A new season,(un)like the others

 It's finally that time of the year when we can start talking about the new season in European basketball. With transfers slowly coming to a close for all teams and rosters settling in, it's definitely a great time for basketball fans.

    Last season ended in a particularly joyous way for Greek basketball, as Panathinaikos found themselves winning the 7th star after 12 years of missing the Final 4, while Olympiacos was not missing the top four for the third consecutive year. Panathinaikos even managed to beat one of the best teams of all time in the final, the record holder for most wins in the regular season. However, apart from the Greek teams, Real Madrid, Barcelona and perhaps Monaco, last year's Euroleague lacked the competition and fears that other years may have had. One could argue that for another season without the Russian teams and especially CSKA, the league is in danger of moving to lower levels compared to the dynamics of European basketball. But is this true?

    European basketball has faced a number of problems in recent years.

• As the seasons go by, all the good European players are being channelled to the NBA.
• The rivalry between FIBA and Euroleague continues without many realistic solutions to resolve the issues between them. 
• There are rumours that the NBA is coming to establish its own European league probably as a second tier to the American league.
• For financial reasons, teams from the Arabian Peninsula are being recruited, which for Euroleague administrators is nothing but fortunate but how can it be for the fans?
• Finally, a problem that is entirely my opinion and probably not based on rational arguments. The closed league. A season ago we had teams from objectively smaller leagues such as the Lithuanian or German leagues playing in the Euroleague without having been able to conquer their national championship. This year, there is in the 18 Euroleague teams one that even failed to make the playoffs in the Spanish league. This fact certainly weakens the league as 1) it keeps low-performing teams in the top league on the continent 2) it does not give teams that have made the breakthrough in their home country the opportunity to show if and how much they can meet European requirements.

    Despite these issues, however, there are teams that show that European basketball is not only not ready to fall lower than ever, but is rising.

    The Greek teams currently have the best rosters they've had in the last decade, the Serbian teams have made serious efforts to surprise and claim things that Serbian basketball deserves this year, and the Turkish teams have built formidable rosters on paper (especially Efes, who took a short ,by all accounts, break from their championship runs last year). Of course Real Madrid has probably the best starting five in history and we always expect the surprise of the competition.

    The Euroleague is in good hands, another impressive season is ahead of us. Have fun and watch Euroleague basketball!