1997–98 FIBA EuroCup explained

1997–98 FIBA EuroCup
League:	FIBA EuroCup
Sport:	Basketball
Finals:	Final
Finals Link:	1997–98 FIBA EuroCup Final
Finals Mvp:	Saulius Štombergas
Finals Mvp Link:	FIBA Saporta Cup Finals MVP
Finals Champ:	Žalgiris
Finals Runner-Up:	Stefanel Milano
Seasonslistnames:	FIBA EuroCup
Prevseason Link:	1996–97 FIBA EuroCup
Prevseason Year:	1996–97
Nextseason Year:	1998–99
Nextseason Link:	1998–99 FIBA Saporta Cup

The 1997–98 FIBA EuroCup was the thirty-second edition of FIBA's 2nd-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition. it occurred between September 16, 1997, and April 14, 1998. The final was held at Pionir Hall, Belgrade, Yugoslavia. In the final, Žalgiris defeated Stefanel Milano, in front of 5,000 spectators.

Competition system

• 48 teams (national domestic cup champions, plus the best qualified teams from the most important European national domestic leagues), entered a preliminary group stage, divided into eight groups of six teams each, and played a round-robin. The final standings were based on individual wins and defeats. In the case of a tie between two or more teams, after the group stage, the following criteria were used to decide the final classification: 1) number of wins in one-to-one games between the teams; 2) basket average between the teams; 3) general basket average within the group.
• The top four teams from each group qualified for a 1/16 Final Playoff (X-pairings, home and away games), where the winners advanced further to 1/8 Finals, 1/4 Finals, and 1/2 Final.
• The Final was played at a predetermined venue.

Country ranking

For the 1997–1998 FIBA EuroCup, the countries are allocated places according to their place on the FIBA country rankings, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 1994–95 to 1996–97.^[1]

Country ranking for 1997–1998 FIBA EuroCup

Rank Country Points Teams Notes 1 279.667 align=center rowspan=16 2 2 275.000 3 190.833 4 117.500 5 96.667 6 70.542 7 55.389 8 50.833 9 43.048 10 38.833 11 25.000 12 23.071 13 22.500 14 21.206 15 19.416 16 15.762 17 9.667 align=center rowspan=16 1 +1, Marc-Kormend got wild card 18 7.139 +1, USK Erpet Praha got wild card 19 6.555

Rank Country Points Teams Notes 20 6.111 align=center rowspan=13 1 +1, MZT got wild card 21 5.445 22 5.333 23 4.333 24 4.167 25 3.722 26 3.083 -1, Fribourg Olympic withdrew 27 2.694 -1, Slavia Sofia withdrew 28 2.389 -1, Dinamo București withdrew 29 1.861 30 1.778 31 1.500 32 1.500 33 1.500 align=center rowspan=6 0 34 1.444 35 1.361 36 0.167 37 0.111 38 0.056

Team allocation

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:

• 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.: League position after eventual Playoffs
• CW: Cup winners
• WC: Wild card

Regular season
width=210	Festina Joventut (4th)	width=210	Bayer 04 Leverkusen (3rd)	width=210	Spirou (1st)	width=210	Rabotnički (1st)
width=210	Cáceres (10th)	width=210	Tatami Rhöndorf (5th)	width=210	Sunair Oostende (CW)	width=210	MZT Aerodrom (WC)
width=210	Panathinaikos (5th)	width=210	Zrinjevac (3rd)	width=210	Mazowzanka (1st)	width=210	Slovakofarma Pezinok (1st)
width=210	Apollon Achaia Clauss (7th)	width=210	Zagreb (6th)	width=210	Śląsk Wrocław (CW)	width=210	SÜBA Sankt Pölten (1st)
width=210	Stefanel Milano (5th)	width=210	Maccabi Ironi Ra`anana (3rd)	width=210	Žalgiris (1st)	width=210	Plannja (1st)
width=210	Polti Cantù (8th)	width=210	Hapoel Eilat (4th)	width=210	Žemaitijos Lokiai (2nd)	width=210	Keravnos (1st)
width=210	ASVEL (CW)	width=210	Kovinotehna Savinjska Polzela (2nd)	width=210	Budivelnyk (1st)	width=210	London Towers (1st)
width=210	Le Mans (5th)	width=210	Pivovarna Laško (4th)	width=210	BIPA-Moda Odesa (2nd)	width=210	ASK Brocēni (1st)
width=210	Tofaş (4th)	width=210	FMP Železnik (CW)	width=210	Danone-Honvéd (1st)	width=210	Torpan Pojat (1st)
width=210	Fenerbahçe (5th)	width=210	Beobanka (3rd)	width=210	Marc-Körmend (WC)	width=210	Sloboda Dita (1st)
width=210	Avtodor Saratov (2nd)	width=210	Oliveirense (2nd)	width=210	ICEC Opava (1st)	width=210	Kalev (2nd)
width=210	Samara (3rd)	width=210	Portugal Telecom (3rd)	width=210	USK Erpet Praha (WC)	width=210	Libertel Dolphins EBBC (1st)

Preliminary group stage

Key to colors

	Qualified to Round of 32
	Eliminated

Group A width=15 ! width=220 Team ! width=20 Pld ! width=20 Pts ! width=20 W ! width=20 L ! width=20 PF ! width=20 PA ! width=20 PD 1. Festina Joventut 10 19 9 1 884 782 +102 2. Tofaş 10 17 7 3 793 698 +95 3. BIPA-Moda Odesa 10 17 7 3 731 644 +87 4. Torpan Pojat 10 15 5 5 738 735 +3 5. Žemaitijos Lokiai 10 12 2 8 734 854 −120 6. Rabotnički 10 10 0 10 653 820 −167

Group B width=15 ! width=220 Team ! width=20 Pld ! width=20 Pts ! width=20 W ! width=20 L ! width=20 PF ! width=20 PA ! width=20 PD 1. Le Mans 10 17 7 3 794 792 +2 2. Śląsk Wrocław 10 16 6 4 760 751 +9 3. Pivovarna Laško 10 16 6 4 800 783 +17 4. Fenerbahçe 10 15 5 5 783 763 +20 5. ASK Brocēni 10 15 5 5 879 832 +47 6. ICEC Opava 10 11 1 9 745 840 −95

Group C width=15 ! width=220 Team ! width=20 Pld ! width=20 Pts ! width=20 W ! width=20 L ! width=20 PF ! width=20 PA ! width=20 PD 1. Žalgiris 10 17 7 3 777 672 +105 2. ASVEL 10 17 7 3 677 642 +35 3. Mazowzanka 10 16 6 4 827 790 +37 4. Zagreb 10 16 6 4 776 704 +72 5. Kalev 10 14 4 6 690 737 −47 6. MZT Aerodrom 10 10 0 10 634 836 −202

Group D width=15 ! width=220 Team ! width=20 Pld ! width=20 Pts ! width=20 W ! width=20 L ! width=20 PF ! width=20 PA ! width=20 PD 1. Cáceres 10 16 6 4 836 767 +69 2. Samara 10 16 6 4 801 774 +27 3. FMP Železnik 10 16 6 4 793 719 +74 4. Keravnos 10 15 5 5 681 743 −62 5. Oliveirense 10 14 4 6 713 787 −74 6. Plannja 10 13 3 7 819 853 −34

Group E width=15 ! width=220 Team ! width=20 Pld ! width=20 Pts ! width=20 W ! width=20 L ! width=20 PF ! width=20 PA ! width=20 PD 1. Stefanel Milano 10 18 8 2 840 729 +111 2. Beobanka 10 17 7 3 784 716 +68 3. Hapoel Eilat 10 17 7 3 805 787 +18 4. Tatami Rhöndorf 10 15 5 5 765 814 −49 5. Danone-Honvéd 10 12 2 8 721 779 −58 6. London Towers 10 11 1 9 692 782 −90

Group F width=15 ! width=220 Team ! width=20 Pld ! width=20 Pts ! width=20 W ! width=20 L ! width=20 PF ! width=20 PA ! width=20 PD 1. Spirou 10 18 8 2 855 710 +145 2. Apollon Patras 10 17 7 3 910 795 +115 3. Zrinjevac 10 16 6 4 836 822 +14 4. Kovinotehna Savinjska Polzela 10 15 5 5 859 842 +17 5. Libertel Dolphins EBBC 10 13 3 7 761 889 −128 6. USK Erpet Praha 10 11 1 9 730 893 −163

Group G width=15 ! width=220 Team ! width=20 Pld ! width=20 Pts ! width=20 W ! width=20 L ! width=20 PF ! width=20 PA ! width=20 PD 1. Polti Cantù 10 19 9 1 916 762 +154 2. Sunair Oostende 10 17 7 3 860 820 +40 3. Marc-Körmend 10 16 6 4 822 807 +15 4. Bayer 04 Leverkusen 10 15 5 5 820 884 −64 5. Portugal Telecom 10 13 3 7 863 873 −10 6. Sloboda Dita 10 10 0 10 735 870 −135

Group H width=15 ! width=220 Team ! width=20 Pld ! width=20 Pts ! width=20 W ! width=20 L ! width=20 PF ! width=20 PA ! width=20 PD 1. Panathinaikos 10 19 9 1 865 645 +220 2. Avtodor Saratov 10 18 8 2 879 834 +45 3. Maccabi Ironi Ra`anana 10 15 5 5 778 784 −6 4. Slovakofarma Pezinok 10 14 4 6 756 856 −100 5. SÜBA Sankt Pölten 10 12 2 8 707 802 −95 6. Budivelnyk 10 12 2 8 695 759 −64

Round of 32

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Round of 16

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Quarterfinals

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Semifinals

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Final

April 14, Hala Pionir, Belgrade|}

Awards

• Saulius Štombergas ( Žalgiris)

External links

• 1997–98 FIBA EuroCup @ FIBA Europe.com
• 1997–98 FIBA EuroCup @ linguasport.com

Notes and References

1. Web site: Linguasport – FIBA Country Ranking (B). www.linguasport.com. 2020-05-31.