BEL - Eurocup: Belgian teams' preview

BRUSSELS (Eurocup) - While the number of foreign players is now unlimited in Belgium (eight non-Belgian players can be officially listed by one team on a national Division I game score sheet) as well as in the European competitions organized by the ULEB, it is not the case in Eurocup.

This is not a problem for current Belgian Division I leader Spirou Basket Charleroi, a team with a very well filled out roster.

The Spirou staff considers the Eurocup competition as a chance to offer more playing time to guys less involved in the regular Belgian Division I season games.

National Team coach Eddy Casteels and assistant Jacques Stas will have to choose among the following Spirou players for future Eurocup games: guards Greg Grays (USA) and Jonathan Tabu (Belgium); forwards Ralph Biggs (Belgium), Corey Brewer (USA), Kris Sergeant (Belgium), Tremmel Darden (USA) and Sacha Massot (Belgium); centers Amit Tamir (Israel), Andre Riddick (USA), Cyril Akpomedah (France), Damir Krupalija (Bosnia) and Dimitri Jorssen (Belgium).

Spirou Basket will be involved in Group B of the Eurocup with Khimik Yuzhny (Ukraine), Dynamo Moscow Region (Russia) and BC Barons Riga (Latvia).

Casteels and his team will travel to Yuzhny, Ukraine on their first day of the Eurocup competition on November 8th.

On the other hand, it seems that it will be more problematic for BC Liège. Local current Head Coach Giovanni Bozzi can only count on five regular members of his team indeed.

Roger Huggins, the 39-year-old British center who still played for 2005 Belgian Champion Euphony Bree last season, signed a contract of two months and a half with the club of BC Liège.

Huggins was hired especially for the FIBA Eurocup where the number of non-EU players is limited. BC Liège will complete the Eurocup roster with young talents having a double license in Division II or III: Xavier Collette from BC Ninane (Division II) who was a member of the Belgian National Team last summer as well as Jérôme Flagothier from the club of Sprimont (Division III).

BC Liège will be in Group E of the Eurocup with BC Kalev Tallinn (Estonia), UNICS Kazan (Russia) and BC Kiev (Ukraine).

European players also appearing on the local roster are forwards Karim Souchu (France) and François Lhoest (Belgium) as well as center Ron Ellis (Belgium).

Coach Bozzi will have to choose among the following foreign players to complete the team: guards Mo Finley (USA) and Travis Conlan (USA); forward Ronnie McCollum as well as centers Stéphane Pellé (Cameroon), Scott Brakebill (USA) and Ryan Moss (Bahamas).

The first game of Eurocup away in Kiev is scheduled on November 7th, 2006 for BC Liège.

By Bert Larsimont