The Euroleague final, if you didn't get a chance to watch it wherever you are, was probably the best spectacle European basketball could have hoped for. Sure, the local side did get a real boost by getting to play in their home town but as one of the announcers said, playing in front of the most die-hard, rabid Greek fans is all about pressure too.
What was perhaps most amazing was being able to turn over to Sky Sports right after the game ended and watch the first game of the Sun/Spurs series and just compare. I suppose it's not fair to compare Game 1 Conference Semi-Finals v a winner take all game, but I felt there was more spark, more D, more desire in the European game. I certainly felt the gap between these two teams and the NBA was getting smaller and not larger. The focus on team play is such a hallmark of European basketball, it does contrast greatly with the game back home. Barring Steve Nash, it so often seemed a game of individuals.
It was also the first time I had got to see a Euroleague game live, as previous to this I could only see highlights on Greg Tanner's show on UKTVSlam G2. Okay, I could have watched games on my computer screen and I know I really need to get a plasma and hook it up to my computer, but this was the first live game. Comparing it to the ULEB Cup isn't even possible.
I should really congratulate the Euroleague team for the job they did in organising this event. I am told there are usually quite a lot of NBA big-wigs, even David Stern himself, coming to this game and I can see why. I can also see why NBA club owners like Mark Cuban of the Mavs see the Euroleague not as a partner, but as a competitor. Cuban certainly has a love for self-promotion and the reality is that the NBA's resources are light years beyond everything. Europe is playing a game of catch-up it may take years to win. But it's happening.
There is much debate on the inside of the British basketball league community regarding our place, the BBL's place, in the overall set up of Europe. The truth is there isn't a place right now. I am not doing down our league or our ability or our love of the game, but I don't see how it is possible to say otherwise. Maybe this month it may change, but we've no right to a spot anymore, when we once did. We've lost a lot in the past 5-7 years.
Getting to Euroleague isn't a conversation that is easy to have for us. Getting to ULEB is easier. But it surely was something to watch the final, just as it was to watch the ULEB final. The differences between these two are vast, but you can see the map of progression--you can see how you COULD get there.
With the NBA, a closed league, all you can do is look in; as if with your face pressed up to the glass window of some exclusive shop that you know you will never, ever get into.
This is why it's great to play in the BBL, member of the Union of European Basketball Leagues (ULEB).
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