Which teams to avoid in the BCL playoffs?
The last round of the Basketball Champions League Round 16 groups will be played next week, and there are still some questions left on which teams will qualify and how tough their mission will be to reach the Final Four tournament that will take place in Badalona at the beginning of May.
In Group I, we have the most uncertainty as neither one of the teams is mathematically qualified for the quarterfinals. Galatasaray Istanbul is leading the group with a 4-1 record, and they will play at home against Lithuanian side Rytas Vilnius. The Turkish team won an overtime thriller in their first matchup in January in Vilnius so we can expect another great battle, but Galata will have their fanatic fans on their side and are certainly favourites to qualify. In the other game of the group, Le Mans (that has a 3-2 record just like Rytas) will play at home against winless Hapoel Holon, so the French side has a huge opportunity to advance if Rytas loses in Istanbul.
In Group J, everything is clear as AEK Athens, with a perfect 5-0 record, and Alba Berlin, with 4-1 are already qualified for the next stage. It’s possible that both teams would like to avoid Galatasaray (if they qualify, as they would seem like to most dangerous team from Group I) so that would be one of the stakes for their direct matchup that will take place in the Uber Arena in Berlin (in the first game in Athens the Greek team won by 8 points, so Alba will need to beat that difference).
Now we get to the two groups that are dominated by the Spanish teams. In Group K, Joventut Badalona and Unicaja Malaga already booked their tickets for the quarterfinals. They will play in Malaga and Unicaja will have to win by 6 points or more to win the 1st place in the group.
The 1st place of Group K could avoid Tenerife, which has a 4-1 record in Group L, and with a win in Trieste, they will finish 1st. Meanwhile, Gran Canaria, the 4th Spanish team in this stage, plays at home against Nymburk, so they are also huge favourites to advance and complete a double Spanish quarter-final matchup in the BCL, proving once again that the ACB League has a lot of teams that can get great results in every continental competition.
Imre Halasz
Photo credit: BCL
