Best Leagues in Europe

[stelman]

What is the top 10 ranking in europe leagues?The ACB is the best but what is next?What position has is the Greek A1,the LEB 1 or the German champ in the top 10?

[Jonathan]

In my opinion, based on level of competition, salary levels, local players, the type of Americans they draw, and their success in the various European leagues.

1) Spanish ACB
2) Italian Lega
3) Russian Suproleague
4) Greek AI
5) Turkish D1
6) Israeli Premier League
7) French Pro A
8) Adriatic League
9) Italian Lega Due
10) German Bundesliga
11) Belgian D1
12) Ukranian Superleague
13) Spanish LEB
14) Lithuanian LKL
15) Polish DBL
16) French Pro B
17) Dutch Eredivisie
18) Cyprus AI
19) Latvia LBL
20) Sweden Basketligan

after that you have leagues like Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Finland, Iceland, the UK, Luxembourg, Ireland, Norway, etc

[i_nikos]

my friend you have no knowledge about europe basketball
spanish league and greek league are in the same level, next is italian ....and then everything else

[afrhoop]

The Greeks might be winning the EC , but their league is on a downfall, just look how AEK is planning to start into the new season, look at the recent success on a club level and on the empty halls as well as the teams that went bankrupt or are nearly so (Makedonikos, Iraklis,etc.). The Greek League is only ranked fourth because of Pana and Olympiakos, but they are the lone pro teams in that league.ACB together with the Russians and the Lega offer a stable competition without scandals and I would even rank LEB higher then the German Bundesliga nowadays, as I believe in the upcoming season, some teams in Germany are going to hard financial times.

[Sigma]

In my opinion, based on level of competition, salary levels, local players, the type of Americans they draw, and their success in the various European leagues.

1) Spanish ACB
2) Italian Lega
3) Russian Suproleague
4) Greek AI
5) Turkish D1
6) Israeli Premier League
7) French Pro A
8) Adriatic League
9) Italian Lega Due
10) German Bundesliga
11) Belgian D1
12) Ukranian Superleague
13) Spanish LEB
14) Lithuanian LKL
15) Polish DBL
16) French Pro B
17) Dutch Eredivisie
18) Cyprus AI
19) Latvia LBL
20) Sweden Basketligan

after that you have leagues like Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Finland, Iceland, the UK, Luxembourg, Ireland, Norway, etc

You forgot BBL - Baltic Basketball League. I think it ranks somewhere around 10 (especially since lot of Latvian and Estonian teams increased their budget this season).

[i_nikos]

panathinaikos and olympiakos are the best teams in europe for this year ("panathinaikos is the best team in europe for the last 10 years" by the official site of euroleague)! but in the last 5 years every season a greek team is in the final of uleb cup(something like uefa cup in football), and 2 years ago, in the final 8 there are 4 greeks teams!!!that means we have great teams after pana and olympiako!!!!!!
iraklis is in the 3 division and sold 7.000 durations cards this year !!!!!!
aek is special case because of the fans...it is a big story....but rumours said that melissanidis is goint to buy aekbc!!!melisssanidis is one of the most powerfull man in greece!!!!and crazy fan of aek!!!!!last year panathinaikos made sold-out 8 times, the capacity of the stadium is 20.000!!!and against efes pilsen we had 25.000 fans......!!!!!!!!!!
about makedonikos...the greek government owns to the president of makedonikos 100.000.000 euros...this is the reason that mak is going to the 2 division...

[ermis7]

In my opinion, based on level of competition, salary levels, local players, the type of Americans they draw, and their success in the various European leagues.

1) Spanish ACB
2) Italian Lega
3) Russian Suproleague
4) Greek AI
5) Turkish D1
6) Israeli Premier League
7) French Pro A
8) Adriatic League
9) Italian Lega Due
10) German Bundesliga
11) Belgian D1
12) Ukranian Superleague
13) Spanish LEB
14) Lithuanian LKL
15) Polish DBL
16) French Pro B
17) Dutch Eredivisie
18) Cyprus AI
19) Latvia LBL
20) Sweden Basketligan

after that you have leagues like Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Finland, Iceland, the UK, Luxembourg, Ireland, Norway, etc

Sorry I dnt want to be rude, but I think that you havent idea about European basketball...

The best leagues are these:
1) Greek
2) Spanish
3) Italian
4) Russian

All the others countries havent high quality championships (for a long term)...

[Jonathan]

you guys are out of your mind if you think the Greek league is even remotely close to the ACB. I know you all are Greek fans, but there is a huge difference between the two and its not even close. Stack up the 3rd through 8th best teams in Spain and put them against their Greek counterparts and they would one by one beat the crap out of all of them. Once you get past the top two teams in Greece, you are talking about a bunch of average clubs with terrible reputations in Europe in terms of paying their players and having any kind of competitive budget. Tau and Malaga (of last year at least) are right there with Pana and Olimpiakos and then you have teams like Barca, Real, Joventut who are rich Euroleague clubs with deep rosters and a world of talent compared to Maroussi, Aris and Pannellinos.

Just for comparison to show you how deep and competitive the ACB is, newcomers from LEB this year Bruesa went out and signed Michael Bradley for 350K where whoever the newcomers are in Greece went out and signed Michael Southall for 80K.

The Greek league has been on the decline for several years now. There is little to no interest in it from a marketing standpoint. Sponsors are dwindling, their TV contract is nonsense and many teams are struggling to fill their seats.

[ermis7]

I disagree...
Jonathan have you ever seen a european match??? (not from tv)

I think that you have bad informations....

Check out what happens in a greek basketball game
Aris Fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckyMnkZlCik
Pao fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HScNrlvKkEI
Olympiacos fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNoLjv3_hcc (Olympiacos fans went to Barcelona to support their team, Barcelona fans didnt the same... why???? can you explain me that?)

Check out what happens at the airport when a big athlete like Macijauskas comes to Greece
Olympiacos fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0p6kLg94mw

and dont forget Greece has only 10.000.000 persons, Spain 45.000.000!!! Biggest country, biggest market... Money dont make teams...

[Jonathan]

I disagree...
Jonathan have you ever seen a european match??? (not from tv)

I think that you have bad informations....

Check out what happens in a greek basketball game
Aris Fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckyMnkZlCik
Pao fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HScNrlvKkEI
Olympiacos fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNoLjv3_hcc (Olympiacos fans went to Barcelona to support their team, Barcelona fans didnt the same... why???? can you explain me that?)

Check out what happens at the airport when a big athlete like Macijauskas comes to Greece
Olympiacos fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0p6kLg94mw

and dont forget Greece has only 10.000.000 persons, Spain 45.000.000!!! Biggest country, biggest market... Money dont make teams...

Yes, I lived overseas for 8 years, as recently as last year. You don't need to tell me about European basketball.

If you can't accept that the ACB is head and shoudlers better than the Greek league, then I don't have much to say to you besides the fact that you are a very naive and patriotic person.

[ermis7]

I dont agree. Anyway, its your opinion... Mine is different...
But i dont understand why call me naive and patriotic, it isnt democratic to call me with such words (because I have a different opinion...)

[Genjuro]

I disagree...
Jonathan have you ever seen a european match??? (not from tv)

I think that you have bad informations....

Check out what happens in a greek basketball game
Aris Fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckyMnkZlCik
Pao fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HScNrlvKkEI
Olympiacos fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNoLjv3_hcc (Olympiacos fans went to Barcelona to support their team, Barcelona fans didnt the same... why???? can you explain me that?)

Check out what happens at the airport when a big athlete like Macijauskas comes to Greece
Olympiacos fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0p6kLg94mw

and dont forget Greece has only 10.000.000 persons, Spain 45.000.000!!! Biggest country, biggest market... Money dont make teams...
Ouch! It's hard to find a bigger homer...

Now the Greek League is better and stronger than the ACB because Barcelona fans don't go to Greece... Nice reasoning dude.

Who cares if your fans are the craziest? There is much better attendance in the ACB league (over 6000 fans per game), more money, a better structure and much better teams at least from the third team to the last one (while both Panathinaikos and Olympiacos will have to prove to be better than the Spanish top ones, which didn't happen last year at all). By the way, Pete Mickeal was the go-to player in one of the teams that went to second division last season (Breogan); Rodney White was the star in the other (Manresa). Anybody interesting in Kholossos? In Iraklis? In Greece, you can see several teams playing in 2000-seat gyms, while in the ACB you are forced to have a pavillion with 5000 seats.

I guess it won't matter to you. I guess I have just lost my time.

[ermis7]

Spain is a country 4,5 bigger than Greece...
In which country played players like Dominique Wilkins, Eddie Johnson and Peja Stojankovic???

Which teams have the best transfers of this summer, Macijauskas and Tony Delk???

P.S. Kolossos and Iraklis are playing in A2

[KristianH]

Ermis7 youre right, don`t even bother to discuss with those two guys, they are blind. :) Greece have Macijauskas and Delk, you can`t beat that!!

[Matiz]

:D
...well... I doubt (actually... I am pretty sure of it) any of you guys have seen has as many european games as Jonathan has last year and definately not as much diversified ones either...

If I am not mistaken the best teams from LEB (Spanish 2nd division) have better attendance than most of european teams playing in first divisions, including everyone except Pana, Oly and Aris in Greece...

number of inhabitants? imagine what Lithuanians could say than :rolleyes:


1st Spain...

... light years...

2nd Italy (due to situation in Italy we could say Greece and Russia might be near them...)

...light years...

5th everyone else...

panathinaikos and olympiakos are the best teams in europe for this year ("panathinaikos is the best team in europe for the last 10 years" by the official site of euroleague)! but in the last 5 years every season a greek team is in the final of uleb cup(something like uefa cup in football), and 2 years ago, in the final 8 there are 4 greeks teams!!!that means we have great teams after pana and olympiako!!!!!!
iraklis is in the 3 division and sold 7.000 durations cards this year !!!!!!
aek is special case because of the fans...it is a big story....but rumours said that melissanidis is goint to buy aekbc!!!melisssanidis is one of the most powerfull man in greece!!!!and crazy fan of aek!!!!!last year panathinaikos made sold-out 8 times, the capacity of the stadium is 20.000!!!and against efes pilsen we had 25.000 fans......!!!!!!!!!!
about makedonikos...the greek government owns to the president of makedonikos 100.000.000 euros...this is the reason that mak is going to the 2 division...
unbelievable... I can't decide which one of these statements I want to put in my signature...

[afrhoop]

I guess it's useless to discuss such a topic with ultra-fans who are still mourning about the glorious past in Greek Club Basketball.
Tony Delk should be having a good time in Greece, once he finds out,that his salary is always late or not coming at all....

[i_nikos]

very good joke my friend, just to know that panathinaikos give to tony delk 400.000 euros more than he wanted!!!!! and he said that one week ago!!!!bad payment its not a greek phenomenon, it happens in every league...many players
complaint about their accounts in spanish league(xirona, real(rakosevic), barcelona, valenthia) in italy and in Greece!

[potroarrien]

Hello everyone, although a bit late, I would like to express my opinion about this issue.
Of course, Panatinaikos and Olimpiakos are two of the best teams in Europe and, believe me, Spanish teams have always a lot of respect when playing against them. There is nothing to say against that. But, my friend, you cannot compare the ACB with the Greek league because of all the reasons already written in this thread (and seem you ignore) and some more. We are talking about the strength of a whole league, not only a few teams. I´m not trying to change your opinion, just saying mine. Bye.
P.S. China and India's population is quite enormous, how is their basketball league?

[i_nikos]

ok, sometimes my heart speaks and not my head...
acb is better than A1, i know that, maybe panathinaikos and olympiakos are better than the tops teams in spain, but the whole league is something else!!
A1 passed very serious problems previous years, but the last 2 years there are powerfull families that doing a very big try to do the A1 the best league in europe again! i am not an ultra fan, but i love basketball and my country, this is not something bad!

[TOULIS]

ACB is much better than the Greek League, it is hard for us to accept that, but that is the only truth. Some years ago the Greek league was the best in Europe but right now ACB and the italian league are in a highest level, they are very organized and almost everything works better there. In my opinion the problem is that in Spain for example cities like Vitoria have their own team but in Greece there are 7 or more teams coming from Athens. Teams like Aigaleo,Marousi,Panellinios and the others should be replace by teams outside Athens and Thessaloniki.

I am sure that Pana and Olympiakos will be better than any Italian club and maybe teams like Barca, Real, Tau but apart from Greens and Reds the other teams are worse that clubs from Italy and Spain that finished in the same position(Aris/Barca or Tau).

[i_nikos]

greek league it's much much better than italian!!!!!!!!!
you said before that the problem in greek league is that we have 7 teams from athens, and this is the true!!!!! last year we had 7 teams from athens, 3 from thessaloniki, 2 from larisssssa......this is very bad....

[woma]

There's so many tough aspects which should be considered regarding this topic, that's not even funny. Final classification can really vary depends on aspect of basketball business you will take into consideration; and with constant players movement every year it's even tough to decide if you want to make your list depends on last season results, or maybe next season expectations...
One thing for sure won't change - spanish ACB is the best league in Europe and it's not even close.

My list was made based on the same aspects Jonathan put into mix: level of competition, salary levels, the type of Americans they draw, and their success in the various European competition, I only exclude "local players". I've also tried to find a "golden middle" between last season and my expectations for a new one...

1. Spanish ACB - there's no need for an explanation, players love to live and play there, league is incredibly competetive, etc...



2. Russian ACB - they have Euroleague champion, even with CSKA dominating domestic competition, teams from 2-6 positions are still very powerful. There is a huge downslide in Ural Great Perm, but there are new teams getting more and more powerful like Dinamo St.Petersburg, who are able to spend incredible money to be competetive.
3. Greek A1 - it's nice to see this league being 2-faces league again and this year with rosters PAO and Olimpiacos built, should be phenomenal on local stage, as well as on Euroleague stage. But I can't understand that after Greek National Team won a European championship last year, rest of the league went down - teams like Makedonikos, Paok, Maroussi or AEK were horrible, Aris looked good (and will look even better this season), but still teams from 3-8 spots are weak for a top league standards. And for a league which IMHO is nr 3, it's not a good thing, that many players won't even consider going there; because of teams not being a very solid ones regarding paying the players on time.
4. Italy LegaBasket - still a place where many players want to play, but if polish Prokom Trefl Sopot looks better on paper than Benetton Treviso, then you know that something is very wrong. At this moment they clearly don't deserve 4 spots in Euroleague, I though that maybe Lottomatica Rome has a chance to climb up the ladder; but they weren't even able to keep Pesic, who left to Girona, that's not a good sign.

and now it gets really tough...

5. Turkish TBl/Israel League - for me they are very close, Hapoel Jerusalem starting to be competetive on european level is a nice thing for competition there and with Ulker being out, I think Israel league is at the same level now, even with Maccabi having a problem of building a roster.

7. Adriatic League - with 3 spots in Euroleague it's hard to not put it here, there are some good teams here, and I like level presented by middle level teams; if I would split Balkans Leagues into domestic competition (I still have a nightmares after watching whole Slovenian League Final), than things would get much, much more ugly...

8. French ProA - in my opinion it's the most overrated league in Europe, but still 2 Euroleague spots makes them relatively high on my list; it's important also that US players like to play there; you have solid paying teams and style of basketball which should be located somewhere between Europe and US basketball.

9. Baltic League - again situation is similar to Adriatic League, Baltic League basically has 2 powerful teams (Zalgiris and Lietuvos - I've been told that Lietuvos Rytas budget is even bigger comparing to last season) and one middle-level Ventspils, they were worse than usual last year, but should bounce back this year. Other teams are really, really average; but it's nice to see some of them trying to improve spending time and money to participate in eurocups (polish teams sucks).

10. Belgium League and Germany League - even without Euroleague spot Belgium League is worthy of a note here, IMHO it's the most underrated league in Europe. I like top Belgium teams more than Germany's, but Germany has Euroleague spot and they have a 2nd average attendance, only behind ACB. Both leagues are well organized, they have a very good scouting and teams are very solid; I can see Belgium League still improving and I hope that they will get a spot in Euroleague in near future; but not having a decent TV contract probably is hurting them big time...

12. Poland PLK - we have Prokom Trefl Sopot, which has a chance to be a really good team on a Euroleague level in a 2-3 years. Teams like Czarni Slupsk or Anwil Wloclawek are decent and I can see basketball going up after a few years decline, thanks to our National Team performance, and new TV Contract for the league. But it won't change that our teams are horrible regarding payments and besides Prokom and Anwil nobody is interested in playing in eurocups, which drives me crazy. So we don't deserve to be higher...

13. Italian Lega2 - the best 2nd league on the world, they can pay big money and it's great place for US players to start their careers, but even top teams there woudn't have a chance against upper level teams from Poland, Belgium and Germany; lack of any system (besides - get the ball to one of your three US players) would really hurt them.

14. Ukrainian League - they can't be higher since it looks like BC Kiev will be much weaker team last season, Azovmash is very, very powerful and very, very rich (with guy like Khalid El-Amin, who would be top 5 PGs in Euroleague, getting probably almost 1 mln USD there), but besides Kiev and Azovmash other teams have really a long way to go...

15. Spanish LEB1 - a totally different league than Lega2, many teams play very organized basketball, but foreigner level it's not yet of Lega2 standards, and you can have only 2 US players, which makes them looking weaker comparing to 3 US players in Lega2.

It would be all for me, just I wanted to mention a Czech Republic League - they have 2-3 teams which can pay up to 100k USD for foreigners and they have a good TV exposure; if they will improve their know-how, they can get better in a few years. Bulgarian League is also worthy of mention because of Lukoil Sofia, quite decent ULEB CUP level team, and also a quite a rich organization. And last league probably would be a Hungarian League - total no-name on european scene, but they are improving, and also Hungarian players playing abroad are making best advertisement about their domestic league you can imagine - local girls being "easy" sounds like a good idea to check on this league :).

[afrhoop]

Euroleague by Countries 2006/2007 :
Spain (4)
Italy (4)
Greece (3)
Turkey (2)
Russia (2)
France (2)
Germany (1)
Lithuania (1)
Poland (1)
Israel (1)
Serbia (1)
Croatia (1)
Slovenia (1)

[KristianH]

French team didn`t make Top 16 in years, not sure for how long will they have 2 representatives, Russia should get another one or some other country like Belgium perhaps.

[DonMonte]

Spain is a country 4,5 bigger than Greece...
In which country played players like Dominique Wilkins, Eddie Johnson and Peja Stojankovic???

Which teams have the best transfers of this summer, Macijauskas and Tony Delk???

P.S. Kolossos and Iraklis are playing in A2

What had that do to how strong the greek league is? You know in ex-yougoslavia played players like Drazen Petrovic, Sasa Djordjevic, Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoc, Velimir Perasovic, Dino Radja, Jure Zdovc, Stojan Vrankovic, Zarko Paspalj, Predrag Danilovic, Zoran Savic etc. Can i say that the Adriatic League (wich is something like a ex-yug league) is now better then all others because in 1985-1991 all those players played their? The Spanish league is by far the best and deepst league in Europe.

[DonMonte]

ok, sometimes my heart speaks and not my head...
acb is better than A1, i know that, maybe panathinaikos and olympiakos are better than the tops teams in spain, but the whole league is something else!!
A1 passed very serious problems previous years, but the last 2 years there are powerfull families that doing a very big try to do the A1 the best league in europe again! i am not an ultra fan, but i love basketball and my country, this is not something bad!

Final4 2006 Barcelona, Tau Ceramica, Maccabi Tel Aviv and CSKA Moscow. And Tau beat PAO in Athens. The greek giants are for sure better then the best two teams from Spain.:rolleyes: PAO and Oly are not weaker then Tau Ceramica or Barcelona, but i wouldn´t say they are better. Those teams are at the same level. But if we look at other teams from Spain and Greece then we so how strong and deep the ACB is. And another example from Breogan. Nebojsa Bogavac played at them last year and now he is going to play in Le Mans and Le Mans will play in the Euroleague. And Breogan was one of the 3 weakest teams in the ACB.

[Hoops]

ACB 2006-2007 PREVIEW

Unicaja Málaga (still searching for a true center)

Carlos Jiménez 6-9 SF
Veteran and Team player. Overall an standout defender, remarkably in team defense. Starter in the spanish gold team. Excellent rebounder. Good court vision for a SF. He will probably play more the PF position to fill the departure of Jorge Garbajosa. Not a great scorer.

Marcus Brown 6-3 SG
Great scorer. Marcus has a long career in Europe.

Jiri Welsch 6-6 SG-SF
Former 16 pick in 2002 draft. He played in Milwaukee, Cleveland and Golden State. He´s a shooter.

Florent Pietrus 6-7 PF-C
Great athleticism, make him a great defender. He lacks touch around the basket. He will be asked a more prominent role after the departure of Jorge Garbajosa to the Toronto Raptors. Florent was an important piece of the french National Team in WC’s.

Erazem Lorbek 6-10 PF-C
Big man with shooting abilities. 46 pick in 2005 draft (Indiana Pacers)

Berni Rodríguez 6-6 SG-SF
Great defender, a truly leader on the court. Excellent slashing game. He played in WC’s in spanish team. He can run the point guard position if needed.

More players: Carlos Cabezas 6-1 PG Iñaki De Miguel 6-9 C

Wintherthur Barcelona

Juan Carlos Navarro 6-3 SG:
Top scorer and MVP in the last ACB season. Clutch game, excellent shooter and slasher. A huge buyout keeps him away from NBA.

Mario Kasun 7-1 C:
Great size and strentgh. Underrated player in the NBA playing for the Magic. 51 pick in 2002 draft.

Jaka Lakovic 6-1 PG:
Dead-eye shooter. He was the vocal point of the talented Slovenia squad in Japan. Former player of Panathinaikos. 41 pick in 2005 draft (Toronto).

Roko Leni Ukic 6-5 PG:He has a lot of potencial. He has not developed a strong point guard game. Undefendable when he drives toward the basket.

Fran Vázquez 6-11 PF-C:
Good athleticism for a 6-11 big man. Good touch. Good shotblocker….but he had a dissapointing season in Akasvayu and doubts about if his mental setting is OK are rising. His enviroment don’t help him. Former 11 pick for Orlando in 2005 draft, he prefered to stay in Spain instead of playing in the NBA.

Mihalis Kakiouzis 6-10 PF:
Crafty player, with an inside-outside game, he takes advantage of his superior IQ to make easy points in the paint. He played in Japan losing against Spain in the Final.

Gianluca Basile 6-4 SG:
Great shooter. Good defender. He didn’t perform well in WC’s (for example a awkward sequence of missed free throws, in Italy loss against Lithuania), but he will be more a accessory player in Barcelona.

More players:
Denis Marconato 7-0 C, Jordi Trias 6-9 PF-SF SG Roger Grimau 6-5 PG-SG Rodrigo de la Fuente 6-7 SF

TAU Cerámica Vitoria

Luis Scola 6-9 PF
Outstanding post moves and touch around the basket. Luis is an agressive player often in the foul trouble. Probably top power-forward in ACB. He played in Japan with his NT, reaching the semifinals.

Tiago Splitter 6-11 C-PF:
Great defensive player. Strong rebounder. Projected as lottery pick in 2007 draft. He played in Japan with his NT.

Igor Rakocevic 6-4 SG:
Last year he was a failure playing the point in Real Madrid. Great shooter and slasher but he’s got a selfish game. He played in Japan with his NT.

Pablo Prigioni 6-3 PG
Prigioni is an standout pass-first point guard and a great ball stealer. He excels playing pick‘n roll with Luis Scola

Serkan Erdogan 6-3 SG
Excellent and clutch shooter although undersized for the 2-guard position. He played for Turkish NT in Japan

More players:
Zoran Planinic 6-5 PG, Fred House 6-5 SF-SG, Sergi Vidal 6-8 SG-SF Mirza Teletovic 6-8 PF Kaya Peker 6-9 PF-C

DKV Joventut Badalona

Rudy Fernández 6-5 SG
Good athleticism. He always plays under control. Good defender. He`s also a remarkable rebounder and passer enjoying an excellent court vision. Exciting player to watch. He played in Japan with spanish NT. He’s an adept to alley-hoops.

Lubos Barton 6-8 SF
Excellent player. He´s a complete forward (rebounding, shooting, slashing, hustling)

Elmer Bennett 6-2 PG
Veteran player, he`s the leader of the team. He excels controlling the tempo of the game. He’s losing shooting effectiveness.

Andrew Betts 7-2 C
Huge size. He’s slow footed but he’s an intimidating presence in the paint.

Marcelinho Huertas 6-1 PG
Extremely creative point guard. He’s is effective in an up-tempo style of game. Inconsistent. He played in Japan with brazilian NT.

More players:
Robert Archibald 7-0 C Ricky Rubio 6-4 PG-SG Paco Vázquez 6-5 SG-SF Charles Gaines 6-8 F Andrew Sullivan 6-8 PF

Real Madrid (Real Madrid clearly lacks a real offensive threat in the paint)

Felipe Reyes 6-8 PF-C
Great rebounder, he excels in offensive rebounds. Very agressive in defense. He lacked a important role in Japan due to a injurie. He has developed a 12 ft. jumper.

Axel Hervelle 6-9 PF
Another agressive big man with a nose for offensive rebounds. He also is effective behind the 3-point arc. Drafted by Denver Nuggets in 2005 (52).

Louis Bullock 6-1 SG
Former Michigan star, he’s the main offensive treath of Real Madrid. Excellent scorer. Selected in the second round of 1999 draft by Minnesota T’Wolves (42).

Raül López 6-1 PG
Former first round pick in 2001 draft. He failed in Utah cause of persistent knee injuries. He’s a extremely creative PG, and a good shooter

Venson Hamilton 6-10 C
He excels at shotblocking. He is also a good offensive rebouder. Selected in the second round of 1999 draft by Houston Rockets (50)

Eduardo Hernández-Sonseca 7-0 C
Great size. He’s effective in shotblocking. He fought against Marc Gasol to reach the gold medal spanish NT.

Alex Mumbrú 6-8 SF
He’s essentially a 3 point shooter. He played in Japan with spanish NT

Charles Smith 6-4 SG
‘’The Spider’’. Veteran player . He is a remarkable ball stealer due to his wingspan.

More players:
Marko Tomas 6-8 SF-SG Kerem Tunceri 6-2 PG Nenad Sinanovic 7-2 C (second team).

[Hoops]

Akasvayu Girona:

Gregor Fucka 7-0 PF-C:
Veteran player. A mobile seven footer. He has range out of the 3-point line.. Very frail shape.

Dalibor Bagaric 7-2 C:
He has great size. Intimidating presence in the paint. He was drafted in 2000 by Chicago Bulls in the first round (24)

Marc Gasol 7-0 C:
Brother of the more highly regarded Pau Gasol. Marc has a good touch. He has been known as a very soft player with lazy attitudes. However in Japan, he proved he can use his size in the paint collecting rebounds.

Arriel McDonald 6-1 PG:
Veteran player, he is a great shooter (and free throw shooter).

Víctor Sada 6-4 PG:
Good athleticism. He`s a great defender, he doesn´t excel in other areas.

Marvis Thornton 6-4 SG-SF
Veteran player. He excels posting players of his size and scoring near the basket. He also can hit he 3-point shoot and he´s not a bad defender at all.

More Players:
Marko Marinovic 6-2 PG Fernando San Emeterio 6-7 SF-SG Kyle Hill 6-2 SG

Pamesa Valencia:

Vule Avdalovic 6-4 PG:
Good defender and ball stealer. He distributes the ball accurately but he´s most a scorer. He played in Japan with Serbia and Montenegro NT.
Dejan Milojevic 6-7 PF:
A real stat-filler. He enjoys a good touch near the basket and he´s an excellent rebounder.
Ruben Garcés 6-9 C:
Great strength. He`s very bulky. He is very inconsistent in his offensive production but Rubén can rebound and intimidate in the paint.

More Players:
Rubén Douglas 6-4 SG Víctor Luengo 6-5 SG-SF Haris Mujezinovic 6-9 PF Albert Oliver 6-2 PG Albert Miralles Roberto Chiacig 6-11 C Jon Steffansson 6-7 SG-SF Víctor Claver 6-9 SF

MMT Estudiantes:

Will McDonald 6-10 C-PF
Good strength, he’s got the size to score bunches in the paint . Great offensive big man.

Pancho Jasen 6-6 SF-SG
He’s primarily a slasher. Inconsistent from the 3-point line. Great rebounder for a wing player.

Iker Iturbe 6-6 PF
Veteran player. He’s just a three point shooter. He’s used to spread the defense. Undersized, not a great rebounder, a defensive liability he only excels in shooting behind the arc. He played college ball in Clemsom. He formerly played in spanish NT.

Marlon Garnett 6-2 SG
He’s a scorer, excelling in three point shooting.

Carlos Suárez 6-8 SF
Young player with potential. By now, he has proved he is a strong offensive rebounder although his shoot is inconsistent .

Víctor Sanikidze 6-8 PF
Young player. Athletic and mobile forward with strong rebounding ability. Drafted in 2004 by Atlanta Hawks in the second round (43)

More players
Goran Nikolic 6-9 PF Caio Torres 6-11 C Javier Mendiburu 6-5 PG-SG Sergio Sánchez 6-3 PG Gonzalo Martínez 5-10 PG Daniel Clark 6-10 PF

Gran Canaria Grupo Dunas

Sitapha Savane 6-7 PF-C
The soul and heart of this team on the defensive side. Great defender and shoblocker for a player of his size.

Kornel David 6-10 PF-C
Big man with soft touch. He can run the floor and being active on defense.

Tre Simmons 6-6 SF
Good defender and shooter. He comes from a season in PAOK.

Jim Moran 6-7 SF
Intense forward with range out of the three point line.

Joel Freeland 6-11 PF
Unproven player. Selected in the last pick of the first round of 2006 draft. Good athleticism and mobility.

Kirk Penny 6-6 SG-SF
He`s a shooter. He has played for New Zealand NT in the last WC’s in Japan .

More players
Marcus Norris 6-1 PG Mario Bruno PG Jackson Vroman 6-10 PF-C Víctor Baldo 6-7 PF-C.


Polaris World Murcia:

Marcus Fizer 6-8 PF
Former fourth pick of 2000 draft. MVP of the D-League. Strong forward with great instincts. Motivation issues could harm his production.

Juanjo Triguero 7-0 C
Good athleticism. He´s a great rebounder. A late bloomer due to mental issues in the past (not focusing in basketball). He barely got playing time in the Summer League (Orlando squad)

Terrell Myers 6-1 SG
Scoring machine. Undersized two-guard. Clutch player he`s an adept to the 3 point line. Good FT shooter.

Stephane Risacher 6-7 SF
Veteran french forward with a smooth game.

Goran Dragic 6-4 PG
NBA prospect with a strong offensive game. Loaned by TAU Vitoria.

Kevin Thompson 6-10 C
Veteran center. Wide body with few mobility. Strong rebounder.
More players:
Antón Gavel 6-3 PG Pedro Robles 6-3 PG-SG Howard Brown 6-7 F Pedro Fernández PF

[Hoops]

CB Granada

Curtis Borchardt 7-0 C
Great center with outstanding rebounding ability. He is also a remarkable shot blocker. Good offensive production in the paint. The star of the team. He requires no training time due to his thrashed knees.

Roberto Gabini 6-7 SF-PF
Argentinean player, good defender. He knows how to score in the paint and has a mid-range game.

More players:
Nico Gianella PG-SG Chris Hernández 6-2 PG Samo Udrih 6-3 SG Juan Ignacio Jasen 6-6 SG César sanmartín 6-7 SF Jesús Fernández 6-7 PF Juanpi Gutiérrez 6-8 PF-C

Caja San Fernando Sevilla

Patrick Femerling 7-0 C
Defensive oriented big men. Intimidating presence.

Antonio Bueno 6-10 C-PF
Extremely inconsistent big man with soft touch. He looked great in some games.

Demetrius Alexander 6-9 PF
Fluid power forward with face-up game. Good rebounder.

Flip Videnov 6-4 SG
Last year he was signed in the midde of season by Real Madrid. There he couldn`t display his impressive offensive game as outside threat.

More players:: Branimir Longin SG-SF Hollis Price PG Carles Marco PG Carlos Cherry PG Michal Ignerski SFCapitol Valladolid:

Bernard Hopkins 6-7 PF
Veteran and undersized power forward with a long career in ACB. Excellent low post scorer. He`s an stat filler.

Bud Eley 6-11 C
Slow and unathletic big man with lazy attitudes. However his strength and skillset allows him score easily in the paint.

Iván Corrales 6-1 PG
Flashy point guard. Once an assist leader in ACB.

More players:
Joseph Gomis 5-11 PG-SG Joao Santos 6-8 SF Óscar Yebra 6-7 SF-SG Roberto Morentín 6-8 PF-C Guillermo Rejón 6-8 PF-C Hurl Beechum 6-5 SG

Vive Menorca:

Nacho Rodríguez 6-1 PG:
Veteran point guard, he has played in top teams like Barcelona or Unicaja. He controls the tempo of the game.

Sam Clancy 6-7 PF-C:
Energetic and strong big man with remarkable dunking ability and good wingspan.

Chris Moss 6-7 PF
Smart player, he excels scoring in the paint with good footwork and better agility than his oponnent..

More players:
Mario Stojic 6-7 SF Alfons Alzadora 6-9 C Marino Bazdaric


Alta Gestión Fuenlabrada

Salva Guardia 6-9 C
With his athletic and skill shortcomings, he has become into a useful player defending bigmen with dirty play and IQ.

Andrés Miso 6-7 SG
Great slasher. Miso can run the point guard position.

More players:
Franqui Solana 6-6 SG-SF Tom Wideman 6-10 C Jose Antonio Paraíso 6-7 SF Jorge García 6-8 PF Saúl Blanco 6-4 SG Gerald Brown 6-3 PG Ferrán López PG Virginius Praskevicius PF-C

Lagun Aro Bilbao

Frederick Weis 7-2 C
Infamous pick in 1999 (by the way drafted by New York Knicks) draft ahead of Ron Artest and Andrei Kirilenko. He has become into a defensive specialist.

Jose Ángel Antelo 6-8 PF
Young player. Strong rebounder with a 12 ft. jumper.

More players:
Martin Rancik 6-9 PF Javi Salgado 6-1 PG Luke Recker SG Milan Majstorovic SF Ivan Savovic F


Bruesa GBC

Federico Kammerichs 6-8 SF
Long forward with good wingspan. He excels in transition. Drafted in 2002 by Portland Trailblazers in the second round (51).

Michael Bradley 6-10 PF
Big man with good offensive skills and a midrange shot. Drafted in 2001 in the first round by Toronto Raptors (17)

More players
Devin Davis 6-7 C-PF David Doblas 6-8 C-PF Txemi Urtasun G Nacho Ordín

Etosa Alicante

Mous Sonko 6-4 PG
Formerly and standout defensive player with good athleticism

Lucio Angulo 6-7 SF-SG
Veteran wing player, with good attitude and not a bad defender at all.

More players:
Larry Lewis 6-7 PF Bruno Sundov 7-3 C Alain Digbeu 6-5 SF-SG Axel Weigand 6-7 SF Berni Hernández 6-0 PG

[i_nikos]

i really want to see which team is going to beat panathinaikos........
Arvydas Macijauskas is going to be out 1-2 months OR 6-8 months,he had torn his achilles' tendon! olympiakos is going to add a young player alexandros kyritsis! i am panathinaikos , but first of all i love basketball, and this injury is very bad for mache..i hope that he is going to be back stronger..as soon is possible!

[final countdown]

Of course my friends the greek league is in 3rd or 4th place.
No doupt about that.
BUT i can't understand why all of u, r so hard on all of us greeks.
OK we had some bad years as a league but we r a nation that loves bball.
Especially from an administrator (Jonathan) i could never expect such a behaviour.......
Maybe your hate comes from bad holidays in a greek island?
In bball terms your attitude makes no sense....

p.s. to all our spanish friends: Not a long time ago the greek league was the best league besides NBA in the world....maybe even the best league ever (excluding NBA) in the world. Even the 8th team of the greek league advanced easily to the top four teams of the european competition this team was playing in....
Don't forget that good times come and go...don't be so arrogant pls...
Thank u all

[Genjuro]

Of course my friends the greek league is in 3rd or 4th place.
No doupt about that.
BUT i can't understand why all of u, r so hard on all of us greeks.
OK we had some bad years as a league but we r a nation that loves bball.
Especially from an administrator (Jonathan) i could never expect such a behaviour.......
Maybe your hate comes from bad holidays in a greek island?
In bball terms your attitude makes no sense....
Nobody is being hard on "all of us Greeks". Jonathan only calls this guy naive and patriotic, which obviously he is. Is that "such a behaviour"?

I think Jonathan was pretty diplomatic there, given the reasoning ("Olympiacos fans went to Barcelona to support their team, Barcelona fans didnt the same... why???? can you explain me that?") and statements ("you have no knowledge about europe basketball") these kids were using.

By the way, I'm surprised by that last sentence about attitude in basketball. Considering the problems you guys suffer with the fans in your own arenas, it's surprising that you worry that much about someone (rightfully) calling naive and patriotic another guy.

p.s. to all our spanish friends: Not a long time ago the greek league was the best league besides NBA in the world....maybe even the best league ever (excluding NBA) in the world. Even the 8th team of the greek league advanced easily to the top four teams of the european competition this team was playing in....
Don't forget that good times come and go...don't be so arrogant pls...
Thank u all
Nobody is arrogant, although trying to explain the obvious to somone that doesn't want to hear it might look like an arrogant attitude. Besides, many of the guys writing here are not even Spanish. I can see people from Poland, Slovenia or Croatia stating the same as the Spanish. It's not such a big deal. Two Greeks came here and made a fool of themselves; get over it.

Finally, yes, this is a temporal situation. The ACB wasn't that good a few years back and won't be in the future. But we're talking about the current days.

[Greek]

I really believe that the best league in Europe are the Spanish league, and i can't even talk about that.

To have the best league is not only to have the best players, but also good arenas, and good organised league. When we self claim that we had the best league our courts was like Berlin after the 2nd world war, and maybe now we have better arena's couz the Olympics but an ordinary fun can't go there, couz there are some "funs" that are worse than terrors. Last Sunday was the great game between, PAO and Olympiakos, and in the court was only Olympiakos funs, but they managed to hit the sportcaster and fight with the police, and every weekend we have the same bull***.If you ask the most of those funs about the score they don't know, they was busy fighting eachother

Maybe we have the touphest league, but after all basketball is a game for fun, here is a war.

So in my list Greek league is the worse in Europe.

P.S.Cyprus doesn't exist in a basketball map. I live in Cyprus and i know....