By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The Play-In games surely added a new dimension to the Basketball Champions League. Since the introduction in the 2021-22 installment, the middle seeds across the groups of the Regular Season earn a second opportunity to advance and battle for a spot in the Round of 16.
Only five teams have competed in the Play-Ins over all three years of existence. And only Hapoel Holon is up to five wins. After dropping Game 1 of the best-of-three series against Besiktas Icrypex in 2022, the Israeli club launched a winning streak stretching to five games by taking down Belgium champions Filou Oostende on Wednesday.
The complete list of Play-In participants shaped intriguing affairs for a total of 32 teams, including seven new entries this season.
List of BCL Play-In records
|
W-L games |
W-L series |
|
|
Hapoel Holon |
5-1 |
2-0 |
|
AEK Betsson |
2-0 |
1-0 |
|
NutriBullet Treviso |
2-0 |
1-0 |
|
SIG Strasbourg |
2-0 |
1-0 |
|
UCAM Murcia |
2-0 |
1-0 |
|
Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari |
1-0 |
– |
|
Galatasaray Ekmas |
1-0 |
– |
|
Promitheas |
1-0 |
– |
|
JDA Dijon |
4-1 |
2-0 |
|
Darussafaka Lassa |
4-2 |
2-0 |
|
Bahcesehir Koleji |
2-1 |
1-0 |
|
Lenovo Tenerife |
2-1 |
1-0 |
|
Limoges CSP |
2-1 |
1-0 |
|
Prometey |
2-1 |
1-0 |
|
Rytas |
2-2 |
1-0 |
|
MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg |
2-2 |
0-1 |
|
Peristeri bwin |
2-2 |
0-1 |
|
Filou Oostende |
3-4 |
1-1 |
|
Pinar Karsiyaka |
2-4 |
0-2 |
|
Besiktas Icrypex |
1-2 |
0-1 |
|
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem |
1-2 |
0-1 |
|
Hereda San Pablo Burgos |
1-2 |
0-1 |
|
Tofas |
1-2 |
0-1 |
|
Igokea m:tel |
1-4 |
0-2 |
|
PAOK mateco |
1-5 |
0-2 |
|
Bertram Derthona Tortona |
0-1 |
– |
|
Cholet |
0-1 |
– |
|
Le Mans |
0-1 |
– |
|
Rio Breogan |
0-1 |
– |
|
Benfica |
0-2 |
0-1 |
|
Lavrio Megabolt |
0-2 |
0-1 |
|
VEF Riga |
0-2 |
0-1 |
In the third column, the Israeli club remains tied with JDA Dijon and Darussafaka Lassa, the lone teams with two successful bids in a Play-In series. Direct competition is limited to Dacka, down 1-0 against MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg. La Jeanne instead progressed directly to the Round of 16 by winning Group B of the Regular Season. But it is not over for the active standout teams on the list.
From Riga to Szombathely
Forced to play away from home and additionally changing temporary accommodations in Riga, Holon switched to Szombathely to start the latest Play-In best-of-three series.
Up 1-0, but one more win is required to clinch a berth in the Round of 16 in the same fashion for a third season in a row. “We must think about the next game,” underlined Amit Sherf after his side prevailed in Game 1, “We need to focus on the adjustments.”
Game 2 is scheduled to take place in COREtec Dome next Tuesday. Game 3, if necessary, will be played in Arena Riga on January 16. “We do not have the home advantage. They will have a crowd and we need to be ready for it,” added the Holon play-caller, “We miss our fans so much.”
Far from an ideal situation, Sherf hopes his team can finish the job versus Oostende and continue the continental campaign in Holon, security concerns permitting.
More adventures
Besides constant relocations, Holon went through a dramatic ending to the Regular Season. Part of an extremely rare four-way tie at 3-3, the first in the BCL, it ranked second in Group F, earning the uneven homecourt advantage for the Play-In series. All these surely built team chemistry.
“As a group, we were really together. We played really unselfish,” Justin Smith described using togetherness in the approach to Gameday 1 of the Play-Ins.
Team defense disrupted BCO and powered the 1-0 lead. “We kind of just put our own agendas aside. We wanted to win. We played super hard. We were really well prepared, executed the gameplan,” said the 24-year-old forward after pouring in 18 points with 6/6 from the field.
Longtime head coach of Oostende, Dario Gjergja has guided his side through all seven Play-In games over the last three seasons. Coming back from a 1-0 deficit against Igokea and being eliminated after besting Bahceshehir Koleji in Game 1, both series went the distance. Maybe more of the same for the Croatian-Belgian tactician. One more reason for Holon to try to end the series next week.
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League