2020–21 Basketball Champions League

The 2020–21 Basketball Champions League is the fifth season of the Basketball Champions League (BCL), a European-wide professional basketball competition for clubs launched and managed by FIBA.

2020–21 Basketball Champions League
Season2020–21
Teams44[1]
Dates15 September 2020 – 9 May 2021

Teams

Team allocation

44 teams will play in the 2020–21 Basketball Champions League (28 teams directly qualify for the group competition, while 16 teams play 2 qualifying rounds for the remaining 4 places in the group stage).[1]

Qualified teams for 2020–21 Basketball Champions League (by entry round)[2]
Regular season
Pınar Karşıyaka (Abd-2nd) Cholet (Abd-6th) Happy Casa Brindisi (Abd-5th) ERA Nymburk (Abd-1st)
Galatasaray (Abd-3rd) Limoges CSP (Abd-8th) Fortitudo Bologna (Abd-8th) Brose Bamberg (5th)
Tofaş (Abd-5th) San Pablo Burgos (4th) AEK (Abd-2nd) Falco Szombathely (Abd-1st)
Darüşşafaka Tekfen (Abd-6th) Casademont Zaragoza (6th) Peristeri (Abd-3rd) VEF Riga (Abd-1st)[Note LAT]
Türk Telekom (BCL QF) Iberostar Tenerife (7th) Hapoel Jerusalem (3rd) Rytas (Abd-2nd)
JDA Dijon (CLR)[Note FRA] RETAbet Bilbao (8th) Hapoel Holon (5th) Start Lublin (Abd-2nd)
Strasbourg (CLR)[Note FRA] Dinamo Sassari (Abd-2nd) Filou Oostende (Abd-1st) Nizhny Novgorod (BCL R16)
Qualifying rounds
Belfius Mons-Hainaut (Abd-2nd) Keravnos (Abd-1st) Hapoel Tel Aviv (8th) Sporting CP (Abd-1st)
Tsmoki-Minsk [Note BLR] Bakken Bears (Abd-1st) Neptūnas (Abd-4th) U-BT Cluj Napoca (Abd-1st)
Igokea (Abd-1st) London Lions (Abd-2nd) Donar (Abd-2nd) Fribourg Olympic (Abd-1st)
Balkan (Abd-1st) Iraklis (Abd-7th) Anwil Włocławek (Abd-3rd) Dnipro (Abd-1st)
Notes
  1. ^
    France (FRA): The LNB ruled the 2019–20 Pro A season void without a classification. As a result, the BCL ruled that teams from France were selected on their BCL club rankings. JDA Dijon and SIG Strasbourg qualified as such.[3]
  2. ^
    Belarus (BLR): Tsmoki-Minsk did not start to compete in the Belarusian Premier League due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  3. ^
    Latvia (LAT): VEF Rīga qualified as the highest-ranked Latvian team of the Latvian–Estonian League, because the Latvian championship did not start due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Referees

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition will be as follows.[4] On December 3, the Basketball Champions League Board has approved a change of format for the 2020-21 Play-Offs and Finals.[5]

Schedule for 2020–21 Basketball Champions League
Phase Round Draw date First leg
Qualifying rounds First qualifying round (Semi-finals) 15 July 2020 22–23 September 2020
Second qualifying round (Finals) 24–25 September 2020
Regular season Round 1-A,B,C,D 20-21 October 2020
Round 1-E,F,G,H 27–28 October 2020
Round 2-A,B,C,D 3-4 November 2020
Round 2-E,F,G,H 10-11 November 2020
Round 3-A,B,C,D 17-18 November 2020
Round 3-E,F,G,H 8-9 December 2020
Round 4-A,B,C,D 15-16 December 2020
Round 4-E,F,G,H 22-23 December 2020
Round 5-A,B,C,D 5-6 January 2021
Round 5-E,F,G,H 12-13 January 2021
Round 6-A,B,C,D 19-20 January 2021
Round 6-E,F,G,H 26-27 January 2021
Play-offs Round 1-I,J,K,L 2 February 2021 2–3 March 2021
Round 2-I,J,K,L 9-10 March 2021
Round 3-I,J,K,L 16-17 March 2021
Round 4-I,J,K,L 23-24 March 2021
Round 5-I,J,K,L 30-31 March 2021
Round 6-I,J,K,L 6-7 April 2021
Final Eight Quarter-finals TBD 6-7 May 2021
Semifinals 8 May 2021
Final 9 May 2021

Qualifying rounds

Draw

The 16 teams that entered in the first round will be divided into 4 pots based firstly on the competition's club ranking and, for clubs that have not yet participated in the competition, on the country ranking.

For the first round of Qualifications (QR1), teams from Pot 3 will be drawn against teams from Pot 2, and teams from Pot 4 will face teams from Pot 1. Clubs from Pot 1 and 2 will be seeded, and will play the second leg at home. Games will be played on September 15 and 18. The eight (8) winners will then qualify for the second Qualification Round (QR2).

For the second round (QR2), the winners of Pot 3 vs Pot 2 will face the winners of Pot 4 vs Pot 1. The winners from Pot 4 vs Pot 1 will be seeded, and will play the second leg at home. Games will be played on September 22 and 25. The four (4) winners will then qualify for the 2020-21 Basketball Champions League Regular Season and join the twenty-eight (28) directly qualified teams in the main draw.

Change of Qualifying format

On August 25, 2020, it was announced, in order to protect the health and guarantee the safety of players, coaches and officials, but also to safeguard a fair competition, and to properly organize game operations, the decision has been taken to modify the competition system from home-away games, to a tournament format, with single games for each Qualification Round.[6]

Four (4) tournaments will take place, each consisting of two (2) Semi-Final games and of one (1) Final game, where the Semi-Finals will be played as the BCL Qualification Round 1 and the Final as the BCL Qualification Round 2. These Qualification tournaments will take place in two different locations:

Group A and B: Tassos Papadopoulos Eleftheria Indoor Hall at Nicosia, Cyprus.

Group C and D: Arena Botevgrad at Botevgrad, Bulgaria.

Draw pots
Pot 1
Team Pts
Neptūnas69
Anwil Włocławek28
Fribourg Olympic13
Donar7
Pot 2
Team Pts
Tsmoki-Minsk6
Bakken Bears5
U-BT Cluj Napoca4
Keravnos3
Pot 3
Team Pts
Balkan1
Hapoel Tel Aviv1
Igokea1*
Iraklis106.42†
Pot 4
Team Pts
Belfius Mons-Hainaut66.83†
Dnipro15.00†
Sporting CP6.00†
London Lions1.00†

* Example of 1 point for Igokea from 2016-2017 season means that the FIBA's "last three season points" rule applies to the last (three) BCL seasons of the particular club, not the last three BCL seasons in general.

    Qualification Group A

    Semi-finals were played on 23 September 2020 and Final took place on 25 September 2020 at Tassos Papadopoulos Eleftheria Indoor Hall in Nicosia, Cyprus.

     
    		SemifinalsFinal
     
    		      
     
    		23 September
     
     
    		 Anwil Włocławek69
     
    		25 September
     
    		 Belfius Mons-Hainaut81
     
    		 Belfius Mons-Hainaut71
     
    		23 September
     
    		 Bakken Bears86
     
    		 Bakken Bears91
     
     
    		 Hapoel Tel Aviv71
     

    Qualification Group B

    Semi-finals were played on 22 September 2020 and Final took place on 24 September 2020 at Tassos Papadopoulos Eleftheria Indoor Hall in Nicosia, Cyprus.

     
    		SemifinalsFinal
     
    		      
     
    		22 September
     
     
    		 Keravnos (OT)96
     
    		24 September
     
    		 Iraklis94
     
    		 Keravnos60
     
    		22 September
     
    		 Donar57
     
    		 Donar88
     
     
    		 Dnipro53
     

    Qualification Group C

    Semi-finals were played on 23 September 2020 and Final took place on 25 September 2020 at Arena Botevgrad in Botevgrad, Bulgaria.

     
    		SemifinalsFinal
     
    		      
     
    		23 September
     
     
    		 U-BT Cluj Napoca75
     
    		25 September
     
    		 Igokea82
     
    		 Igokea70
     
    		23 September
     
    		 Sporting CP64
     
    		 Fribourg Olympic78
     
     
    		 Sporting CP84
     

    Qualification Group D

    Semi-finals were played on 22 September 2020 and Final took place on 24 September 2020 at Arena Botevgrad in Botevgrad, Bulgaria.

     
    		SemifinalsFinal
     
    		      
     
    		22 September
     
     
    		 Tsmoki-Minsk73
     
    		24 September
     
    		 Balkan65
     
    		 Tsmoki-Minsk69
     
    		22 September
     
    		 Neptūnas59
     
    		 Neptūnas77
     
     
    		 London Lions73
     

    Regular season

    Draw

    The 28 teams that entered in the Regular Season directly were divided into 7 pots based firstly on the club ranking and, for clubs that have not yet participated in the competition, on the country ranking. Eighth pot is reserved for winners of qualifying rounds.

    Initially, teams were divided into groups of eight teams. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, group were splitten with the aim to the reduce the number of games and to make easier to play possible postponed matches.

    Pot 1
    Team Pts
    AEK119
    Iberostar Tenerife119
    ERA Nymburk83
    Hapoel Jerusalem79
    Pot 2
    Team Pts
    Strasbourg68
    Filou Oostende64
    Nizhny Novgorod61
    Brose Bamberg60
    Pot 3
    Team Pts
    Dinamo Sassari51
    Hapoel Holon47
    JDA Dijon43
    Türk Telekom36
    Pot 4
    Team Pts
    Pınar Karşıyaka35
    Casademont Zaragoza34
    San Pablo Burgos30
    Peristeri26
    Pot 5
    Team Pts
    Falco Szombathely17
    Happy Casa Brindisi15
    VEF Riga7
    RETAbet Bilbao131.00†
    Pot 6
    Team Pts
    Cholet110.58†
    Limoges CSP110.58†
    Galatasaray107.50†
    Tofaş107.50†
    Pot 7
    Team Pts
    Darüşşafaka Tekfen107.50†
    Fortitudo Bologna95.00†
    Rytas74.33†
    Start Lublin44.67†
    Pot 8
    Team
    Bakken Bears
    Keravnos
    Igokea
    Tsmoki-Minsk
    Notes
    ^† Indicates teams with no club points, therefor using the country points as a tiebreaker.

    Group A
    Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification TFE DIN BAK GAL
    1 Iberostar Tenerife 6 4 2 552 507 +45 10 Advance to Playoffs — 115–85 98–73 85–72
    2 Dinamo Sassari 6 4 2 524 529 −5 10 92–72 — 71–93 93–84
    3 Bakken Bears 6 3 3 523 507 +16 9 96–78 84–91 — 96–78
    4 Galatasaray 6 1 5 495 551 −56 7 89–104 81–92 91–81 —
    Source: Champions League

      Group B
      Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification TOF NYM JDA KER
      1 Tofaş 6 4 2 529 482 +47 10 Advance to Playoffs — 93–96 81–87 78–67
      2 ERA Nymburk 6 4 2 546 473 +73 10 97–103 — 94–54 96–69
      3 JDA Dijon 6 4 2 457 449 +8 10 61–90 85–61 — 91–79
      4 Keravnos 6 0 6 402 530 −128 6 74–84 69–102 44–79 —
      Source: Champions League

        Group C
        Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification HOL AEK CHO TSM
        1 Hapoel Holon 6 4 2 479 455 +24 10 Advance to Playoffs — 77–71 73–63 69–79
        2 AEK 6 4 2 514 492 +22 10 100–96 — 83–81 95–69
        3 Cholet 6 2 4 458 468 −10 8 71–89 79–70 — 89–71
        4 Tsmoki-Minsk 6 2 4 462 498 −36 8 71–75 90–95 82–75 —
        Source: Champions League

          Group D
          Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification ZAR NIZ FAL LUB
          1 Casademont Zaragoza 6 5 1 527 504 +23 11 Advance to Playoffs — 78–75 85–76 94–82
          2 Nizhny Novgorod 6 4 2 496 463 +33 10 92–98 — 73–68 78–65
          3 Falco Szombathely 6 3 3 493 471 +22 9 94–86 88–93 — 84–75
          4 Start Lublin 6 0 6 432 510 −78 6 85–86 66–85 59–83 —
          Source: Champions League

            Group E
            Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification SIG VEF PER RYT
            1 SIG Strasbourg 6 4 2 492 466 +26 10 Advance to Playoffs — 101–94 77–57 81–83
            2 VEF Rīga 6 4 2 482 457 +25 10 75–77 — 60–57 84–60
            3 Peristeri Winmasters 6 2 4 458 462 −4 8 76–79 81–84 — 81–74
            4 Rytas 6 2 4 467 514 −47 8 81–77 81–85 88–106 —
            Source: Champions League

              Group F
              Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification BRO KAR BIL FOR
              1 Brose Bamberg 6 6 0 509 429 +80 12 Advance to Playoffs — 83–82 90–75 83–68
              2 Pınar Karşıyaka 6 4 2 476 441 +35 10 70–76 — 85–76 80–69
              3 RETAbet Bilbao 6 2 4 445 451 −6 8 71–77 72–81 — 82–54
              4 Fortitudo Bologna 6 0 6 383 492 −109 6 63–100 65–78 64–69 —
              Source: Champions League

                Group G
                Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification TTE IGO HAP LIM
                1 Türk Telekom 6 5 1 487 477 +10 11 Advance to Playoffs — 94–86 98–94 76–73
                2 Igokea 6 3 3 457 470 −13 9 77–66 — 75–73 76–73
                3 Hapoel Jerusalem 6 2 4 492 482 +10 8 77–78 84–68[lower-alpha 1] — 81–75
                4 Limoges CSP 6 2 4 459 466 −7 8 70–75 80–75 88–83 —
                Source: Champions League
                1. The rescheduled game was played in Laktaši instead of Jerusalem by agreement between both teams.[7]

                Group H
                Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification SPB BRI OOS DAR
                1 San Pablo Burgos 6 5 1 543 470 +73 11 Advance to Playoffs — 93–71 88–73 100–70
                2 Happy Casa Brindisi 6 4 2 521 508 +13 10 86–90 — 93–81 92–81
                3 Filou Oostende 6 2 4 484 517 −33 8 99–98 80–92 — 77–67
                4 Darüşşafaka Tekfen 6 1 5 451 504 −53 7 71–74 83–87 79–74 —
                Source: Champions League

                  Playoffs

                  Sixteen teams advance to the Play-off phase, consisting of a new group format of four groups with four teams each.

                  A draw will determine the new four groups (each group will have respectively 2 teams having finished 1st and 2 teams having finished 2nd of their Regular Season group) that will play home and away games over the month of March. No country protection, only group protection will apply during the draw.

                  Clubs will play six games each in a round robin system (three games home, three away), with the first two teams in each group qualifying for a Final 8 tournament that will conclude the 2020-21 season. The Play-Offs will start on March 2-3, 2021.[8]

                  The draw of this second phase of the competition will be conducted on Tuesday February 2, at 16:00 CET, at the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball.[9]

                  Draw
                  Seeded teams
                  Iberostar Tenerife
                  Tofaş
                  Hapoel Holon
                  Casademont Zaragoza
                  SIG Strasbourg
                  Brose Bamberg
                  Türk Telekom
                  San Pablo Burgos
                  Non-seeded teams
                  Dinamo Sassari
                  ERA Nymburk
                  AEK
                  Nizhny Novgorod
                  VEF Riga
                  Pınar Karşıyaka
                  Igokea
                  Happy Casa Brindisi

                  Group I
                  Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification TOF HOL BRI KAR
                  1 Tofaş 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to Final 8 — 10 Mar 24 Mar 30 Mar
                  2 Hapoel Holon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Apr — 2 Mar 17 Mar
                  3 Happy Casa Brindisi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 Mar 31 Mar — 9 Mar
                  4 Pınar Karşıyaka 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Mar 23 Mar 6 Apr —
                  Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Champions League

                    Group J
                    Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification SPB TFE VEF IGO
                    1 San Pablo Burgos 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to Final 8 — 9 Mar 2 Mar 31 Mar
                    2 Iberostar Tenerife 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Apr — 17 Mar 23 Mar
                    3 VEF Rīga 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 Mar 30 Mar — 9 Mar
                    4 Igokea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 Mar 3 Mar 6 Apr —
                    Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Champions League

                      Group K
                      Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification TTE SIG AEK NIZ
                      1 Türk Telekom 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to Final 8 — 2 Mar 31 Mar 17 Mar
                      2 SIG Strasbourg 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Apr — 23 Mar 10 Mar
                      3 AEK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Mar 16 Mar — 7 Apr
                      4 Nizhny Novgorod 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 Mar 31 Mar 3 Mar —
                      Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Champions League

                        Group L
                        Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification ZAR BRO NYM DIN
                        1 Casademont Zaragoza 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to Final 8 — 10 Mar 16 Mar 30 Mar
                        2 Brose Bamberg 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Apr — 3 Mar 17 Mar
                        3 ERA Nymburk 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 Mar 30 Mar — 9 Mar
                        4 Dinamo Sassari 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Mar 24 Mar 7 Apr —
                        Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Champions League

                          Individual awards

                          MVP of the Month
                          Month Player Club Ref.
                          2020
                          October
                          		 Steven Gray Peristeri
                          [10]
                          November
                          		 Yanick Moreira AEK
                          [11]
                          December
                          		 Kyle Allman Jr. VEF Rīga
                          [12]
                          2021
                          January
                          		 Raymar Morgan Pınar Karşıyaka
                          [13]

                          See also

                          References
                          1. ""We're here to stay": BCL's past, present and future in an exclusive interview with Patrick Comninos". Retrieved 21 June 2020.
                          2. "Strongest BCL lineup to date ahead of season 5". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
                          3. "Comninos on BCL criteria: It's meritocratic, we have objective ranking on each club". Eurohoops. 2020-05-29. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
                          4. "DRAFT - regulations.pdf" (PDF). www.fiba.basketball. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
                          5. Basketball Champions League (3 December 2020). "Basketball Champions League Play-Offs and Finals format updated". Retrieved 3 December 2020.
                          6. "Basketball Champions League Qualification Rounds format updated and hosts announced". Champions League Basketball. August 25, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
                          7. "Ορίστηκε το εξ αναβολής παιχνίδι, Χάποελ Ιερουσαλήμ - Ιγκοκέα".
                          8. "Competition System". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
                          9. "Basketball Champions League Play-Offs Draw explained". championsleague.basketball. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
                          10. "Record-breaking Gray named MVP of the Month for October". Basketball Champions League. 30 October 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
                          11. "AEK big man Moreira named MVP of the month for November". Basketball Champions League. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
                          12. "VEF Riga's Kyle Allman named MVP of the month for December". Basketball Champions League. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
                          13. "Pinar Karsiyaka's Raymar Morgan named MVP of the month for January". Basketball Champions League. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
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