Euroleague

The Euroleague is a high-caliber professional basketball league with teams from thirteen different Europeean countries.

Euroleague

The Euroleague was established by FIBA and it operated under its umbrella until Summer of 2000 concluding with the season 1999/2000. That was when ULEB, the Union of European Leagues of Basketball, was created by 24 richest club teams (most of them from Spain, Italy and Greece).

Amazingly, FIBA had never copyright protected the Euroleague name and ULEB simply swiped it without any legal ramifications. Understandably, FIBA brass were fuming, but having no legal recourse to do anything they had to find a new name for their league. So, the following 2000/2001 season started with 2 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 was on and it showed no signs of letting up initially. Top clubs were also split between the two leagues: Panathinaikos, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Efes Pilsen, Pau-Orthez, Partizan, etc. stayed with FIBA's, while Virtus (Kinder) Bologna, FC Barcelona, Saski Baskonia (TAU Cerámica), AEK Athens, Cibona, etc. joined ULEB's.

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 in season 2000/2001 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 is when ULEB launched its ULEB Cup.

The highest attendance ever taken place in Euroleague is 20,000 fans, achieved in a home match of Panathinaikos Athens in OAKA against Benetton on the 29th of March 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.

The 2006 Final Four was held April 28-30 at Sazka Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. The semifinal pairings and results were:
* Maccabi Tel Aviv 85 TAU Cerámica 70
* Winterthur FCB (FC Barcelona) 75 CSKA Moscow 84

Maccabi were 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:
* Third place: Barcelona 82 TAU Cerámica 87
* Championship: Maccabi 69 CSKA 73

The 2007 Final Four is scheduled for May 4-6 at the Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens.

ASK Riga
*1959

USSR

ASK Riga
*1960

USSR

ASK Riga
*1961

USSR

CSKA Moscow
*1962

USSR

Dinamo Tbilisi
*1963

USSR

CSKA Moscow
*1964

Real Madrid
*1965

Real Madrid
*1966 Olimpia (Simmenthal) Milan
*1967

Real Madrid
*1968

Real Madrid
*1969

USSR

CSKA Moscow
*1970 Pallacanestro (Ignis) Varese
*1971

USSR

CSKA Moscow
*1972 Pallacanestro (Ignis) Varese
*1973 Pallacanestro (Ignis) Varese
*1974

Real Madrid
*1975 Pallacanestro (Ignis) Varese
*1976 Pallacanestro (Mobilgirgi) Varese
*1977 Maccabi Tel-Aviv
*1978 Real Madrid
*1979

KK Bosna Sarajevo
*1980 Real Madrid
*1981 Maccabi Tel-Aviv
*1982 Pallacanestro Cantù (Squibb)
*1983 Pallacanestro Cantù (Ford)
*1984 Virtus (Banco di Roma) Rome
*1985

Cibona Zagreb
*1986

Cibona Zagreb
*1987 Olimpia (Tracer) Milan
*1988 Olimpia (Philips) Milan
*1989

KK Split (Jugoplastika)
*1990

KK Split (Jugoplastika)
*1991