June 27, 2016
One change was made before the draw on Monday as Conquero of Spain withdrew from both competitions, eliminating the need for a EuroLeague Qualifier. Reyer Venezia and Umea were automatically moved into the EuroCup regular season to fill the vacant spots, leaving a balanced set of qualifiers to determine the last eight teams.
EuroLeague:
With the two group format, matchups are always important as teams fight for quarterfinals spots during the regular season. Both finalists were drawn into Group B, but Group A has the other five returning quarter-finalists as all of them will probably enter the season with expectations of returning. Gyor will likely find their return to the competition tough in that group as the other returnee Lattes Montpellier should still have a strong core that will be ready to compete. Mersin, out of Turkey, could hit the ground running following a successful season. Hatay is the newcomer in Group B, while Polkowice makes their return. Sopron and Avenida will look to climb out of the last two spots in the group, which was where both ended up last season. The two French teams will think that this group gives them better chances to qualify than last season, but the two Russian teams will be the favorites in the group before rosters are finalized.
Group A: Fenerbahce (Turkey), Mersin (Turkey), USK Praha (Czech Republic), Wisla Krakow (Poland), Dynamo Kursk (Russia), Gyor (Hungary), Lattes Montpellier (France), Schio (Italy)
Group B: UMMC Ekaterinburg (Russia), Polkowice (Poland), Nadezhda Orenburg (Russia), Villeneuve (France), Bourges (France), Hatay (Turkey), Sopron (Hungary), Avenida (Spain)
EuroCup:
Each group will have one team from the qualifiers. Whichever team wins the Group D series between two Turkish teams should have an edge on progressing from their group once the regular season starts. Group C will be very competitive with all of the teams likely to believe that they should advance. Group F will have two teams that were in EuroLeague last season, but neither will relish trips out to the Azores as Uniao Sportive will look to recapture some of their magic from last season. The two German teams will have an uphill battle to qualify, but Wasserburg will think that they have a good chance at advancing out of Group H.
Group A: Hoptrans Sirenos (Lithuania), Spartak Moscow (Russia), Maccabi Ashdod (Israel), Winner of Enisey Krasnoyarsk (Russia) vs. Cegledi (Hungary)
Group B: MBA Moscow (Russia), AGU Spor (Turkey), Pecsi (Hungary), Winner of Pecs (Hungary) vs. Piestanke Cajky (Slovakia)
Group C: Dynamo Novosibirsk (Russia), Galatasaray (Turkey), TTT Riga (Latvia), Winner of Chevakata Vologda (Russia) vs. Samsun Canik Belediye (Turkey)
Group D: Olympiacos (Greece), Good Angels Kosice (Slovakia), Miskolc (Hungary), Winner of Istanbul Universitesi (Turkey) vs. YDUBGD (Turkey)
Group E: Namur (Belgium), Virtus Eirene Ragusa (Italy), Nymburk (Czech Republic), Winner of Nantes (France) vs. Amsterdam Angels (Netherlands)
Group F: Castors Braine (Belgium), Uniao Sportiva (Portgual), Girona (Spain), Winner of Valosun KP Brno (Czech Republic) vs. Keltern (Germany)
Group G: Landes (France), Nice (France), Reyer Venezia (Italy), Winner of Elfic Fribourg (Switzerland) vs. Gdynia (Poland)
Group H: Wasserburg (Germany), Lulea (Sweden), Umea (Sweden), Winner of Charleville (France) vs. Freiburg (Germany)
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