2017 FIBA Champions League Playoff Preview
The FIBA Champions League wrapped up their first regular season last week, progressing 24 teams from the 40 that set out in October. Reviews of the competition have been generally positive, and the format has allowed for some teams that had no chance to play continentally in the old competition landscape. Teams that hadn’t made top-level tournaments, like Kataja Basket, surprised with strong performances, while opportunities for top-level youth prospects, like Alpha Kaba and Frank Ntilikina, kept American eyes on the competition.
On Friday, FIBA held the draw for the playoff rounds. Eight teams earned first-round byes and were sorted randomly to match up with play-in games involving the other 16 squads. The play-in matchups will involve home-and-home matches, with the aggregate score determining who advances to the Top 16. Those matches will follow the same format. After that, the final eight will be re-drawn into the final playoff bracket.
This is where the tournament will see its true test of strength. FIBA’s tournament offered some fun games and exciting drama down the stretch, but has felt like it lags behind the Eurocup in terms of talent. Given the entertainment coming from Eurocup over the past few weeks, a subpar next round from the Champions League could cement it as the third tier of intercontinental competition, something FIBA can’t afford in their fight against Euroleague.
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The Champions League is fighting an uphill battle against Eurocup and Euroleague. These next few weeks are pivotal for the long-term feasibility of the tournament. Let’s look at how things will shape-up.
The contenders: First round byes
First round byes were given to the five regular season group winners (Monaco, Le Mans, Tenerife, ASVEL and Besiktas) along with the best three second-place squads. In all likelihood, one of the following eight teams is going to win the competition. They get the next month to rest up and focus on domestic competition. Let’s re-introduce these teams and look at why they have a shot to win.
ASVEL
Tony Parker’s squad finished 10-4 in the regular season and won the Group C three-way tie to take the group. Led by former Florida point guard Walter Hodge and former Duke guard DeMarcus Nelson, ASVEL has a formidable defense and plays tough on the perimeter. This is a veteran squad that can hang around with anyone.
AS Monaco
The Group A champs have lost only four times between the Champions League and French Pro A play. Their roster has plenty of Euroleague experience between guards Dee Bost and Sergii Gladyr, and massive center John Bryant. This team doesn’t shoot well but they crash the glass relentlessly and their lead guards are terrific at managing the game.
Iberostar Tenerife
The darlings of the ACB (14-4, currently in 2nd place) are also perhaps the biggest frontrunner for this competition. The forward combination of Georgios Bogris, Aaron Doornekamp and Tim Abromaitis is difficult to stop for any team due to the combination of size and offensive skill. They also hit 39.3 percent from 3-point range, tops in the field.
Le Mans
Le Mans won a three-way tie with Reyer Venezia and Pinar Karsiyaka to earn this spot. They’re home to some of France’s premier domestic talent. Former 2nd-round picks Petr Cornelie (Denver Nuggets) and Olivier Hanlan (Utah Jazz) are enough reason to watch regularly for NBA fans, but they also rely on former Seattle Supersonic and Minnesota Timberwolf Mickael Gelabale as their team leader.
Sidigas Avellino
Avellino is dangerous thanks to their deadly motion offense, led by the three-headed American monster of Adonis Thomas, Levi Randolph and Joe Ragland. All three could be Euroleague-level players next year. This group is balanced, deep and athletic.
Neptunas
Jimmy Baron and his 49.4 percent 3-point shooting lead the Lithuanian squad, which also features former 76ers guard Larry Drew II. Another of the league’s top rebounding squads, Neptunas can beat anyone if Baron gets hot enough.
Banvit
Adding Furkan Korkmaz from Efes helped solidify the Turkish side as a dark horse, as they finished the regular season on a 6-2 run. Korkmaz is averaging 9.5 points per game and shooting 53.8 percent from the perimeter for his new team in this league — Philadelphia 76ers fans should watch how their draft-and-stash guard fares as the stakes raise.
Besiktas
Is Earl Clark’s NBA career truly over? Averaging 14.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game to lead a team averaging 84.1 points per game might be keeping the door open.
Play-In Previews
Juventus Utena vs. AEK Athens (Winner plays AS Monaco)
This matchup will pit two teams with entertaining point guards against each other. The Lithuanian Juventus features Jamar Diggs, who’s averaging 1.6 steals per game, and he’ll be tasked with containing the two-headed attack of Roko Ukic and Michael Dixon, one of the competition’s best backcourts. Athens should handle this matchup.
Maccabi Rand Media vs. MHP Ludwigsburg (Winner plays Neptunas)
American players dominate this matchup, as Ludwigsburg’s powerful offense centers around Jack Cooley, Tekele Cotton and Drew Crawford — all fringe NBA players. Maccabi Rand Media, meanwhile, brings two of the league’s most efficient players in Patrick Richard and Javon McCrea. This will be a good matchup for D-League fans to watch. Pull for an MHP Ludwingsburg win, because getting to see Cooley and Jerai Grant of Neptunas tango under the basket will be a treat straight out of the 2011 ACC.
Aris vs. SIG Strasbourg (Winner plays ASVEL)
Frank Ntilikina’s squad gets matched up with Aris, a Greek side with an isolation-heavy offense. This should be a good matchup for him, as we will get to see him in more one-on-one situations defensively. The looming matchup with ASVEL, against two high-level guards, is very intruiging.
Fraport Skyliners vs. Pinar Karsiyaka (Winner plays Besiktas)
Fraport barely snuck into this round, but they can still do some damage thanks to A.J. English, who averages 17.2 points per game. They run into an interesting Karsiyaka team led by Brent Petway and featuring Polish forward Mateusz Ponitka, who may be good enough to find his way to the NBA in the next few years. Neither of these teams poses much of a threat to Besiktas, but this will still be a fun double-header.
Avtodor Saratov vs. EWE Baskets (Winner plays Banvit)
Now we’re cooking! Avtodor rolled into the playoffs on the back of the Nick Minnerath/Vince Hunter combo, and are much better than their record suggests. They match up with EWE Baskets Oldenburg, a solid team that had a penchant for playing and winning close contests. This is probably going to be the most entertaining matchup of the play-in games, and if we get the D-League All-Stars of Saratov against Korkmaz and Banvit in the next round, that’s Step Back appointment television.
Ventspils vs. Umana Reyer Venezia (Winner plays Avellino)
This matchup isn’t particularly interesting. Ventspils limped into the playoffs, while Reyer Venezia has former D-League prospect Melvin Ejim but got blown out by their last three opponents who made the playoff. Give Venezia the slight edge for Ejim, a do-it-all forward averaging 10.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game and hitting 50 percent from the perimeter.
PAOK vs. Partizan Belgrade (Winner plays Tenerife)
Partizan’s defense is solid, and the Serbians have a great home-court advantage. They’ll need both of those against PAOK, a dangerous team thanks to one of the competition’s best scorers, Thaddeus McFadden. The 6-foot-2 guard averages 18.5 points per game and gets help from Keith Clanton, who’s averaging nearly a double-double. How Partizan is able to contain these two will be very interesting.
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Dinamo Sassari vs. CEZ Nymburk (Winner plays Le Mans)
CEZ Nymburk, led by Bryon Allen in the backcourt, is another dark horse who drew a good matchup in this round. While Dinamo Sassari can score thanks to the playmaking of Darius Johnson-Odom and the versatile Dusko Savanovic, they’re the FIBA Champions League’s worst rebounding squad. That bodes poorly against Nymburk, who grabbed nearly 40 rebounds per game behind the frontcourt combo of Diamon Simpson and Howard Sant-Roos. The Nymburk/Le Mans matchup is probable, and will be a very good one given both teams crash the glass at a high rate.