Strongest leagues in Europe

[TalkBasket]

This could be interesting discussion. Especially if we get people from more countries saying their opinion. Please list strongest European leagues in your opinion and state why.



Here's top 10 of mine:

1. Spain. Really strongest league in Europe. All games are very competitive, teams are very strong.

2. Italy. Close to Spain but teams often have financial problems.

3. Greece. Panathinaikos and Olympiakos are very strong. Aris, PAOK and other teams are behind but still a strong league with a lot of great players.

4. Russia. Based on foreign players but a lot of money is put into it. CSKA winning Euroleague, Dinamo winning ULEB Cup and Khimki winning FIBA Europe Cup last year just showed that.

5. Turkey. They have two-three good teams in Europe (Fenerbahce, Efes Pilsen and Besiktas).

6. Serbia. It could go listed in the same place as Lithuania. A lot of talent and a couple of top class clubs.

7. Lithuania. Two very good teams but the rest are far from their level and this makes the league weaker.

8. Germany. Not really competitive in European cups but average strength of the teams is not bad.

9. Israel. Maccabi makes this league much stronger but being no real competition for them puts this league in lower position.

10. Croatia. It's mainly Cibona in the past years.

[Black Urum]

Spain is undoubtfully No1, as for Italy this season proved they are not something special. I would place them 3rd behind Greece.

[Al Bundy]

Vilius said so well. It's true and I don't have anything to add. <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/bag.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[rikhardur]

[quote name='Black Urum' post='1602' date='Mar 24 2007, 02:51 AM']Spain is undoubtfully No1, as for Italy this season proved they are not something special. I would place them 3rd behind Greece.[/quote]

I agree 100%. Lega went a few steps down lately.

[Dideroth]

I almost agree with Vilius but in the second place I´ll place Greece instead of Italy but well that´s my opinion, maybe they are not as close as I think <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[diego.es]

The Spanish League is clearly the strongest. Wining streaks are tough to keep and you may make it to the play offs with just a bit better than a 50% record



There are downsides though. The amount of people that sit and watch basketball on TV during the regukar season is well below F1, MotoGP, Tennis, obvioulsy Football and even Indoor Football or Handball occasionally. The reason is clear: The regular season does not matter that much



Spanish people do watch basketball though and the national side will get very high audiences. There is passion for them, and games count because the competitions are shorter. Besides, the Olympics, the world champs or the Eurobasket are highly attractive competitions, as would be the Athletics competitions for example.



The Play offs get good attention but the highlght of the season may be the Copa del Rey, the King's Cup if we translate. The top 8 teams after the first half of the regular season qualify (sometimes 7 if the host is not in the top 8) and they play the tournament in 4 days: Quarterfinals (over 2 days), Semifinals and Final

[TalkBasket]

I believe that some leagues lost their position and some became stronger during the year. I would list them this way.



1. Spain.

2. Greece.

3. Russia.

4. Turkey. Turk Telekom, Fenerbahce, Efes Pilsen, Besiktas, Galatasaray...

5. Italy. The biggest fall of all. One of the best leagues in Europe has lost its power. I put them below Turkey because they have more good teams that are competitive.

6. Lithuania. Two teams in Euroleague increase the level of the league in my opinion.

7. Israel.

8. Serbia.

9. Croatia.

10. Germany.

[MarkoMilic]

[quote name='Vilius' post='3802' date='Feb 13 2008, 02:48 PM']I believe that some leagues lost their position and some became stronger during the year. I would list them this way.



1. Spain.

2. Greece.

3. Russia.

4. Turkey. Turk Telekom, Fenerbahce, Efes Pilsen, Besiktas, Galatasaray...

5. Italy. The biggest fall of all. One of the best leagues in Europe has lost its power. I put them below Turkey because they have more good teams that are competitive.

6. Lithuania. Two teams in Euroleague increase the level of the league in my opinion.

7. Israel.

8. Serbia.

9. Croatia.

10. Germany.[/quote]



What about France, Vilius? Pro A with Roanne, Le Mans, Asvel and Nancy still deserves to be in Top 10 i think. <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> I am missing the teams like Asvel and Pau, they need to be much better i think...

[TalkBasket]

[quote name='MarkoMilic' post='4026' date='Mar 9 2008, 02:19 PM']What about France, Vilius? Pro A with Roanne, Le Mans, Asvel and Nancy still deserves to be in Top 10 i think. <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> I am missing the teams like Asvel and Pau, they need to be much better i think...[/quote]

That's true. I should have included France but where would it be? Below Italy? Russia and Turkey made the biggest step up during last few years in my opinion.

[Black Urum]

I think Turkey always had a strong league and strong teams. So I wouldn't say they made big steps, they had a good league. I still remember Tofas Bursa (or something) Korac Cup finals vs Aris... damn...



So that leaves us only with Russia... now there is a league which has been jumping, not only making steps...

[MarkoMilic]

[quote name='Vilius' post='4027' date='Mar 9 2008, 04:58 PM']That's true. I should have included France but where would it be? Below Italy? Russia and Turkey made the biggest step up during last few years in my opinion.[/quote]



Actually, it is hard to make a list between these leagues. Serbia and Croatia have also quality teams but the problem is the level of whole league. Rytas and Zalgiris are top-level teams but rest of the league leave them alone, Israel has similar problems. France doesn't have (for now) a team like Rytas, Zalgiris, Maccabi or Partizan but the league is more competitive. May be it is better to make groups between these leagues:



1- Spain-Russia-Greece: Toughest and highest level… Spain is definetely number one but Russia and Greece are also special.



2- Turkey- Italy: Turkish League is rising. Except Efes and Fener, we have Besiktas, Galatasaray and Telekom. Siena is excellent, they deserve every praise, Roma is also good but the rest? We need Bologna teams and Treviso back…



3- Israel -Serbia –Lithuania-Croatia: Top teams like Maccabi, Partizan, Rytas, Zalgiris and (they were no good this season but) Cibona, the problem is the quality of the remaing teams in their leagues. Israel (with H.Jerusalem, B.Hasharon, H.Holon) and Serbia (with Zeleznik, Hemofarm and Red Star) are a little bit better may be…



4- France-Germany: It makes me sad to put France here. Asvel and Pau were always important for European basketball. These leagues are more competitive than group 3 but seriously lacking top level teams and quality…

[MisterBongo]

[quote name='MarkoMilic' post='4032' date='Mar 9 2008, 06:25 PM']1- Spain-Russia-Greece:[/b] Toughest and highest level… Spain is definetely number one but Russia and Greece are also special.



2- Turkey- Italy: Turkish League is rising. Except Efes and Fener, we have Be?ikta?, Galatasaray and Telekom. Siena is excellent, they deserve every praise, Roma is also good but the rest? We need Bologna teams and Treviso back…



3- Israel -Serbia –Lithuania-Croatia: Top teams like Maccabi, Partizan, Rytas, Zalgiris and (they were no good this season but) Cibona, the problem is the quality of the remaing teams in their leagues. Israel (with H.Jerusalem, B.Hasharon, H.Holon) and Serbia (with Zeleznik, Hemofarm and Red Star) are a little bit better may be…



4- France-Germany: It makes me sad to put France here. Asvel and Pau were always important for European basketball. These leagues are more competitive than group 3 but seriously lacking top level teams and quality…[/quote]





I agree 100% with you regarding the leagues

[kosteposte]

yes strongest league is spain :cool:

[vlade_divac]

I think Italy is closer to France than to Turkey. For me Italy on 4 place

[TalkBasket]

[quote name='vlade_divac' post='8176' date='Apr 23 2008, 08:09 PM']I think Italy is closer to France than to Turkey. For me Italy on 4 place[/quote]

So what would your Top 10 be?

[forum troll]

Hmm something like:



1. Spain

2. Greece

3. Italy

4. Russia

5. Turkey

6. Lithuania

7. Serbia

8. Croatia

9. Israel

10. France



I don't think Italy league is as good as Greece league anymore and it's really fallen off but I would still put it over Russia or Turkey because it still a big and balanced league and still has a lot of good players, it's just the teams are down.



I should probably say while Greece has the 2nd best league, it's still far from Spanish league at this point. But I think adding the two Cyprus clubs will help bolster it next year I think they join. It will be a stronger #2 next year with having two more decent level clubs.

[TalkBasket]

[quote name='Spanoulis_PAO_Fan']I should probably say while Greece has the 2nd best league, it's still far from Spanish league at this point. But I think adding the two Cyprus clubs will help bolster it next year I think they join. It will be a stronger #2 next year with having two more decent level clubs.[/quote]

It's not the right forum but since you mentioned this I wanted to ask if the Greek league is going to expand with Cypriot clubs joining or will they replace bottom clubs? And what about Cypriot league? Who would represent them in Europe? I mean if their best teams join Greek league we will see weaker teams representing Cyprus in Euro competitions.

[croatia65]

remember that croatia and serbia have leagues during the season without best clubs, as they play in nlb league (together with clubs from slovenia, montenegro, and bosnia and hercegovina). the best clubs join the national leagues in april.



so, what i wanted to say is that i would like you to put a regional leagues on your list (nlb league and baltik leauge) because they last longer during the season then our national leagues, and i think they are pretty strong, very close to spain



1. spain

2. nlb

3. greece

4. baltik

5. russia

6. turkey

7. italy

8. france



i ll stop at here because i think other leagues do not deserve to be this list

9

[TalkBasket]

Welcome to the forum. It's good to see fellow Å aras fan <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



The idea of this thread was to rank domestic leagues. Of course regional leagues are stronger because they best clubs from a few countries. As for the Baltic League it does not last longer than Lithuanian league. It ends one week earlier actually.