By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
At the midway point of the Round of 16 in the ninth edition of the Basketball Champions League, La Laguna Tenerife is emerging as a contender once more. After taking down Aliaga Petkimspor in Santiago Martin Arena, the regular in extended BCL campaigns is enjoying a 3-0 tally in Group K.
Tenerife has been around over each of the nine seasons of the Champions League, including becoming the inaugural champion in 2017 and repeating its success in 2022. Standout players have found their comfort zone and been sticking around for several years, including the all-time leading scorer of the BCL, Giorgi Shermadini, the player with the most assists, Marcelinho Huertas, and the player topping the lists of rebounds and appearances, Tim Abromaitis, and others. Also, Txus Vidorreta has been the head coach through the entire BCL run, except for the 2017-18 campaign. Besides grinding in Spain’s Liga Endesa Regular Season, seeking the third continental title in team history is another task.
Petkimspor was coming out of a triumph over Anadolu Efes in Round 19 of the 2024-25 Turkiye Sigorta Basketbol Super Ligi. From Istanbul to La Laguna in the Canary Islands, two days later, they never led in Gameday 3 of the Round of 16 but did not give up despite falling into an 18-point hole.
“It’s a very important win. We are very happy, because during the game they showed us they are a very good team,” 58-year-old Vidorreta referred to recent domestic success of the visitors during a postgame press conference on Tuesday evening.
Scoring 55 points in the first half en route to the biggest lead, his side set a new team record in the BCL for the most points over the first 20 minutes. Considering Tenerife proudly leads the list of teams with the most games played, with the most recent outing being the 149th in the league, this is a notable achievement.
Countering most players nursing injuries and looking for top-notch performances in the bottom end of the continental and domestic campaigns, and experienced guard Bruno Fitipaldo on the injury list, Tenerife is all but set to enter the Quarterfinals of the top-tier club continental competition of FIBA Europe for the eighth time in team history.
“It’s kind of a difficult moment for us with a few injuries and other guys not feeling their best,” mentioned Thomas Scrubb after putting up 15 points, six rebounds, and two assists in the latest winning display, “We did a good job with just resisting and kind of finishing that way at the end.”
“I think we know we are a very good offensive team. They are a serious offensive team, but we knew we could take advantage of them on defense. We shared the ball. They gave us open shots, easy baskets, so we just took advantage of that,” the 33-year-old Canadian forward commented on the successful gameplan.
In addition to the most games played and nearly persisting appearances in the Quarterfinals, Tenerife contended for the championship in the Final Four on five occasions, including the last three season-ending tournaments. Making it four in a row would require retaining the lead or even settling for the second seed in the four-team group after the six-game double-legged round-robin schedule of the Round of 16 and prevailing in an ensuing best-of-three series to progress through the Quarterfinals. Ranking first over Petkimspor, BAXI Manresa, and UnaHotels Reggio Emilia would also secure home-court advantage in the penultimate stage of the season.
The secret to success
The BCL entering the field of continental club competitions back in 2016, meant meaningful opportunities for clubs all around Europe, including teams from the ACB looking to become serious threats to powerhouses of the strongest domestic league of the continent, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. The most recent champion, Unicaja, went on to lift the Copa del Rey for the second time in three years, among more recent success in the latest golden era of the Malaga outfit. Since the introduction of the BCL, Tenerife has been in the Playoffs of Liga Endesa every single year, except for narrowly missing out in 2019, and a constant in the annual Copa del Rey. Similarities between the aforementioned teams extend to very few roster changes over the years.
Naturally, such trends attract the attention of more and more teams hoping to benefit from this environment, the established all-around bonus from expanding the schedule into the BCL, and increase their respective marketing values.
Similar to Huertas setting up easy buckets for his teammates on the court, the backing of the Champions League to improving the club status is obvious. Basketball in Europe goes way beyond the elite with ambitious plans to catch up and possibly overtake more important brands in place. Once given the opportunity, it becomes special to watch, especially for supporters packing the venues of their favorite clubs against seemingly stronger opponents and another large chunk of fans in those cheering for the underdog.
Photo Credit: FIBA