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On October 15, 2014, the Euroleague 2014/2015 starts. Game 1 will start on Wednesday but in the following ones the games will be generally played on Thursday and Friday like in the last two seasons.
Technically the Euroleague started at the end of Semptember with the qualifying rounds but only eight teams were involved for one berth in the regular season so inevitably the intererest was limited.
The format was the same one introduced two years ago. The regular season is a round-robin with 24 teams divided in 4 groups each playing 10 games. The best 4 teams of each group advance to the Top 16, where the best 16 teams are divided in 2 groups of 8 teams each and each team plays 14 games. The best 4 teams of each group advance to the quarter-finals which are played in best of 5 games series. The winners will play the Final Four in Madrid.
Group A
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Unics Kazan
Nizhny Novgorod
Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari
Real Madrid
Zalgiris Kaunas
Real Madrid came very close to the Euroleague title in the last two editions and wants to try again. I think that Anadolu Efes Istanbul will be the second team in the group because it reinforced, also with coach Dusan Ivkovic. The third place Top 16 berth could go to Unics Kazan, another team that added important players. This is a really interesting group in which I think all teams can try to reach the Top 16 so the fourth berth will be won by the one that will quickly find the best chemistry and form and may be Zalgiris Kaunas through experience.
Group B
Cedevita Zagreb
Unicaja Malaga
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv
Limoges CSP
ALBA Berlin
CSKA Moscow
For Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defending its Euroleague seems almost impossible after the last season’s surprising victory but it will certainly try. CSKA Moscow has always ambitions and Unicaja Malaga is always a competitive team. For the fourth Top 16 berth I see ALBA Berlin as slightly favored.
Group C
Panathinaikos Athens
PGE Turow Zgorzelec
Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
FC Barcelona
FC Bayern Munich
This is a group in which the values of the teams seem pretty straightforward so I think only a problem for one of the strongest teams could lead to surprises. FC Barcelona, Panathinaikos Athens and Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul have every intention of going at least to the playoffs and EA7 Emporio Armani Milan went back there after years of disappointment showing that the team learned how to win, also with the conquest of the Italian title.
Group D
Kutxa Laboral Vitoria
Neptunas Klaipeda
Valencia Basket
Olympiacos Piraeus
Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade
Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul
In this group there seem to be three best teams that should reach the Top 16 without problems: Olympiacos Piraeus, Kutxa Laboral Vitoria and Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul. For the fourth berth I think Valencia Basket, which last season’s Eurocup, may be favored.
As always, may the best win! 🙂
