YUBA Liga

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The YUBA Liga, named Atlas Pils YUBA Liga for sponsorship reasons, is name of the two-tiered, top competitive league in Serbia, the Super League and the First League, each having their own Men's and Women's divisions.

1 History
2 Competition Format
3 Current Teams
4 Past Yugoslav Cup Champions
- 4.1 Notable Teams
- 4.2 Notable players
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

After the formation of Yugoslavia in 1945, there arose a need for athletic development in the fledgling nation. Post-WW2 Yugoslavia was (with the exception of major cities such as Belgrade, Ljubljana, Zagreb, and Sarajevo) for the most part lacking in competitive opportinities in sports. In response to this, 1945 and 1946 saw an explosion of new clubs and leagues for every sport, the YUBA Liga being part of this phenomenon.

The very first competition under the newly formed YUBA Liga in 1945, drawing parallel to the Yugoslav First League, was more or less a nation wide affirmation of unity. Instead of individual clubs competing in the usual fashion, there were only eight teams. Six representing each state within Yugoslavia, one representing the province of Voivodina, and the last representing the JNA, or Yugoslav People's Army.

Only in the 1970s did the basketball culture of Yugoslavia truly come to enjoy recognition as the top nation in basketball. Breaking away from the dominance of the Soviet Union, the YUBA Liga gave rise to stars that would go on to win multiple Basketball World Championships and European Basketball Championships. After a decade of dominance, the 1980s saw a disappointing slump of talent in the Yugoslav Basketball League.

Once again the world witnessed a sleeping giant come awake in the early 90's as Yugoslavia won two straight European Basketball Championships and a World Basketball Championship. This momentum was swiftly halted by the ethnic strife which broke out in '91, and divided the nation into five successor republics, each founding their own basketball federations with the exception of Serbia and Montenegro, which retained the name Yugoslavia and the YUBA Liga.

Serbia and Montenegro - YUBA Liga

Croatia - Hrvatski Košarkaški Savez

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Košarkaški Savez Bosne i Herzegovine

Slovenia - Slobasket

Macedonia - TBA

When Serbia and Montenegro peacefully separated in 2006, the YUBA Liga became a Serbia-only organisation, with Montenegro forming its own federation:

Montenegro - Košarkaški Savez Crne Gore

Although they each have their own leagues, five of the six nations now take part in the Adriatic League, only recently founded in 2001 (Macedonia is not currently represented in that league). The Adriatic League is now the closest league to what YUBA Liga was in the former Yugoslavia.

[edit] Competition Format

Both the Super League and First League partake in double round robin style qualification round, where each team plays every other team both at home and away. Even the quarter's, semi's, and finals are played at home and away, including a tie-breaker if necessary with the home advantage awarded to the better qualifying team.

The Super League Men's contains eight clubs, while Women's contains six. Immediately after the qualification round are the semi finals, in which the top four qualifying teams compete in. While the two leagues work exactly the same, the First League however, contains almost twice as many clubs as the Super League, fourteen and twelve for Men's and Women's respectively and therefore includes quarter finals.

[edit] Current Teams

Team	City	Arena
KK Atlas	Belgrade	Vizura Hall
OKK Beograd	Belgrade	Pionir Hall
KK Borac	Čačak	Borac Hall
KK Budućnost	Podgorica	Morača Sports Center
KK Crvena zvezda	Belgrade	Pionir Hall
KK Ergonom	Niš	Čair Hall
KK FMP	Belgrade	FMP Hall
KK Hemofarm	Vršac	Millennium Center
KK Mašinac	Kraljevo	SPC Ibar
KK Mega Ishrana	Belgrade	Sport Eko Hall
KK Mornar Bascet	Bar	OS Jugoslavija
KK Napredak Rubin	Kruševac	Hall of Sports
KK Partizan	Belgrade	Pionir Hall
KK Primorka	Bar	OS Jugoslavija
KK Sloga Societe General	Kraljevo	SPC Ibar
KK Vojvodina	Novi Sad	Spens Sports Center
KK Zdravlje	Leskovac	SRC Dubočica