At a glance: Regular Season Group C

Jul 15, 2020 by Eurocupbasketball.com Print
At a glance: Regular Season Group C

There is some déjà vu in Group C of the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season; Virtus Segafredo Bologna, Morabanc Andorra and AS Monaco finished first, second and third, respectively, in Group A of the regular season a year ago. What's more, Virtus and Monaco were set to clash in the EuroCup Quarterfinals before the 2019-20 season came to a premature end due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They are joined by former EuroCup champion Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar as well as two teams returning to the EuroCup after several seasons away: Lietkabelis Panevezys and Telenet Giants Antwerp. Interestingly, neither Lietkabelis nor Antwerp have ever played any of the other teams in the group in the EuroCup before, which will make for lots of firsts.

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar

It was a shock heard across the continent when Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar was felled in the EuroCup regular season last year. The club is one of the giants of the competition; it won the EuroCup in 2013, reached the finals in 2018 and had been to at least the quarterfinals in each of its six EuroCup campaigns before last season. Lokomotiv is back and restocked to erase last season's blip and mount a full-on attack to taste EuroCup glory again.

Morabanc Andorra

After reaching the EuroCup Semifinals in 2019 and tying for the third-best record in the regular last season, Morabanc Andorra has fully entrenched itself as one of the top teams in the competition. In that time, the team is 14-4 on its home floor, making the trip to the Principality of Andorra one that no other team wants to make. This season will be its fourth in a row in the EuroCup and Andorra, led by Coach Ibon Navarro for the third year running, aims to make another deep run.

Lietkabelis Panevezys

Lietkabelis Panevezys makes its return to the EuroCup after two seasons away. Last season, under Coach Nenad Canak, Lietkabelis reached the Lithuanian Cup semifinals and was one win from second place in the Lithuanian League when the season was called due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In its EuroCup debut in 2016-17, Lietkabelis reached the Top 16 and it aims to match that at a minimum in its return season while cementing its place as one of the top teams in its country.

Virtus Segafredo Bologna

Virtus Segafredo Bologna led the EuroCup in performance index rating and was second in scoring behind the efforts of regular season MVP Milos Teodosic. The team reached the quarterfinals in its first season back in the EuroCup since 2004 and had high hopes. Coach Sasa Djordjevic has many of his best weapons back and Virtus has already added some more as it plans to make the 2020-21 campaign one to remember.

AS Monaco

AS Monaco is enjoying a golden age and it only seems to be getting better. This season will be the club's third in a row in the EuroCup and after reaching the Top 16 in its first go-around, it qualified for the quarterfinals -with home-court advantage – last season before the COVID-19 pandemic ended things. It was also atop the French League table at the time. With Coach Zvezdan Mitrovic now back at the helm, Monaco will look to pick up where it left off and enjoy another outstanding season.

Telenet Giants Antwerp

Though Telenet Giants Antwerp is not a newcomer to the EuroCup, it will be playing in the competition for the first time since the 2007-08 season. Antwerp has had a few good years recently; it has won the Belgian Cup in each of the past two seasons and finished third in the Basketball Champions League in 2019. Last season the club was third in the Belgian League when the season was ended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Look for Antwerp to shine in its EuroCup return.