THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
The Shlomo Arena in Tel Aviv was the location for the London Lions' debut in the Euro Cup, one of Europe's top basketball competitions. It was always going to be a daunting task, going into a relatively hostile environment away from their Copper Box home, and so it proved as their hosts Hapoel grabbed the Round One win, 76-59.
The final score was a little lopsided at the end as the Lions tried in vain to cut a deficit that was, for the majority of the game a double-digit lead. The tone was set early on when Tel Aviv rained in a series of three pointers to open up a 9-0, then 11-1 advantage. Matters went from bad to worse when just short of five minutes play the Lions' talismanic American Sam Dekker was forced out the game having landed awkwardly after scoring. It seemed innocuous, and on the replay, it seemed he rolled his ankle over an opposition players planted foot and it was clear he couldn't continue.
This was a big blow as Dekker has had a tremendous start to the domestic campaign, and it took a while for London to adjust his being out of action. They did regroup and didn't fall much further than around 10-12 points through most the game. Each time they threatened to get under that, they couldn't execute on offense, whether through rushed shots in eagerness to gain some momentum, or stubborn defence from the home team.
Have no doubt, this was everything the Lions expected. A tough crowd on the road even before the first tip-off naturally led to some nerves. Now they have this first experience of continental competition it should make the next game easier. And if the Copper Box Arena can create a similar atmosphere, but with a pro-Lions crowd, they could surprise a few teams.
Tomislav Zubcic top scored for the Lions with 21 points and also grabbed 8 rebounds, but arguably the player of the night for London was the wily Greek-American veteran Kosta Koufos. His 14 points and 10 rebounds kept the Lions ticking over in a game that was frustratingly out of reach so early.
The 7Days EuroCup is a long competition and it's worth keeping that in mind. The Lions are one of 20 teams that are split into two groups of ten teams, that will play each other home and away, so a total of 18 games. The top 8 in each group will qualify into the Elimination Tournament, which is a straightforward one game knockout process, Seedings will see the top team in the group play the eighth team in the other, and so on down the rankings. The main round robin runs until March 29, with the Elimination games starting on April 12 with the Final on May 3.
In London's group are Gran Canaria (Spain), Budućnost Voli Podgorica (Montenegro), Dolomiti Energia Trento (Italy), Turk Telecom Ankara (Turkey), Promitheas Patras (Greece), Paris Basketball (France), Veolia Hamburg Towers (Germany), Śląsk Wrowclaw (Poland), and Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel).
Next Tuesday. October 18, sees the Lions entertain Trento in their home Euro Cup debut at the Copper Box in what will prove to be a great evening. You can book your tickets here, for this and other Lions games at https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/london-lions-tickets/artist/1775085
