It’s that time of the year again. It’s when the ACB strengthens its isolated status as the top European basketball organisation.

What the ACB has succeeded in, others have been trying to copy for a while now, to little avail: Creating a cup competition that is a sovereign entity, a prestigious tournament everybody cares about. The Copa del Rey’s emergence towards one of the most important events on the European basketball calendar is no magic, though. There are good reasons for why La Copa is what it is:

1. Level of play: The tournament has four of Europe’s top 15 teams according to the Euroleague/EuroCup three-year-ranking, a fifth top 15 team didn’t qualify (Valencia), and neither did a current Euroleague Top16-team and potential quarter finalist (Bilbao). The other four teams are no pushovers either. This is plenty of quality basketball, all in the space of four days.
2. Marketing/social media coverage: ACB.com is providing new stories – previews, interviews, historical facts – non-stop, and they are using social media eccesively. Now you can see things you’ve always wanted to see, like Juan Carlos Navarro arriving in the arena, with grey strands in his hair, or old Makedonikos buddies Papamakarios and Mickeal sharing pleasantries before going to work later today today. They’re also good with Photoshop.
3. Accessibility: High-quality, official video streaming was internationally accessible in recent years. This may have changed now, which is a blow for all international fans, but it still is well-accessible for Spanish fans through Teledeporte and Orange Arena.

Play starts today at 7 PM CET with Baskonia vs Lagun Aro, followed by Barça vs Lucentum Alicante. A quick walk through the field of participants:

FC Barcelona Regal: One of the best defensive teams in modern European basketball history. Topping the continent rankings in fewest opponent points per game in both Euroleague and domestic competition. Their trio of shotblockers will trigger transition opportunities which they will … ignore in order to start halfcourt setplay. Not always easy on the eye, but mad efficient. Galatasaray assistant Emir Alkaş recently described Xavi Pascual as one of two opponents most challenging to prepare for.

The list of Copa MVPs features many prominent names (Bodiroga, Tomasevic, Pau), but one name isn’t on it: Juan Carlos Navarro. The biggest rivals for the crown are on his own team: Erazem Lorbek, Chuck Eidson, Pete Mickeal and Marcelinho Huertas are all capable of coming up with top level performances. Fran Vazquez won MVP two years ago.

Real Madrid: A character test is coming up here. They’ve conceded close to or more than 90 points in five games this season, including two of the last three. They reacted with a huge win in Sevilla in the ACB, but there’s a realistic chance of elimination from Euroleague Top16. Things have certainly looked better.

Pablo Laso, himself a former Copa MVP, is getting Ante Tomic back after missing the last two due to foot injury. Tomic’s absence may have played a part in the poor performances in recent weeks, but the main factors were terrible decision making and lousy transition defense.

This team’s fate lies in the hands of its backcourt players. The Reyes (6th in the league in PER), Mirotic (15th), Begic (17th; Euroleague & ACB leader in shotblocking percentage) trio will do its best to reliably produce, but the playmaking tandem Rodriguez/Llull is bouncing between world class and pick up basketball.

Caja Laboral: Getting eliminated from the Euroleague after ten games – a catastrophic result for the club – but refraining from taking drastic measures. It is why they are among the top organisations in Europe. There’s plenty to smile about off the court, with the return to a renovated and extended Buesa Arena, now seating 15,250 spectators.

On the court, Baskonia has won just two of their last five. The offense, always among Europe’s finest in recent years, has lost its scoring punch despite soon to be 35 years old Prigioni’s admirable floor leading performance and defensive effort (6th in ACB and 1st in EL in steals percentage) and Teletovic’s volume shooting (3rd in ACB PPG at 16.6). Caja Laboral is shooting just 32.4 percent from long range, a good six percentage points below their five-season-average of 38.6.

Unicaja Malaga: At 13-7 in the ACB and well out of the Euroleague quarter final picture, it is fair to say that Unicaja is playing according to the expectations. This is a homogenous roster, but ACB semifinals and Euroleague Top16 is the definitive maximum. No going further with just one top level player on the roster (Freeland). Surprisingly, Freeland is recently reported to have verbally agreed to stay with Unicaja for two more seasons. There had been rumours floating around about a possible Freeland move to Barça, where Erazem Lorbek’s contract expires at the end of June 2012. Freeland is a similar type of “light” center who can play either of the two big man positions.

Unicaja snapped a seven game losing streak in ACB & EL last Saturday in Valladolid.

Lucentum Alicante: The surprise team of the opening third of the season was expected to immedeately drop down the ranks after the departure of topscorer Kyle Singler to Real Madrid, but Alicante won the next four without Singler. Recently they’ve lost four of their last six. This downwards trend will most likely continue. Alicante is currently tied with Unicaja for fourth at 13-7 (65.0 Win%), but they have conceded more points than they have scored – a pythagorean Win% expectation of 45.0. In other words: This team is playing at its limit and well beyond it.

Post-Singler, the face of this club is Kaloyan Ivanov, 13th in the league in points and 1st in rebounds per game (4th in offensive rebound percentage, 6th in total rebound percentage). The team is tied for 3rd with Real Madrid in offensive rebound percentage but 2nd from bottom on the defensive glass. Defense is key for Alicante as they are fifth in fewest opponent points per game and third in steals percentage (Barnes 8th, Ellis 12th). Mind the shooters, as they are 3rd in three point percentage at 35.9%.

Lagun Aro: Lagun Aro is another rather improbable Copa del Rey participant. They are 3rd in the ACB in points per game but in the lower third in fewest opponent points per game, second from bottom in steals percentage and bottom in shotblocking percentage.

The team from San Sebastián is arriving with the ACB leading scorer: 34-year-old power forward Andy Panko, a slightly undersized stretch four averaging five three point attempts per game, is leading the league at 19.2 PPG. Panko is more than capable of making the long range shot but particularly excels attacking slower power forwards off the dribble. The matchup between Panko and Mirza Teletovic is number one vs number three in points per game. In their only matchups this season, Teletovic held the upper hand, scoring 24 on 9 for 12 while Panko had 15 on 6 for 13.

Also keep an eye on sharpshooter Jimmy Baron Jr., ACB leader in three point attempts per game (in a league with Juan Carlos Navarro, Kirk Penney and Mirza Teletovic, that must account for something), young Brazlian playmaker Raul Neto and allrounder Sergi Vidal, finally off the Real Madrid bench after two uneventful seasons in the prime of his career.

Banca Civica: Banca Civica, former CajaSol, has some illustre names on board, among them ’91 born Czech combo guard and ACB Slam Dunk Champion Tomas Satoransky. Satoransky, currently 45th in the 2012 Draftexpress Mock Draft, will certainly attract the attention of the 22 NBA scouts present in Barcelona.

The centerpiece of the Sevilla offense is undoubtedly the man in the middle. Paul Davis has a TS% of 61.9 and is 3rd in the league in defensive rebound percentage. He’s been leading the ACB in PER in each of the past two seasons.

Sevilla is 1st in the league in steals percentage, with José Triguero, a center, unusually high up the steals rankings, at four.

Fuenlabrada Madrid: Fuenlabrada arrives in Barcelona in good form, having won four of their last six, and that is without Gustavo Ayon, who left for the NBA after ten games where he averaged 15.9 points and 8.2 rebounds a game.

Fuenlabrada is expertly led by 23-year-old point guard Joaquín Colom, fourth in the league in assist percentage, and sharpshooter Kirk Penney, third in three point attempts and fifth in points per game.

Quarter Final Schedule:
Thursday 19:00 CET: Caja Laboral vs Lagun Aro
Thursday 21:30 CET: FC Barcelona Regal vs Lucentum Alicante
Friday 19:00 CET: Unicaja Malaga vs Banca Cívica
Friday 21:30 CET: Real Madrid vs Fuenlabrada Madrid