09 October, 2018
05 May, 2019
05/10/2018
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History suggests Group A is loaded with quality


MIES (Basketball Champions League) - If history is a useful guide to determine the relative strength and weaknesses of Regular Season pools in the Basketball Champions League, then Group A should be loaded with quality.

MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, Banvit, UCAM Murcia, Le Mans, Sidigas Avellino and Ventspils are all in Group A. Each has not only featured in the BCL before but advanced from the Group Phase. Some of the sides have played in unforgettable ties and three have reached the Final Four before.

Entering the continental league for the first time in Group A are Russians Niznhy Novgorod and Poles Anwil Wloclawek. Don't expect either of these teams to be punching bags.

MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg

Led by last season's Coach of the Year, John Patrick, MHP Riesen are looking to again have a strong campaign. After narrowly missing out on a Final Four spot in the inaugural edition of the Basketball Champions League, losing to Banvit in their Quarter-Final tie when Jordan Theodore made a lay-up at the buzzer in Germany, Ludwigsburg struck back with a vengeance last season. Not only did the club win all three of its Qualification Round ties, it advanced to the Final Four. David McCray is back for a third straight season and Adam Waleskowski for a second. Otherwise, this is a team that has again had a major overhaul. Keep an eye on Aaron Best, who spent some time with Juventus Utena in the first Basketball Champions League season. It's notable that Best has become a regular pick for Canada in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Qualifiers. His quality shone through in an 85-77 home triumph over a star-studded Brazil on September 14 when he drilled 4 of 6 shots from 3-point range and played more than 29 minutes. Normally, the players that join Ludwigsburg do not have the biggest names in Europe but when they leave, everyone knows them.

 

Nizhny Novgorod

The team coached by Zoran Lukic has taken a page out of the 2017-18 MHP Riesen book by winning three Qualification Round ties. Who knows, maybe they'll go on a great run to the post-season, just as Ludwigsburg did last season. Nizhny brushed aside FC Porto of Portugal, overcame a formidable Aris of Greece and finally blew out Czech side Pardubice to take its spot in the Regular Season. The trickiest tie was against Aris. After falling 65-63 at home to the Greek outfit, Nizhny got a strong performance from point guard Kendrick Perry in a 62-51 triumph in Thessaloniki to progress with a 9-point win on aggregate. Perry had 16 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists steals in that game. Maxim Grigoryev was also a key man in the qualifiers, averaging 19ppg in the tie with Porto, and should be influential for the club in the Regular Season, too. 

UCAM Murcia

The club from the south of Spain lived dangerously in its first BCL season, finishing fourth in Group A with 7 wins and 7 defeats - the same record as fifth-placed Dinamo Sassari - and then advanced to the Final Four where it almost upset hosts and eventual winners AEK in the Semi-Finals. Murcia had a to dodge a Qualification Round 3 bullet that went by the name of Spirou Charleroi to make this year's Regular Season and did, edging the the Belgians, 149-144 on aggregate. Gone is coach Ibon Navarro and in is Javier Juarez. There is continuity with the players. Back are star forward Ovie Soko, Netherlands international guard Charlon Kloof, Argentina international big Marcos Delia, Belgium center Kevin Tumba, Dominican Republic firebrand Sadiel Rojas, sharpshooter Brad Oleson and Spanish shooting guard Alex Urtasun. Murcia also have the most promising player to come out of Romania in a long time, big man Emmanuel Cate, former Indiana Pacer and Monaco Basket forward Damjan Rudez and Dejan Todorovic, the Serbia international who has played in five World Cup Qualifiers.

 

Ventspils

The Latvian club has made plenty of headlines in its two Basketball Champions League campaigns. In their inaugural season, Ventspils progressed from the Group Phase and then lost by just two points on aggregate to Final Four side Umana Reyer Venezia. Last season, among Ventspils' achievements was to sweep defending champions Iberostar Tenerife in their two Regular Season meetings. Back is coach Roberts Stelmahers, while returning players are Maris Gulbis, Rihards Lomazs, Ronalds Zakis and Latvia international Ingus Jakovics.

 

Anwil

Making its first appearance in the Basketball Champions League, the club earned its place after storming to the second title in its history.  Back from last year's championship-winning side are Jaroslaw Zyskowski, the club's third leading scorer in the Polish league at 9.4ppg, and captain Kamil Laczynski, who poured in 8.0ppg and handed out a team-high 5.8apg. Perhaps most crucial of all for Anwil was the announcement in late June that the coach who led the team to last season's crown, Igor Milicic, will be at the controls again.

 

Le Mans

After debuting in the first edition of the competition in 2016-17, when they won six of their first seven games but had a coaching change in mid-season and then faded down the stretch before losing in the Round of 16 to Dinamo Sassari, Le Mans return to the fray on the back of a French league title triumph. Le Mans were 3-2 winners in the French play-off finals over Monaco Basket, the side that lost to AEK in last season's Basketball Champions League title game. Still in the squad from their first BCL campaign are Wilfried Yeguete and Petr William Cornelie, two players that slot in at both power forward center. Richard Hendrix, a former Maccabi Tel Aviv big man, is also now on the books of Le Mans. The coach who steered Le Mans to last season's crown, Eric Bartecheky, is still in charge.

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Sidigas Avellino

The Campania club, which was founded in 1948, already has two seasons in the Basketball Champions League under its belt. The first run was better, one that saw the club win 10 of 14 Regular Season games and advance to the Round of 16 before a tough, two-legged defeat by just 8 points to Umana Reyer Venezia. After finishing fourth in the Italian top flight last season and then suffering a play-off quarter-final knockout at the hands of Dolomiti Energia Trento, Avellino are looking to make an impact with former CSKA Moscow forward Demetris Nicholls on the floor and former New Zealand coach Nenad Vucinic at the helm. Vucinic, who played for New Zealand at the 2000 Olympics, is an excellent coach. He was a big hit with the Tall Blacks, leading them from 2007 through the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. 

 

Banvit

One of the big success stories of Turkish basketball in recent years, Banvit has not had the spending power of the nation's giants yet has been among the best clubs in the country. It has certainly made its mark in the Basketball Champions League, from stunning MHP Riesen at the buzzer in the second leg of their Quarter-Final tie with the Jordan Theodore layup and then reaching the Final Four in the inaugural season of the competition to advancing to last year's Quarter-Finals before falling to eventual finalists Monaco. Gone is the excellent coach for both of those teams, Saso Filipovski, and in his place is now Ahmet Gurgen.  Banvit lost key men from last year's team yet do have talented Turkish players still with the club like Tolga Gecim, Ridvan Oncel and the promising youngster, Sehmus Hazer. Serbia international Stefan Bircevic, who played for Partizan Belgrade in the first season of the Basketball Champions League, has also joined the club.