Euroleague 2022-23 guide: our predictions for the season
At the start of the new season of the Euroleague, which will start this Thursday evening with five matches, the editorial board Basketball Europe contributed to the prediction game.
As with every season, Basketball Europe offers its subscribers every Euroleague team. To conclude this guide, here are our predictions for the season. To enjoy all this content and more, subscribe.
D-Day. After a wait of just over four months, this is the big return of the premier competition in Europe. Time to write Basketball Europe It’s a difficult post-season, with pre-season interrupted by the absence of many players during EuroBasket in September and the late resumption of some European championships. That said, many teams have experienced players in Europe, which allows for at least a general hierarchy.
1-Real Madrid
After eleven seasons on the bench, Real Madrid opted to thank Pablo Laso and promote his assistant Chus Mateo. It’s the most important move of the offseason… but it’s far from the only one. Sergio Rodríguez, Mario Hezonja and Dzanan Musa are still key players White House hopes to bring back… Facundo Campazzo. An XXL workforce, terrific bench depth, a mix of youth and experience, and a near-perfect preseason harbinger of success.
2 – Anatolia Ephesus
Two-time defending champions Anadolu Efes achieved what everyone thought was impossible in the offseason: Vasilije Micic retained his two-time Finals MVP. Better yet, the Turkish team replaced James Anderson, Adrien Moerman, Kruno Simon and Chris Singleton with leaders like Will Clyburn, Ante Zizic, Achille Polonara and Amath M’Baye. The only downside: his leader Shane Larkin will miss the start of the season, recovering from finger surgery. Ergin Atama’s team will remain the winning team during the playoffs.
3 – FC Barcelona
Barca have dominated the regular season table for two seasons but failed to win the title. Compared to previous off-seasons, the Catalan club look to have been boosted by the arrival of stars like Jan Vesely, Tomas Satoranski, Nikola Kalinic and Mike Tobey, knowing that Nick Calathes and Brandon Davies have not been retained. His coach, Sarunas Jasikevicius, needs to prove he’s capable of peaking, but the team will be without early season MVP Nikola Mirotic (Achilles tendon).
4 – Olympiakos
Same coach, same tough core, interesting continuity to start the season. Olympiakos is aiming for a second consecutive Final Four, which will not be easy, as Georgios Bartzokas’ team will no longer be able to “surprise” like last year and the competition seems to have increased. The main loss, Tyler Dorsey, left, but the Greek club replaced him with Isaiah Kanan and convinced several experienced players in the league (Joel Bolomboy, Alec Peters). He kept star Sasha Vezenkov, who had more NBA contacts.
5 – Olympia Milano
According to Ettore Messina, this is the best version of Olimpia Milan since he arrived on the bench in 2019. The team certainly lost a few important players (notably Sergio Rodriguez and Malcolm Delaney), but he replaced them with Kevin Pangos and Billy Baron. heavy interiors were added (Brandon Davies, Johannes Voigtmann or even Deshaun Thomas). Many managers are still there (Mellie, Shields, Hines, Hall). Experienced team with great bench depth.
6 – Fenerbahce
After a disappointing season at the European level, which ended in failure in the playoffs, Fenerbahce returns full of ambition. There have been changes this summer. Dimitris Itoudis replaced Sasa Djordjevic on the bench and his presence convinced many experienced players to come on. NBA champion Nemanja Bjelica, as well as Nick Kalathes, Scottie Wilbekin, Jonathan Motley, Nagel Hayes, Tonye Jekiri and Carsen Edwards. So the big losses of Nando De Colo, Jan Vesely or Achille Polonara seem to have been compensated or at least limited.
7-Monaco
“Monaco”, which is on the verge of defeating “Olympiacos” in the playoffs, wants to raise the level that will take them to the “Final Four”. Team Roca has significantly increased its budget, retained and expanded its coach Sasa Obradovic and leader Mike James. And he convinced the Warriors (Jordan Lloyd, John Brown, Elie Okobo, Adrien Moerman, Jaron Blossomgame), making the losses of Dwayne Bacon, Will Thomas, Danilo Andjusic and Paris Lee less significant.
8 – Maccabi Tel Aviv
After a fragile second half of the season that saw the Israeli club part ways with coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos and finally return to the playoffs, things changed this summer. The return of advisor David Blatt, a new coach (Oded Kattas) and above all ten new recruits. Scottie Wilbekin and James Nunnally are no longer there, but along with Lorenzo Brown, many star players have arrived, starting with Darrun Hilliard, Wade Baldwin, Josh Nebo, Bonzie Colson, Jarell Martin and Alex Poytress. Whether the collective is superior to the individual remains to be seen.
9 – Virtus Bologna
The European Cup title paved the way for Virtus Bologna to return to the Euroleague for the first time since 2008. “Basketball City” kept the main elements of last season (Marco Belinelli, Daniel Hackett, Milos Teodosic) and bet on four players. choice: Jordan Mickey, Iffe Lundberg, Semi Ojeleye or Ismael Bako. Above all, he has retained his coach Sergio Scariolo, whose tactical size can make a difference at any time, and Toko Shengelia will miss the opening weeks of the competition, even with a recent shoulder injury.
10 – Partisan Belgrade
After an eight-year break, “Partizan” returns to the Euroleague. It is also the great return of Zeljko Obradović, the most successful coach in the history of European basketball. After a disappointing European Cup finish (round of 16 after dominating the regular season), the Serbian coach will look to bring in the same tough core (Kevin Punter, Zach LeDay and others) bolstered by a heavyweight squad (Dante Exum). , James Nunnally , Danilo Andjusic, Ioannis Papapetrou) in the playoffs. There is plenty of experience, but also a lot of young players on the bench.
11 – Bayern Munich
After two seemingly fairytale seasons, will Bayern succeed in the treble to return to the playoffs? Once not the norm, the German club replaced DeShaun Thomas and Darrun Hilliard with ex-NBA players (Freddie Gillespie, Cassius Winston and Isaac Bonga) recruited from across the Atlantic, while retaining key elements (especially Vladimir Lucic). Will Andrea Trinchieri continue to work his magic?
12 – Panathinaikos
The last two seasons should be forgotten for Panathinaikos, who never made it to the playoffs. With a re-increased budget, the Greens rebuilt on solid foundations, betting on Dejan Radonjic as coach. On the floor, the Greek club received a fine recruitment (Marius Grigonis, Mateusz Ponitka, Arturas Gudaitis, Derrick Williams, Nate Walters, Paris Lee and the Kalaitzakis brothers) which somewhat compensates for the departures of Ioannis Papapetrou, Nemanja Nedovic and Darilko. Mayonnaise should harden.
13 – Baskonia
Baskonia is used to defy predictions. But will Vitoria be able to recover from the losses of Simone Fontecchio, Wade Baldwin, Alec Peters or Jayson Granger? Joan Penarroya replaced Neven Spahija on the bench. On paper, many of the bets (Darius Thompson, Markus Howard, Mike Kotsar, Daulton Hommes) could pay off, but the depth of the bench remains low, with the powers of several youngsters and a much tougher Liga Endesa to face in the same period. time.
14 – Valencia
After a season in the European Cup, it’s another “promoted” Valencia with long teeth. The Spanish club has assembled a talented team from different leagues. Joan Penarroia was replaced by Alex Mumbru on the bench. The duo Tobey – Labeyrie left, but the team kept a solid core (Bojan Dubljevic, Klemen Prepelic, Xabi Lopez-Arostegui) and several options bet on the Americans (Chris Jones, Jonah Radebaugh, Jared Harper, Kyle Alexander). Bench depth to discuss.
15 – Zalgiris Kaunas
It will be hard to do worse than last season (three different coaches, no national championship title). Zalgiris Kaunas decided to turn things around, strengthening with Ignas Brazdeikis and Keenan Evans, but still admitted that recent results have prevented them from signing top players. Kazys Maksvytis will have a young workforce built over two seasons and completely rebuilt to improve throughout the year. No pressure for results.
16 – ASVEL
ASVEL lost leaders Elie Okobo and Chris Jones and rising star Victor Wembanyama, but retained several managers (David Lighty, Youssoupha Fall) and above all offered their biggest recruit since returning to the Euroleague: Nando De Colo. Along with Joffrey Lauvergne, there are other signings to be made in TJ Parker’s squad: Jonah Mathews, Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Yves Pons, who all need to prove themselves at this level. But a long collective and a very correct bench.
17 – Red Star
After coming close to the playoffs last year, Crvena Zvezda saw a complete overhaul of their workforce. Several executives (Nikola Kalinic, Nate Wolters, Austin Hollins and Dejan Davidovac) left, as did coach Dejan Radonjic, despite being offered an extension. Vladimir Jovanovic (38), who has no great references, replaces him on the bench, which is no guarantee. But the list remains tight with Nemanja Nedovic, John Holland, Filip Petrusev or Jaylen Adams. A thick domestic sector, but no certainty before the start of the season.
18 – Alba Berlin
It is the team that made the least changes in the offseason. There is only one departure of Oscar Da Silva to note, replaced by the arrival of Yannick Wetzell and young prospect Gabriele Procida. According to many, the German squad – with the smallest wage bill of the season – excelled last season by finishing in an impressive 11th place. Will Israel Gonzalez’s group be able to repeat the performance?
Photo: Shane Larkin (Euroleague)
