European Standard Basketball In Kyiv

For Ukrainian basketball aficionados, the New Year started with a new tournament. The best known basketball players in the post- Soviet space — 1988 Seoul Olympic champions Oleksandr Volkov and Sarunas Marciulenis — presented the North European Basketball League (NEBL) to Kyiv audiences. There was a maiden contest a year ago won by the Kaunas-based Zalgiris which later came off best in the Euroleague tournament, thus in fact becoming the Old World’s best basketball club. And now a new NEBL championship, which as planned gathered practically all the best clubs of Northern Europe. 14 teams are taking part in the competition. At the first stage, the teams will play one leg (13 matches each) and identify the two strongest which will automatically qualify for the finals of four. The teams ranking from third to tenth in the following rounds will identify another two clubs. The finals of four will take place on April 15-16 on the court of one of the participating teams. It is not ruled out that the decisive tournament will be held in Kyiv, for the Kyiv team, the only Ukrainian representative in the League, started with two wins. Four teams gathered in Kyiv on Christmas Eve to kick start the new tournament. Hence the Kyivans consecutively beat the Latvian Broceni (Riga) and the Swedish Magic M17, once owned by the legendary American basketball player Earvine Magic Johnson.

There is an essential difference between NEBL and FIBA basketball, the latter being generally recognized in the world. In the former case, teams play four periods ten minutes each. Like in the American NBA, 24 seconds, and not 30, are allotted for attack. Teams play with multicolored, and not standard orange, balls. Also worthy of note is the principle of competing teams selection. Unlike in FIBA tournaments, a club’s results in domestic competitions will not be taken into account. The main criterion is a stable financial status and the availability of a court capable of admitting a large audience.

There are also some doubts about the tournament’s calendar. With the overall number of games being 13, the ratio of home and away matches is not clear. For example, Kyiv plays four games at home and 9 away. Nevertheless, NEBL commissioner Sarunas Marciulenis promised to look into this matter as soon as possible.

But the main thing is that the new tournament has begun, showing riveting games and promising uncompromising struggle until the finals. And the next (and last) leg of the preliminary stage will be held in Kyiv in mid- February. The Kyivans will play against Kaunas’s Zalgiris, Europe’s best club of 1999, and Moscow’s Central Army Sport Club. We are certain to see most interesting basketball this year.