Portuguese champion Sporting CP from Lisbon is first opponent in FIBA Europe Cup
© GOYVAERTS/GMAX AGENCY
Antwerp Giants will start its European campaign tonight at 8 pm, the 18th since the club moved from Mechelen to Antwerp in 1995. The Sinjoren compete in the FIBA Europe Cup and open against the Portuguese champion Sporting CP from Lisbon. It is the 220th European game in the club history of the Giants.
Patrick Ceulemans
The opponent tonight in the Antwerp Sportpaleis is Sporting CP. The Portuguese champion opened the Portuguese competition with a 2 out of 3 and lost this campaign for the first time last weekend (72-78 versus FC Porto). “It is a fairly small team. They do show physical and fast basketball. So we will have to be on the lookout from the first second,” says coach Christophe Beghin. “Our ambition? We would like to advance to the second phase (Last 16) of the FIBA Europe Cup with our young core,” said Beghin.
Of the eight groups of four, the top two qualified for the second phase of the FIBA Europe Cup. From December 8 to February 9, the game will be played in four groups of four. The top two advance to the quarterfinals. From that moment on, the knock-out system is used (back and forth).
Antwerp Giants misses the American Markel Brown (hamstring, eight weeks out). His American replacement Jaylen Hands arrives today, but is not eligible to play. Hands is a 21-year-old and 1m91 tall shooting guard who comes over from Ludwigsburg, Germany. He was educated at UCLA and was also active in the NBA G-League and Long Island Nets.
.
