Dimitris Itoudis: “I dream 30 teams in the EuroLeague”

Dimitris Itoudis, former coach of CSKA Moscow from 2014 to 2022 with whom he won two EuroLeagues in 2016 and 2019, is the annual guest at the VTB Supercup. It is an event in which partecipate clubs from Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Russia. Interviewed by Mozzart Sport, Itoudis spoke about the Euroleague and how it could be changed:

"I dream of seeing the EuroLeague with 30 teams. Of course, that’s not something that can happen tomorrow. We’ve reached 18 teams, we’re going to 20, then 24, and I dream of that number 30 because that’s the number in the NBA. There are, of course, many things that need to be resolved. We need to talk to the people running the domestic leagues to establish cooperation and essentially create a way for those leagues to be like the G League in America, serving to develop players. Everyone agrees that the EuroLeague is the most competitive league, and the fans are proof of what is being watched and what interests them," Dimitris Itoudis said to Mozzart Sport.

He also gave examples of how EuroLeague could change:

"I have great respect for the Final Four. Thank God I’ve been to 14 or 15 final tournaments, and we’ve won titles, but I think it’s time to look toward the direction of a full playoff. Let a playoff series decide the champion. Unfortunately, in the EuroLeague, we have an excellent competition, but we have a three-dimensional championship. We start with the regular season where everyone plays each other, then we move to the NBA-style playoffs, and finally, we finish with the NCAA model called the Final Four. I think we need to be more specific.”