Which teams will advance to the BCL group stage?
Just like last year, FIBA decided to bring all 24 teams competing in the BCL qualification rounds to Antalya, where they were drawn into four groups ( tournaments ) of six teams each. Four teams from each tournament will play quarterfinals, while two higher-ranked teams are automatically qualified for the semifinals.
In the first tournament, we have the Portuguese side Benfica, which will start the competition in the semifinal stage where they will meet the winners of Rilski Sportist (Bulgaria) and BC Nokia (Finland). Benfica played in the last two editions of the Basketball Champions League in the group stage and they are the favourites to win Tournament 1 and advance to the group stage again. On the other half of the bracket, BC Sabah (Azerbaijan) will play against Norrkoping Dolphins (Sweden) and the winner of this matchup will go on to meet Fribourg (Switzerland).
In Tournament 2 the favourites seem to be Nymburk. The Czech side has great experience in the BCL, having played in the quarterfinals of the competition in the past. The team coached by Francesco Tabellini will play in the semifinals against the winner of the BC Trepca (Kosovo) and Keravnos (Cyprus). The other three teams are Kutaisi from Georgia who will play in the quarterfinals against Patrioti Levice from Slovakia. The winner will play against Estonian side Kalev/Cramo in the semifinal.
Tournament 3 promises to be one of the most exciting of the four. PAOK (Greece) and Cholet (France) are the tournament’s favourites, but the teams they will face in the semifinals could seriously challenge them. Petkim Spor (Turkey) and CSM Oradea (Romania) are quality teams that want to qualify for the Group stage. At the same time, Caledonia Gladiators (Great Britain) and Den Bosch (Netherlands) should not be underestimated either.
Finally, Tournament 4 might be the strongest one. Andorra, a representative of the Spanish ACB League will start in the quarterfinals where they will meet Antwerp, a team that played in the competition’s Final Four in the past. Serbian team Spartak and Juventus (Lithuania) are the other two quarterfinalists, and the winners of these matchups will meet German side Bonn and Italian team Sassari in the semis. It’s hard to pick a winner for this group, but Andorra, Bonn and Sassari all have the quality to play in the group stage of the BCL.
Imre Halasz
Photo credit: BCL