MIES (Switzerland) - Season Seven of the Basketball Champions League is starting next week. Lenovo Tenerife are the defending champions, meaning they have the biggest target on their backs ahead of the Regular Season start.

Time for us to introduce all the 32 teams, group by group, continuing with teams from Greece, Turkey, Germany and Italy swimming in the same pool in Group B.

 

		GAMES				STREAK	GAME POINTS					POINTS
#	Team	P	W	L	%	Last 5	For	Agt	+/-	FA	AA
1	AEK AEK	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Pinar Karsiyaka KSK	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Telekom Baskets Bonn BONN	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0
4	UNAHOTELS Reggio Emilia REG	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0

AEK

Who are they?

The 2018 winners of the Basketball Champions League, champions in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup the following year, two-time winners of the FIBA Saporta Cup. AEK also won the Greek League eight times, and lifted the Greek Cup five times in their history.

Coached by Ilias Kantzouris who arrived in July, AEK are searching for a way back to the top of the continent after an abysmal season by their standards. They were knocked out in the Group Stage in the BCL in 2021-22.

Their biggest BCL success?

They won the 2018 edition in front of nearly 20,000 fans in Athens, and they reached the Final once more, in 2020, once again in Athens, but Hereda San Pablo Burgos outlasted them in that one.

Why should I watch them?

Tim Frazier is an NBA veteran with more than 300 games of experience, and a man capable of getting a triple-double on his day. Akil Mitchell will be the high-flying target, Janis Strelnieks is there to provide leadership, and don't forget about the Finnish Thor Alex Madsen.

Pinar Karsiyaka

Who are they?

Back in 1987, they won the Turkish League for the first time, not all that surprising for a team that finished second just three seasons earlier. But in 2015, when they lifted the national league trophy once again, it was one of the biggest upsets in European basketball.

Coached by Ufuk Sarica for the past three years, Karsiyaka became a European firepower, able to lure in the biggest names in free agency every summer. No surprises there, considering their packed stands week in, week out.

Their biggest BCL success?

Karsiyaka played the Final in 2021, falling to Hereda San Pablo Burgos in Nizhny Novgorod. They are used to big games, they played the Quarter-Finals of the BCL in 2017 and 2018, the Quarter-Finals of the FIBA Europe Cup in 2019, reached the Semi-Finals of the FIBA Europe Cup in 2020, and the BCL Final in 2021. Last season, they lost 2-1 in the Play-In Series to later champs Lenovo Tenerife.

Why should I watch them?

Errick McCollum is set to make his BCL debut, Kenan Sipahi is there to run the point, Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Angel Delgado are there for international experience, and with guys like Jaylon Brown and Vitto Brown arriving, it seems like the transition from the Taylor-M'Baye-Colson-Kennedy-Tyus period went by smoothly.

Telekom Baskets Bonn

Who are they?

Founded in 1992, Telekom Baskets Bonn were quick to earn a promotion to the Bundesliga in 1996, and played the Final in the following season. They finished runners-up on four other occasions in the German League, when you consider that they played the German Cup Final three times and that they arrived here as last season's Bundesliga Regular Season runners-up, it seems a lot of their history is about number two.

Coached by Tuomas Iisalo since last season, they will attempt to change that two to one, starting by winning the group here. They have a habit of playing European competitions, over the last 25 years, they only missed out on five international campaigns.

Their biggest BCL success?

Telekom Baskets reached the Round of 16 in 2020, but were swept by non other than current group rivals AEK in two games.

Why should I watch them?

T.J. Shorts was one of the most impressive players in the FIBA Europe Cup in 2019-20 and 2021-22, getting 14.6 points for Ventspils on the first occasion, and rising to 17.6 points and 6.0 assists per game for Crailsheim last season. He led the Bundesliga in scoring in 2021-22, with 21.0 points and 6.9 assists, earning the Best Offensive Player award.

UNAHOTELS Reggio Emilia

Who are they?

One of the rising forces in Italian basketball over the last decade. Reggio Emilia reached the Italian League Final twice, in 2015 and 2016, they won the Italian Supercup in 2015, won the FIBA EuroChallenge in 2014 and played the Final of the FIBA Europe Cup last season.

The creator of that progress was Massimiliano Menetti, who coached the team from 2011 to 2018, and then started something similar with Nutribullet Treviso from 2018 to 2022. Now he's back in Reggiana, ready to turn the next page in the club's history books.

Their biggest BCL success?

They are making their BCL debut this season.

Why should I watch them?

Andrea Cinciarini is a legend in Reggio Emilia, he was the Final Four MVP when they won the FIBA EuroChallenge in 2014, and at 36, he isn't any slower than before, leading the Italian League in assists last season. Mikael Hopkins was already a double-double threat last season with UNAHOTELS, Osvaldas Olisevicius averaged 16.3 points per game in Italy in 2021-22, and Michele Vitali will provide them with all the three-point shooting they need.