2008–09 Euroleague

The 2008–09 Euroleague was the 9th season of the professional basketball competition for elite clubs throughout Europe, organised by Euroleague Basketball Company, and it was the 52nd season of the premier competition for European men's clubs overall. The season, which featured 24 teams from 13 countries, culminated in the 2008–09 Euroleague Final Four at the new O2 World arena in Berlin, Germany.[1] It was won by Panathinaikos, who defeated in the final, the defending champions, CSKA Moscow.

Euroleague
The Final Four was held in the O2 World in Berlin
Season2008–09
Duration22 October 2008 – 3 May 2009
Number of games188
Number of teams24
Regular season
Season MVPSpain Juan Carlos Navarro
Finals
ChampionsGreece Panathinaikos
5th title
  Runners-upRussia CSKA Moscow
Third placeSpain FC Barcelona
Fourth placeGreece Olympiacos
Final Four MVPGreece Vassilis Spanoulis
Awards
Rising StarSerbia Novica Veličković
Best DefenderGreece Dimitris Diamantidis
Coach of the YearSerbia Duško Vujošević
Statistical leaders
Points Serbia Igor Rakočević 18.0
Rebounds Turkey Mirsad Türkcan 8.6
Assists Greece Theodoros Papaloukas 5.2
Index Rating Israel D'or Fischer 21.5

While the general structure of the competition was identical to that used in recent seasons, changes were made to the format for two of its phases, the Regular Season and Quarterfinals.

Top 16 game between Real Madrid and Maccabi Electra

Teams of the 2008–09 Euroleague

Key to colors
     Champion
     Runner-up
     Third place
     Fourth place
     Eliminated in Quarterfinals
     Eliminated in Last 16
     Eliminated in the regular season
Country (League)TeamsTeams (ranking in 2007-08 national championship)
Spain Spain (ACB)5 [2] Tau Cerámica (1) FC Barcelona (2) DKV Joventut (SF) Unicaja Málaga (SF) Real Madrid (QF)
Italy Italy (Lega A)4 Montepaschi Siena (1) Lottomatica Roma (2) Air Avellino (SF) Armani Jeans Milano (SF)
Greece Greece (ESAKE A1)3 Panathinaikos (1) Olympiacos (2) Panionios Forthnet (3)
Turkey Turkey (TBL)2 Fenerbahçe Ülker (1) Efes Pilsen (SF)
France France (LNB Pro A)2 Nancy (1) Le Mans (SF)
Lithuania Lithuania (LKL)1 Žalgiris (1)
Germany Germany (BBL)1 Alba Berlin (1)
Croatia Croatia (A1 Liga)1 Cibona (SF)
Russia Russia (Superleague A)1 CSKA Moscow (1)
Israel Israel (BSL)1 Maccabi Electra (2)
Slovenia Slovenia (SKL)1 Union Olimpija (1)
Serbia Serbia (KLS)1 Partizan (1)
Poland Poland (PLK)1 Asseco Prokom Sopot (1)
  • DKV Joventut qualified as ULEB Cup winners.

Team rosters

Format

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. This was the first year for this particular format; previously, the competing teams were split into three groups of eight teams each, with the top five teams in each group plus the best sixth-place team advancing.

If two or more clubs finished level on won-lost record, tiebreakers were applied in the following order:[3]

  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
  4. Points scored in all group matches
  5. Sum of quotients of points scored and points allowed in each group match

Games were played from October 22, 2008 to January 15, 2009.[4]

Top 16

The surviving teams were then divided into four groups of four teams each, and again a round-robin system was adopted resulting in 6 games each, with the top 2 teams advancing to the quarterfinals. Tiebreakers are identical to those used in the Regular Season. Games began on January 28 and ended March 12.

Quarterfinals

In the quarterfinals, the top placed teams from each Top 16 group played second placed teams from a different group in a best-of-five playoff series, with the winners of those series advancing to the Final Four. This was the first season in which the quarterfinals were best-of-five; previously, they had been best-of-three. The quarterfinal matches were played from March 24 until April 9.

Final Four format

The culminating stage of the Euroleague in which the four remaining teams played a semifinal match and the winners of those advance to the final. The losers played in a third-place playoff. The team which was victorious in the Final (Panathinaikos) would be Euroleague champion. The Final Four semifinals were played May 1, with the third-place game and final on May 3.

Regular season

The regular season began on October 20, 2008 and concluded on January 15, 2009.

Key to colors
     Top four places in each group advanced to Top 16

Group A

Team Pld W L PF PA Diff
1.Spain Unicaja Málaga 1082771698+73
2.Greece Olympiacos 1064815748+67
3.Israel Maccabi Electra 1064815811+4
4.Croatia Cibona VIP 1055760772-12
5.Italy Air Avellino 1037754814-60
6.France Le Mans 1028747819-72

Group B

Team Pld W L PF PA Diff
1.Spain FC Barcelona 1091813650+163
2.Italy Montepaschi Siena 1082835750+85
3.Greece Panathinaikos 1073763707+56
4.Poland Asseco Prokom Sopot 1028675734-59
5.Lithuania Žalgiris 1028716812-96
6.France Nancy 1028706855-149

Group C

Team Pld W L PF PA Diff
1.Spain Tau Cerámica 1082916808+108
2.Italy Lottomatica Roma 1064814786+28
3.Turkey Fenerbahçe Ülker 1064779755+24
4.Germany Alba Berlin 1046691748-57
5.Spain DKV Joventut 1046800810-10
6.Slovenia Union Olimpija 1028725818-93

Group D

Team Pld W L PF PA Diff
1.Russia CSKA Moscow 1073774644+130
2.Spain Real Madrid 1064740707+33
3.Italy Armani Jeans Milano 1055734745-11
4.Serbia Partizan 1055706687+19
5.Turkey Efes Pilsen 1046713762-49
6.Greece Panionios Forthnet 1037668790-122

Top 16

The Top 16 stage was played from January 28 to March 12, 2009.

The draw was conducted on January 19 at Euroleague Basketball Company headquarters in Barcelona. The group winners in the Regular Season were drawn from one pot, the runners-up from one pot, the teams in 3rd place from one pot and those in 4th place from one pot. Teams that played in the same group in the Regular Season could not meet again in the Top 16. Also, teams from the same country could not be drawn into the same pool unless it was necessary to prevent teams from the same Regular Season group from being drawn together.

Key to colors
     Top two places in each group advanced to quarterfinals

Group E

Team Pld W L PF PA Diff
1.Greece Olympiacos 651496446+50
2.Spain Tau Cerámica 642556474+82
3.Italy Armani Jeans Milano 624455529-74
4.Poland Asseco Prokom Sopot 615444502-58

Group F

Team Pld W L PF PA Diff
1.Spain FC Barcelona 651508429+79
2.Spain Real Madrid 651505487+18
3.Israel Maccabi Electra 624459481-22
4.Germany Alba Berlin 606427502-75

*FC Barcelona wins the group over Real Madrid by the head-to-head point differential.

Group G

Team Pld W L PF PA Diff
1.Greece Panathinaikos 651503428+72
2.Serbia Partizan 642420434-14
3.Spain Unicaja Málaga 624484461+23
4.Italy Lottomatica Roma 615441525-84

Group H

Team Pld W L PF PA Diff
1.Russia CSKA Moscow 651454377+77
2.Italy Montepaschi Siena 642472456+16
3.Croatia Cibona VIP 624423456-33
4.Turkey Fenerbahçe Ülker 615384444-60

Quarterfinals

Team 1 hosted Games 1 and 2, plus Game 5 if necessary. Team 2 hosted Game 3, and Game 4 if necessary.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg 3rd leg 4th leg 5th leg
Olympiacos Greece3–1Spain Real Madrid88–7979–7363–7178–75
Regal FC Barcelona Spain3–2Spain Tau Cerámica75–8485–6262–6984–6378–62
Panathinaikos Greece3–1Italy Montepaschi Siena90–8579–8472–5391–84
CSKA Moscow Russia3–0Serbia Partizan56–4777–5067–56

Final four

The Final Four was played on May 1 and on May 3. Semifinal games were played on Friday, while the third-place playoff and Final were played on Sunday. The event was hosted at the O2 World in Berlin. It was the first time the event was held in Berlin.

 
Semifinals
May 1
Final
May 3
 
      
 
 
 
 
Spain Regal FC Barcelona78
 
 
 
Russia CSKA Moscow82
 
Russia CSKA Moscow71
 
 
 
Greece Panathinaikos73
 
Greece Olympiacos82
 
 
Greece Panathinaikos84
 
Third place
 
 
 
 
 
Spain Regal FC Barcelona 95
 
 
Greece Olympiacos 79

Individual statistics

Rating

Rank Name Team Games Rating PIR
1.Israel D'or FischerIsrael Maccabi Electra1327921.46
2.United States Terrell McIntyreItaly Montepaschi Siena1937719.84
3.Turkey Mirsad TürkcanTurkey Fenerbahçe Ülker1427119.36

Points

Rank Name Team Games Rating PPG
1.Serbia Igor RakočevićSpain Tau Cerámica2137717.95
2.United States Terrell McIntyreItaly Montepaschi Siena1932817.26
3.Poland David LoganPoland Asseco Prokom Sopot1525316.87

Rebounds

Rank Name Team Games Rating RPG
1.Turkey Mirsad TürkcanTurkey Fenerbahçe Ülker141218.64
2.Israel D'or FischerIsrael Maccabi Electra13997.62
3.Greece Ioannis BourousisGreece Olympiacos221627.36

Assists

Rank Name Team Games Rating APG
1.Greece Theodoros PapaloukasGreece Olympiacos221145.18
2.Montenegro Omar CookSpain Unicaja Málaga16825.13
3.United States Terrell McIntyreItaly Montepaschi Siena19844.42

Other Stats

Category Name Team Games Stat
Steals per gamePoland David LoganPoland Asseco Prokom Sopot152.67
Blocks per gameSpain Fran VázquezSpain FC Barcelona231.74
Turnovers per gamePoland David LoganPoland Asseco Prokom Sopot152.93
Fouls drawn per gameSlovenia Sani BečirovićItaly Lottomatica Roma136.23
Minutes per gamePoland David LoganPoland Asseco Prokom Sopot1534:18
2FG%Czech Republic Luboš BartoňSpain FC Barcelona230.800
3FG%Italy Marco MordenteItaly Armani Jeans Milano120.555
FT%United States Louis BullockSpain Real Madrid200.953

Game highs

Category Name Team Stat
RatingIsrael Lior EliyahuIsrael Maccabi Electra42
PointsUnited States Terrell McIntyreItaly Montepaschi Siena35
ReboundsRepublic of Ireland Pat BurkePoland Asseco Prokom Sopot20
AssistsGreece Theodoros PapaloukasGreece Olympiacos13
Steals7 occasions6
BlocksUnited States Loren WoodsLithuania Žalgiris7
Turnovers3 occasions8
Fouls DrawnSlovenia Sani BečirovićItaly Lottomatica Roma12

Awards

Euroleague 2008–09 MVP

Euroleague 2008–09 Final Four MVP

All-Euroleague Team 2008–09

[5]

PositionAll-Euroleague First TeamClub teamAll-Euroleague Second TeamClub team
United States Terrell McIntyre Italy Montepaschi Siena Greece Theodoros Papaloukas Greece Olympiacos
Serbia Igor Rakočević Spain Tau Cerámica Lithuania Ramūnas Šiškauskas Russia CSKA Moscow
Spain Juan Carlos Navarro Spain FC Barcelona Greece Vassilis Spanoulis Greece Panathinaikos
Greece Ioannis Bourousis Greece Olympiacos Slovenia Erazem Lorbek Russia CSKA Moscow
Montenegro Nikola Peković Greece Panathinaikos Brazil Tiago Splitter Spain Tau Cerámica

Rising Star

Best Defender

Top Scorer (Alphonso Ford Trophy)

Coach of the Year (Alexander Gomelsky Award)

Club Executive of the Year

MVP Weekly

Regular season

Game Player Team Rating
1United States Will McDonaldSpain Tau Cerámica32
2United Kingdom Pops Mensah-BonsuSpain Joventut Badalona37
3Serbia Igor RakočevićSpain Tau Cerámica34
4United States Mike HallItaly Armani Jeans Milano28
5Spain Edu Hernandez-SonsecaSpain Joventut Badalona38
6Israel Lior EliyahuIsrael Maccabi Electra42
7Guyana Rawle MarshallCroatia Cibona34
8Slovenia Sani BečirovićItaly Lottomatica Roma38
9United States Immanuel McElroyGermany Alba Berlin38
10Turkey Oğuz SavaşTurkey Fenerbahçe Ülker41

Top 16

Game Player Team PIR
1Montenegro Nikola PekovićGreece Panathinaikos28
Israel D'or FischerIsrael Maccabi Electra28
Israel Lior Eliyahu (2)Israel Maccabi Electra28
2Serbia Novica VeličkovićSerbia Partizan29
3Turkey Ersan İlyasovaSpain FC Barcelona39
4Brazil Tiago SplitterSpain Tau Cerámica28
5United States Charles GainesIsrael Maccabi Electra33
United States Mike Hall (2)Italy Armani Jeans Milano33
6United States Mike BatisteGreece Panathinaikos35

Quarter-finals

Game Player Team PIR
1Central African Republic Romain SatoItaly Montepaschi Siena36
2Slovenia Erazem LorbekRussia CSKA Moscow33
3Lithuania Ramūnas ŠiškauskasRussia CSKA Moscow30
Slovenia Matjaž SmodišRussia CSKA Moscow30
4United States Terrell McIntyreItaly Montepaschi Siena37
5Turkey Ersan İlyasova (2)Spain FC Barcelona26

MVP of the Month

Month Player Team
October 2008Turkey Ersan İlyasovaSpain FC Barcelona
November 2008Slovenia Sani BečirovićItaly Lottomatica Roma
December 2008Israel Lior EliyahuIsrael Maccabi Electra
January 2009Serbia Igor RakočevićSpain Tau Cerámica
February 2009Serbia Novica VeličkovićSerbia Partizan
March 2009Slovenia Erazem LorbekRussia CSKA Moscow

See also

References and notes

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