London Lions began their EuroCup campaign this week, as they became the first British team to take part in Europe’s most prestigious basketball competition since Guildford Heat in 2007.
Lions travel to Hapoel Tel Aviv for their opening game on Tuesday night and they will face some of Europe’s best teams in Group B.
Italian side Aquila Basket Trento visit the Copper Box Arena next Tuesday (October 18), with Lions also hoting Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (November1) and Hapoel Tel Aviv (January 11) at the OVO Arena Wembley.
Lions have assembled a star-studded roster with a hybrid of home-grown tier-one talent in addition to ex-NBA and international signings.
Great Britain stars Kareem Queeley, Mo Soluade, Ovie Soko and Luke Nelson line up alongside Kostas Koufos, Sam Dekker and Vojtech Hruban and head coach Ryan Schmidt is relishing the challenge.
“Having the opportunity to compete in the EuroCup is an honour and huge step for our organisation as well as British basketball,” said Schmidt.
“Being able to represent the BBL and UK on such a big international stage is something we take a lot of pride in and are looking forward to.
“This is an exciting time for basketball in this country and now to be able to bring high level teams to London from all over Europe for this competition is something we hope people will get behind and support.
“We want to go out and play a brand of basketball our supporters enjoy watching and represent the city of London in the best way. If we do this, then I’m certain the results will follow.
“It will be tough balancing the schedule between domestic games and the EuroCup but I feel like we have the depth we need to endure the challenge and we’re looking forward to it all.
“When you look at the roster and the new signings we’ve brought in, it’s hard not to get excited about the potential of this team. However, we have to put it all together as a team in order to accomplish what we want.
“What stands out more than anything to me is the character and competitive nature of them all. Each one of these guys is coming in from a different team, different situation and they’re all here to win.
“This isn’t about them, but more importantly the team and that has been very clear with how they’ve approached the pre-season.”
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