Several more teams spent the next-to-last week of August gearing up for the new BKT EuroCup season, which is little more than a month away. Almost every team in the EuroCup has hit the floor for nearly full practice sessions by now, in addition to all the specialized physical training that takes place this time of year. With 20 players from 10 EuroCup clubs playing for as many countries at the World Cup, however, some teams won't be complete until closer to opening day. In the meantime, their teammates are going strong and will soon be crisscrossing Europe on their own preseason schedules to make sure that everyone is game-ready when the EuroCup starts on Tuesday, October 3.
Training camps filling up throughout the BKT EuroCup
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New look in Trento
Dolomiti Energia Trento opened its first camp under new head coach Paolo Galbiati on Tuesday with seven new players on the roster, including two who made their way from EuroLeague club and reigning Italian champion EA7 Emporio Armani Milan: foward Davide Alviti and center Paul Biligha. One of the five holdovers, forward Andrejs Grazulis, will re-join the team after he finishes his duties with the Latvian national team at the World Cup.
"The sensations of this first day are positive," Galbiati said after his first practice with the team. "There are those who want to take steps forward this year to become protagonists; there are those who want revenge; and there are those who need to confirm themselves at a high level. In short, there is a lot of motivation and a great desire to do well together."
Pianigiani returns to lead Cedevita
The week started with veteran Euroleague Basketball bench boss Simone Pianigiani, back from a three-year sojourn coaching in China, taking his new team, Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, through its first paces. Cedevita doesn't have veterans Zoran Dragic and Jaka Blazic in camp, because they are at the World Cup with Slovenia, but 14 other players are. Among seven newcomers to the Slovenian capital is point guard Justin Cobbs, whose EuroCup experience runs deep, as does that of Blazic, who returns for his third stint with Cedevita.
Voyage of discover for Reyer necomers
Training camp is a time for discovery, too, and that was true as ever for Umana Reyer Venice players this week, especially six of the seven new players (center Bruno Caboclo is with Brazil and the World Cup) who were there for the start of practices. Besides getting to know the core of returning players, some of whom have been with Reyer for years, the club literally took the newcomers on a voyage of discovery to understand why Venice is unique and famous around the world.
Aris takes to the hills
Although Aris had already gotten together late last week, the historic club's EuroCup mission began in earnest on Wednesday when the team decamped for Karpenissi in central Greece for a mountain stage of training under head coach Yannis Kastritis and his staff. The only players missing are Lefteris Bochoridis and Silvio De Sousa, who are with the Greek and Angolan national teams, respectively, at the World Cup
Buducnost players loom over Podgorica
Among the EuroCup teams that went through a substantial summer remake was Buducnost VOLI Podgorica, which hired no fewer than nine new players. Heading into its 17th EuroCup season, more than any other club, Buducnost leaned toward adding experience in the competition by adding shooter Allerik Freeman and forward JaCorey Williams, among others. Each player's arrival was met with a unique social media campaign post showing the Buducnost heroes looming over the Montenegrin capital, as in the case with Williams.
Prometey gets to work
One of the darlings of the last EuroCup season, semifinalist Prometey Slobozhanske, started preparations for the next one this week. Again, the Ukrainian club will play its games in Riga, Latvia, due to the war. Prometey is concentrating first on making sure that several players who were rehabbing or had surgery over the summer, a list that includes Illia Sydorov, Ivan Tkachenko, Viacheslav Petrov, Issuf Sanon, Caleb Agada, Ondrej Balvin, Oleksandr Lypovyy and Denys Lukashov. Nonethless, Prometey and coach Ronen Ginzburg are set to play in their first preseason game on August 31.