One of the doctors on the EuroLeague Health Board has come forward with somewhat astonishing information that confirms certain claims.
Almost all coaches in the current EuroLeague season have complained about the schedules, primarily due to the double rounds in the EuroLeague, which are created by the “NBA schedule,” as teams then play two EuroLeague games and one game in their domestic league, resulting in three games in less than seven days.
Remember that at the beginning of the season, Anadolu Efes had a double-digit number of injured players. This largely contributed to poor results in the early part of the season. Olympiacos coach Georgios Bartzokas has repeatedly described the EuroLeague as a “competition of injuries” at press conferences.
Doctor Muro Ignacio has come forward with somewhat astonishing information:
“Only 33 out of 306 players have been in all EuroLeague games. If we look at the previous season, only seven out of 278 players who competed played in every game. Why aren’t they playing? Mostly because they’re injured.”
The fact that less than 10% of players in the competition have played in every game is disheartening in every sense. Will anything change in the future? Well, it’s unlikely, as there isn’t much room for such changes as things stand.