Premier A Slovenian Basketball League

Premier A Slovenian Basketball League
1. A Slovenska Košarkarska Liga (SKL)
Current season or competition:
2011–12 Telemach League

Slovenian League
Sport Basketball
Founded 1991
No. of teams 12
Country(ies) Slovenia
Continent Europe
Most recent champion(s) Krka (4th title)
Most titles Union Olimpija (15 titles)
Official website kzs.si

The Premier A Slovenian Basketball League (Slovene: 1. A Slovenska Košarkarska Liga), abbreviated as 1. A SKL and known for sponsorship reasons as the Telemach League (Slovene: Liga Telemach), is the top-level professional men's basketball league in Slovenia. The league, operated by the Basketball Federation of Slovenia, consists of 13 clubs, with the best-known internationally being the traditionally dominant Union Olimpija of Ljubljana, a regular Euroleague representative.

The league was founded in 1991, shortly after Slovenia gained its independence from Yugoslavia.

Contents

Competition format

The league is conducted in two phases.

Regular season

In the first phase, 12 teams compete in a home-and-away round-robin series (22 games in all) with the country's representative in the Euroleague, currently Union Olimpija, being exempt from this stage. Although some leagues in the region, such as that of Serbia, exempt all of the country's representatives in the Adriatic League from the first phase of the league season, the Slovenia league exempts only the Euroleague representative. (The country currently has two representatives in the Adriatic League—Olimpija and Helios Domžale.)

All teams advance from the regular season to one of two postseason stages, depending on their league position.

Second phase

The top seven teams from the regular season are joined by the Euroleague representative in the second phase. These teams start the second phase from scratch, with no results carrying over from the regular season. Each team plays a total of 14 games in this phase; as in the regular season, a home-and-away round-robin is used.

The top four teams at the end of this stage advance to the semifinals, conducted as a best-of-three playoff. The semifinal winners advance to the best-of-five championship finals, with the winners being crowned league champion.

This years final featured KK Union Olimpija and KK Krka. Krka won the finals in 5 games with 3–2 and was crowned as champion.

Playouts

The bottom five teams play a home-and-away round-robin series with one another; these teams' results from the regular season carry over to the playouts. At the end of the playout phase, the bottom finisher is automatically relegated to the second level of the Slovenian league system, the 1. B SKL. That team is replaced in the following season's league by the 1. B SKL champion. The second-from-bottom finisher enters a home-and-away round-robin mini-league with the second- and third-place teams from the second league, with the team finishing on top of the mini-league taking up a place in the next year's 1. A SKL.

Clubs (2011–12)

Team Home city Hall Capacity
Elektra Šoštanj Šoštanj Sport Hall 600
Geoplin Slovan Ljubljana Kodeljevo Sport Hall 1,000
Helios Domžale Domžale Hala komunalnega centra Domžale 2,500
Krka Novo mesto Leon Štukelj Hall 2,800
Maribor Messer Maribor Tabor Hall 3,800
Parklji Ljubljana ŠRC Ježica 300
Hopsi Polzela Polzela Polzela Sport Hall 1,800
Rogaška Crystal Rogaška Slatina II. OŠ Rogaška Slatina 700
Šentjur Šentjur Hruševec Sport Hall 450
LTHcast Mercator Škofja Loka Poden Hall 500
Union Olimpija Ljubljana Arena Stožice 12,480
Zlatorog Laško Laško Tri Lilije Hall 2,500

Past champions

Champions 1991–Present

Year Champion Runner Up Aggregate
1991/92
Smelt Olimpija Optimizem Postojna 3–0
1992/93
Smelt Olimpija Slovenica Koper 3–1
1993/94
Smelt Olimpija Tam Bus Maribor 3–0
1994/95
Smelt Olimpija Kovinotehna Savinjska Polzela 3–0
1995/96
Smelt Olimpija Interier Krško 3–1
1996/97
Smelt Olimpija Kovinotehna Savinjska Polzela 3–0
1997/98
Union Olimpija Kovinotehna Savinjska Polzela 3–0
1998/99
Union Olimpija Pivovarna Laško 3–0
1999/00
Krka Telekom Pivovarna Laško 3–1
2000/01
Union Olimpija Krka Telekom 3–0
2001/02
Union Olimpija Krka 3–0
2002/03
Krka Union Olimpija 3–2
2003/04
Union Olimpija Pivovarna Laško 3–0
2004/05
Union Olimpija Geoplin Slovan 3–2
2005/06
Union Olimpija Geoplin Slovan 3–2
2006/07
Helios Domžale Union Olimpija 3–2
2007/08
Union Olimpija Helios Domžale 3–1
2008/09
Union Olimpija Helios Domžale 3–0
2009/10
Krka Union Olimpija 3–2
2010/11
Krka Union Olimpija 3–2

Finals appearances

Num Team W L
19 Union Olimpija 15 4
6 Krka 4 2
3 Helios Domžale 1 2
3 Hopsi Polzela 0 3
3 Pivovarna Laško 0 3
2 Geoplin Slovan 0 2
1 Optimizem Postojna 0 1
1 Slovenica Koper 0 1
1 Tam Bus Maribor 0 1
1 Interier Krško 0 1
Club Winners Winning Years
Union Olimpija
15
1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2001,2002,2004,2005,2006,2008,2009
Krka Novo Mesto
4
2000, 2003, 2010, 2011
Helios Domžale
1
2007

See Also

Slovenian Basketball Cup

Sources