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Back in March of 2008, Nemanja Bjelica was on the way to becoming another desperate young man on the streets of his native Belgrade. He was only 19, his 1988 Partizan generation had dissolved, his leg was broken, and he was returning home from an anonymous two seasons playing for an Austrian team called Arcadia Traiskirchen. Bjelica remembers those days as his worst, but also as the time when he his new life began, too. After more setbacks than most players his age, however, Bjelica is working hard to keep his feet solidly on the ground even as his basketball career starts to soar. "The street is a miracle: there you can establish character, which is extremely important for sport," Bjelica told Eurocupbasketball.com "It would be stupid to say that I do not want to earn big money, but above all I love basketball. If you want, it is not hard to stay normal and dedicated to what you love."
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One of the main reasons for Brose Basket's solid Eurocup performance is Tibor Pleiss, who arrived to Bamberg just before the qualifying round.
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Just two years ago Pietro Aradori came onto the European scene marked as one of Italian basketball's brightest stars.
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Around the streets of Vrsac, Serbia, a very recognizable resident can be found doing two things people like to watch.
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Victor Claver is not only a hometown hero to Valencia Basket fans, but as of last month, a European champion with the Spanish national team.
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 Playing in his first European club competition ever, Timofey Mozgov has been one of the biggest discoveries of this season.
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 With only one game to go in the Last 16, Ukrainian champion Azovmash Mariupol can still qualify to the Final Eight.
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