Overview of European Basketball

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This post is for everyone who is not familiar with European basketball and the different leagues.
 
Fenerbahce is a part of the Turkish League and the EuroLeague. Both leagues are separate of each other. In Turkish league, we play each team twice for a total of 30 regular season games. During the season there is a single elimination tournament in February for the Turkish Cup. Whoever wins this cup automatically gets a spot in the President’s Cup that is held before the next season. After all the games take place, the top 8 teams enter the playoffs. Each round is a series of games. The winner of the playoffs gets the trophy and the other spot for the President’s Cup. Now, if a team wins both Turkish Cup and Playoffs (like we did last year) then the two teams that played in the championship series in the playoffs will play for the President’s Cup.
 
The EuroLeague is the top basketball league outside of the NBA. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. This year is the inaugural season of the new EuroLeague. Going forward every team will play the other teams twice. In years past, teams would have to participate in-group stages up until the top 8 and Final Four Weekend. This season will force teams to play 2 to 3 games a week between their domestic leagues and the EuroLeague. I think this will make for a better overall league for competition and for the fans. The regular season is also 30 games long. Then the top 8 takes place in a series before the Final Four, which is win and advance. Losers of the semifinals play for third place. This year the Final Four is in Istanbul, Turkey…
 
There are more leagues outside of each countries league like Eurocup, Champions league, etc.  Also, some teams just play in their domestic league. I do not know how those leagues are run. But trust me, it doesn’t get better than the EuroLeague.
  
This week's key games:
 
Oct 20th Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Real Madrid 20:05 CET (8:05pm)
               Darussafaka vs Milan 20:45 CET (8:45pm)
 
Oct 21st CSKA vs Panathinaikos 19:00 CET (7pm)
              Fenerbahce vs Barcelona 21:00 CET (9pm)
 
I like these games because they are filled with talent and teams that can make a run at the trophy at the end of the year. Maccabi vs Madrid, will be a battle of elite guards in Sergio Llull vs Andrew Goudelock. Buckets Anyone?? In the second game, Daruss will be going against a confident team in Milan. I do not know if they can score with Dogus but it will be fun to watch. CSKA vs Pana, features the defending champs vs an improved Pana. Pana will be without one of their main guards in Mike James, but still have enough to put up a legitimate fight. CSKA has been rolling since preseason. In the last game, we go to Barcelona. We both have been struggling this year but I think we are ready to breakout. This will be an intense match up. Plus I always like going against Tyrese Rice.
 
Get ready to watch great games this week!!!!!
Smile