The 2018–19 Basketball Champions League was the third season of the Basketball Champions League (BCL), a European-wide professional basketball competition for clubs, that was launched by FIBA. The competition began in September 2018, with the qualifying rounds, and concluded in May 2019. It featured 19 domestic champions including two from France and Italy.

The Final Four was held in the Sportpaleis in Antwerp on 3 and 5 May 2019.

Virtus Bologna won its first BCL championship. As such, the team qualified for the 2020 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.

Eligibility of players In 2017, FIBA agreed to adopt eligibility rules, forcing the clubs to have at least 5 home-grown players in rosters of 11 or 12 players, or at least four, if the team has got fewer players.

Team allocation A total of 56 teams (19 of which are champions) from 28 countries will participate in the 2018–19 Basketball Champions League. On July 11, 2018, Kalev/Cramo was replaced by Z-Mobile Prishtina. On July 12, 2018, Eskişehir announced their withdrawal from the competition, leaving an open spot in group C that would be occupied by Lietkabelis.

Teams League positions after eventual playoffs of the previous season shown in parentheses (TH: Champions League title holders; FEC: FIBA Europe Cup title holders). Regular season Le Mans Sarthe Promitheas Iberostar Tenerife Beşiktaş Sompo Japan SIG Strasbourg AEKTH Montakit Fuenlabrada Filou Oostende JDA Dijon Umana Reyer VeneziaFEC Hapoel Holon Ventspils MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg Sidigas Avellino Hapoel Jerusalem Anwil Włocławek Brose Bamberg Segafredo Virtus Bologna Neptūnas Petrol Olimpija Telekom Baskets Bonn ČEZ Nymburk Lietkabelis PAOK Opava Banvit Third qualifying round JIP Pardubice Nanterre 92 Sakarya Büyükşehir UCAM Murcia medi Bayreuth First qualifying round Telenet Giants Antwerp Petrolina AEK Larnaca Aris Donar Spirou Bakken Bears Szolnoki Olaj Polski Cukier Toruń Avtodor Movistar Estudiantes Hapoel Tel Aviv Porto Nizhny Novgorod Karhu Red October Cantù Oradea Tsmoki-Minsk Leicester Riders Z-Mobile Prishtina Norrköping Dolphins Levski Lukoil Dinamo Tbilisi Šiauliai Fribourg Olympic

Round and draw dates The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at the FIBA headquarters in Mies, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise):

PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualifying roundsFirst qualifying round11 July 201820–21 September 201822–24 September 2018Second qualifying round25–26 September 201827–29 September 2018Third qualifying round1 October 20184 October 2018Regular seasonMatchday 19–10 October 2018Matchday 216–17 October 2018Matchday 323–24 October 2018Matchday 430–31 October 2018Matchday 56–7 November 2018Matchday 613–14 November 2018Matchday 720-21 November 2018Matchday 811–12 December 2018Matchday 918–19 December 2018Matchday 108–9 January 2019Matchday 1115–16 January 2019Matchday 1222–23 January 2019Matchday 1329–30 January 2019Matchday 145–6 February 2019Play-offsRound of 168 February 20195–6 March 201912–13 March 2019Quarter-finals26–27 March 20192–3 April 2019Final FourSemi-finals11 April 20193 May 2019Final5 May 2019

Qualifying rounds The first qualifying rounds were held on 20–21 September and 22–24 September 2018. The second round was held on 25–26 September and 27–29 September 2018. The third round was played on 30 September and 2 October 2018. The losers of all the rounds entered the 2018–19 FIBA Europe Cup regular season. Draw The 24 teams that entered in the first round were divided into four pots. Teams of pot A would play against teams from pot D in games 1 to 6, and pot B teams will face the ones of the pot C. Teams from pots A and B would play the second leg at home.

In the second round, teams from games 7 to 12 would play the first leg at home.

Teams from the same country could not be drawn against each other. +Pot A Telenet Giants Antwerp Bakken Bears Aris Oradea Avtodor Movistar Estudiantes+Pot B Tsmoki-Minsk Spirou Lukoil Levski Szolnoki Olaj Donar Nizhny Novgorod+Pot C Hapoel Tel Aviv Red October Cantù Z-Mobile Prishtina Šiauliai Polski Cukier Toruń Porto+Pot D Petrolina AEK Larnaca Karhu Dinamo Tbilisi Leicester Riders Norrköping Dolphins Fribourg Olympic

First qualifying round A total of 24 teams will play in the first qualifying round. The first legs were played on 20 and 21 September, while the second legs were played on 22 and 24 September 2018.

Second qualifying round The twelve winners of the first qualifying round will play the second round. The first legs were played on 25 and 26 September, while the second legs were played on 27 and 29 September 2018.

After the retirement of Eskişehir, the winner of the series between Red October Cantù and Telenet Giants Antwerp joined directly the regular season.

Third qualifying round After the retirement of Eskişehir, a total of 10 teams will play in the third qualifying round: five teams which enter in this round, and five of the six winners of the second qualifying round. Winners of game 13 will directly qualify to the regular season without playing this round. The first legs were played on 1 October, while the second legs were played on 4 October 2018.

Regular season

The 32 teams are drawn into four groups of eight, with the restriction that teams from the same country could not be drawn against each other. In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away, in a round-robin format. The group winners, runners-up, third-placed teams and fourth-placed teams, advance to the round of 16, while the fifth-placed teams and sixth-placed teams enter the 2018–19 FIBA Europe Cup playoffs.

A total of 32 teams play in the regular season: 26 teams which enter in this stage, and the 6 winners of the third qualifying round. The regular season will start on 9 October 2018 and end 6 February 2019.

Draw Teams were divided into two pots according to the club ranking published by the organization. Twelve teams were named seeded teams while the rest would be unseeded teams. +Seeded teams AEKTH MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg Banvit Neptūnas Beşiktaş Sompo Japan PAOK Brose Bamberg Sidigas Avellino ČEZ Nymburk SIG Strasbourg Iberostar Tenerife Umana Reyer Venezia

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Playoffs

The playoffs start on 5 March 2019 and end 3 April 2019.

In the playoffs, teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the Final Four. In the playoffs draw, the group winners and the runners-up are seeded, and the third-placed teams and the fourth-placed teams are unseeded. The seeded teams are drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group could not be drawn against each other.

Bracket

Round of 16 The first legs were played on 6–7 March, and the second legs on 13–14 March 2019.

Quarterfinals The first legs were played on 27–28 March, and the second legs were played on 3–4 April 2019.

Final Four

The concluding Final Four tournament will be played on 3–5 May 2019. The drawing of the pairings took place on 10 April 2019. On 5 April, the Sportpaleis in Antwerp, Belgium was announced as the venue of the 2019 Final Four.

Awards Most Valuable Player +PlayerTeam Tyrese Rice Brose Bamberg

Final Four MVP Player Team Kevin Punter Virtus Bologna

Star Lineup First team Second team PlayersTeamsPlayersTeams Tyrese Rice Brose Bamberg Paris Lee Telenet Giants Antwerp Kevin Punter Segafredo Virtus Bologna James Feldeine Hapoel Jerusalem Tim Abromaitis Iberostar Tenerife Ovie Soko UCAM Murcia Vince Hunter AEK Athens Amath M'Baye Segafredo Virtus Bologna Ismaël Bako Telenet Giants Antwerp Colton Iverson Iberostar Tenerife All Defensive Team Player TeamRef. İsmail Ulusoy Bantiv Kendrick Perry Nizhny Novgorod Kelvin Martin Virtus Bologna Howard Sant-Roos AEK Athens Youssoupha Fall SIG Strasbourg

Best Young Player +PlayerTeam Tamir Blatt Hapoel Jerusalem

Best Coach +PlayerTeam Roel Moors Telenet Giants Antwerp

Game Day MVP

After each gameday a selection of five players with the highest efficiency ratings is made by the Basketball Champions League. Afterwards, the official website decides which player is crowned Game Day MVP.

Regular season Gameday Player Team EFF 1 Norris Cole Sidigas Avellino 28 2 Austin Daye Umana Reyer Venezia 33 3 Norris Cole (2) Sidigas Avellino 33 4 Vince Hunter AEK 39 5 James Feldeine Hapoel Jerusalem 39 6 Julian Gamble Nanterre 92 34 7 Linos Chrysikopoulos PAOK 25 8 Malcolm Griffin AEK 34 9 Paris Lee Telenet Giants Antwerp 35 10 Jason Rich Beşiktaş Sompo Japan 27 11 Marcos Knight MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg 39 12 Vince Hunter (2) AEK 37 13 Vince Hunter (3) AEK 39 14 Amath M'Baye Segafredo Virtus Bologna 27

Round of 16 Player Team EFF Tyrese Rice Brose Bamberg 14 / 28

Quarterfinals Player Team EFF Tim Abromaitis Iberostar Tenerife 21 / 26

Prize money Based on final position, teams received prize money from the BCL. Competition stageFinal positionPrize money (€)FinalWinners€1,000,000Runners-up€400,000Match for third placeThird place€200,000Fourth place€140,000PlayoffsQuarterfinalist€100,000Round of 16€70,000 Regular season€50,000

Sponsorship Official partner Equipment partnerPeakMolten

See also 2018–19 EuroLeague 2018–19 EuroCup Basketball 2018–19 FIBA Europe Cup

References

External links Basketball Champions League (official website) FIBA (official website)