MIES (Basketball Champions League) – Across the 56 games that will take place in Group C during the 2018-19 Basketball Champions League season, there will be no shortage of talent.

The group features defending champions AEK Athens, former Euroleague club Brose Bamberg, Hapoel Jerusalem of Israel, and Spanish side Montakit Fuenlabrada, without mentioning Czech side CEZ Nymburk, Lithuanian's Lietkabelis, Belgium's Telenet Giants Antwerp and French side JDA Dijon.

It is the group of new faces, with six of the eight teams being newcomers to the Basketball Champions League.

AEK

The 2017-18 Champions return to defend their title after a successful season that also saw them win the Greek Cup. Having gone just 8-6 in the Regular Season, AEK pulled it together in the post-season, using home court advantage at the Final Four to be crowned victors.

 
However, the team is looking very different to last year; Luca Banchi takes the reigns as Head Coach (and will face off against his old side Bamberg in the Group) with Dragan Sakota going into the front office, gone are Manny Harris, the MVP of the competition last year and AEK’s leading performer, along with Final Four MVP Mike Green

The ever-dependable captain Dusan Sakota returns to the team, joined by the signing of his Hellas teammate Charis Giannopoulos, whilst American point guard Malcolm Griffin joins AEK in a return to Greece; where he left mid-season last year to sign in Russia – before which, he was leading the league in scoring and third in assists.

Lithuanian star-veteran Jonas Mačiulis adds support on the wing, as he hopes to add to his already full trophy cabinet.

American big man Tyler Roberson comes to Europe after a rookie season in the G-League, whilst Canadian Xavier Rathan-Mayes also joins AEK after stints in the G-League and a 10-day contract with Memphis Grizzlies last season. Howard Sant-Roos adds some championship experience, after winning the 2018 EuroCup title with Darüşşafaka.

Last Season BCL Record: 8-6, Champions

Key Additions: Charis Giannopoulos, Malcolm Griffin, Tyler Roberson, Xavier Rathan-Mayes, Howard Sant-Roos

Key Departures:  Manny Harris, Mike Green, Kevin Punter

Telenet Giants Antwerp

Knocked out of Qualification Round 3 last year at the hands of Rosa Radom, and ending up in the FIBA Europe Cup where they went 3-3, Belgian side Telenet Giants Antwerp took care of business through two Qualification Rounds going undefeated, as they dispatched of AEK Larnaca and Red October Cantu to secure their Regular Season spot this year.

 
The highest scoring team though the Qualification Rounds (85.8ppg) and the best at distributing the ball (22.8apg), Antwerp bring some firepower to Group C.

American rookie Jae’Sean Tate has made a strong early impression, averaging 17.3 points per outing, the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Player and Defensive Player of the Year Paris Lee returns for a second season in Antwerp, averaging double digits so far along with 5.5 assists, as does teammate David Dudzinski, who had a solid season last year.

They will need that core to make up for the loss of Belgian league MVP Jason Clark, who departed for Fraport Skyliners this off-season.

Last Season BCL Record: QR3

Key Additions: Jae'Sean Tate

Key Departures: Jason Clark

Brose Bamberg

German powerhouse Brose Bamberg join the Basketball Champions League, with seven of the last ten BBL titles under their belt, but are looking to bounce back by a down season by their standards.

 
Deflecting from the Euroleague after a 12^th place finish, they finished fourth in the Bundesliga and took home no silverware over the course of the season. 

Former Head Coach Luca Banchi departed for AEK, as new Head Coach Ainrs Bagatskis takes the helm, whilst Captain and German National Team member Elias Harris returns for his sixth season to provide some continuity.

Their biggest signing of the off-season is Tyrese Rice, who returns to Germany for a third stint after time betweem Barcelona and Chinese side Shenzhen Leopards last year. The former Euroleague (2014) and EuroCup (2015) champion and MVP will provide them a veteran presence at the point guard position. Serbia forward Stevan Jelovac joins the side and former highly-touted prospect Cliff Alexander adds athleticism at the four.

Finally, reigning Champions League Best Young Player Arnoldas Kulboka (after his season on loan with Orlandina) is expected to play with the club for the first time since signing a five-year deal in 2015.

CEZ Nymburk

CEZ Nymburk went 10-4 through the Regular Season last year, finishing second in Group D on points difference, before being knocked out in the playoffs to eventual champs AEK agonisingly with a 1 point differential after Kendrick Ray’s potential series winning shot bounced off the back of the rim as time expired.

Back again with a chip on their shoulder, following two surprise runs in the Basketball Champions League, the reigning Czech league and cup champions, who have dominated their domestic competitions since 2004, return a number of players, despite the loss of leading scorer Ray from last season.

American point guard Eugene Lawrence is back, along with 36 year old Czech national Petr Benda - their captain, and Vojtech Hruban, giving them 3 of their top 5 leading scorers from last season.

Nymburk will be looking to Oklahoma State rookie Kendall Smith to pick up the scoring slack from Ray’s departure, after he a Senior year where he averaged over 13 points a game.

Last Season BCL Record: 10-4, Round of 16

Key Additions: Kendall Smith

Key Departures: Kendrick Ray

Hapoel Jerusalem

Historic club Hapoel Jerusalem join the Basketball Champions League for the first time, having finished 3^rd domestically last season, whilst going 2-8 in the EuroCup.

Having lost all four of their double digit scorers from last season, it’s a new look team this year, though not all will be unfamiliar with the Basketball Champions League.

Tamir Blatt will man the point guard position, after signing a two-year deal this off-season. Fresh off his debut with Israel’s Senior National Team, Blatt is no stranger to the Basketball Champions League, last season having played with UNET Holon.

J’Covan Brown and Josh Owens are reunited – as they both previously competed in the Basketball Champions League in 2016-17 with Pinar Karsiyaka, who got to the Quarter-Finals that season. Brown was in Israel averaging double digits last year, whilst Owens was in Turkey with Tofas, also competing in the EuroCup.

Other American additions include NBA fringe player Chris Johnson, and of course, former NBA superstar Amar’e Stoudemire, who came out of retirement to re-join the team he played for in 2016-17 and has an ownership stake in.

JDA Dijon

French Pro A side JDA Dijon are another newcomer to the Basketball Champions League, having finished sixth last season with a 20-16 record. Having not competed in Europe since the 2014-15 season with a stint in the EuroCup, the Basketball Champions League will be somewhat of a leap into the unknown.

 
American forward Ryan Pearson looks to be one of their key players this season, averaging a little over 16 points per game through three domestic outings so far. He’s joined by fellow American and diminutive point guard David Holston who will act as distributor, along with American big man Gavin Ware who had experience in Europe last season with Paris-Levallois.

Frenchman Jeremy Leloup, formerly of SIG Strasbourg, also joins the team, meaning a return to the Basketball Champions League.

Lietkabelis

After two seasons competing in the EuroCup, Lithuanian side Lietkabelis make the switch to the Basketball Champions League for 2018-19.

 
Originally earmarked for the qualifying round, Lietkabelis earned a place in the Regular Season following the withdrawal of Turkish side Eskişehir.

With Croatian guard Fran Pilepić and his fellow Croat backcourt partner Dominik Mavra joining the side this season, 6’9” Mike Morrison is their only American on the roster, who came to Lithuania after four years in Germany.

7’1” Mindaugas Kupšas will man the middle, along with forward Donatas Tarolis.

Montakit Fuenlabrada

After a year’s break, Montakit Fuenlabrada return to European competition by making their Basketball Champions League debut.

36 year old Marko Popovic returns for his fourth season with the club and shows no signs of slowing down. The former Croat international, is the team’s leading scorer and will look to once again lead the team who have assembled a number of pieces.

Great Britain stretch forward Dan Clark returns to the team he was with in 2014-15, meanwhile Christian Eyenga returns for his second season with the club. Clark will be helped in the frontcourt by 7’0” big man Lucas Nogueira, who returns to the ACB after four years under contract with the Toronto Raptors. Slovenian point guard Luka Rupnik also returns, for the final year of his three-year contract with the club.