Both competitions conducted their draws on Thursday.  In addition to the regular season groups, all qualifying pairings were picked as the last teams in each competition will need to be decided.

EuroLeague:

Group A: Famila Schio (Italy), UMMC Ekaterinburg (Russia), CCC Polkowice (Poland), Tango Bourges (France), ZVVZ USK Prague (Czech Republic), Mithra Castors Braine (Belgium), winner Nadezhda Orenburg (Russia) vs. Cukurova (Turkey), winner ESBVA-LM (France) vs. Atomeromu-Tarr KSC Szekszard (Hungary)
Group B: Avenida (Spain), Dynamo Kursk (Russia), Flammes Carolo (France), Sopron (Hungary), Fenerbahce (Turkey), Hatay (Turkey), winner Wisla Krakow (Poland) vs. Olympiacos (Greece), winner Umana Reyer Venezia (Italy) vs. TTT Riga (Latvia)

Last season’s draw seemed to produce a rather unbalanced regular season while this year seems to have more even groups at first glance.  Defending champions Ekaterinburg headline Group A, which currently features six domestic champions.  Behind them, teams will be looking to compete for what will almost certainly only be three available places and all of them will feel like they should at least grab fifth or sixth place and a drop down to the EuroCup knockout stages.  The qualifiers should also be able to mix it up quite well with the other teams, but the draw threw up an interesting result with Nadezhda and Cukurova matching up and preventing us from having three teams from both Russia and Turkey.

Group B has two of the semifinalists from last year compared to one for the other group.  Add to that mix the top two remaining teams in Turkey and perennial playoff contenders Avenida and there will be quite a battle for the top four spots.  There is plenty of room for upstarts in this group as French runners up Charleville look to make an immediate impact and one of Reyer and TTT Riga will also make it.  The other qualifier will have Wisla trying to retain their place against Greek powerhouse Olympiacos and a win for them could make half of the teams in this group not the defending champions in their country.

EuroCup:

East:

A: Artego Bydgoszcz (Poland), Sparta&k M.R. Vidnoje (Russia), Sodertalje (Sweden), Gorzow Wielkolpolski (Poland)
B: MBA Moscow (Russia), Galatasaray (Turkey), Energa Torun (Poland), winner Spartak Noginsk (Russia) vs. Niki Lefkada (Greece)
C: Besiktas (Turkey), Inventa Kursk (Russia), Tsmoki-Minsk (Belarus), loser Wisla Krakow (Poland) vs. Olympiacos (Greece)
D: Enisey Krasnoyarsk Region (Russia), Mersin Buyuksehir (Turkey), Sepsi-SIC (Romania), winner Gdynia (Poland) vs. Orman Genclik (Turkey)
E: Umea (Sweden), Beroe (Bulgaria), Botas (Turkey), loser Nadezhda (Russia) vs. Cukurova (Turkey)

Only one group in this half is already known in its entirety in Group A.  The other teams will be waiting for all the qualifiers to conclude to find out where they need to a book a trip to later.  As usual, the Turkish teams will be expected to qualify from their groups as there are also an abundance of Russian teams in this stage.  No team will be thinking that they are out of contention for one of the top two spots in each group that will lead to automatic qualification as a pair of third place teams will also qualify from these five groups.  Defending champions Galatasaray sit in group B, but keep an eye on Group E, where the likely two teams to progress, Botas and the loser of the EuroLeague qualification series between Nadezhda and Cukurova, are likely to make noise in the later stages of this competition.

West:

F: Spar CityLift Girona (Spain), Uni Gyor (Hungary), Uniao Sportiva (Portugal), winner Belfius Namur Capitale (Belgium) vs. Lointek Gernika (Spain)
G: Aluinvent DVTK Miskolc (Hungary), KP Brno (Czech Republic), winner Nantes Reze (France) vs. Liege Panthers (Belgium), loser Umana Reyer Venezia (Italy) vs. TTT Riga (Latvia)
H: Nymburk (Czech Republic), Ruzomberok (Slovakia), Cinkarna Celje (Slovenia), loser ESBVA-LM (France) vs. Atomeromu-Tarr KSC Szekszard (Hungary)
I: BLMA (France), VBW CEKK Cegled (Hungary), Rutronik Stars Keltern (Germany), Lyon ASVEL (France)
J: Landes (France), Elfic Fribourg (Switzerland), Tarbes Gespe Bigorre (France), Sint Katelijne Waver (Belgium)

This half has two groups already set as DVTK and KP Brno are still awaiting two final groupmates.  Group I is one to watch as ambitious ASVEL from France will clash with the more established BLMA.  Two French teams are also in Group J.  Travel could be interesting in the western section as TTT Riga could drop into this half instead of the east due to more eastern teams entering the EuroLeague qualifiers than western teams.  While the western teams have been less competitive in recent years, last season’s run by Reyer should be a blueprint for these teams as they try to make a run through the knockout stages.

On Friday, FIBA announced the teams competing in EuroLeague and EuroCup for the upcoming season.  Draws for qualifiers and groups for both competitions will be conducted on Thursday and broadcast on FIBA’s YouTube channel.  The combination of traditional powerhouses and new faces means that both competitions had more interested teams than spots, which should lead to some competitive qualifying games.

EuroLeague:

Twenty teams were eligible for the continent’s premier competition so only twelve could qualify directly with eight teams competing for the last four spots.  That number of teams means that the powerhouse countries were only given two direct spots.  Defending champions UMMC Ekaterinburg will be joined by Dynamo Kursk from Russia.  Turkish champions Fenerbahce and Hatay will represent their league.  Bourges and Carolo will represent France to round out the countries with one direct entry.  A number of other traditional names also earned automatic spots as Final Four hosts Sopron will represent Hungary, Castors Braine continues to carry the torch for Belgium, and Schio of Italy, Polkowice of Poland, Avenida of Spain, and USK Praha of the Czech Republic round out the list of champions.

The number of teams involved mean that some good teams will be fighting for qualification.  Fortunately, the earlier end to the WNBA season and some time off after national team competition should mean that teams will be at full strength in October.  Nadezhda Orenburg of Russia and ESBVA of France are two teams that are used to not having to fight for their spots who will now have to survive this round.  Turkish surprises Cukurova are taking the step up while Wisla Krakow of Poland are another traditional name who could face a test.  Reyer Venezia of Italy and Szekszard of Hungary will look to increase their country’s representation at the highest level.  TTT Riga of Latvia is looking to recapture former glories while powerhouse Olimpiacos continue to try to introduce Greece back to a bigger stage.  Teams that lose their qualifiers will drop down to EuroCup.

EuroCup:

The regular season will feature ten groups of four teams again.  The teams will be split into an eastern section, known as Conference 1, and a western section, known as Conference 2.  Sixteen teams in each conference are already known while two teams on each side will come from EuroLeague qualifying losers and each side will have two qualifying matchups to determine the final teams.

In the east, expect the Turkish teams to be strong again as Istanbul giants Galatasaray and Besiktas are joined by Botas and Mersin.  Russia will also have a number of teams as Enisey Krasnoyarsk, MBA Moscow, Spartak Moscow, and promising newcomers Inventa Kursk have automatic berths.  Poland’s reintegration into the wider continental scene continues as Bydgoszcz, Torun, and Gorzow will be there.  Umea continues to represent Sweden, this time being joined by Sodertalje.  Romania’s dominant force Sepsi returns after a surprise run, while Tsmoki-Minsk represents Belarus and Beroe will add Bulgarian participation to proceedings.  Qualifiers in this half will see three teams try to further increase participation from their countries as Spartak Noginsk of Russia, Orman of Turkey, and Gdynia of Poland are joined by surprise entry Niki Lefkadas of Greece.

The west should have strong French teams again as Tarbes, ASVEL, BLMA, and Lattes all know that they will be playing.  Hungary will provide three teams as Gyor, Cegled, and Miskolc are all threats.  KP Brno and Nymburk make the Czech Republic the other country to already know that they are sending multiple teams.  Girona of Spain, surprise Germany champions Keltern, and Fribourg of Switzerland all rejoin proceedings.  Ruzomberok is the lone team from Slovakia as they are now set up to be the powerhouse in the country.  Celje of Slovenia had an exceptionally young and talented team last season and this will be a good step for them to grow in stature as a club while Uniao Sportiva will be ready to welcome teams after they make long trips out to the Azores.  Sint-Katelijne-Waver is the only known Belgian representative, but the qualifiers will be make or break for the country with Namur and newcomers Liege Panthers looking to progress.  Nantes of France and Gernika Bizkaia of Spain are also looking to boost their countries’ numbers.