The 2000–01 ULEB Euroleague was the inaugural basketball season of the EuroLeague, under ULEB and its newly formed Euroleague Basketball Company authority. Overall it was the 44th season of the premier competition for European men's professional basketball clubs overall. Initially it was not recognised or sanctioned by FIBA and considered a breakaway competition. 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, and it ended with the last championship finals game on May 10, 2001, which was held at the PalaMalaguti arena, in Bologna, Italy.
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. It was the first time in European basketball that several clubs did not qualify to a European competition based on performance, but instead wild cards were given. Top clubs also signed licences with the right to participate in upcoming seasons regardless of their domestic league ranking.
A total of 24 teams competed for the EuroLeague title, which was ultimately won by Kinder Bologna. Dejan Tomašević was the EuroLeague Regular Season MVP, and Manu Ginóbili was the Finals MVP.
European Champions' Cup teams divided
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. Euroleague Basketball Company was created by ULEB clubs in 2000. At the time the leagues of ULEB were Spain, Italy, Greece, Belgium, Portugal, England and Switzerland.ULEB members in 2000 However against the will of their domestic leagues clubs from Lithuania, Croatia, Russia, Israel and Slovenia opted for the Euroleague competition despite the fact that their leagues were not members of ULEB.
FIBA had never trademarked the "EuroLeague" name and had no legal recourse on the usage of that name, so they had to find a new name for their league. The following 2000–01 season started with two top European professional club basketball competitions: FIBA SuproLeague (renamed from the FIBA EuroLeague) and Euroleague.
Top clubs were 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. Lugano Tigers the Swiss champions were the last team to join the ULEB side and enter the competition.
Rules, format changes and dates On 11 July 2000 in Thessaloniki during the ULEB Assembly format changes and dates were set for the new competition ULEB Assembly 2000 The Official List of the teams will include a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 16 players. Ten players will be allowed on the bench while 2 USA players per team are permitted. There was no Final Four but a best of three series in the Final.
Andrea Bassani (ex-General Manager of the Italian League) was appointed in the Assembly as the Manager of Marketing and Media of the Euroleague.
Referees Kostas Rigas was elected commissioner. Three referees will officiate every Euroleague game. The team of officials will be made up of 45 referees who have signed guaranteed contracts for three years with no age restriction. However FIBA did not allow them to officiate in their domestic leagues in 2000-01.
Dates Games will be played on Thursdays, with the possibility of moving them forward to Wednesday when necessary. Regular season: 19 October 2000 to 8 January 2001 Play-offs 1/8 finals- 1,8,15 February 2001 Play-offs ¼ finals: 22 Feb, 1, 8 March 2001 Semi-finals: 27, 29 March, 3, 5, 12 April 2001 Finals: 17, 19 April, 1, 3, 10 May 2001
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 roundTeams advancing from previous roundRegular season(24 teams) 4 best-placed teams from: Greece Italy Spain 2 best-placed teams from Croatia 1 best-placed teams from: Belgium Germany Great Britain Lithuania Portugal Slovenia Switzerland Yugoslavia 2 Wild cardsPlayoffs(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 PAOK Kinder Bologna Cibona VIP Žalgiris Olympiacos Müller Verona Zadar Ovarense Aerosoles AEK Real Madrid Teka Spirou Charleroi Saint Petersburg Lions Peristeri FC Barcelona Opel Skyliners Union Olimpija Paf Wennington Bologna Adecco Estudiantes Haribo London Towers Lugano Snakes Benetton Treviso Tau Cerámica Hapoel Jerusalem Budućnost
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: 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
Group A
PosTeamPldWLPFPAPDQualification PAF PER ZAL EST LUG ZAD 1 Paf Wennington Bologna1082812760+52Advance to Playoffs —71–6991–8581–7281–6681–77 2 Peristeri1073841786+55 83–70 —74–9291–8185–6892–73 3 Žalgiris1064866816+50 73–5686–73 —77–80105–8997–85 4 Adecco Estudiantes1046820821−1 76–9086–9187–77 —97–7693–81 5 Lugano Snakes1037777914−137 72–10080–9195–8777–76 —75–74 6 Zadar1028840859−19 87–9179–9286–8780–72118–79 — Source: Euroleague
Group B
PosTeamPldWLPFPAPDQualification KIN AEK TAU CIB SPL SPI 1 Kinder Bologna1091835734+101Advance to Playoffs —81–6676–73106–8884–78106–87 2 AEK1082805746+59 78–77 —64–5283–7584–7397–73 3 Tau Cerámica1064749700+49 59–6585–65 —92–6697–8876–64 4 Cibona1037773832−59 69–7472–8162–60 —75–7085–70 5 Saint Petersburg Lions1028778840−62 78–8269–9079–8192–90 —83–77 6 Spirou Charleroi1028769857−88 58–8089–9771–74100–9180–68 — Source: Euroleague
Group C
PosTeamPldWLPFPAPDQualification OLY RMB UOL BEN JER OVA 1 Olympiacos1073861738+123Advance to Playoffs —91–8482–7082–73102–69101–67 2 Real Madrid Teka1073859789+70 75–73 —82–7064–75104–64116–94 3 Union Olimpija1073823752+71 69–7388–79 —78–7495–68102–79 4 Benetton Treviso1064847777+70 95–8787–8869–71 —78–71106–81 5 Hapoel Jerusalem1037784881−97 83–7074–8776–8879–104 —106–71 6 Ovarense Aerosoles10010746983−237 53–10073–8070–9276–8682–94 — Source: Euroleague
Group D
PosTeamPldWLPFPAPDQualification FCB PAO POD VER LON SKY 1 FC Barcelona1082856757+99Advance to Playoffs —58–6792–7596–8482–7686–60 2 PAOK1073846773+73 91–102 —89–7297–9470–58100–70 3 Budućnost1073844819+25 77–8583–71 —77–73101–8379–73 4 Müller Verona1064920854+66 94–90102–8886–91 —102–7690–70 5 Haribo London Towers1019775878−103 82–9761–9388–9589–98 —86–61 6 Opel Skyliners1019696856−160 51–6873–8079–9480–9779–76 — Source: Euroleague
Playoffs Bracket Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding, the numbers to the right indicate the result of games including result in bold of the team that won in that game, and the numbers furthest to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round.
First Round 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.
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.
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 1Agg.Team 21st leg2nd leg3rd leg4th leg5th legKinder Bologna 3–0 Paf Wennington Bologna103–7692–8474–70AEK 0–3 Tau Cerámica65–90*67–7062–76 Note:The game was replayed between the second and the third game. AEK won the originally game 75-74 after overtime. Dimos Dikoudis scored the winning basket into appears. After Tau's appeal, ULEB's judge decided the replay of the game.
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 1Agg.Team 21st leg2nd leg3rd leg4th leg5th legKinder Bologna 3–2 Tau Cerámica65–7894–7380–6079–9682–74
2000–01 Euroleague Champions Kinder Bologna 2nd Title
Awards Top Scorer PlayerTeam Alphonso Ford Peristeri
Regular season MVP PlayerTeam Dejan Tomašević Budućnost
Finals MVP PlayerTeam Manu Ginóbili Kinder Bologna
Finals Top Scorer PlayerTeam Manu Ginóbili Kinder Bologna Elmer Bennett Tau Cerámica Victor Alexander Tau Cerámica
All-Euroleague First Team PlayerTeam Louis Bullock Müller Verona Alphonso Ford Peristeri Derrick Hamilton Saint Petersburg Lions Gregor Fučka Paf Wennington Bologna Dejan Tomašević Budućnost
All-Euroleague Second Team PlayerTeam Jemeil Rich Lugano Snakes Panagiotis Liadelis PAOK Pau Gasol FC Barcelona Ioannis Giannoulis PAOK Rashard Griffith Kinder Bologna
Round MVP
Regular season
WeekPlayerTeam 1 Panagiotis Liadelis PAOK422 Dejan Tomašević Budućnost 34 Gianluca Basile Paf Wennington Bologna3 Milenko Topić Budućnost394 Dejan Tomašević (2) Budućnost425 Derrick Hamilton St. Petersburg Lions386 Darko Krunić Zadar397 Gregor Fučka Paf Wennington Bologna428 Kebu Stewart Hapoel Jerusalem479 Derrick Hamilton (2) St. Petersburg Lions4010 Marcelo Nicola Benetton Treviso36
Playoffs
GamePlayerTeam 8thF G1 Alphonso Ford Peristeri 8thF G2 Dejan Tomašević (3) Budućnost Dino Rađja Olympiakos Riccardo Pittis Benetton Treviso8thF G3 Angelos Koronios PAOK Emilio Kovačić Union Olimpija4F G1 Gregor Fučka (2) Paf Wennington Bologna4F G2 Rashard Griffith Kinder Bologna4F G3 Carlton Myers Paf Wennington Bologna SF G1 Saulius Štombergas Tau Cerámica SF G2 Elmer Bennett Tau Cerámica SF G3 Fabricio Oberto Tau Cerámica Final G1 Victor Alexander Tau Cerámica Final G2 Antoine Rigaudeau Kinder Bologna Final G3 Manu Ginóbili Kinder Bologna Final G4 Elmer Bennett (2) Tau Cerámica Final G5 Rashard Griffith (2) Kinder Bologna
Individual statistics Rating RankNameTeamGamesRatingPIR1. Dejan Tomašević Budućnost1237130.922. Derrick Hamilton Saint Petersburg Lions1028328.303. Alphonso Ford Peristeri 1230525.42
Points RankNameTeamGamesPointsPPG1. Alphonso Ford Peristeri 1231226.002. Dejan Tomašević Budućnost1227522.923. Panagiotis Liadelis PAOK1329522.69
Rebounds RankNameTeamGamesReboundsRPG1. Dejan Tomašević Budućnost1213811.502. Dino Rađa Olympiacos141379.793. Ron Ellis Region Wallone Spirou10969.60
Assists RankNameTeamGamesAssistsAPG1. Ivica Marić Zadar10595.902. Elmer Bennett Tau Cerámica221205.453. Riccardo Pittis Benetton Treviso14543.86
Other statistics