By Stefan Djordjevic / info@eurohoops.net
With the new format in place and new rules regarding game postponements due to COVID-19, the opening week of action in the Basketball Champions League featured four games while as many were postponed to a later date.
Already established four BCL teams in Iberostar Tenerife, JDA Dijon, Casademont Zaragoza and Dinamo Sassari went against four newcomers (or returnees) to the competition in Bakken Bears, Keravnos, Pszczolka Start Lublin and Galatasaray respectively.
Although they were all favorites, it’s a bit surprising that all ‘oldies’ got out unscathed since the new squads put on a valiant effort and some were very close to an upset, especially in the case of Start Lublin which lost to Zaragoza after DJ Seeley’s three in the last second.
Keravnos managed to force overtime against Dijon but failed to go all the way while Sassari and Tenerife had everything under control in their comfortable wins thanks to great performances by Marco Spissu and Giorgi Shermadini.
Results
Tofas – ERA Nymburk (postponed)
JDA Dijon – Keravnos 91-79 (OT)
Tenerife – Bakken Bears 98-73
Nizhny Novgorod – Falco Szombathely (postponed)
AEK Athens – Tsmoki-Minsk (postponed)
Start Lublin – Zaragoza 85-86
Cholet – Hapoel Holon (postponed)
Sassari – Galatasaray 93-84
Standings
Group A
| GAMES | STREAK | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | Last 5 | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Iberostar Tenerife | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100 |
|
98 | 73 | 25 | 98 | 73 | 2 |
| 2 | Dinamo Sassari | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100 |
|
93 | 84 | 9 | 93 | 84 | 2 |
| 3 | Galatasaray | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
|
84 | 93 | -9 | 84 | 93 | 1 |
| 4 | Bakken Bears | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
|
73 | 98 | -25 | 73 | 98 | 1 |
Group B
| GAMES | STREAK | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | Last 5 | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | JDA Dijon | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100 |
|
91 | 79 | 12 | 91 | 79 | 2 |
| 2 | Keravnos | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
|
79 | 91 | -12 | 79 | 91 | 1 |
| 3 | Tofas Bursa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | ERA Nymburk | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Group D
| GAMES | STREAK | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | Last 5 | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Casademont Zaragoza | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100 |
|
86 | 85 | 1 | 86 | 85 | 2 |
| 2 | Pszczólka Start Lublin | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
|
85 | 86 | -1 | 85 | 86 | 1 |
| 3 | Falco Szombathely | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Nizhny Novgorod | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |