Euroleague is the new flavour of basketball for the action starved NBA fans
When NBA Commissioner, David Stern, cancelled the first two weeks of the next NBA season, amounting to 100 games, on Monday October 10, the prospect of cancellation of the whole NBA season started to look like a reality.
There has been no meeting between the NBA owners and the player’s union since that unfortunate day. However, as I write, the two sides are engaged in a marathon negotiating session in the presence of Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) George Cohen.
The two sides are far apart on almost all the issues though, and to hope that they will be able to overcome their difference so quickly would not be wise. If the deadlock ensues, some more games are sure to be cancelled and even if there is break through, there will some time required for rescheduling, free agency and pre- season games.
Things remain uncertain and as basketball fans, all we can do is to sit and wait.
However, across the Atlantic, the Euroleague competition has provided a huge sigh of relief.
The competition is a contest between some of the best clubs in Europe and is considered as second only to the NBA. The competition is also going to feature some big names from NBA, who have signed with the Euroleague franchises during the lockout.
The tourney got off to a rollicking start on Monday, 17 October, when CSKA Moscow took on Zalgiris Kaunas in the opening game at the Zalgiris Arena in Kaunas, Lithuania.
In a fast paced encounter, CSKA were given a run for their money in the first half, however, the Russians pulled away early in the third frame and rolled onto an 87-74 win. There are four more games scheduled today.
The format of this competition has a preliminary round, in which, four best teams from each of the four pools of six teams, will advance to the second round. In that round, these teams will again be divided into four groups of four teams. The top two sides from each group will then qualify for the next round, from where the knockout stage will begin.
So, even as the NBA types continue to frustrate basketball fans, the European league will provide some much needed action.
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