MIES (Switzerland) - The Basketball Champions League's Season 9 gets underway in the first week of October. The format remains the same, with the winners of the eight Regular Season groups moving to the Round of 16 directly, while the fourth-placed teams in each group will be eliminated from the competition.
The second and third-placed teams from adjacent groups (A2 vs. B3, B2 vs. A3) will face each other in the Play-Ins, in best-of-three series, with the winner of each of these eight series snapping up the last eight tickets to the sweet 16 phase.
With that kind of a competition system, it's important to know what's going on in the other group, which is why we are previewing the Regular Season two groups at a time.
The favorites
Group C: They are a two-time champion in the BCL, and one of only three teams to have played in each of BCL's nine seasons, alongside Filou Oostende and AEK. No wonder La Laguna Tenerife have a target on their backs in this group.
Coach Txus Vidorreta upgraded his roster a bit over the summer, with the core of Marcelinho Huertas, Aaron Doornekamp, Giorgi Shermadini, Tim Abromaitis, Bruno Fitipaldo, Joan Sastre, Fran Guerra and Jaime Fernandez still together.
Payton Willis is an exciting new name in the backcourt, here to provide the scoring punch on a level similar to Kyle Guy last season. David Kramer is adding some German flavor to the island, and Thomas Scrubb is a perfect fit with his Swiss army knife contribution to the scoresheet.
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Group D: This is probably the strongest Galatasaray team we've ever seen in the BCL. A fruitful summer saw them pick up not one, but two 20+ point guys, as they signed the reigning German Bundesliga MVP Otis Livingston from Wurzburg and David Efianayi from Aliaga Petkimspor.
As if that wasn't enough to terrify the opposing defenses, James Palmer will also be wearing the yellow-red jersey this season, fresh off of an incredible 49.6 percent three-point shooting campaign with Turk Telekom in 2023-24.
That trio needed some leadership, so Angel Delgado and Will Cummings have also been brought in coach Yakup Sekizkok's locker room, Cummings is bringing back some early BCL days memories, as he played Season 1 with Aris Thessaloniki in 2016-17.
The homegrown sector is also strong, as Bugrahan Tuncer, Goksenin Koksal and Samet Geyik will be contributing experience, and Sadik Emir Kabaca is beginning his ninth season as a pro even though he's still only 23.
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Play-Ins as the minimum target
Group C: Karsiyaka have some good news and some bad news. With the way the Group D bracket is drawn, Karsiyaka could finally avoid facing a Spanish team in the Play-Ins, having faced UCAM Murcia, Rio Breogan and La Laguna Tenerife in that stage previously.
The bad news is that they now have Tenerife in their group, ready to renew that rivalry. Coach Ufuk Sarica and his front office had a nice summer, getting Daron Russell, James Webb III, Sean McDermott, Damien Jefferson and Jerry Boutsiele to join forces with Errick McCollum and the rest of the senators in the locker room.
In any other group, Karsiyaka would probably be the favorites to win it, but Tenerife have been a constant source of frustration for the Turkish side over the past three years, winning four of the five matchups in the BCL - all of them in the post-season.
Saint-Quentin are about to play their first BCL season, and in an 18-year-old Nolan Traore, they arguably have the hottest young prospect in this entire competition.
How serious are Saint-Quentin this season? Well, they beat AS Monaco to kick start their French Pro A campaign, so expect them to fight for more than just a Regular Season spot in the BCL.
Group D: RASTA Vechta are actually hoping they could steal the Best Young Player award from Saint-Quentin, as 19-year-old Johann Grunloh had a massive double-double to start the Bundesliga season.
Vechta have already played the BCL in 2019-20, and their approach to this one is somewhat similar, with no players older than 30 years of age.
Their main rivals in the quest towards the next round(s) are only slightly older, as Promitheas Patras start the season with just two guys in their 30s, in Linos Chrysikopoulos (31) and Josh Adams (30).
Among other familiar names on their roster, one stands out, as sharp shooter Kenny Williams is set to play for his third different Greek club in the BCL, after wearing the yellows of AEK and Peristeri since 2022.
Here to complicate things
Group C: Kolossos H Hotels became the seventh team from Greece to play the Regular Season, but in a loaded group next to La Laguna Tenerife, Karsiyaka and Saint-Quentin, it's gonna take a few upsets to avoid elimination.
They are however bringing one of the biggest names to have crossed the Atlantic back to the BCL stage. Andrew Goudelock is about to turn 36, and throughout his incredible international career, he's won plenty of personal accolades. He only appeared in four games in the BCL, as a member of Rytas Vilnius in 2020-21, and averaged 14.5 points per game.
Experience won't be a problem for coach Giorgos Sigalas. Nearly every guy on the roster is older than 27 years of age.
Group D: ERA Nymburk made it back to the Regular Season through the Qualifiers in September, and it's a good sign of better days to come after an abysmal couple of seasons.
Nymburk were twice a Final 8 team in the BCL, and to give that culture a bit of a boost, they brought back Jaromir Bohacik, one of the best Czech players over the past decade, and a regular on the national team.
They have some interesting high flyers such as Tylan Birts, but their biggest strength is their team-first approach. Don't be surprised to see coach Francesco Tabellini playing with 10 players week in, week out.