MALAGA (Spain) - The start of the Basketball Champions League Regular Season is just two weeks away. One of the contenders for the title is Unicaja, but they have a long way to go, starting from the Qualification Rounds in their own arena this week.

Heroes Den Bosch are hoping they could spoil the party straight out of the Netherlands, while Siauliai have their own quest of getting back on the international stage. Patrioti Levice and Egis Kormend are trying to put a bit of central European flavor to the mix, and Karhu Kauhajoki want to continue the magical 2022 for Finnish basketball.

Heroes Den Bosch

Who are they?

The current Dutch champions, Heroes are back on the international basketball map once more. They just won their 17th national championship, first one after a seven-year long drought, they also have seven Cups to their name, and two major international seasons, when they reached the Final of the FIBA Saporta Cup in 1979, and when they did the same in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup in 1982. They finished second to Cantu on both occasions.

 

Who to watch?

Austin Price averaged 13.2 points on 44 percent shooting from deep last season, and keep an eye on the frontcourt pairing of Thomas van der Mars and Jito Kok. Van der Mars just won the Finals MVP award in the Netherlands, while Kok had a solid FIBA EuroBasket 2022 run in the Oranje jersey.

What do they need to reach the Basketball Champions League Regular Season?

It doesn't get any tougher than this. Coach Erik Braal will need to find a way over Siauliai in the Quarter-Finals, and a win there would set up the Semi-Finals meeting with Unicaja. Bigger upsets have happened, now it's up to Heroes to build on their last two FIBA Europe Cup seasons with a BCL berth.

Siauliai

Who are they?

The club dubbed "best of the rest" in Lithuania in the early 2000s, finishing third in the League in nine of the first 11 seasons of the millennium. Siauliai then had a period of decline, allowing clubs like Lietkabelis, Neptunas and Juventus to claim their moments of glory, but they kept improving in last four seasons, finishing 10th, 8th, 7th and finally 4th in 2021-22. They were a regular in the FIBA Korac Cup in the 1990s, and played FIBA Champions Cup, FIBA Europe Cup, FIBA EuroCup, FIBA EuroChallenge and ULEB Cup in the 2000s, but their only attempt of reaching the BCL was stopped in the first qualifying round back in 2018.

 

Who to watch?

Siauliai have a number of talented young Lithuanian players, and they dialed Kyle Mangas' number to come in and provide them some scoring from the outside. The shooting guard played his rookie season in Czech Republic with USK Prague, averaging 20.5 points per game, including a 37-point game against Pardubice.

What do they need to reach the Basketball Champions League Regular Season?

They need to beat Heroes Den Bosch and go for the upset against Unicaja in the Semi-Finals. Coach Antanas Sireika knows how to win big single-game tournaments, he was at the helm of Lithuania when they won the FIBA EuroBasket back in 2003.

Unicaja

Who are they?

The brand of Malaga, Unicaja have been more successful in international competitions than in the domestic ones. They won the FIBA Korac Cup in 2001, they won the EuroCup in 2017, and finished third in the EuroLeague in 2007, while winning the Spanish title once in 2006. Their first BCL season saw them reach the Quarter-Finals last time around.

 

Who to watch?

Dario Brizuela and Alberto Diaz just won the FIBA EuroBasket with Spain, Tyson Carter had an explosive start to last season with Lavrio Megabolt, Jonathan Barreiro, Melvin Ejim, Augusto Lima and David Kravish are BCL veterans, Nihad Dedovic, Will Thomas and Tyler Kalinoski are bringing in even more international experience, and they have Kendrick Perry to run the show. This is a team built for success in May, not just in September.

What do they need to reach the Basketball Champions League Regular Season?

Coach Ibon Navarro knows how to win on this stage, but his biggest mission is to get the team to gel together as soon as possible, so early in the season, with his Spanish national team players just arriving in Malaga a couple of days before the Qualifying Rounds tournament. Unicaja are already in the Semis, waiting for either Siauliai or Heroes Den Bosch.

Patrioti Levice

Who are they?

They have been around for 80+ years, but are right now living their best lives. Slovak champions are also the champions of the regional Alpe Adria Cup, edging out JIP Pardubice from the Czech Republic in the Final. Patrioti Levice will attempt to become the first Slovak club to reach the Regular Season in the Basketball Champions League.

 

Who to watch?

Henri Wade-Chatman is coming back to the club where he averaged 17.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 2020-21. A lot is expected from Tre'Darius McCallum in his third season with the Patriots, and Deshawn Freeman is also back for his second term in Levice. Ben Kovac from Luxembourg and Miha Lapornik from Slovenia are responsible for even more international flavor.

What do they need to reach the Basketball Champions League Regular Season?

Coach Michal Madzin knows he has a good starting point with this squad. They know how to win trophies, they have done it twice just last season, and looking at the Egis Kormend/Karhu Kauhajoki part of the draw, it seems like the Final is not that far away for Levice.

Egis Kormend

Who are they?

They had two match points against Falco Vulcano Szombathely in the Finals last season, but ended up losing the series 3-2, unable to bring home their fourth national championship in Hungary. Their most recent trophy was the Hungarian Cup in 2016, and they have been a regular in the FIBA Europe Cup since 2016, reaching the Round of 16 twice.

 

Who to watch?

Winning Marijan Cakarun over from Szolnoki was a big summer success for Kormend, the Croatian power forward has been one of the most dominant players in Hungary for the past three seasons. Coach Antonis Constantinides can also count on local legend Csaba Ferencz, the 37-year-old who spent his entire career with Egis Kormend.

What do they need to reach the Basketball Champions League Regular Season?

They need to recall their last season, which saw them having Falco on ropes in the Finals, one win away from history. In a single-game elimination tournament, that kind of experience could prove crucial if they want to eliminate Patrioti Levice in the Quarter-Finals and Karhu Kauhajoki in the Semi-Finals.

Karhu Kauhajoki

Who are they?

Three-time Finnish champions, with all three of those coming in the last four years. They already had a couple of attempts of reaching the BCL Regular Season, reaching the final round in 2018, only to lose to Nanterre 92 by 70 points in two games. They were much closer in 2019, eliminating Tsmoki Minsk and then falling to Polski Cukier Torun by a single point over two games.

 

Who to watch?

Henri Kantonen had a solid summer with the Finnish national team, hitting clutch shots against Croatia in the Round of 16 of the FIBA EuroBasket 2022, and he will search for Lee Skinner on club level. Skinner averaged 16 points and 7 rebounds for Karhu last season, while shooting 39 percent from behind the three-point line.

What do they need to reach the Basketball Champions League Regular Season?

They need to stay calm and wait for their Semi-Finals opponent once Patrioti Levice and Egis Kormend have their Quarter-Finals date. Coach Janne Koskimies will do his best to paint the BCL in black, white and orange, the same way they've done it in Finland three times in five seasons.

The full schedule of the tournament in Malaga is available here. The winner of the tournament will advance to the Regular Season Group G, with JDA Bourgogne Dijon, Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari and PAOK mateco.