Basketball-Ageing process sees Euroleague kings Real under threat

By Zoran Milosavljevic BELGRADE, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Euroleague holders Real Madrid will head into the new season aiming to win a milestone 10th title with an ageing squad in need of fresh blood. Having also won the Spanish league and cup double last season to add yet more silverware to their bulging trophy cabinet, Real have had warning signs that new recruits are needed as all their key players are the wrong side of 30. Last week, the European club basketball champions were blown away 111-96 by a half-paced Boston Celtics outfit tuning up for the start of the NBA season on Oct. 27. The defeat in the Madrid friendly was followed by Sunday's 88-82 home setback against Valencia on the opening day of the Spanish league. "There is a lot of hard work to be done because we have to improve physically," coach Pablo Laso said after seeing his team nail only four of 18 three-pointers. "We have to work together better at both ends of the court and although defeats so early in the season are not crucial, there will be no excuse if we perform as poorly in our Euroleague opener against Khimki in Russia." Real's only major signing during the summer break was prolific 25-year old forward Trey Thompkins, who had a good season at the Russian side Nizhny Novgorod after two years with the Los Angeles Clippers. The Spanish and Euroleague champions visit Khimki on Friday while the 24-team competition, featuring two group stages and the playoffs on the road to the May 13-15 Final Four in Berlin, starts on Thursday. The opening day could not offer a more exciting curtain raiser, with former winners CSKA Moscow (six titles) and Maccabi Tel Aviv (five) locking horns in the Russian capital. Apart from those two heavyweights, Barcelona and Greek giants Panathinaikos and Olympiakos Piraus, along with nouveau riche Fenerbahce Istanbul should again be the main candidates to knock Real off their perch. Having reached the Final Four in Madrid for the first time last season, Fenerbahce have continued to invest heavily in a bid to become the first Turkish side to win the Euroleague. Fenerbahce lost versatile Serbia forward Nemanja Bjelica to the Minnesota Timberwolves during the off-season but his compatriot coach Zeljko Obradovic landed a plethora of high quality performers. Luigi Datome, Ekpe Udoh and Pero Antic have been recruited from the NBA and forward Nikola Kalinic arrived from Red Star Belgrade to complement the new backcourt partnership of Bobby Dixon and Kostas Sloukas. "We have changed the team and brought in a lot of new players in a bid to be on the same level as last season," Obradovic told www.euroleague.net. "We needed players who have the experience of playing at the highest level and the tools required to reach the final." (Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic in Belgrade; editing by Martyn Herman)