Eurocup Basketball 2008–09

Eurocup Basketball 2008-09 was the seventh edition of Europe's second-tier level transnational competition for men's basketball clubs, and the first to be contested under the Eurocup name.^[1] From the inception of the competition in 2002, it had been known as the ULEB Cup. The Eurocup is the level that is one tier below the Euroleague level.

This season there were 48 teams from 22 countries. After the preliminary rounds there were 32 teams left for the regular season, with the 16 eliminated teams being relegated down and parachuting into Europe's third-tier transnational competition, the EuroChallenge. Lithuanian club Lietuvos Rytas of Vilnius won the tournament and promotion to the top level Euroleague for the next season.

Contents 1 Teams of the 2008-2009 ULEB Eurocup 2 Format 2.1 First preliminary round 2.2 Second preliminary round 2.3 Regular season 2.4 Last 16 2.5 Final eight 3 Preliminary rounds 3.1 First preliminary round 3.2 Second preliminary round 4 Regular season 4.1 Group A 4.2 Group B 4.3 Group C 4.4 Group D 4.5 Group E 4.6 Group F 4.7 Group G 4.8 Group H 5 Last 16 5.1 Group I 5.2 Group J 5.3 Group K 5.4 Group L 6 Final eight 7 Individual Statistics 7.1 Points 7.2 Rebounds 7.3 Assists 8 Awards 8.1 Eurocup 2008-09 MVP 8.2 Eurocup 2008-09 Finals MVP 8.3 All-Eurocup team 8.4 Rising Star 8.5 Coach of the Year 9 See also 10 Notes and references 11 External links

Teams of the 2008-2009 ULEB Eurocup

Country	Teams	Teams (place in national championship)
Russia	5	Khimki BC (2)	Dynamo Moscow (3)	Ural Great (4)	UNICS Kazan (5)	Triumph (6)
Spain	4	Pamesa Valencia (6)	Iurbentia Bilbao (7)	Cajasol (8)	Gran Canaria (9)
France	4	Chorale Roanne (2)	ASVEL (3)	Le Havre (5)	Cholet (8)
Greece	3	Maroussi (4)	Aris (5)	Panellinios (6)
Italy	2	Fortitudo Pallacanestro (8)	Benetton Basket (10)
Serbia	3	Hemofarm (2)	BC Red Star (3)	FMP (4)
Turkey	3	Türk Telekom (2)	Beşiktaş (3)	Galatasaray (4)
Germany	3	Telekom Basket (2)	Artland Dragons (6)	Brose Baskets (7)
Lithuania	2	Lietuvos Rytas (2)	Šiauliai (3)
Poland	2	Turów Zgorzelec (2)	Czarni Slupsk (10)
Latvia	2	Barons LMT Riga (1)	ASK Riga (2)
Israel	2	Bnei HaSharon (3)	Hapoel Jerusalem (6)
Ukraine	2	Azovmash Mariupol (1)	BC Kyiv (2)
Belgium	2	Spirou Basket (2)	Telindus Oostende (5)
Switzerland	1	Benetton Fribourg (1)
Austria	1	Swans Allianz (1)
Estonia	1	Tartu Ülikool/Rock (1)
Montenegro	1	Budućnost (1)
Croatia	1	Zadar (1)
Bulgaria	1	Lukoil Academic (1)
Czech Republic	1	Nymburk (1)
Netherlands	1	Amsterdam (1)

Format

The competition format was also revamped. A total of 48 clubs participated, down from 54 in the previous year's competition. The competition is jointly organised by ULEB and FIBA Europe.^[1]

First preliminary round

Sixteen teams competed in the first preliminary round, which was organised by FIBA Europe. These teams were paired in two-legged matches, with winners decided on aggregate score. The eight winners advanced to the second preliminary round, and the eight losers parachuted into the third-tier European competition, the EuroChallenge. The matches were played from October 14 through October 21.

Due to a decision of the Italian Basketball Federation to revoke Capo d'Orlando's first division license, followed by an Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) tribunal rejected appeal by the club, Capo d'Orlando lost the right to participate in European competitions.^[2] As a result, Benetton Treviso automatically qualified to the group stage, while Benetton Fribourg advanced to the second qualification round where they met Kalise Gran Canaria.^[2][3]

Second preliminary round

The second preliminary round, also organised by FIBA Europe, also featured 16 teams, with the eight winners from the first preliminary round joined by eight automatic qualifiers to that phase. As in the first preliminary round, matches were two-legged and decided on aggregate score, with the winners advancing to the Eurocup regular season and the losers parachuting into the EuroChallenge. Matches were played from November 4 to November 11.

Regular season

Thirty-two teams—24 automatic qualifiers and the eight survivors of the second preliminary round—entered the Regular Season. From this point onward, the competition is organised by ULEB. The teams were divided into eight groups of four teams each, with each group playing a double round-robin schedule. The first and second-place teams in each group advanced to the Last 16. Regular Season matches were held from November 25, 2008 until January 13, 2009.

Last 16

For the first time in the history of the competition, a second group phase was played. The survivors of the Regular Season were divided into four-team groups, each playing a double round-robin schedule. This phase has a direct analogue in the top-tier Euroleague, which conducts an identical group phase, the Top 16, at the same stage of the competition. As in the Euroleague Top 16, the first- and second-place teams in each group advance to the next phase. However, unlike the Euroleague, which conducts a separate quarterfinal round before its Final Four, the Eurocup sent its surviving teams into a single knockout tournament, the Final Eight. Last 16 matches were played from January 27 to March 10, 2009.

Final eight

Like the Euroleague Final Four, this was a knockout tournament, conducted in one-off matches, held at a single site. The semifinal losers played a single match for third place, and the semifinal winners played a single match for the Eurocup title and an automatic place in the 2009-10 Euroleague. This phase was carried over from the prior ULEB Cup format. Matches were played from April 9 through April 12.

This was the last season for the Final Eight format. From 2009–10 onward, a quarterfinal round has been introduced, consisting of two-legged ties between a group winner and the runner-up from a separate group, with the winner of each tie determined on aggregate score. The quarterfinal winners will advance to the Eurocup Finals, with one-off semifinals followed by a one-off final.

Preliminary rounds

Sixteen teams will participate in the first preliminary round and after played first preliminary round matches, will be other sixteen teams in second preliminary round, with eight teams from first preliminary round. Teams which will eliminated from first or second preliminary rounds matches will compete in EuroChallenge 2008-09.

First preliminary round

	Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
	Šiauliai	136-167	Galatasaray CC İstanbul	73-73	63-94
	Amsterdam	133-146	FMP	66-60	67-83
	Energa Czarni Slupsk	136-151	UNICS Kazan	76-62	50-89
	Swans Allianz	146-139	Tartu Ülikool/Rock	86-64	60-75
	Panellinios	154-124	Telekom Baskets Bonn	69-54	85-70
	Triumph	146-159	Telindus Oostende	78-78	68-81
	ASK Riga	142-137	Cholet	69-62	73-75

Second preliminary round

	Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
A	Galatasaray CC İstanbul	147-176	Budućnost	85-83	62-93
B	FMP	138-118	Ural Great	69-61	69-57
C	UNICS Kazan	161-142	Hapoel Jerusalem	88-66	73-76
D	Swans Allianz	163-178	BC Red Star	82-82	81-96
E	Panellinios	168-165	BC Kyiv	96-69	72-96
F	Le Havre	172-168	Telindus Oostende	84-85	88-83
G	Benetton Fribourg	125-195	Kalise Gran Canaria	64-92	61-103
H	ASK Riga	151-134	Cajasol	83-69	68-65

Regular season

Group A

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Maroussi Costa Coffee	6	4	2	493	468	+25
2.	Zadar	6	4	2	505	480	+25
3.	ASK Riga	6	3	3	496	478	+18
4.	Chorale Roanne	6	1	5	430	498	−68

Group B

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	UNICS Kazan	6	6	0	488	435	+53
2.	Dynamo Moscow	6	4	2	490	442	+48
3.	Barons/LMT Riga	6	1	5	443	489	−46
4.	Lukoil Academic	6	1	5	454	509	−55

Group C

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Khimki Moscow Region	6	5	1	459	400	+59
2.	Benetton	6	4	2	478	443	+35
3.	Beşiktaş CT İstanbul	6	3	3	459	471	−12
4.	STB Le Havre	6	0	6	413	495	−82

Group D

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Türk Telekom Ankara	6	4	2	393	344	+49
2.	Panellinios	6	3	3	452	435	+17
3.	Aris BSA	6	3	3	457	459	−2
4.	Bnei HaSharon	6	2	4	362	426	−64

Group E

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Azovmash	6	4	2	484	472	+12
2.	Lietuvos Rytas	6	3	3	491	465	+26
3.	Asvel Basket	6	3	3	475	514	−39
4.	Kalise Gran Canaria	6	2	4	481	480	+1

Group F

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Spirou Basket	6	5	1	485	415	+70
2.	BC Red Star	6	5	1	490	425	+65
3.	PGE Turów	6	2	4	411	453	−42
4.	Brose Baskets	6	0	6	340	433	−93

Group G

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Pamesa Valencia	6	6	0	497	414	+83
2.	Artland Dragons	6	3	3	464	495	−31
3.	Fortitudo	6	2	4	470	457	+13
4.	BC FMP	6	1	5	398	463	−65

Group H

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Iurbentia Bilbao	6	6	0	481	411	+70
2.	Hemofarm	6	3	3	441	469	−28
3.	ČEZ Nymburk	6	2	4	446	482	−36
4.	KK Budućnost	6	1	5	419	425	−6

Last 16

The second grand stage begins from January 27, 2009.

Group I

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Dynamo Moscow	6	6	0	492	442	+50
2.	Khimki Moscow Region	6	3	3	479	457	+22
3.	Maroussi Costa Coffee	6	2	4	443	470	−27
4.	Panellinios	6	1	5	467	512	−45

Group J

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Benetton	6	5	1	493	458	+35
2.	Zadar	6	3	3	497	513	−16
3.	UNICS Kazan	6	3	3	465	414	+51
4.	Türk Telekom Ankara	6	1	5	452	522	−70

Group K

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Pamesa Valencia	6	4	2	450	436	+14
2.	Hemofarm	6	4	2	460	428	+32
3.	Azovmash	6	3	3	477	457	+20
4.	BC Red Star	6	1	5	437	503	−66

Group L

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Iurbentia Bilbao	6	4	2	449	415	+34
2.	Lietuvos Rytas	6	4	2	467	406	+61
3.	Spirou Basket	6	3	3	453	473	−20
4.	Artland Dragons	6	1	5	441	516	−75

Final eight

The Final Eight will be the last stage of EuroCup 2008-09.

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	April 2, Turin
	Dynamo Moscow	85
					April 4, Turin
	Hemofarm	93
					Hemofarm	68
	April 2, Turin
					Lietuvos Rytas	73
	Benetton Treviso	79
									April 5, Turin
	Lietuvos Rytas	85
									Lietuvos Rytas	80
	April 3, Turin
									Khimki Moscow Region	74
	Pamesa Valencia	73
					April 4, Turin
	Khimki Moscow Region	76
					Khimki Moscow Region	79
	April 3, Turin
					Iurbentia Bilbao	73
	Iurbentia Bilbao	76
	Zadar	67

Individual Statistics

Points

Rank	Name	Team	Games	Points	PPG
1.	Khalid El-Amin	Azovmash	11	197	17.90

Rebounds

Rank	Name	Team	Games	Rebounds	RPG
1.	Judson Wallace	Benetton Treviso	13	96	7.38

Assists

Rank	Name	Team	Games	Assists	APG
1.	Khalid El-Amin	Azovmash	11	58	5.27

Awards

Eurocup 2008-09 MVP

• Chuck Eidson ( Lietuvos Rytas )

Eurocup 2008-09 Finals MVP

• Marijonas Petravičius ( Lietuvos Rytas )

All-Eurocup team

Season	Position	All-Eurocup First Team	Club Team	All-Eurocup Second Team	Club Team
2008-09	G	Chuck Eidson	Lietuvos Rytas	Khalid El-Amin	Türk Telekom
2008-09	G	Kelly McCarty	Khimky	Gary Neal	Treviso
2008-09	F	Boštjan Nachbar	Dynamo Moscow	Travis Hansen	Dynamo Moscow
2008-09	F	Marko Banić	Bilbao	Matt Nielsen	Valencia
2008-09	C	Todor Gečevski	Zadar	Sandro Nicević	Treviso

Rising Star

• Milan Mačvan ( Hemofarm )

Coach of the Year

• Oktay Mahmuti ( Benetton Treviso )

See also

• Euroleague 2008–09
• EuroChallenge 2008-09

Notes and references

External links

• EuroCup Official Website
• European Basketball Website

Eurocup Basketball seasons Korać Cup · Saporta Cup · 2002-03 · 2003–04 · 2004–05 · 2005–06 · 2006–07 · 2007–08 · 2008–09 · 2009–10 · 2010–11 · 2011–12

ULEB Season 2008-09 Men Euroleague 2008–09 · Eurocup 2008–09 · EuroChallenge 2008-09 Women EuroLeague Women 2008–09 · EuroCup Women 2008–09