Euroleague - Qualifying Round set for tip-off

VILNIUS (Euroleague) - Eight European clubs are facing an enormous challenge this week in Lithuania.

Cimberio Varese (Italy), EWE Baskets Oldenburg (Germany), Lietuvos Rytas (Lithuania), VEF Riga (Latvia), Khimki Moscow Region (Russia), Telenet BC Oostende (Belgium), CEZ Nymburk (Czech Republic) and Banvit Badirma (Turkey) are about to enter the Qualifying Round wars for the 2013-14 Turkish Airlines Euroleague.

The games, starting Tuesday, will be played in Vilnius, Lithuania, with Lietuvos Rytas the hosts.

On opening night, Lietuvos Rytas will square off against fellow Baltic team, VEF Riga.

They will meet after the day's first encounter between Cimberio Varese and EWE Baskets.

The other Qualifying Round Game 1s will be played on Wednesday when Khimki Moscow Region take on Telenet Ostend and CEZ Nymburk square off against Banvit.

The side that ends up winning all three Qualifying Round games will join the 23 teams already in the Euroleague field.

Several figures about to feature in the Vilnius tournament have only just joined the teams after taking part in EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia.

One of them is Lietuvos Rytas boss Dirk Bauermann.

The coach of Poland's national side, Bauermann has turned his full attention to getting his Lithuanian club into the Euroleague.

"First of all, we want to be a real team rather than just a group of individual players," Bauermann said.

"We want these players to represent the Lietuvos Rytas club, the city of Vilnius and Lithuania with honesty and passion.

"This is the most important thing."

There is no doubt about the passion of Reinaldas Seibutis, a guard who started for the Lithuania national team that finished runners-up to France at the EuroBasket.

The 28-year-old averaged more than 8.5 points, 2.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds in Slovenia, and he had his best game at a very important time.

Against Italy in the Quarter-Finals, the 1.96m Seibutis poured in 17 points as the Baltic side won, 81-77, to qualify for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

Another player who figures to be a key for Lietuvos Rytas this season is Milenko Tepic.

After a difficult campaign with Cajasol Sevilla in Spain, Tepic wasn't selected by Serbia this summer.

He is looking for a fresh start in Lithuania.

"I played the Euroleague for five years and every time I had the chance, it was really exciting, a big satisfaction for me," said Tepic, who competed in the elite club competition with Partizan Belgrade and then Panathinaikos.

His last Euroleague game was in 2011, when Panathinaikos beat Maccabi Tel Aviv in the title game in Barcelona.

"It would be great to return to the Euroleague not only for me, but especially for the team, having the chance to compete against the best teams in Europe," he said.

"That's our goal in the first part of the season - getting to the Euroleague."

In the Khimki side is Mickael Gelabale, a key player for France in their title-winning side at EuroBasket 2013, and Finland international Petteri Koponen.

Coaching Nymburk is Kestutis Kemzura, the former boss of the Lithuania national side that made the most of its wild card and finished third at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.

He will now lead a club side that has some of the impressive Czech players who turned out at the EuroBasket, including Petr Benda, Jiri Welsch, Vojtech Hruban and Pavel Houska.

Rasid Mahalbasic, the fine young talent from Austria, is now playing for Nymburk.

Mahalbasic was the MVP of the 2009 U20 European Championship Division B after leading the Austrians to the title.

The 23 teams already with places in the 2013-14 Euroleague Regular Season are: Anadolu Efes Istanbul, Brose Baskets Bamberg, Budivelnik Kiev, Crvena Zvezda Telekom (Red Star), CSKA Moscow, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, FC Barcelona, FC Bayern Munich, Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul, Galatasaray Ulker Istanbul, JSF Nanterre, Laboral Kutxa Vitoria, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, Montepaschi Siena, Olympiacos Piraeus, Panathinaikos Athens, Partizan Belgrade, Real Madrid, Stelmet Zielona Gora, Strasbourg, Unicaja Malaga and Zalgiris Kaunas.

FIBA