Basketball Eurocup 2022/2023: Preview

The group stage of the Basketball Eurocup started in the first half of October 2022 and will finish at the end of March 2023. Then the strongest eights from groups “A” and “B” will form playoff pairs. Teams that will take the ninth and tenth places will complete their performances on the international arena.

The four main contenders for the championship title of this international tournament are the following clubs: Joventut (Spain), Gran Canaria (Spain), Bursaspor (Turkey), Reyer Venice (Italy). The bookmakers give the most chances to win the trophy to the Spanish teams. However, the Turks and Italians should not be written off. The fight in fairly prestigious basketball competitions promises to be tough. You can place a bet on this event at online Mostbet.

Hoventut

Wards of Carles Duran, after the starting six rounds, were second in group A, lagging behind the first Boer by only one victory. In the opening battle on the international arena, the Spaniards confidently defeated Brescia on their home floor – 80:63. Then Hoventut ceded Bursaspor in Turkey. In the next three fights, the “green-black-gray-white” defeated Cedevita Olympia, Prometheus and Ulm in turn. After that, the brainchild of Jordi Villacampa turned out to be weaker than Boer – 80:85.

The team from Badalona has a strong and well-played squad. In addition, in the Spanish League, AKB Joventut is in the playoff zone, and after an unsuccessful start to the season, the club began to improve. Of course, the Spaniards will still have misfires and at the group stage the “green-black-gray-white” can lose. But in the playoffs, Pau Ribas and partners should perform more confidently.

Gran Canaria

Representatives of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria looked pretty good in the group stage. After six rounds played, the Spaniards were in the top three. Confidently beating Slask Wroclaw at home, Yaka Lakovich’s team lost away to Promiteas – 82:93. Then the Blue-Yellows got victories over the London Lions, Paris and Hapoel from Tel Aviv. After a series of successful confrontations, the club from the Canary Islands lost away to Trento with a score of 72:75.

In the Spanish League, AKB Gran Canaria is very likely to make it to the playoffs. However, in the fight for the championship, it will be difficult to impose a fight between the Basque Country, Real Madrid and Barcelona. So the Blue-Yellows can fully concentrate on the Eurocup and make every effort to win an international trophy.

Bursaspor

The guys of Dusan Alimpievich won four victories in six starting matches of the Eurocup. Having lost to the Ukrainian Prometheus and the German Ulm, the Turkish team defeated Cedevita Olympia, Hoventut, Bur and Cluj-Napoca. Both defeats “crocodiles” suffered in the fight, although the opponents were not the most formidable. The brainchild of Sezer Sezgin is very likely to make it to the playoffs by taking a place in the top three. But in battles to take off, Bursaspor will be much more difficult.

In the Turkish Super League, the team from the city of Bursa looks pretty good. At the same time, the crocodiles are unlikely to be able to seriously compete with Fenerbahce or Anadolu Efes. Therefore, the leadership of the Turks can set the main task for the team – to win the Eurocup.

Reyer Venice

Walter De Raffaele’s guys got off to a terrible start in the international arena. In the first two rounds, the Italian team lost to Ulm – 80:81 and Bur – 73:79. Reier Venezia then picked up the pace and alternately won against Cluj-Napoca, Cedevita Olympia, Litkabelis and Brescia. In the last match, compatriots from Lombardy were defeated by the Burgundy-Gold-Whites with a difference of 20 points.

“Lions”, living in the “Sports Palace of Giuseppe Tallercho”, have a good composition. The Venetian club has three Americans in the starting five. It will not be easy for the Burgundy-Gold-White to get gold medals in the current competitions, but in the playoffs, Reyer Venezia is able to go quite far.

Our forecast

Spanish teams have strong squads and are deservedly considered the main favorites for the title. So, most likely, Joventut or Gran Canaria will win the current tournament. Bursaspor and Reyer Venezia look competitive, but even reaching the final will be a good result for these teams.

Todayville Content Team

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The bizarre story of Taro Tsujimoto

Published on March 28, 2025

Todayville Content Team

The National Hockey League (NHL) has seen its fair share of strange moments, but few compare to the bizarre and hilarious tale of Taro Tsujimoto, a player who never existed. His “selection” in the 1974 NHL Draft remains one of the most legendary pranks in hockey history. If you want to wager on actual players, making the 1xBet app download is definitely a great idea.

In the 1970s, the NHL Draft was a much less glamorous event than today. It was a tedious process conducted over the phone, with teams calling in their picks. The 3 biggest highlights of what happened during that year’s draft were:

the draft dragged on for hours;
there were multiple rounds and teams selecting unknown prospects from obscure leagues;
frustrated with the monotony, Buffalo Sabres general manager Punch Imlach decided to have a little fun.

As the 11th round approached, Imlach instructed his team’s representative to draft Taro Tsujimoto, a supposed forward from the Tokyo Katanas of the Japan Ice Hockey League. The name sounded authentic enough. The league officials, unfamiliar with Japanese hockey, accepted the pick without question. By downloading the 1xBet app you will also be able to wager on great NHL teams too.

A small problem

There was a small problem with all of this, as 2 things didn’t exist: Tsujimoto and the Tokyo Katanas. Imlach had completely fabricated the player as a joke, taking advantage of the NHL’s lack of verification. When it comes to NHL wagers, there is no better platform than the 1xBet Canada site.

For weeks, the league listed Tsujimoto as an official draft pick, and even some newspapers reported on Buffalo’s mysterious new Japanese prospect. Eventually, the Sabres admitted the hoax, and the NHL was forced to retroactively erase the selection from its records.

Despite being a fictional player, Taro Tsujimoto took on a life of his own. Buffalo Sabres fans embraced the prank, and over the years, his name has become a cult legend in hockey culture. Some fans even wore jerseys with “Tsujimoto” on the back. The joke persisted so much that when EA Sports released NHL video games, players could occasionally find Tsujimoto in the game’s draft pool as a hidden Easter egg.

More than just a prank, the story of Taro Tsujimoto highlights 2 things: the quirks of old-school sports management and the creativity of one of hockey’s most colorful executives. Today, with the draft process being highly scrutinized and broadcast live, such a prank would be impossible. But Tsujimoto’s legacy lives on as one of hockey’s greatest inside jokes. What is not a joke are the great rewards that a platform like the Canadian 1xBet site can give you.

Also Interesting

60% of Canadians gamble each month – why the industry is going from strength to strength

Published on March 26, 2025

Todayville Content Team

When it comes to regulating gambling, Canada has a somewhat relaxed approach. The Canadian Gaming Association oversees the industry, but it’s up to individual provinces to enact and enforce any laws relating to online casino gaming, sports betting, traditional casino gaming, and other forms of gambling.

Canada’s online casino gaming laws are not totally clear, but individual provinces are starting to put this right. Ontario was the first and did so when it launched its own regulated igaming market in April 2022. Now some other provinces have followed suit, creating a safer igaming environment for players in those provinces. Below is a look at gambling in Canada compared to other parts of the world, at gaming laws in Alberta compared to other provinces, and at the future of the Canadian, US, and UK gambling industries.

Canada: a forever love of gambling

Gambling in some form or other has always been popular in Canada. Way back in the 1990s, research found six in ten Canadians (60%) gambled every month. Additionally, four in ten (43%) spent between 1 and 20 Canadian dollars on gambling. Fast forward to today and the Canadian gambling market is worth 14.2 billion US dollars as of January 2024, according to data on the website of consumer and market data company Statista.

It seems Canada enjoys wagering just as much as two other countries that love a gamble: the US and the UK. Data on the Statista website shows that 49% of US adults took part in gambling activities in 2023. Fifty-six percent said their attitude towards gambling had relaxed, compared to the 50% of 2019.

The UK returned similar stats for the same year. Forty-eight percent of adults reported engaging in gambling activity. Online casinos generated the most gross gambling yield in 2023, but it was the nation’s National Lottery that people played the most.

Alberta: following Ontario’s lead

The regulatory developments in Ontario have triggered movement in Alberta. In May 2024, Bill 16, the Red Tape Reduction Amendment Act, made it through the process and later received Royal Assent to become law. The act removes the monopoly of gaming by a single government entity and will allow private operators, licensed by Alberta’s provincial regulator, to provide online gaming services in Alberta, meaning players will have a choice of more than one Alberta online casino to play at.

The regulation transforms Alberta into one of the more liberal provinces when it comes to online gambling, others being Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia.

Several provinces, such as Novia Scotia and Northwest Territories, have no provincially regulated online gaming sites. Some also restrict betting on horse racing and/or other types of sports betting, obliging citizens to use international betting sites for freedom from caps and betting on as many events as they wish.

What lies ahead for the Canadian, US, and UK gambling industries?

Canada’s appetite for gambling is clear, and the industry’s online sector is beginning to thrive. Ontario has enjoyed vast success by creating its own regulated market, one which, in just its first year, saw Canadians place billions in wagers and the industry itself generate more than a billion in total gaming revenue.

Canada can expect to see other provinces follow Ontario’s lead and allow private operators to provide services in the province under license. The purpose of the regulation is player protection. Any province that develops a regulated market will focus on this, so there will also be regulations around the advertising of gambling services.

The US

Gambling online is the future for the US, too, although states are slow to legalize it. As of September 2024, 38 states had legalized sports betting, following the US Supreme Court’s ruling that states could regulate sports gambling directly.

Despite allowing sports betting, some states only permit in-person betting, and only a few states allow online casino gaming. Operators believe online casino gaming is the future of gambling.

The UK

In the UK, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) will get bigger and bigger. Companies have realized AI can enhance players’ experience and are embracing it more and more. For instance, sports betting websites can use it to crunch data and provide iGamers with stats and other data to make better betting decisions. They’re also understanding they can use AI to prioritize content players are likely to be interested in and to personalize their offerings and services to players’ preferences.

Canada enjoys gambling as much as America and the UK. Although laws around igaming are more of a grey area in Canada, some provinces are clearing the issue up by creating regulated markets and experiencing great success. As time goes by, more are sure to follow.