See what the representatives from the teams in Group B had to say about the upcoming challenge!
Post-draw comments: Group B
News
5 mins read
Reaction was swift from the clubs chosen in the 7DAYS EuroCup draw for the 2021-22 regular season on Friday in Barcelona, Spain. See what the representatives from the teams in Group B had to say about the upcoming challenge!
Paolo Ronci, General Manager, Virtus Segafredo Bologna:
"Nice group, but Group A is also nice. It's a great level. There are three or four very important teams who are used to playing in the EuroLeague. It will be a high-level EuroCup and this is a good thing. If you want to go upstairs, it's good to understand right away what kind of opponents you're playing. It's difficult to comment on individual teams. But the comment must be made on the change of format: 18 games guaranteed, all important, every victory counts, and even the basket difference can be decisive. Then there is this much-feared novelty: the single-game eliminations starting from the eighthfinals round. You can't go wrong, and you have to arrive with the luck of having the full roster, healthy and fit."
Julien Desbottes, Club President, Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse
"I love these moments of the draw, there is a real professionalism that emerges, you immediately understand that we are playing at a high level. When we see the names of the teams around us, too, it leaves us dreaming about the first few minutes and afterwards, we especially see the extent of the challenge. We are all competitors, so we can't wait for it to start, can't wait to fight to get out of this group and potentially finish in the eight qualifiers. Our second campaign in the competition is a legacy of what was accomplished in previous years, but it is also a new story, one that we are starting to write now. We can't wait to share this with our audience, whether at Ekinox or anywhere in Europe."
Aleksandar Dzikic, Head Coach, Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
"EuroCup has a new format of the competition, so it is sort of unknown for everybody. Our group is packed with serious teams. We have a new group of players, we will try to do our best in every game."
Davor Uzbinec, General Manager, Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
"The new 7DAYS EuroCup season is ahead of us and we are looking forward to it. The new format of the competition will definitely increase the interest of fans to watch the games in the coming seasons. The draw determined Group B for us, and we will face nine very attractive teams. We met Valencia several times when Cedevita was still in Zagreb and Valencia played in the Euroleague last season. It is an ambitious and strong environment. Here is also the Italian national champion, Virtus Segafredo Bologna, who had one of the strongest teams in the 7DAYS EuroCup last season. Already Valencia and Virtus are strong and attractive opponents, which give extra weight to our group, and of course other very strong clubs are also present. We have a very interesting season ahead of us. I think we have a chance to be able to fight for a high ranking, and we are entering the new season even more ambitious than the previous season, when we fought for a place among the top 16 teams in the competition. Our wish is to compete for as long as possible, and above all, it is our wish that the matches can be played in front of the fans in the arenas."
Willy Villar, General Manager, Gran Canaria
"It is a tough group with a lot of great teams, teams that have been playing European competitions for a long time. It will be really hard but, at the same time, it will be really exciting for us and our fans. We really hope to do a good job in this first phase so we can go into the elimination part of the competition."
Vassilis Tountopoulos, CEO, Promitheas Patras
"We are very happy to participate in the 2021-22 Eurocup season, which is going to be very challenging due the new format of the competition. We aim to be very competitive, bring a lot of energy on the basketball court and make all of our fans proud to be a part of our organization. We will be playing against great clubs and we are eager to begin this exciting journey."
Walter De Raffaele, Head Coach, Umana Reyer Venice
"There are two very close and balanced groups, with a lot of high quality teams. Our group, like the other one, is very tough with very important clubs. It is hard to evaluate so far the potential of each team, because many of them are in progress, even if I think Partizan, Lokomotiv, Virtus and Valencia are teams that will for sure make a run to lift the trophy. As we always did, we look forward to compete to make our fans proud of us."