The 2003–04 Euroleague was the fourth season of the professional basketball competition for elite clubs throughout Europe, organised by Euroleague Basketball Company, and it was the 47th season of the premier competition for European men's clubs overall. The 2003–04 season featured 24 competing teams from 13 countries. The final of the competition was held in Nokia Arena, Tel Aviv, Israel, with hosts Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv,The venue for each year's Final Four is determined before the previous year's Final Four, before it can possibly be known who will advance. defeating Skipper Bologna, by a score of 118–74.
Team allocation
Distribution The table below shows the default access list.
Teams entering in this roundRegular season(24 teams) 15 teams with 3-year licences 2 best-placed teams from: Spain 1 best-placed team from: Germany Greece Israel Italy Slovenia Yugoslavia 1 Wild cardTop 16(16 teams) 3 group winners from the regular season 3 group runners-up from the regular season 3 group third-placed teams from the regular season 3 group fourth-placed teams from the regular season 3 group fifth-placed teams from the regular season 1 group sixth-placed team from the regular seasonFinal four(4 teams) 4 group winners from the top 16
Teams The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round (TH: EuroLeague title holders) Licensed clubs: 3-year licence 1st, 2nd, etc.: League position after Playoffs WC: Wild card
Regular seasonLicensed clubs Benetton Treviso (1st) Olympiacos Žalgiris Skipper Bologna FC Barcelona TH CSKA Moscow (1st) Montepaschi Siena (4th) Tau Cerámica (6th) Union Olimpija Pau-Orthez Efes Pilsen Adecco ASVEL Ülker AEK Cibona VIP Associated clubs Lottomatica Roma Pamesa Valencia (2nd) Idea Śląsk WC Panathinaikos Unicaja Málaga (3rd) Krka (1st) ALBA Berlin Maccabi Elite Partizan Mobtel
Regular season The first phase was a regular season, in which the competing teams were drawn into three groups, each containing eight teams. Each team played every other team in its group at home and away, resulting in 14 games for each team in the first stage. The top 5 teams in each group and the best sixth-placed team advanced to the next round. The complete list of tiebreakers was 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: Head-to-head record in matches between the tied clubs Overall point difference in games between the tied clubs Overall point difference in all group matches (first tiebreaker if tied clubs were not in the same group) Points scored in all group matches Sum of quotients of points scored and points allowed in each group match
+ Key to colors Top five places in each group, plus highest-ranked sixth-place team, advanced to Top 16
Group A TeamPldWLPFPADiff 1. FC Barcelona 14 12 2 1086 937 +149 2. Cibona VIP 14 8 6 1122 1101 +21 3. Ülker 14 8 6 1023 1050 -27 4. Union Olimpija 14 6 8 1093 1123 -30 5. Pau-Orthez 14 6 8 1141 1130 +11 6. AEK 14 6 8 1066 1099 -33 7. Partizan Mobtel 14 6 8 1081 1078 +3 8. Lottomatica Roma 14 4 10 997 1091 -94Group B TeamPldWLPFPADiff 1. CSKA Moscow 14 11 3 1118 984 +134 2. Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv 14 11 3 1261 1169 +92 3. Skipper Bologna 14 8 6 1206 1173 +33 4. Montepaschi Siena 14 8 6 1142 1142 0 5. Panathinaikos 14 7 7 1141 1113 +28 6. Žalgiris 14 6 8 1083 1068 +15 7. Unicaja Málaga 14 4 10 1051 1111 -60 8. Krka 14 2 12 947 1189 -242
Group C TeamPldWLPFPADiff 1. Efes Pilsen 14 10 4 1066 1002 +64 2. Benetton Treviso 14 10 4 1185 1067 +118 3. Pamesa Valencia 14 9 5 1149 1089 +60 4. Tau Cerámica 14 9 5 1183 1127 +56 5. Olympiacos 14 7 7 1109 1108 +1 6. Idea Śląsk Wrocław 14 6 8 1110 1163 -53 7. Alba Berlin 14 3 11 1075 1170 -95 8. Adecco ASVEL 14 2 12 982 1133 -151
Top 16 The surviving teams were divided into four groups of four teams each, and again a round robin system was adopted resulting in 6 games each, with the top team advancing to the Final Four. Tiebreakers were identical to those used in the Regular Season.
This was the last season in which teams advanced directly from the Top 16 to the Final Four. A quarterfinal round was introduced in the 2004–05 season.
The draw was held in accordance with Euroleague rules.
The teams were placed into four pools, as follows:
Level 1: The three group winners, plus the top-ranked second-place team CSKA Moscow, FC Barcelona, Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv, Efes Pilsen Level 2: The remaining second-place teams, plus the top two third-place teams Skipper Bologna, Pamesa Valencia, Benetton Treviso, Cibona Level 3: The remaining third-place team, plus the three fourth-place teams Union Olimpija, Ülker, Montepaschi Siena, Tau Cerámica Level 4: The fifth-place teams, plus the top ranked sixth-place team Pau-Orthez, Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, Žalgiris
Each Top 16 group included one team from each pool. The draw was conducted under the following restrictions: No more than two teams from the same Regular Season group could be placed in the same Top 16 group. No more than two teams from the same country could be placed in the same Top 16 group. If there is a conflict between these two restrictions, (1) would receive priority.
Another draw was held to determine the order of fixtures. In the case of two teams from the same city in the Top 16 (Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, Efes Pilsen and Ülker) they were scheduled so that every week only one team would be at home.
+ Key to colors Top place in each group advanced to Final four
Group D TeamPldWLPFPADiff 1. CSKA Moscow 6 5 1 477 436 +41 2. Tau Cerámica 6 4 2 505 477 +28 3. Cibona VIP 6 2 4 422 449 -27 4. Olympiacos 6 1 5 436 477 -41Group E TeamPldWLPFPADiff 1. Skipper Bologna 6 5 1 484 457 +27 2. Efes Pilsen 6 4 2 427 390 +37 3. Pau-Orthez 6 2 4 452 486 −34 4. Union Olimpija 6 1 5 438 468 −30
Group F TeamPldWLPFPADiff 1. Montepaschi Siena 6 4 2 498 461 +37 2. Benetton Treviso 6 4 2 510 494 +16 3. FC Barcelona 6 2 4 445 452 −7 4. Panathinaikos 6 2 4 460 506 −46Group G TeamPldWLPFPADiff 1. Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv 6 4 2 452 406 +46 2. Pamesa Valencia 6 4 2 418 421 -3 3. Žalgiris 6 3 3 520 507 +13 4. Ülker 6 1 5 449 505 −56
Final four
Semifinals April 29, Nokia Arena, Tel Aviv
3rd place game May 1, Nokia Arena, Tel Aviv
Final May 1, Nokia Arena, Tel Aviv
2003–04 Euroleague Champions Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv 4th Title
Final standings Team Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv Skipper Bologna CSKA Moscow Montepaschi Siena
Awards Top Scorer Lynn Greer ( Śląsk Wrocław)
Regular season MVP Arvydas Sabonis ( Žalgiris)
Top 16 MVP Arvydas Sabonis ( Žalgiris)
Final Four MVP Anthony Parker ( Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv)
Finals Top Scorer Anthony Parker ( Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv) & Miloš Vujanić ( Skipper Bologna)
All-Euroleague First Team Šarūnas Jasikevičius ( Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv) Marcus Brown ( CSKA Moscow) Dejan Bodiroga ( FC Barcelona) Mirsad Türkcan ( CSKA Moscow) Arvydas Sabonis ( Žalgiris)
All-Euroleague Second Team Miloš Vujanić ( Skipper Bologna) Lynn Greer ( Śląsk Wrocław) David Vanterpool ( Montepaschi Siena) Andrés Nocioni ( Tau Cerámica) Nikola Vujčić ( Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv)
References and notes
External links Euroleague.net - Official Euroleague homepage. Eurobasket.com - Popular basketball news site. TalkBasket.net - Basketball forum.