MIES (Switzerland) - There is nothing in the 2020-21 BCL Play-Offs quite like the composition of Group L.

There might not be any former champion in this company, but all four contenders - Brose Bamberg, Casademont Zaragoza, Dinamo Sassari and ERA Nymburk - have reached the Quarter-Finals at least once before in competition history.

It's not something you hear often but, honestly, we're reasonably satisfied with the draw - Sassari GM Federico Pasquini

More importantly, they all like their chances of making it again this year, by earning a top-two finish in Group L to advance to the Final 8, despite having been drawn in what seems from the outside like an enormously competitive group.

The ones to perhaps express this sentiment more openly in the wake of Tuesday's Play-Offs Draw were Dinamo Sassari.

"It's not something you hear often but, honestly, we're reasonably satisfied with the draw," the Italian club's general manager, Federico Pasquini, told Dinamo TV.

"Numburk are an interesting team that one can never underestimate, playing against them is always tough.

"Bamberg are not doing very well in the German league but they're undefeated in the BCL. Their team has very different characteristics to ours, and they could struggle against our low-post game.

Marco Spissu is the new star of the league, he is among the leaders in assists in the BCL and he will be a key player for Sassari - Vojtech Hruban

"Zaragoza have several great players, they too are a team that likes to score a lot of points so our two games could be very entertaining to watch," the Sassari GM added.

Nymburk captain Vojtech Hruban's first concern was to avoid lengthy trips and he was also satisfied with the draw from that respect - and not only.

Even though Bamberg are not playing well in the German league they have a good momentum in the BCL and, judging from their form in the Regular Season, they are the favorites in our group - Vojtech Hruban

"If I compare our group with the other three, I think that ours is more difficult, but we have a chance to advance. At first glance, there is no weak team in this group and because of this parity every game will be extremely important," Hruban commented on his club's website.

"Sassari is a team near the top of the Italian league, and although they came out as second from their Regular Season group, we cannot say that they are among the weaker teams left.

"Marco Spissu is the new star of the league, he is among the leaders in assists in the BCL and he will be a key player for them.

"As for Zaragoza, I probably won't need to call Vítek Krejčí, I think we can do scouting ourselves," Hruban said jokingly.

"We have seen Zaragoza play several times, we know who they are, and they were also in the Final 8 in Athens so we know their key players well and who to watch out for.

Bamberg are the only team that finished the Regular Season on a perfect 6-0 record and of course we know very well most of their players since they played for Spanish teams in the past - Zaragoza's Pep Cargol

"Bamberg has changed a lot since last season. They obviously had a disappointing season last year, they were not in the position they wanted to be, but they have a different style now and are at the top of the competition again.

"Even though Bamberg are not playing well in the German league they have a good momentum in the BCL and, judging from their perfect form in the Regular Season, they are the favorites in our group."

Hruban's Belgian teammate Retin Obasohan has of course an inside knowledge of Bamberg, since he played for the German club last season.

"I'm excited. I'm glad that the draw went well and there is hard work ahead of us, but it will be fun," the Nymburk point guard said.

Sassari are a team that has a clear frontcourt reference in Miro Bilan, who is a very experienced player of great quality - Pep Cargol

"I know a lot of players on our opponents' rosters. Elias Harris, who's now at Zaragoza, is my friend. And of course there's also Bamberg, where I played last year.

"All three teams that are in this stage deserved to be here based on their performances. I'm really excited about the challenge. All three are worthy opponents. And they some nice places to go to, in terms of countries," Obasohan added.

 
Zaragoza sporting director Pep Cargol echoed the views of his team's opponents on the competitiveness of the group, adding though that to a degree this was unavoidable because we're now in the Play-Offs

"Our group is tough, it will be very competitive and there will be a great fight for the top two spots. One of the difficulties these small groups have is they leave you with minimal margin of error, you cannot allow big point differences and you have to win all games at home, if possible," Cargol stated.

Nymburk have a lot of quality as a team and they always compete, this is why they were also at the last Final 8 in September - Pep Cargol

"Bamberg are the only team that finished the Regular Season on a perfect 6-0 record and of course we know very well most of their players since they played for Spanish teams in the past - Alex Ruoff was at Bilbao, Chase Fieler started out in Europe at Ourense, Thompson was only a while ago playing for Fuenlabrada, Michele Vitali was at Andorra and David Kravish spent last season at Manresa.

"They are a compact team that defends well, typical of German teams in some ways, and they have demonstrated how effective they are in this edition of the BCL.

"Sassari was in the same group as Tenerife and they finished with the same record, 4-2, and even won the home game against Tenerife by 20 points.

"It's a team that has a clear frontcourt reference in Miro Bilan, who is a very experienced player of great quality. Eimantas Bendzius is of course a guy we know well because he spent three years at Obradoiro and of course they are coached by somebody who once played in Zaragoza, Gianmarco Pozzecco (the Italian coach played a few games for Casademont's predecessor, CAI Zaragoza, towards the end of his playing career). Sassari is certainly an experienced and complicated opponent.

"Nymburk have a winning mentality as they win the Czech championship almost every year. They have some Czech international players such as Vojtech Hruban, who is one of their leading scorers. Point guard Retin Obasohan and forward Omar Prewitt are also among their top contributors.

"Nymburk have a lot of quality as a team and they always compete, this is why they were also at the last Final 8 in September," the Zaragoza sporting director concluded.