VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - It will come as no surprise that BC Khimki have made it to the Eurocup Final because this is a team that could very well have advanced to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 and maybe even the playoffs.

There was no denying coach Rimas Kurtinaitis and his team this year.

They added a Euroleague champion off Maccabi Tel Aviv's squad from last season in Tyrese Rice and retained important veterans from the side that suffered a heartbreaking elimination one year ago at the hands of eventual winners Valencia Basket.

With the explosive Rice in the backcourt, the solid play up front from James Augustine, the leadership of Russia international Sergey Monya and the marksmanship of Petteri Koponen, Khimki have made it to the Eurocup Finals and can now get back to the Euroleague with a victory.

That, however, should not be easy.

They have a tough hurdle to clear, one that goes by the name of CB Gran Canaria, a side that punched its ticket to the Finals with two victories over Unics Kazan.

Now this is interesting, and it says something about how difficult it can be to play not only in a domestic campaign, but in Europe, too.

If the Spanish Liga Endesa Regular Season were over today, Gran Canaria would not be in the playoffs.

They are in ninth place with 14 wins and 13 defeats, the same record as eighth-place CAI Zaragoza.

The top eight sides will claim play-off berths.

On the one hand, you might say Gran Canaria haven't been as good as they should have in the Liga Endesa.

Maybe they have lost some games they should have won.

On 22 March, for example, they fell at home to second-bottom La Bruixa d'Or Manresa, 81-75.

On the other hand, you might think the hard league campaign - a rest assured that Spain's domestic league is a competitive one - has helped toughen up Gran Canaria for their Eurocup campaign.

I think it's a little bit of both.

Along the way to the Eurocup Final, they have won six games against three opponents that played in this Euroleague Regular Season, teams that entered the Eurocup at the Last 32 stage.

Gran Canaria thumped Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari in Italy at the start of January and then again in the first week of February.

Next, they swept their home-and-away Eighth-Final tie against Cedevita Zagreb and in the Semi-Finals, Gran Canaria defeated Unics Kazan in both legs.

It has been an impressive road and I have to congratulate my players - Aito

"It is really difficult to make it to a Final," Gran Canaria coach Aito Garcia Reneses said.

Something I can't help but smile about is seeing "glue guys" from a few national teams, players that don't get that much hype on the international stage, demonstrate their worth for Gran Canaria.

The player right now that everyone is buzzing about in Spain, the player who is likely to go to some NBA team next year, is Cape Verde international center Walter Tavares.

The 2.20m center gets plenty of attention and he deserves it.

He's improved a lot under Aito.

But what about Canada's Levon Kendall, Australia's Brad Newley and the Dominican Republic's Eulis Baez?

These are unselfish, veteran players that make a huge difference for their national sides and for Gran Canaria.

Kendall had eight points and six rebounds in the first win at Unics, and 17 points, six rebounds in the second leg.

He's been a reliable player for Canada over the years, too, including at the FIBA Americas Championship a couple of years ago.

The combative Newley poured in 12 points in the first leg and offered plenty of grit on defense in the tie, and Baez scored 12 points in each game.

He had a double-double in the second, in fact, after pulling down 11 rebounds.

Garcia is the coach who always receives praise for his work with young players, but he's getting the job done with some veterans at Gran Canaria.

How odd would it be for Gran Canaria to win the Eurocup, but not make it to the Spanish Liga Endesa playoffs?

It could happen, although Khimki will start as favorites in the Finals.

This is the business end of the season for Gran Canaria.

It's money time.

They are within touching distance of the Euroleague and that would be an amazing opportunity for basketball in the Canary Islands.

Newley and the rest of the Gran Canaria players are sure excited.

Be sure to watch when the Finals are played, the first leg on 24 April in Gran Canaria and then second leg five days later in Moscow.

I'll definitely be tuning in.

FIBA

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