By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Sharing their opinions with Eurohoops, known Greek agents compared the Basketball Champions League to the EuroCup confirming the alterations driven by various improvements of recent years.
Featuring the likes of beginning head coach Vassilis Spanoulis adds to the prestige. Enhancements have become apparent, both on and off the court.
In agreement, Nick Lotsos, Iosif Kalergis, Isidoros Kounoupas, and Panos Kapazoglou, among the prominent player agents in Greece, explain how many clients now seek a contract in the BCL, signaling overall upgrades in FIBA’s continental competition.
Experienced agent Lotsos emphasizes on the standard of FIBA’s continental competition stretching across the continent. “Personally, I have faith in this tournament. Team spreading across most of Europe is very important,” he said, “It really helps basketball at the club level and creates opportunities for many players to display their talents in a very competitive environment. The BCL also involves minor domestic leagues, which I believe is brilliant in developing players.”
“According to my own experience, the BCL is very organized and operates under the umbrella of an enormous organization, FIBA, which makes it more… global,” added Lotsos, “EuroLeague is a very competitive league but for a specific group of teams. In this context, I would name the BCL as the international league of Europe.”
“Europe can’t be limited to a league of 18 teams,” he mentioned on EuroLeague’s model, “The chance for youngsters to demonstrate their potential comes from the BCL. In the past, the national teams operated in a similar fashion but weren’t open to so many players. This works at the club level though. Of course, the same in FIBA Europe Cup. It motivates teams to make the extra effort.”
“The BCL has surpassed EuroCup as I have witnessed with my own eyes. I have seen players picking a BCL team over a EuroCup team. Formerly, that was not the case,” Lotsos directly compared the continental competitions, “I can view the EuroLeague as top-tier but another competition covering all of Europe and providing opportunities to more countries and representing teams is necessary. Schools seeking the chance to play in the NCAA tournament, this is in a way similar to the BCL. Teams being among the 32 of the Regular Season is huge for them and also makes expanding the sport attainable.”
In a similar manner, Kalergis stressed the necessity of teams expanding beyond domestic limitations. “The BCL is super. Many teams from many countries participate. In short, basketball exists. Through BCL, basketball develops. EuroLeague is here, but what would the rest of the teams do without the BCL? It can’t be only Panathinaikos or Olympiacos and respective clubs from other countries, basketball is played beyond the teams in EuroLeague,” he remarked, “Those teams would compete exclusively domestically. A high-level tournament. That is a fact. For me, both BCL and EuroCup are at the same level. No differences at all.”
Adding to the topic of discussion, Kounoupas discussed merging BCL with EuroCup. “I believe BCL is a much better tournament than EuroCup, which is now a lower-tier competition. Even the format is way superior. Of course, a merger is widely accepted with EuroLeague growing the field to 20 teams and 20 more teams to BCL combining with EuroCup,” he mentioned, “The BCL is very competitive, solid refereeing, exciting games, and excellent organization.”
“Certainly, a player will get more attention with a super season in the BCL than in EuroCup,” he went into the options considered by players, “A great tournament for basketball. Over the years, players looking to play only in EuroLeague or EuroCup have dried out. Players now pick the BCL, if they can’t make EuroLeague.”
Kapazoglou also favored BCL over EuroCup. “The BCL is now better than EuroCup. The level of the teams is higher than EuroCup,” he said, “Maybe the EuroCup champion is better than the BCL champion, but if we were able to sum the quality of all teams, the BCL would outweigh EuroCup overall and this is beneficial for players and their promotion.”
“The level keeps rising. Honestly, it is a very interesting tournament. Some teams can create problems, but efficient or inefficient teams can’t fault the tournament itself,” he continued, “BCL games are exciting to watch. At this point, it is necessary to note that an agent’s perspective is limited. Observing as a fan is different from observing as an agent. Combining both, I would say I like BCL’s format better.”
“I really like the Qualifiers,” Kapazoglou elaborated, “They would one more step ahead with home-and-away series instead of six or eight teams competing in one city. The involvement of additional teams is essential. More knockout series would be an improvement. But I understand the complexity. Also, I really like four-team groups.”
“Generally, I believe basketball should follow the example of football. Watching 18 teams, nearly the same every year, playing 34 rounds can be tiring to the fans,” he went into setting basketball and football models side by side, “We will soon be at the crossroads between opening or closing basketball. Insisting on a little open and a little closed can’t go on forever. We should either shape up similar to football’s Champions League or turn into a closed league such as the NBA. Personally, I prefer basketball open.”
“Four continental tournaments are far from a good number,” he commented on FIBA and Euroleague Basketball European competitions currently coexisting, “However, football’s third continental tournament works. Teams are fighting for something. Motivated teams. They look to improve to clinch a berth in a European continental tournament.”
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League