The 2000–01 Euroleague was the inaugural

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

season of the EuroLeague, under the newly formed

Euroleague Basketball Company Euroleague Basketball is the private company that runs and operates the top continental-wide basketball men's professional sports club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has been or ...

's authority, and it was the 44th season of the premier competition for European men's professional basketball clubs overall. It started on October 16, 2000, with a regular season game between hosts Real Madrid Teka and

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

, which was held at the

Raimundo Saporta Pavilion Raimundo Saporta Pavilion (originally known as Pabellón de la Ciudad Deportiva del Real Madrid) was an indoor arena located in Madrid, Spain. It was used particularly for basketball matches of Real Madrid. Until 1999, it was known as the Pabell� ...

, in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, and it ended with the last championship finals game on May 10, 2001, which was held at the PalaMalaguti arena, in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. 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 The 2000–01 FIBA SuproLeague was the FIBA European professional club basketball Champions' Cup for the 2000–01 season. Up until that season, there was one cup, the FIBA European Champions' Cup (which is now called the EuroLeague), though in ...

competition instead, after the row erupted between the previous EuroLeague governing body,

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

, and the newly established Euroleague Basketball Company. A total of 24 teams competed for the EuroLeague title, which was in the end won by Kinder Bologna.

Dejan Tomašević Dejan Tomašević ( sr, Дејан Томашевић; born 6 May 1973) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player. An All-EuroLeague Team selection on two occasions, he played with Borac Čačak, Crvena zvezda, Partizan, ...

was the

EuroLeague Regular season MVP The EuroLeague Regular Season and Top 16 MVP were awards that were given out by the top-tier level European-wide men's professional club basketball league, the EuroLeague. The EuroLeague initially gave out MVP awards for both the "regular seaso ...

, and

Manu Ginóbili Emanuel David Ginóbili Maccari (, , ; born 28 July 1977) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. Over a 23-year professional career, he became one of only two players (along with Bill Bradley) to have won a EuroLeague title, an ...

was the

EuroLeague Finals MVP The EuroLeague Final Four Most Valuable Player Award is presented and awarded to the basketball player who has exhibited the most exceptional play during the EuroLeague Final Four. The award often goes to the best player on the European-wide top ...

European Champions' Cup teams divided

The FIBA European Champions' Cup was originally established by

and it operated under its umbrella from 1958 until the summer of 2000, concluding with the 1999–2000 season.

was created after the end of the FIBA European Champions Cup. FIBA had never trademarked the "EuroLeague" name and had no

legal recourse A legal recourse is an action that can be taken by an individual or a corporation to attempt to remedy a legal difficulty. * A lawsuit if the issue is a matter of civil law * Contracts that require mediation or arbitration before a dispute can go ...

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 The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

(renamed from the FIBA EuroLeague) and Euroleague. Top clubs were split between the two leagues:

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

, Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv,

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...

, and Efes Pilsen stayed with FIBA, while

, Kinder Bologna, Real Madrid,

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

Tau Cerámica Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, S.A.D., commonly known as Saski Baskonia (), also known as Cazoo Baskonia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the ...

, and Benetton Treviso joined Euroleague Basketball.

Team allocation

A total of 24 teams from 14 countries participate in the competition.

Distribution

The table below shows the default access list. 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

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

Source

Group B

Source

Group C

Source

Group D

Source

Playoffs

Round of 16

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.

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.

Awards

Top Scorer

Regular Season MVP

Finals MVP

Finals Top Scorer

All-Euroleague First Team

All-Euroleague Second Team

Round MVP

Regular season

Playoffs

Individual statistics

Rating

Points

Rebounds

Assists

Other statistics

Individual game highs

Aftermath

In May 2001, Europe had two continental champions, Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C., Maccabi Tel Aviv of the

and Kinder Bologna of

's EuroLeague. The leaders of both organizations realized the need to come up with a new single competition. Negotiating from the position of strength, Euroleague Basketball Company dictated proceedings, and FIBA essentially had no choice but to agree to their terms. As a result, the EuroLeague was fully integrated under Euroleague Basketball Company's umbrella, and teams that competed in the FIBA SuproLeague during the 2000–01 season joined it as well. It is today officially admitted that European basketball had two champions that year, Maccabi of the FIBA SuproLeague and Kinder Bologna of the Euroleague Basketball Company's EuroLeague. A year later,

and FIBA decided that Euroleague Basketball's EuroLeague competition would be the main basketball tournament on the continent, to be played between the top level teams of Europe. FIBA Europe would also organize a European league for third-tier level teams, known as the

FIBA Europe League FIBA EuroChallenge (called the FIBA Europe League in 2003–05, and FIBA EuroCup in 2005–08) was the 3rd-tier level transnational men's professional continental club basketball competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run ...

competition, while Euroleague Basketball would also organize its own second-tier level league, combining FIBA's long-time

Korać Cup Korać is a surname. Notable persons with that name include: * Dušan Korać (disambiguation), multiple people * Milorad Korać (born 1969), Serbian football player and manager * Radivoj Korać (1938–1969), Serbian basketball player * Vitomir ...

and Saporta Cup competitions into one new competition, the EuroCup. In 2005, Euroleague Basketball and FIBA decided to cooperate with each other, and did so jointly until 2016. In essence, the authority in European professional basketball was divided over club-country lines. FIBA stayed in charge of national team competitions (like the

FIBA EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

, the FIBA World Cup, and the Summer Olympics), while Euroleague Basketball took over the European professional club competitions. From that point on, FIBA's

and Saporta Cup competitions lasted only one more season before folding, which was when Euroleague Basketball launched the EuroCup.

References and notes

External links

2000–01 Euroleague

Eurobasket.com 2000–01 Euroleague
{{DEFAULTSORT:2000-01 Euroleague EuroLeague seasons

European Champions' Cup teams divided

Team allocation

Distribution

Teams

Regular season

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Playoffs

Round of 16

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

Awards

Top Scorer

Regular Season MVP

Finals MVP

Finals Top Scorer

All-Euroleague First Team

All-Euroleague Second Team

Round MVP

Regular season

Playoffs

Individual statistics

Rating

Points

Rebounds

Assists

Other statistics

Individual game highs

Aftermath

See also

References and notes

External links