2017–18 Basketball Champions League Explained

Prevseason Year:2016–17
Nextseason Year:2018–19
Basketball Champions League
Pixels:300
Season:2017–18
Champions: AEK Athens (1st title)
Runners Up: Monaco
Third Place: UCAM Murcia
Fourth Place: MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg
Teams:32 (competition proper)
56 (qualifying)
Dates:19 September – 2 October 2017
(qualifying)
10 October 2017 – 6 May 2018
(competition proper)
Mvp Link:Basketball Champions League MVP
Mvp N:USA
Final Four Mvp Link:Basketball Champions League Final Four MVP
Final Four Mvp N:USA
Pir:21.4
Pir N:USA
Ppg:21.1
Ppg N:USA
Rpg:9.0
Rpg N:USA
Apg:7.2
Apg N:MNE
Highest Attendance:17,984

(6 May 2018)
Winning Streak:13 games
Monaco

The 2017–18 Basketball Champions League was the second season of the Basketball Champions League (BCL), a European-wide professional basketball competition for clubs, that was launched by FIBA. The competition began on 19 September 2017, with the qualifying rounds, and concluded on 6 May 2018, including 20 domestic champions.

The Final Four, which was held 4–6 May, was hosted at the Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece. Hosts AEK Athens won their first Champions League title after defeating Monaco in the final. UCAM Murcia finished in third place while MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg was fourth.

Format changes

For the 2017–18 season, the league went back to the initial format of the 2016–17 season, which includes a regular season of four groups of eight teams, followed by a knock-out stage. 24 teams will be qualified directly, while eight teams will come from the three qualifying rounds that will be implemented. In the Round of 16 and quarterfinals, two-legged series will be played, and the season will be capped off with the Final Four.[1]

Eligibility of players

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 less players.[1]

Team allocation

A total of 56 teams (of which 20 were champions) from 32 countries participated in the 2017–18 Basketball Champions League.[2]

Teams

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round (TH: Basketball Champions League title holders; FEC: FIBA Europe Cup title holders):

Regular season
Iberostar TenerifeTH
Third qualifying round
Nanterre 92FEC
Second qualifying round
First qualifying round
Notes

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):[3]

PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond leg
Qualifying roundsFirst qualifying round11 July 201719 September 201721 September 2017
Second qualifying round24 September 201726 September 2017
Third qualifying round29 September 20172 October 2017
Regular seasonMatchday 110–11 October 2017
Matchday 217–18 October 2017
Matchday 324–25 October 2017
Matchday 431 October–1 November 2017
Matchday 57–8 November 2017
Matchday 614–15 November 2017
Matchday 75–6 December 2017
Matchday 812–13 December 2017
Matchday 919–20 December 2017
Matchday 109–10 January 2018
Matchday 1116–17 January 2018
Matchday 1223–24 January 2018
Matchday 1330–31 January 2018
Matchday 146–7 February 2018
Play-offsRound of 1614 February 20186–7 March 201813–14 March 2018
Quarter-finals27–28 March 20183–4 April 2018
Final FourSemi-finals12 April 20184 May 2018
Final6 May 2018

Qualifying rounds

The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 11 July 2017, at the FIBA headquarters in Mies, Switzerland.[4] [5]

In the qualifying rounds, teams are divided into seeded and unseeded teams, based on their club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same country cannot be drawn against each other. However, 19 of 24 losing teams enter the 2017–18 FIBA Europe Cup regular season.

First qualifying round

A total of 16 teams played in the first qualifying round. The first legs were played on 19 September, and the second legs were played on 21 September 2017.

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Second qualifying round

A total of 16 teams played in the second qualifying round: eight teams which enter in this round, and the eight winners of the first qualifying round. The first legs were played on 24 September, and the second legs were played on 26 September 2017.

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Third qualifying round

A total of 16 teams played in the third qualifying round: Eight teams which enter in this round, and the eight winners of the second qualifying round. The first legs was played on 29 September, and the second legs were played on 2 October 2017.

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Regular season

The draw for the regular season was held on 11 July 2017, at the FIBA headquarters in Mies, Switzerland.[4] [5]

The 32 teams are drawn into four groups of eight, with the restriction that teams from the same country cannot 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 2017–18 FIBA Europe Cup round of 16.

A total of 32 teams play in the regular season: 24 teams which enter in this stage, and the 8 winners of the third qualifying round. The match-days will be on 10–11 October, 17–18 October, 24–25 October, 31 October–1 November, 7–8 November, 14–15 November, 5–6 December, 12–13 December, 19–20 December 2016, 9–10 January, 16–17 January, 23–24 January, 30–31 January and 6–7 February 2017.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Playoffs

See main article: 2017–18 Basketball Champions League Playoffs.

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 cannot be drawn against each other.

Round of 16

The first legs were played on 6–7 March, and the second legs on 13–14 March 2018.

Quarterfinals

The first legs were played on 27–28 March, and the second legs were played on 3–4 April 2018.

Final Four

See main article: 2018 Basketball Champions League Final Four. The concluding Final Four tournament will be played on 4–6 May 2018. The drawing of the pairings took place on 12 April 2018. On 5 April, the O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece was announced as the venue of the 2018 Final Four.[6]

Awards

Most Valuable Player

!Player!Team!
AEK Athens

Star Lineup

First teamSecond team
PlayersTeamsPlayersTeams
Manny Harris AEK Athens Gabe York medi Bayreuth
D. J. Kennedy Pinar Karşıyaka Kendrick Ray ČEZ Nymburk
Ovie Soko UCAM Murcia Christopher Evans Monaco
Louis Labeyrie SIG Strasbourg Dusan Sakota AEK Athens
Elmedin Kikanović Monaco Gašper Vidmar Banvit

Best Young Player

!Player!Team!
SikeliArchivi Capo d'Orlando

Best Defender

!Player!Team!
MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg[7]

Best Coach

!Player!Team!
MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg

Game Day MVP

See main article: Basketball Champions League 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.

Round of 16

width=190 Playerwidth=190 TeamEFF
Manny Harris (2)

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Basketball Champions League announces next season's competition format, calendar and improved financial benefits. BasketballCL.com. 8 May 2017. en.
  2. News: Champions line up in battle for European glory. BasketballCL.com. 28 June 2017. en.
  3. Web site: BCL Competition Regulations 2017-18. BasketballCL.com. 24 May 2017. en.
  4. News: Basketball Champions League draw explained. BasketballCL.com. 4 July 2017. en.
  5. News: Basketball Champions League Qualification Rounds and Regular Season draw completed. BasketballCL.com. 11 July 2017. en.
  6. Web site: Athens to host Basketball Champions League Final Four. 5 April 2018. 5 April 2018. Championsleague.basketball.
  7. Web site: Thomas Walkup named 2018 FIBA Champions League "Best Defender" . 2023-07-17 . FIBA.basketball . en.