7DAYS EuroCup head coaches prep upcoming season

7DAYS EuroCup head coaches came together on Wednesday to look forward to 2020-21 regular season in the last meeting of the July sessions of the Euroleague Basketball Institute Annual Workshops.

The central feature of the meeting was a discussion with the Euroleague Basketball officiating department to review on-court situations in order to reach a common understanding of what are the best ways to enhance the game with the best interests of the fans uppermost in everyone’s mind.

To that end, the head coaches saw a review of officiating issues and statistics based on the incomplete 2019-20 season, which ended prematurely prior to the quarterfinal phase due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Richard Stokes, Euroleague Basketball Senior Director, Officiating, presided over the meeting and outlined changes to the Official Basketball Rules that will come into effect next season.

Then the coaches engaged in a series of six discussions of officiating criteria, each lasting from one-half to one hour. The issues covered were unsportsmanlike fouls; act of shooting and jump-shot landing space; freedom of movement off the ball; freedom of movement in post play; travelling; and behavioral issues including flopping.

“After one of the best EuroCup seasons yet was cut short unexpectedly, it’s gratifying to see the EuroCup head coaches at work together already to revive the aspirations of their clubs and the fans,” Jordi Bertomeu, President and CEO of Euroleague Basketball, said. “The 7DAYS EuroCup will enter in its 19th season next September and the outstanding level of coaching we witness every year is fundamental to understand the relevance and level of the competition.”

Their meeting fell two days before the coaches learn the names of their first opponents next season at the 7DAYS EuroCup Draw for the 2020-21 regular season. The 2020-21 7DAYS EuroCup features 24 teams from 15 countries. Friday’s draw starts at 13:15 CEST and will be streamed live at the official Euroleague Basketball channel on YouTube, on the official EuroCup Facebook page, and at EuroCupbasketball.com.