EuroCup Basketball

EuroCup Basketball, commonly known as the EuroCup and currently called 7DAYS EuroCup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual professional basketball club competition that has been organized by Euroleague Basketball since 2002.

7DAYS EuroCup
Founded7 July 2002 (2002-07-07)[1]
First season2002–03
RegionEurope
Number of teams24
Promotion toEuroLeague
Current championsCurtailed season
Most championships Valencia
(4 titles)
TV partnersList of broadcasters
WebsiteOfficial website
2020–21 EuroCup Basketball

Founded in 2002 under the name ULEB Cup, the competition has been known as the Eurocup since the 2008–09 season, following a change in format.[2] The ULEB Cup and EuroCup Basketball are considered the same competition, with the change of name being simply a re-branding.

The winner of the EuroCup qualifies for the next season's EuroLeague.

The title has been won by 11 clubs, 3 of which have won the title more than once. The most successful club in the competition are Valencia Basket, with four titles, who are also current champions after defeating Alba Berlin in the 2019 Finals.

History

The competition was created in 2002, as the ULEB Cup, and has had several names:

Sponsorship names

On 7 July 2016, Chipita and Euroleague Basketball announced a strategic agreement to sponsor the European competition across the globe. According to the agreement, starting with the 2016–17 season, the competition would be named 7DAYS EuroCup. This title partnership was set to run for three seasons.[3]

Logos

Evolution of the EuroCup logo
2002–2008 2008–2016 2016–present

Qualification

Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their domestic leagues competitions. For this purpose, the clubs from countries participating in the ABA League qualify for the competition based on their performance in the ABA League, and not their domestic leagues.

Format

Starting with the 2016–17 season, the EuroCup's first phase is the Regular Season, in which 24 teams participate. The participants include 24 clubs automatically entered into the Regular Season. Each team plays two games (home-and-away) against every other team in its group. At the end of the Regular Season, the field is cut from 24 to 16. The next phase, known as the Top 16, then begins, featuring the 16 survivors of the Regular Season in four-team groups. As in the Regular Season, each Top 16 group is contest in a double round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advance to the third phase, the Playoffs. Each playoff series is best-of-three, and the winners of each series advance to the next round persistently until the Finals. Home advantage in the series goes to the best placed team in the Top 16. The Finals features the two remaining series winners in a best-of-three series with home advantage in the series to the best placed team in the Top 16.

Previous EuroCup formats

Historically, the competition began with a group phase in which the starting field was reduced to 16 teams. The survivors then advanced to a knockout phase. In the inaugural 2002–03 season, the knockout phase consisted entirely of two-legged ties. In the following 2003–04 season, the final became a one-off game, but all other knockout ties remained two-legged.

In the 2007–08 season, the initial phase, now called the Regular Season, was only used to reduce the field to 32 teams. The survivors were paired into two-legged knockout ties, with the winners advancing to another set of two-legged ties. The survivors then entered the first-ever Final Eight phase in the competition's history, consisting of one-off knockout games.

The following 2008–09 season, was the first in which preliminary rounds were conducted. That year saw two preliminary rounds held, the first involving 16 teams, and the second involving the eight winners, plus eight teams that had received byes into that round. The survivors of the second preliminary round joined 24 direct qualifiers in the Regular Season. This season also saw the introduction of the Last 16 group phase, and proved to be the last for the Final Eight.

The last stage of the EuroCup, the EuroCup Finals, was reduced from eight teams to four, starting with the 2009–10 season. This stage was directly analogous to the EuroLeague Final Four, and like that stage of the EuroLeague, consisted of one-off knockout semifinals, followed by a single-game final. Unlike the EuroLeague Final Four, in which the third-place game and final are held two days after the semifinals, the corresponding games of the EuroCup were held the day after the semifinals.

In the 2012–13 season, the final was decided by a single game format, after double-legged semifinals and quarterfinals. For the 2013–14 season, the competition increased from 32 to 48 teams in the Regular Season phase. Another innovation that started in the 2013–14 season, was that the clubs were divided into two regional conferences, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference, for the Regular Season phase.[4] The size of the groups grew to six teams, where the first three qualified teams joined the Last 32 stage. In addition, the eight EuroLeague clubs that did not qualify for the EuroLeague Top 16 phase, joined the remaining 24 EuroCup teams and the Finals were decided by a double-legged series.

For the 2014–15 season, the competition contained 36 teams at the group stage. There were 6 groups, each containing 6 teams. The 36 teams consisted of the 7 teams that were eliminated in the 2014–15 Euroleague season qualification rounds, and 29 teams that qualified directly to the 2014–15 EuroCup, either through 2013–14 season results, or through wild cards. The top four teams from each of the Regular Season groups with the eight EuroLeague clubs that did not qualify for the EuroLeague Top 16 phase qualified to join the Last 32 stage. For the 2015–16 season, the competition contained 36 clubs automatically entered into the Regular Season and the eight EuroLeague clubs that did not qualify for the EuroLeague Top 16 phase qualified to join the Last 32 stage.

European professional basketball club rankings

Arena standards

Effective as of the 2012–13 season, all EuroCup clubs must host their home games in arenas that have a regular seating capacity of at least 2,500 (all seated), and an additional minimum capacity of 200 VIP seats available.[5] By comparison, EuroLeague licensed clubs host their home games in arenas that seat at least 10,000 people, while EuroLeague associated clubs must have arenas that seat 5,000.

Results

Year Final Semifinalists
Champion Score Second place Third place Score Fourth place
2002–03
Details

Pamesa Valencia
168–154
(78–90 / 78–76)

Krka
Adecco Estudiantes and DKV Joventut
2003–04
Details

Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem
83–72
Real Madrid
Adecco Estudiantes and Reflex FMP
2004–05
Details

Lietuvos rytas
78–74
Makedonikos
Hemofarm and Pamesa Valencia
2005–06
Details

Dynamo Moscow
73–60
Aris TT Bank
Hemofarm and Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem
2006–07
Details

Real Madrid
87–75
Lietuvos rytas
FMP and UNICS
2007–08
Details

DKV Joventut
79–54
Akasvayu Girona

Dynamo Moscow
84–67
Galatasaray Café Crown
2008–09
Details

Lietuvos rytas
80–74
Khimki
Hemofarm and iurbentia Bilbao Basket
2009–10
Details

Power Electronics Valencia
67–44
Alba Berlin

Bizkaia Bilbao Basket
76–67
Panellinios
2010–11
Details

UNICS
92–77
Cajasol

Cedevita
59–57
Benetton Bwin
2011–12
Details

Khimki
77–68
Valencia Basket

Lietuvos rytas
71–62
Spartak Saint Petersburg
2012–13
Details

Lokomotiv Kuban
75–64
Uxúe Bilbao Basket
Budivelnyk and Valencia Basket
2013–14
Details

Valencia Basket
165–140
(80–67 / 73–85)

UNICS
Crvena zvezda Telekom and Nizhny Novgorod
2014–15
Details

Khimki
174–130
(66–91 / 83–64)

Herbalife Gran Canaria
Banvit and UNICS
2015–16
Details

Galatasaray Odeabank
140–133
(66–62 / 78–67)

Strasbourg
Dolomiti Energia Trento and Herbalife Gran Canaria
2016–17
Details

Unicaja
2–1
(68–62 / 79–71 / 58–63)

Valencia Basket
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem and Lokomotiv Kuban
2017–18
Details

Darüşşafaka
2–0
(78–81 / 67–59)

Lokomotiv Kuban
Bayern Munich and Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia
2018–19
Details

Valencia Basket
2–1
(89–75 / 92–95 / 89–63)

Alba Berlin
MoraBanc Andorra and UNICS Kazan
2019–20
Details
Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020-21
Details

Awards

After a given EuroCup season, before the finals, annual EuroCup awards are handed out to players. These awards include:

Performance by club

Map of countries, teams from which have reached the regular season of the FIBA Europe Cup.
  Country that has been represented in the regular season
  Not represented
Club Winners Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
Valencia Basket 4 2 2002–03, 2009–10, 2013–14, 2018–19 2011–12, 2016–17
Rytas 2 1 2004–05, 2008–09 2006–07
Khimki 2 1 2011–12, 2014–15 2008–09
Real Madrid 1 1 2006–07 2003–04
UNICS 1 1 2010–11 2013–14
Lokomotiv Kuban 1 1 2012–13 2017–18
Hapoel Jerusalem 1 0 2003–04
Dynamo Moscow 1 0 2005–06
Joventut Badalona 1 0 2007–08
Galatasaray 1 0 2015–16
Málaga 1 0 2016–17
Darüşşafaka 1 0 2017–18
Alba Berlin 0 2 2009–10, 2018–19
Krka 0 1 2002–03
Makedonikos 0 1 2004–05
Aris 0 1 2005–06
Girona 0 1 2007–08
Real Betis 0 1 2010–11
Bilbao Basket 0 1 2012–13
Gran Canaria 0 1 2014–15
Strasbourg 0 1 2015–16

Performance by country

Rank Country Champions Runners-up
1 Spain 7
Valencia (4), Real Madrid (1), Joventut (1), Málaga (1)
7
Valencia (2), Real Madrid (1), Girona (1), Real Betis (1), Bilbao (1), Gran Canaria (1)
2 Russia 5
Khimki (2), Dynamo Moscow (1), UNICS (1), Lokomotiv Kuban (1)
3
Khimki (1), UNICS (1), Lokomotiv Kuban (1)
3 Lithuania 2
Rytas (2)
1
Rytas (1)
4 Turkey 2
Galatasaray (1), Darüşşafaka (1)
5 Israel 1
Hapoel Jerusalem (1)
6 Greece 2
Makedonikos (1), Aris (1)
Germany 2
Alba Berlin (2)
8 Slovenia 1
Krka (1)
France 1
Strasbourg (1)

Statistical leaders and individual high performances

All-time leaders

Average Totals
Points Igor Rakočević19.05 Bojan Dubljević1,217
Rebounds Vladimir Golubović8.39 Vladimir Veremeenko[6]609
Assists Omar Cook6.44 Stefan Marković491
Steals Jerry McCullough2.82 Mire Chatman167
Blocks Andre Riddick1.77 Andre Riddick147
Index Ratings Michael Wright22.14 Mire Chatman1,472

Highest attendance records

Winning rosters

Sponsors

Title sponsor
Premium partners
Global partners

Source:[8][9][10][11][12][13]

References and notes

  1. "ULEB assembly approves 32-team ULEB Cup". Euroleague. 8 July 2002. Archived from the original on 2 August 2002. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  2. "ULEB, FIBA Europe announce new competitions names, formats". EuroCup Basketball. 2 July 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  3. "Introducing the 7DAYS EuroCup!". EuroCup Basketball. 7 July 2016.
  4. Eurocup changes format, expands to 48 teams for 2013-14 season; Eurocupbasketball.com, 14 June 2013
  5. C H A P T E R V I I Arenas.
  6. "Veremeenko becomes new Eurocup rebounding king!". EurocupBasketball.com. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  7. "Crvena Zvezda sets crowd record at Belgrade Arena!". eurocupbasketball.com. 26 March 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  8. "Global – Marketing Partners". Euroleague Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  9. "Germany – Marketing Partners". Euroleague Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  10. "Russia – Marketing Partners". Euroleague Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  11. "Turkey – Marketing Partners". Euroleague Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  12. "Spain – Marketing Partners". Euroleague Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  13. "Greece – Marketing Partners". Euroleague Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
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