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EuroLeague Round 1 October 6th-7th

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After last year’s change in format for health and safety, the competition returned to its traditional two-group format on Wednesday with teams getting host their share of the games.

Group A:

The two teams with the most championships squared off in the first game in this group with questions about whether an early-season surprise could be possible in the veins of the last great upset in Riga.  Ekaterinburg was not particularly dominant, but took care of business with a 71-56 win.  Reyer Venezia was closer to full strength as Yvonne Anderson led them past qualifiers Szekszard 80-59.  USK Praha looked like they could get a win behind Maria Conde and Dragana Stankovic while missing stars, but Olivia Epoupa and Lattes Montpellier rallied late at home for a 75-74 win.  The last game of the round was in Salamanca as the all-domestic lineup for MBA Moscow held up well against Avenida, but lost 70-64.

October 6, 2021

Riga vs. Ekaterinburg 56-71 TTT Jasa 14 Sarauskaite 11/11r Thomas 8 Handy 6 Basko 5 UMMC Vadeeva 16/6r Torrens 12/7r Shilova 11 Belyakova 11 Meesseman 9/9r Bentley 4/6a

Reyer Venezia vs. Szekszard 80-59 REYER Anderson 23 Penna 13 Carangelo 12/6r Thornton 10 Attura 5 KSC Milic 17/7r Goree 14/6r Studer 14 Vorpahl 4 Krnjic 2

Lattes Montpellier vs. USK Praha 75-74 BLMA Epoupa 22/8r/6a Filip 14 Peters 14 Wallace 14 Warley-Talbert 4/6r USK Conde 23/7r Stankovic 20/7r Oblak 14/7r/6a Vorackova 7/12r

October 7, 2021

Avenida vs. MBA Moscow 70-64 AVEN Hof 15/6r Rodriguez 14/9r Dominguez 13/7a Vilaro 8/6r Fasoula 8 Cazorla 3 Evans 2 Alarie 2 Samuelson 0 MBA Glonti 16 Logunova 12/6r Korshakova 12 Maiga 10/11r

Group B:

The first game of the season was in this group with two teams trying to fight some disappointment from last season.  Dynamo Kursk is not at full strength yet, but Eva Lisec and Natasha Howard carried them past Arka Gdynia, which was led by Megan Gustafson and Alice Kunek, 86-76.  In many ways, it was a shame that the big rivalry game was schedule for the first gameday as neither team was at strength and they had not had the chance to play another competitive game.  Tina Krajisnik provided an immediate impact for Galatasaray alongside Pelin Bilgic, but it was a tough first overseas test for Chelsea Dungee as they lost 89-69.  Alina Iagupova was brilliant for Fenerbahce with Kayla McBride providing additional backcourt scoring, but a team that figures to have fantastic depth only played seven in their opener.  Girona had a golden chance for a good start at home with Sopron being hit harder by absences, but the visitors did enough late to leave with a 68-63 win.  Winning the qualifier meant Thursday night games in Schio and they had a great first one, rolling past Landes 96-56.

October 6, 2021

Dynamo Kursk vs. Arka Gdynia 86-76 DK Lisec 30/6r/6s Howard 22/11r Kozik 12 Baric 3 VBW Gustafson 26 Kunek 20/7r/7a Bertsch 13/9r Kastanek 6 Dobrowolska 0

Galatasaray vs. Fenerbahce 69-89 GALA Krajisnik 23/12r Bilgic 20 Steinberga 10 Dungee 3 FENER Iagupova 29/11a McBride 21 Williams 18/11r/6b Zahui B 6 Canitez 2

Girona vs. Sopron 63-68 GIRO Gardner 17 Burke 15/7r Drammeh 12 Reisingerova 8 Flores 7/7r SOP A. Varga 15 Hatar 13/11r Williams 11 Gaye 10/8r

October 7, 2021

Schio vs. Landes 96-56 SCH Laksa 18 Keys 17/10r Dotto 14 Gruda 13/19r Andre’ 12/6r Verona 10/6a BLAN Dumerc 14 Abega 13 Tolo 10/7r Ajemba 8/6r Fauthoux 0

Watch Opening Week of EuroLeague Here!

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Times listed are Central European Summer then Eastern Daylight:

Dynamo Kursk vs. Arka Gdynia, Wednesday 5:00pm/11:00am:

Riga vs. Ekaterinburg, Wednesday 6:00pm/12:00pm:

Galatasaray vs. Fenerbahce, Wednesday 6:00pm/12:00pm:

Girona vs. Sopron, Wednesday 7:15pm/1:15pm:

Reyer Venezia vs. Szekszard, Wednesday 7:30pm/1:30pm:

Lattes Montpellier vs. USK Praha, Wednesday 8:00pm/2:00pm:

Schio vs. Landes, Thursday 7:30pm/1:30pm:

Avenida vs. MBA Moscow, Thursday 8:30pm/2:30pm:

EuroLeague Qualifiers Day 3 September 23rd

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September 23, 2021

Group A:

Even with the prized EuroLeague spot no longer up for grabs, this group ended play with a thriller.  Brooque Williams was incredible for Kayseri, but had a tough end to the game as Brianna Fraser and Sepsi sent the fans home happy with a 79-78 win.  They drop in to Group B while the visitors head to Group D in EuroCup although both group project to be about the same level of difficulty right now.

Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe vs. Kayseri 79-78 SSIC Fraser 31/6r Miljkovic 18 Wallace 17 Bas 3 KAY Williams 37/8r/7a Sventoraite 17 Abdi 12 Dean 2/7r/7a

Standings: Szekszard 2-0, Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe 1-1, Kayseri 0-2

Group B:

It was the same situation in this group and it was even more thrilling as it took overtime for Bourges to edge Valencia 75-72.  The victors head to Group G while the losers drop to Group I in EuroCup, but either group would project to be easy for these teams.

Bourges vs. Valencia 75-72(OT) TBB Miyem 14/10r Eldebrink 12/6a Rupert 12 Michel 10 Mann 6/7r Yacoubou 6 Hampton 2 VAL Gulich 17 Salvadores 15 Romero 8 Trahan-Davis 6 Carrera 3

Standings: Schio 2-0, Bourges 1-1, Valencia 0-2

EuroLeague Qualifiers Day 2 September 22nd

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September 22, 2021

Group A:

Hosts Sepsi were welcomed by a raucous crowd in Sfantu Gheorghe and they played well early before Szekszard took the lead.  Brianna Fraser helped lead a comeback to force overtime as she played the entire game, but the visitors had the better of the extra period and won 63-56.  That result means that Szekszard advances to the regular season.  Sepsi still plays Kayseri with the result determining which team will join which group of EuroCup.

Szekszard vs. Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe 63-56 KSC Goree 15/8r Krnjic 12/8r Vorpahl 2 SSCI Fraser 28/7r Wallace 12/6r Bas 5/9r

Group B:

Bouges played their first game on Wednesday against Schio and had a good start, but Sandrine Gruda and Giorgia Sottana led the hosts in a 69-57 win.  Schio qualified with the win while Bourges plays Valencia to determine which team drops into which group in EuroCup.

Schio vs. Bourges 69-57 SCH Gruda 21/9r Sottana 21 Laksa 13 TBB Duchet 15/6r Mann 11 Miyem 9 Rupert 6 Yacoubou 3/6r Hampton 2

EuroLeague Qualifiers Day 1 September 21st

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September 21, 2021

The qualifiers started on Tuesday with the six teams divided into two groups along geographical lines.  The group winners after each team plays two games take the last two spots in the regular season while the two other teams will drop down to EuroCup.

Group A:

This group is being played in Romania in Sfantu Gheorghe with the hosts not playing in the first game.  Nikolina Milic paced Szekszard, which maintained a solid lead on their way to an 80-70 win over Kayseri.

Kayseri vs. Szekszard 70-80 KAY Dean 17 Williams 12 Oral 10 Abdi 8 KSC Milic 23 Goree 18/11r Krnjic 9 Vorpahl 6

Group B:

Schio is hosting the other group in Italy and they managed to grind out a 56-48 win over a Valencia team that had a long way to travel after starting their season over the weekend.

Valencia vs. Schio 48-56 VAL Ouvina 9/7r Gulich 8 Trahan-Davis 6/7r Carrera 6 Salvadores 3 Romero 2 SCH Laksa 19 Sottana 12/6a Keys 10/8r Gruda 8

European Competition Draws 2021-22

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Both competitions had their matchups drawn on Thursday:

EuroLeague:

The qualifier groups were already decided before the draw due to regionalization, but the order of games was determined with games played September 21st through 23rd.  Sfantu Gheorghe was picked as the host site for the eastern group, but the Romanian champions will not play on opening day with Kayseri and Szekszard squaring off to open proceedings.  Sepsi will then play Szekszard on Wednesday and Kayseri on Thursday with the top team grabbing a spot in EuroLeague and the other two teams dropping down to EuroCup.  Schio will welcome the other western qualifier teams to Italy and opens on Tuesday against Valencia before playing Bourges.  Bourges and Valencia will then play the Thursday game with the fight for the last EuroLeague spot figuring to be quite competitive.

The two groups were also drawn and there are going to be some intriguing matchups.  Defending champions Ekaterinburg will have finals rematches against Avenida.  Czech champions USK Praha will look to bounce back from a disappointing last campaign, but French cup winners Lattes Montpellier and Italian champions Reyer Venezia also figure to have quarterfinal expectations from Group A.  Nobody knows what to expect from MBA, which has been playing with an all-Russian team while Riga has shown the ability to play spoiler and the eastern qualifier will be at least expect to avoid elimination at this stage.  Group B is highlighted by the latest set of games between the great Turkish rivals Fenerbahce and Galatasaray.  Every team will enter believing that they should be in the quarterfinals including the survivor of the tough western qualifier.  Sopron will be looking to return to the semifinals while Dynamo Kursk is aiming to get back to that level.  Landes has momentum after winning the French championship, Girona enters as cup winner from Spain, and Arka Gdynia has strengthened their roster after winning the title in Poland.  With the top four teams in each group advancing to the quarterfinals, the next two teams will join EuroCup at the quarterfinal stage, and the bottom two teams will be eliminated.

EuroCup:

Qualifiers:

With so many teams applying to play this season, there are a number of qualifying games to be played.  The teams listed second will host the first games on or around September 23rd and the teams listed first will host the return games on or around September 30th with the combined score determining the winners.  Once group play finishes, the top two teams in each group will advance to the Round of 32 along with the top four third-place teams from each conference.

There are six matchups on the eastern conference side.  Elitzur Holon is looking to give Israel another team in the competition, but will have a tough task against Hatay, which has plenty of experience at this level as part of a large Turkish contingent.  Eleftheria Moschatou is a bit of a mystery as a newer entry from Greece and will face Bydgoszcz of Poland.  Also from Poland, Lublin will face Spartak Moscow with both teams having entered the competition this season with the expectation of the group stage and more only to draw each other.  Elazig is another experienced Turkish team welcoming a new team from Greece to the mix in PAOK.  Niki Lefkadas completes the group of Greek unseeded teams, although they have participated recently, drawing a tough team in Hungary’s PEAC.  Csata will also be representing Hungary, facing Umea, the only Swedish team to enter this season.

The western conference has seven matchups, including some unexpected newcomers.  Teams in the far west will play each other as Haukar hosts the first game in Iceland and then Uniao Sportiva welcomes them to the Azores.  Italian upstarts Magnolia Campobasso face Spain’s Ensino.  Ulriken Eagles, a surprise entry from Norway will feel like they can succeed against Belgium’s Liege while Slovakia’s Piestanske Cajky will feel the most unlucky with a tough task against France’s Carolo.  Also from France, Tarbes faces Belgium’s Kortrijk.  Grengewald Hueschtert is trying to bring representation from Luxembourg to the competition, but Italy’s Dinamo Sassari should feel like they are the favorites even as an unseeded team.  London Lions had a similar hope for British basketball, but their solid roster will get a test when they have to travel out to Gran Canaria.

Eastern Conference:

With so many teams involved this season, there look to be some strong groups even before the last teams are known.  Group A certainly qualifies as Polkowice looks to return to past levels, surprise Greek champions Panathinaikos are preparing for this competition, and there will be significant travel to the east to Krasnoyarsk to face Enisey.  Hatay or Elitzur Holon will complete the group and either one is likely to be considered one of the tougher qualifier teams.  Hungary’s Gyor and Prometey, which as a team from Ukraine knew that they would not face a team from Russia, are still waiting for two teams to join them in Group B.  One team will be the runners-up from the eastern EuroLeague qualifier and the group could get even tougher with Elazig facing PAOK in a qualifier.  Turkey’s Cukurova Mersin Yenisehir has announced a loaded roster and figure to be the favorites in Group C with Poland’s Gorzow, Belarus’s Horizont Minsk, and the qualifying winner between Spartak Moscow and Lublin looking to join them in the knockout round.  Group D also only has two teams set in Israel’s Ramla and Turkey’s Nesibe with the last place team from the EuroLeague eastern qualifier joining and the qualifying winner between PEAC and Niki Lefkadas looking more likely to have an uphill battle.  Group E has experience in Russia’s Nadezhda Orenburg, which is looking to bounce back from last season, and Olympiacos, which was unable to retain their group in Greece.  Serbian champions Crvena zvezda may have a fan friendship with Olympiacos on a multi-sport level, but Red Star will be looking to make a name for themselves by joining this competition and Eleftheria Moschatou will try to increase Greek presence in this group if they can prevail in their qualifier against Bydgoszcz.  Group F has experienced teams in Turkey’s Orman and Hungary’s DVTK, but the intriguing name is Russian upstarts Nika Syktyvkar as more experience is set to be added with either Umea or Csata from the qualifiers.

Western Conference:

There are still a number of blank spots to be filled after qualifying games, but there are already a number of strong groups in this conference.  The second-place team from the tough EuroLeague western qualifier drops into Group G along with Swiss champs Fribourg, Spain’s Tenerife, and a qualifying winner between Grengewald Hueschtert and Dinamo Sassari.  Group H looks to be one of the toughest with Spain’s Gernika, France’s Roche, and Italy’s Virtus Bologna waiting for the qualifying winner between Carolo and Piestanske Cajky.  Group I has two Belgian teams in Namur and Mechelen, but they will not be favored against the third-place team from the EuroLeague western qualifier and the qualifier winner between Ensino and Magnolia Campobasso could also be tough.  Lyon figures to be significantly stronger than anyone else in Group J, but Slovakia’s Ruzomberok, Spain’s Estudiantes, and a qualifying team in either Liege or Ulriken Eagles will still be looking to make some noise.  Group K has three experienced teams in Belgium’s Braine, Germany’s Keltern, and Brno from the Czech Republic, but the qualifying winner between Islas Canarias and London Lions just adds more strength to this group.  Villeneuve from France and KP Brno from the Czech Republic are waiting for two qualifiers in Group L with Uniao Sportiva-Haukur and Tarbes-Kortrijk needing to be played to complete the picture.

European Competition Teams 2021-22

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It was exciting news on Wednesday as FIBA Europe announced a spectacular number of teams have applied for places in both EuroLeague and EuroCup.  With so many teams, qualifying games for the last places will be intense and there will be chances to see continental competition in new countries.  Qualifiers and groups will be drawn on August 19th with qualifying games set for September.

EuroLeague:

20 teams applied for spots in EuroLeague this season and it was decided that 14 of the 16 spots in the regular season would be awarded directly, leaving intense qualifiers for the last pair of spots.  As the top country in the rankings, Russia had three direct places, awarded to defending champions Ekaterinburg, league runners-up Dynamo Kursk, and surprise league bronze medalists MBA.  Three countries received two spots each with Istanbul’s great rivals Fenerbahce and Galatasaray participating after squaring off in the finals in Turkey.  France and Spain award their second priority spot to their cup winner so Lattes Montpellier joins champions Landes for France and Uni Girona joins champions Avenida for Spain.  Five league champions received single direct berths for their countries in Hungary’s Sopron, the Czech Republic’s USK Praha, Poland’s Arka Gdynia, Italy’s Reyer Venezia, and Latvia’s Riga.

There will be a new qualifying format this season with six teams competing for two spots, preventing the traditional home-and-home two game format.  Since losing teams will drop down to EuroCup, which remains regionalized, teams will not be drawn and were simply split geographically.  Qualifying will be conducted at a single site for each group with the winner entering EuroLeague.  In the Eastern Conference, Kayseri from Turkey, Hungarian runners-up Szekszard, and Romanian champions Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe will be competing for the spot.  The Western Conference figures to have must-watch games with three big name teams who finished as runners-up in their domestic leagues in French powerhouse Bourges, ambitious Spanish side Valencia, and longtime Italian power Schio.

EuroCup:

With 57 teams applying for EuroCup, the competition was able to expand to 48 teams.  Accounting for teams dropping from EuroLeague qualification, 31 of those teams were given direct spots in the regular season.  That leaves 26 teams playing home-and-home two game qualifiers for the last 13 points.  The teams that will be seeded and unseeded in the qualifying draw have already been decided with the seeded team hosting the second game of each series after the unseeded team hosts the first game.

Eastern Conference:

As expected, there will be heavy representation from Russia and Turkey in this half of the groups.  Nika Syktyvkar joins after an impressive first season in the top division while Nadezhda Orenburg hopes to bounce back from a poor season, and Enisey Krasnoyarsk will be welcoming teams to their home far in the east.  Nesibe and Orman represent Turkey as well as Cukurova Mersin Yenisehir, which has already announced a very ambitious roster with the specific aim of making noise in this competition.  Gyor and DVTK represent Hungary while Polkowice and Gorzow represent Poland.  The other country to get two direct places is Greece as Panathinaikos joins after an impressive league title with rivals Olympiacos continuing to play here as well.  Ramla, which has been Israel’s representative for several years, returns along with the champions of Belarus and the European League, Horizont Minsk, and ambitious Prometey from Ukraine, which figures to be better equipped to deal with this competition in their second attempt.  The final team that does not have to go through qualifiers is Serbia’s champions Crvena zvezda, which is most commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in the English-speaking world.

This conference will have 12 teams compete in the qualifiers with the teams holding seeds being veterans at this level.  Those are Russia’s Spartak Moscow, Hatay and Elazig from Turkey, PEAC from Hungary, Bydgoszcz from Poland, and Umea of Sweden.  Lublin from Poland and Csata from Hungary look to increase representation for their countries among the unseeded teams.  Unprecedented participation from Greece could be possible with PAOK, Eleftheria Moschatou, and Niki Lefkadas will all try to navigate tricky paths.  Another country that has not had much participation with different roster rules in play is Israel, but Elitzur Holon will try to put together a group that can do so.

Western Conference:

As usual, the teams from France and Spain will enter as favorites from this half of the groups.  France has Lyon, Villeneuve, and Roche earning direct places while Spain has Gernika, Estudiantes, and Clarinos.   Belgium will also have three teams with direct places in Namur, Braine, and Mechelen.  Both teams from Brno will represent the Czech Republic while Virtus Bologna is the only Italian team with a direct spot.  Swiss champions Fribourg return and German champions Keltern and Slovak champions Ruzomberok are back in the picture after one year absences.

More teams entered from this side of the dividing line so 14 teams were placed into the qualifiers.  Carolo and Tarbes from France lead the teams awarded seeds.  Both Spanish teams have seeds as well in Ensino Lugo and Islas Canarias, which looks to bring continental competition to Gran Canaria to join their Canary Islands rivals from Tenerife.  Belgium’s Liege and Portugal’s Uniao Sportiva also have seeds with some experience in this competition while the last seed is Grengewald Hueschtert of Luxembourg, which participated last season.  Italy will have two unseeded teams, Magnolia Campobasso and Dinamo Sassari, which looks to increase the number of clubs in the country with success on both the women’s and men’s side of basketball.  Belgium’s Kortrijk and Slovak runners-up Piestanske Cajky look to increase representation for their countries.  The last three teams bring the excitement of participation from new countries into the mix.  British champions London Lions will be trying to qualify both their teams into the regular season of continental competition.  Haukar will try to bring the competition to the far west in Iceland.  Norway is often disconnected from basketball in the rest of Europe and the participation of Ulriken gives hope that that could change and they could take other steps like fielding a senior national team.

EuroLeague Final April 18th

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April 18, 2021

Sunday started with the 3rd place game as Fenerbahce had the faster start at home before having to fend off Jelena Brooks and Sopron 64-58.  That set up an intriguing final game and Tiffany Hayes and Avenida started the game with an upset on their minds.  Ekaterinburg fought back and began to establish control, but had to stop one last push to win 78-68.

3rd Place:

Sopron vs. Fenerbahce 58-64 SOP Brooks 21 Krajisnik 17/17r Walker 7 January 5 Hatar 2 FENE McBride 15/10r Sabally 13 Vaughn 12 Iagupova 11 Thomas 8/6r Zandalasini 3 Stokes 2/7r Cakir 0 Canitez 0

Final:

Avenida vs. Ekaterinburg 68-78 AVEN Hayes 29 Hof 8 Kar. Samuelson 7 Kat. Samuelson 6/6r Rodriguez 5 Cazorla 3 Alarie 2 UMMC Meesseman 19/8r Griner 14/8r Stewart 12/6r Vandersloot 12/12a Jones 9/11r Quigley 9 Torrens 3