2000–01 Euroleague

The 2000–01 Euroleague was the inaugural basketball season of the EuroLeague, under the newly formed Euroleague Basketball Company's authority, and it was the 44th season of the premier competition for European men's professional basketball clubs overall. It started on October 16, 2000, with a regular season game between hosts Real Madrid Teka and Olympiacos, which was held at the Raimundo Saporta Pavilion, in Madrid, Spain,[1] and it ended with the last championship finals game on May 10, 2001, which was held at the PalaMalaguti arena, in Bologna, Italy.

Euroleague
Season2000–01
Teams24
Final positions
Champions Kinder Bologna
(2nd title)
Runners-up Tau Cerámica
Awards
Finals MVP Manu Ginóbili
Regular Season MVP Dejan Tomašević
Statistical leaders
Index Rating Dejan Tomašević 30.9
Points Alphonso Ford 26.0
Rebounds Dejan Tomašević 11.5
Assists Ivica Marić 5.9

This season did not feature all of the top-tier level European club basketball teams, as some of them opted to compete in the 2000–01 FIBA SuproLeague competition instead, after the row erupted between the previous EuroLeague governing body, FIBA, and the newly established Euroleague Basketball Company.

A total of 24 teams competed for the EuroLeague title, which was in the end won by Kinder Bologna. Dejan Tomašević was the EuroLeague Regular season MVP, and Manu Ginóbili was the EuroLeague Finals MVP.

European Champions' Cup teams divided

The EuroLeague (or historically called, the FIBA European Champions' Cup) was originally established by FIBA, and it operated under its umbrella from 1958, until the summer of 2000, concluding with the 1999–2000 season. That was when Euroleague Basketball Company was created.

Because FIBA had never trademarked the "EuroLeague" name, and Euroleague Basketball simply used it without any legal ramifications, because FIBA had no legal recourse to prevent it, so they had to find a new name for their league. Thus, the following 2000–01 season started with 2 separate top European professional club basketball competitions: the FIBA SuproLeague (previously known as the FIBA EuroLeague) and the brand new 2000–01 Euroleague season.

The rift in European professional club basketball initially showed no signs of letting up. Top clubs were also split between the two leagues: Panathinaikos, Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv, CSKA Moscow, and Efes Pilsen stayed with FIBA, while Olympiacos, Kinder Bologna, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Tau Cerámica, and Benetton Treviso joined Euroleague Basketball.

Team allocation

A total of 24 teams from 14 countries participate in the competition.

Distribution

The table below shows the default access list.

Teams entering in this round Teams advancing from previous round
Regular season
(24 teams)
Playoffs
(16 teams)
  • 4 group winners from the regular season
  • 4 group runners-up from the regular season
  • 4 group third-placed teams from the regular season
  • 4 group fourth-placed teams from the regular season

The competition culminated in a best 3 out of 5 playoff series.

Teams

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round

  • 1st, 2nd, etc.: League position after Playoffs
  • WC: Wild card
Regular season
Paf Wennington Bologna (1st) AEK (4th) Cibona VIP (1st) Opel Skyliners (3rd)
Benetton Treviso (2nd) Peristeri (5th) Zadar (2nd) Union Olimpija (3rd)
Kinder Bologna (3rd) Real Madrid Teka (1st) Žalgiris (2nd) Region Wallone Spirou (4th)
Müller Verona (4th) FC Barcelona (2nd) Budućnost (1st) Ovarense Aerosoles (1st)
PAOK (2nd) Adecco Estudiantes (3rd) Hapoel Jerusalem (WC) Lugano Snakes (1st)
Olympiacos (3rd) Tau Cerámica (4th) Saint Petersburg Lions (WC) Haribo London Towers (1st)

Regular season

The first phase was a regular season, in which the competing teams were drawn into four groups, each containing six teams. Each team played every other team in its group at home and away, resulting in 10 games for each team in the first stage. The top 4 teams in each group advanced to the next round, The Top 16. The complete list of tiebreakers is provided in the lead-in to the Regular Season results.

If one or more clubs were level on won-lost record, tiebreakers were applied in the following order:

  1. Head-to-head record in matches between the tied clubs
  2. Overall point difference in games between the tied clubs
  3. Overall point difference in all group matches (first tiebreaker if tied clubs were not in the same group)
  4. Points scored in all group matches
  5. Sum of quotients of points scored and points allowed in each group match

Group A

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification PAF PER ZAL EST LUG ZAD
1 Paf Wennington Bologna 10 8 2 812 760 +52 Advance to Playoffs 71–69 91–85 81–72 81–66 81–77
2 Peristeri 10 7 3 841 786 +55 83–70 74–92 91–81 85–68 92–73
3 Žalgiris 10 6 4 866 816 +50 73–56 86–73 77–80 105–89 97–85
4 Adecco Estudiantes 10 4 6 820 821 1 76–90 86–91 87–77 97–76 93–81
5 Lugano Snakes 10 3 7 777 914 137 72–100 80–91 95–87 77–76 75–74
6 Zadar 10 2 8 840 859 19 87–91 79–92 86–87 80–72 118–79

Source:

Group B

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification KIN AEK TAU CIB SPL RWC
1 Kinder Bologna 10 9 1 835 734 +101 Advance to Playoffs 81–66 76–73 106–88 84–78 106–87
2 AEK 10 8 2 805 746 +59 78–77 64–52 83–75 84–73 97–73
3 Tau Cerámica 10 6 4 749 700 +49 59–65 85–65 92–66 97–88 76–64
4 Cibona 10 3 7 773 832 59 69–74 72–81 62–60 75–70 85–70
5 Saint Petersburg Lions 10 2 8 778 840 62 78–82 69–90 79–81 92–90 83–77
6 Region Wallone Spirou 10 2 8 769 857 88 58–80 89–97 71–74 100–91 80–68

Source:

Group C

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification OLY RMB UOL BEN JER OVA
1 Olympiacos 10 7 3 861 738 +123 Advance to Playoffs 91–84 82–70 82–73 102–69 101–67
2 Real Madrid Teka 10 7 3 859 789 +70 75–73 82–70 64–75 104–64 116–94
3 Union Olimpija 10 7 3 823 752 +71 69–73 88–79 78–74 95–68 102–79
4 Benetton Treviso 10 6 4 847 777 +70 95–87 87–88 69–71 78–71 106–81
5 Hapoel Jerusalem 10 3 7 784 881 97 83–70 74–87 76–88 79–104 106–71
6 Ovarense Aerosoles 10 0 10 746 983 237 53–100 73–80 70–92 76–86 82–94

Source:

Group D

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification FCB PAO POD VER LON SKY
1 FC Barcelona 10 8 2 856 757 +99 Advance to Playoffs 58–67 92–75 96–84 82–76 86–60
2 PAOK 10 7 3 846 773 +73 91–102 89–72 97–94 70–58 100–70
3 Budućnost 10 7 3 844 819 +25 77–85 83–71 77–73 101–83 79–73
4 Müller Verona 10 6 4 920 854 +66 94–90 102–88 86–91 102–76 90–70
5 Haribo London Towers 10 1 9 775 878 103 82–97 61–93 88–95 89–98 86–61
6 Opel Skyliners 10 1 9 696 856 160 51–68 73–80 79–94 80–97 79–76

Source:

Playoffs

Round of 16

In a best-of-three series the remaining 16 teams were placed against each other. The games were held between the 31st of January and the 14th of February, 2001, with the top 8 teams advancing to the Playoffs.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg3rd leg
Paf Wennington Bologna 2–0 Cibona 76–64 75–74
Kinder Bologna 2–0 Adecco Estudiantes 113–70 85–80
Peristeri 0–2 Tau Cerámica 79–81 68–81
AEK 2–0 Žalgiris 69–60 73–71
Olympiacos 2–0 Müller Verona 94–92 96–84
FC Barcelona 0–2 Benetton Treviso 85–86 82–99
Real Madrid Teka 2–0 Budućnost 91–63 76–62
PAOK 1–2 Union Olimpija 75–64 77–85 69–73

Quarterfinals

In a best-of-three series the remaining eight teams were placed against each other. The games were held between 21 February and 7 March 2001, with the top 4 teams advancing to the semifinals.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg3rd leg
Paf Wennington Bologna 2–1 Real Madrid Teka 74–68 57–88 88–70
Kinder Bologna 2–0 Union Olimpija 80–79 81–79
Olympiacos 0–2 Tau Cerámica 72–78 76–98
AEK 2–1 Benetton Treviso 97–89 74–90 71–56

Semifinals

In a best-of-five series the remaining four teams were placed against each other. The games were held between the 27th of March and the 7th of April, 2001.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg 3rd leg 4th leg 5th leg
Kinder Bologna 3–0 Paf Wennington Bologna103–7692–8474–70
AEK 0–3 Tau Cerámica65–9067–7062–76

Finals

The culminating stage of the Euroleague season, the two remaining teams that won the semifinal series played each other in a best-of-five series.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg 3rd leg 4th leg 5th leg
Kinder Bologna 3–2 Tau Cerámica65–7894–7380–6079–9682–74
2000–01 Euroleague Champions

Kinder Bologna
2nd Title

Awards

Top Scorer

Player Team
Alphonso Ford Peristeri

Regular Season MVP

Player Team
Dejan Tomašević Budućnost

Finals MVP

Player Team
Manu Ginóbili Kinder Bologna

Finals Top Scorer

Player Team
Manu Ginóbili Kinder Bologna
Elmer Bennett Tau Cerámica
Victor Alexander Tau Cerámica

All-Euroleague First Team

Player Team
Louis Bullock Müller Verona
Alphonso Ford Peristeri
Derrick Hamilton Saint Petersburg Lions
Gregor Fučka Paf Wennington Bologna
Dejan Tomašević Budućnost

All-Euroleague Second Team

Player Team
Jemeil Rich Lugano Snakes
Panagiotis Liadelis PAOK
Pau Gasol FC Barcelona
Ioannis Giannoulis PAOK
Rashard Griffith Kinder Bologna

Round MVP

Regular season

Week Player Team PIR
1 Panagiotis Liadelis PAOK42
2 Dejan Tomašević Budućnost34
Gianluca Basile Paf Wennington Bologna
3 Milenko Topić Budućnost39
4 Dejan Tomašević (2) Budućnost42
5 Derrick Hamilton St. Petersburg Lions38
6 Darko Krunić Zadar39
7 Gregor Fučka Paf Wennington Bologna42
8 Kebu Stewart Hapoel Jerusalem47
9 Derrick Hamilton (2) St. Petersburg Lions40
10 Marcelo Nicola Benetton Treviso36

Playoffs

Game Player Team PIR
8thF G1 Alphonso Ford Peristeri
45
8thF G2 Dejan Tomašević (3) Budućnost
34
Dino Rađja Olympiakos
Riccardo Pittis Benetton Treviso
8thF G3 Angelos Koronios PAOK
20
Emilio Kovačić Union Olimpija
4F G1 Gregor Fučka (2) Paf Wennington Bologna
43
4F G2 Rashard Griffith Kinder Bologna
32
4F G3 Carlton Myers Paf Wennington Bologna
45
SF G1 Saulius Štombergas Tau Cerámica
43
SF G2 Elmer Bennett Tau Cerámica
33
SF G3 Fabricio Oberto Tau Cerámica
25
Final G1 Victor Alexander Tau Cerámica
32
Final G2 Antoine Rigaudeau Kinder Bologna
21
Final G3 Manu Ginóbili Kinder Bologna
31
Final G4 Elmer Bennett (2) Tau Cerámica
28
Final G5 Rashard Griffith (2) Kinder Bologna
25

Individual statistics

Rating

Rank Name Team Games Rating PIR
1. Dejan Tomašević Budućnost1237130.92
2. Derrick Hamilton Saint Petersburg Lions1028328.30
3. Alphonso Ford Peristeri1230525.42

Points

Rank Name Team Games Points PPG
1. Alphonso Ford Peristeri1231226.00
2. Dejan Tomašević Budućnost1227522.92
3. Panagiotis Liadelis PAOK1329522.69

Rebounds

Rank Name Team Games Rebounds RPG
1. Dejan Tomašević Budućnost1213811.50
2. Dino Rađa Olympiacos141379.79
3. Ron Ellis Region Wallone Spirou10969.60

Assists

Rank Name Team Games Assists APG
1. Ivica Marić Zadar10595.90
2. Elmer Bennett Tau Cerámica221205.45
3. Riccardo Pittis Benetton Treviso14543.86

Other statistics

Category Player Team Games Average
Steals Ivica Marić Zadar
10
3.70
Jemeil Rich Lugano Snakes
Blocks Grigorij Khizhnyak Žalgiris
12
3.17
Turnovers Sergei Bazarevich Saint Petersburg Lions
10
4.50
Fouls drawn Panagiotis Liadelis PAOK
13
7.08
Minutes Derrick Hamilton Saint Petersburg Lions
10
38:35
2P% Stéphane Risacher Olympiacos
14
73.7%
3P% Jorge Racca PAOK
13
59.3%
FT% Henry Williams Müller Verona
12
94.7%

Individual game highs

CategoryPlayerTeamStatistic
PIR Kebu Stewart Hapoel Jerusalem
47
Points Carlton Myers Paf Wennington Bologna
41
Alphonso Ford Peristeri
Rebounds Victor Alexander Tau Cerámica
19
Assists Elmer Bennett Tau Cerámica
13
Steals Manu Ginóbili Kinder Bologna
7
Bojan Bakić Budućnost
Blocks Stojan Vranković Paf Wennington Bologna
10
Three pointers Saulius Štombergas Tau Cerámica
9
Turnovers Sergei Bazarevich Saint Petersburg Lions
11

Aftermath

In May 2001, Europe had two continental champions, Maccabi Tel Aviv of the FIBA SuproLeague and Kinder Bologna of Euroleague Basketball Company's EuroLeague. The leaders of both organizations realized the need to come up with a new single competition. Negotiating from the position of strength, Euroleague Basketball Company dictated proceedings, and FIBA essentially had no choice but to agree to their terms. As a result, the EuroLeague was fully integrated under Euroleague Basketball Company's umbrella, and teams that competed in the FIBA SuproLeague during the 2000–01 season joined it as well. It is today officially admitted that European basketball had two champions that year, Maccabi of the FIBA SuproLeague and Kinder Bologna of the Euroleague Basketball Company's EuroLeague.

A year later, Euroleague Basketball Company and FIBA decided that Euroleague Basketball's EuroLeague competition would be the main basketball tournament on the continent, to be played between the top level teams of Europe. FIBA Europe would also organize a European league for third-tier level teams, known as the FIBA Europe League competition, while Euroleague Basketball would also organize its own second-tier level league, combining FIBA's long-time Korać Cup and Saporta Cup competitions into one new competition, the EuroCup. In 2005, Euroleague Basketball and FIBA decided to cooperate with each other, and did so jointly until 2016.

In essence, the authority in European professional basketball was divided over club-country lines. FIBA stayed in charge of national team competitions (like the FIBA EuroBasket, the FIBA World Cup, and the Summer Olympics), while Euroleague Basketball took over the European professional club competitions. From that point on, FIBA's Korać Cup and Saporta Cup competitions lasted only one more season before folding, which was when Euroleague Basketball launched the EuroCup.

See also

References and notes

  1. "EL.net interview: Eduardo Portela". Archived from the original on 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
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