new spell in charge on the right foot, as Strasbourg won 85-74 against Antibes in the French Pro A. Also in Group D meanwhile, Cibona, are the third teams looking to recover from a 0-2 start and delivered a convincing display at the weekend, enjoying an 87-68 root of FMP at home.
Usak Sportif are the only team without a win to their name in Group C and are looking to put an end to this predicament when they host Latvian league leaders BK Ventspils this week. Usak have bolstered their roster with Greek-American power forward Zachary Auguste who should be able to debut with his new team in the Wednesday game.
Ukranian champions Khimik, CSM Oradea and Kataja Basket are the three teams still looking for a first success in Group B and all three are playing at home this week so they have good reasons to be optimistic. Nonetheless, the Romanian and Finnish side are facing the two teams who are currently leading the group on a perfect 2-0 record, in Avtodor Saratov and Le Mans Sarthe, respectively.
Gegen den Meister ein schwerer Stand, doch Jack Cooley stemmt sich gegen die drohende Niederlage #ihrundwir pic.twitter.com/dutcVkHXgF
— MHP RIESEN (@MHP_RIESEN) 30 de octubre de 2016
In Group E meanwhile the two teams that are hoping to break the duck this week are facing diametrically different tasks as MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg have the luxury of playing at home, where they receive Hungarian champions Szolnoki Olaj.
Meanwhile Proximus Spirou Charleroi had a big injection of morale at the weekend by beating Oostende in the Belgian league big game, but they have to travel to Sardinia to look for their first win as they are facing Dinamo Sassari on the game that concludes Gameday 3 action on Wednesday night.
