Euroleague
From Hoopedia
Real Madrid Baloncesto has been its most successful team, having won the competition a record eight times. Defending 2006 champion is CSKA Moscow.
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History
The Euroleague (or historically, The European Champions Cup) was established by FIBA. The EL operated under FIBA's umbrella until the summer 2000 (the conclusion of the 1999-2000 season). In 2000 the Union of European Leagues of Basketball (ULEB) broke with FIBA, creating a new Euroleague consisting of the 24 richest European club teams (most of them from Spain, Italy and Greece).
Amazingly, FIBA had never trademarked the "Euroleague" name and ULEB simply appropriated it without any legal ramifications. Understandably, FIBA brass were fuming, but having no legal recourse, they had to find a new name for their league. Thus, the 2000-01 season started with two separate top European basketball competitions: FIBA Suproleague (known as FIBA Euroleague up to that point), and the brand new ULEB Euroleague.
The rift in European club basketball initially showed no signs of letting up. Top clubs were split between the two leagues: Panathinaikos Athens, Maccabi Tel Aviv, CSKA Moscow, Efes Pilsen, Pau-Orthez, and Partizan Belgrade stayed with FIBA, while Virtus (Kinder) Bologna, Real Madrid, Saski Baskonia (TAU Cerámica), AEK Athens, and Cibona joined ULEB.
In May 2001, Europe had two continental champions. The leaders of both organizations realized the need to come up with a single competition. Negotiating from the position of strength, ULEB dictated proceedings and FIBA essentially had no choice but to agree to their terms. As a result, Euroleague was fully integrated under ULEB's umbrella and teams that competed in FIBA Suproleague during the 2000-01 season joined it as well.
In essence, the authority in European basketball was divided over club-country lines. FIBA stayed in charge of national team competitions (Eurobasket, World Championships, Olympics) while ULEB took over the club competitions. From that point, FIBA's Korac Cup and Saporta Cup lasted one more season before folding, which was when ULEB launched the ULEB Cup.
The highest attendance ever recorded in Euroleague is 20,000 fans, achieved in a home match of Panathinaikos Athens in OAKA against Benetton on March 29, 2006, for the second phase of the 2005-06 Euroleague. An attendance of 18,900 fans has also been achieved three times in home matches of Panathinaikos, against Efes Pilsen in 2005 and Tau Ceramica (twice) in 2006.
Euroleague Format
The Euroleague is currently contested in four phases.
The first phase is the regular season, in which 24 teams, divided into three groups of eight, participate. Each team plays two games (home-and-home) against every other team in its group. At the end of the regular season, the field is cut from 24 to 16; the surviving teams are divided into four groups.
The second phase, known as the Top 16, then begins. As in the regular season, each Top 16 group is contested in a double round-robin format.
The third phase, the quarterfinal round, has been played since the 2004-05 season. Before, only the group winners advanced to the Final Four (see below). Now, the first- and second-place teams from each group advance. In the quarterfinal round, the first-place team from each group is matched against a second-place team from another group in a best-of-three series, with two of the three possible games scheduled at the first-place team's home court.
The Final Four, held at a predetermined site, features the winners of the four quarterfinal series in one-off knockout matches. The semifinal losers play for third place; the winners play for the championship.
2006 Final Four
Maccabi Tel Aviv 85
TAU Cerámica 70
CSKA Moscow 84
Winterthur FCB 75
Maccabi was trying to become the first team to win three consecutive titles in the competition since the Split teams of 1989-91. Alongside Maccabi in the 2006 Final Four were two other clubs that appeared in the 2005 Final Four, held in Moscow. The first semifinal was a rematch of the 2005 final, with Maccabi once again defeating TAU with tight, aggressive defense and accurate shooting. The second semifinal saw last season's fourth-place team, CSKA, come from behind in the third quarter to beat the only “newcomer” in Barça.
The final matches on April 30 were:
Championship
CSKA Moscow 73
Maccabi 69
Third Place
TAU Cerámica 87
Barcelona 82
The 2007 Final Four is scheduled for May 4-6 at the Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens.
Teams of the 2006-2007 Euroleague
As announced on the official Euroleague site.
External Links
Euroleague Site
FIBA Europe Site
EuroBasket Site
Eurosport Site
