By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The sweep of Brose Baskets in the BEKO BBL finals completed next season’s Euroleague. Despite the fact that German basketball in general kept – with success – a neutral stance so far in the FIBA – Euroleague debate, doesn’t change the fate of the German champs.
Brose Baskets got the last open ticket for next season’s competition, as the champions of BEKO BBL. The rest of the 15 teams are already known. They are the 11 clubs that currently possess A licences in the Euroleague – Anadolu Efes Istanbul, CSKA Moscow, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, FC Barcelona Lassa, Fenerbahce Istanbul, Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz, Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv, Olympiacos Piraeus, Panathinaikos Athens, Real Madrid and Zalgiris Kaunas – , Unics Kazan which got a B license as the VTB finalist, Crvena Zvezda also qualified as Adriatic League champion, Galatasaray got a spot after winning the Eurocup and Dogus Darussafaka will get a wildcard.
The Euroleague will consist of 16 teams competing for the first time ever in a round-robin format under which all clubs play each other during a total of 30 regular season rounds. This will be followed by best-of-five quarterfinal playoffs and the Final Four.