The Italian Basketball Supercup ( it, Supercoppa Italiana di Pallacanestro), also known as

Discovery+ Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discover ...

Supercoppa for sponsorship reasons, is a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

super cup competition. From the 2020 Supercup edition, all the teams of LBA took part in the competition. Created in 1995, it is organised by the

Lega Basket The Lega Basket A (officially: ''Lega Società di Pallacanestro Serie A'', English: Basket League) is the organizing body, as delegated by the Italian Basketball Federation, of the top division of Italian professional men's basketball league, the ...

– who run the LBA and the Italian Cup – in partnership with

RCS Sport RCS Sport is a sport and media company that operates mainly in Italy in the sports sector, as part of RCS MediaGroup. It organises some of Italy's biggest road cycling events, including the Giro d'Italia, Milan–San Remo and Tirreno–Adriatico, ...

, and it traditionally opens the season.

History

The 2014 edition of the Supercup was played on October 4 and 5, at

Sassari Sassari (, ; sdc, Sàssari ; sc, Tàtari, ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 127,525 inhabitants, and a Functional Urban Area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island, ...

PalaSerradimigni Palasport Roberta Serradimigni, commonly known as PalaSerradimigni, is a multi-use indoor sporting arena that is located in Sassari, Sardinia, Italy. The arena can be used to host basketball, volleyball, and handball games. The current seating ca ...

, in a final four format.

Italian League The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

and

Italian Cup Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

runners-up

Montepaschi Siena Mens Sana 1871 Basket is an Italian professional basketball club based in Siena. It is a section of the sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871. Under the name Montepaschi Siena, derived from sponsor Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, ...

(also defending champions), did not participate, after declaring bankruptcy over the summer. Italian League champions EA7 Emporio Armani Milano, comfortably dispatched Enel Brindisi (third in the 2014 cup), by a score of 71–59, in the first semifinal, on the back of

Linas Kleiza Linas Kleiza (; born January 3, 1985) is a Lithuanian professional basketball executive and former player. Standing at , he played at the small forward and power forward positions. In 2010, he was the Alphonso Ford EuroLeague Top Scorer Trophy ...

's and

Joe Ragland Joseph Alexander Ragland (born November 11, 1989) is an American-Liberian professional basketball player for Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played college basketball for North Platte Community College and Wichita Stat ...

's long-distance shooting (17 and 16 points respectively), in a mistake-strewn game. The other semifinal saw cup-holders Banco di Sardegna Sassari, have an easy 89–73 win over Acea Roma (league semifinalist), with the hosts always leading, and Sassari

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Romeo Sacchetti Romeo "Meo" Sacchetti (born August 20, 1953) is an Italian professional basketball coach and former player who is currently a head coach for Pallacanestro Cantù of the Serie A2. Standing at a height of 1.99 m (6 ft. 6 in.), he played ...

, rotating his squad. The final saw Sassari add a second title to their prior cup win, by downing Milano 96–88. The

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

ns started the game on the front foot, leading the first quarter, 29–14, while Milano struggled to score (0-for-6 from three). They continued to drive the game at the start of the second quarter, but Milano found a way back into the game, thanks to stronger defense and a stellar

MarShon Brooks MarShon Scitif Brooks (born January 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Standing at , he plays at shooting guard and small forward positions. Origi ...

, to answer with a 15–0 run from, 36-18 down, with Sassari then finding their scoring shoes to finish the half 50–40. Three's from Ragland and Kleiza helped Milano claw back at the lead, but Brooks missed the shot to equalise, with the quarter ending on 72–68. Sassari would stay in front for the rest of the game, with Supercup MVP

Jerome Dyson Jerome Clifton Dyson (born May 1, 1987) is an American professional basketball player, who lastly played for Spójnia Stargard. He played college basketball with the Connecticut Huskies before playing professionally in the NBA with the New Orlean ...

entertaining the fans. Brooks led all scorers with 26 points, followed for Milano by Ragland (17) and Kleizia (16), whilst Dyson paced the winners with 25, and three other players had 14 points. The 2015 edition took place in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

PalaRuffini PalaRuffini, formerly known as Palasport di Torino, is a multi-purpose Indoor arena located in Turin, Italy. It is primarily used for basketball and volleyball games, as well as boxing matches and concerts. The arena's seating capacity is 4,500 pe ...

, on 26 and 27 September. It pitted Banco di Sardegna Sassari (both league and cup holders) against

Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia Pallacanestro Reggiana, also known for sponsorship reasons as UnaHotels Reggio Emilia, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna. It plays in the LBA as of the 2022-23 season. History 1970s Pallacanest ...

(league runners-up) and EA7 Emporio Armani Milano (cup finalist and league semifinalist) against

Umana Reyer Venezia S.S.P. Reyer Venezia Mestre, commonly known as Reyer Venezia or simply Reyer, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Venice, Veneto. The club currently plays in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the highest tier of basketball in ...

(league semifinalist) in the semifinals.

Format

In 2000, the Supercup was organised on a bigger scale, with all but one of the Serie A and Serie A2 teams participating (

Viola Reggio Calabria Viola Reggio Calabria was an Italian professional basketball club based in Reggio Calabria, Calabria. At its heyday the club was renowned for discovering talented players who would go on to play at the highest level, for example five former pla ...

were caught up in a tournament in Buenos Aires), with the league and cup holders already qualified for the semifinals. The next year, the four best-ranked teams in the league took part in a Supercup final four. The 2014 edition saw the Supercup contested by four squads, with the league champion playing the runner up of the cup, and the cup winner playing the league regular season runner-up (barring that, the next best placed team in the cup and the league are chosen in that order). The format was confirmed for the following editions. In 2020 edition all the teams of LBA took part in the Supercup, due to the early conclusion of the 2019–20 LBA season caused by COVID-19 pandemic. The competition consists of 4 round robin groups that qualify 4 teams to the Final Four that was held in Bologna at the Segafredo Arena. The format was confirmed for the 2021 edition, with a Final Eight in place of a Final Four.

Media scrutiny

Some observers have derided the Italian Basketball Supercup as a, "minor trophy", in contrast to the

. Journalist's such as the Corriere di Bologna's, Daniele Labanti, and

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's Paolo Corio, reacted to the low spectator turnout at the 2014 edition (as part of a general trend), organised in

, by unfavorably comparing its appeal to that of the top level

Italian league The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

, the top level Italian Cup, and the EuroLeague (in which the home team would be involved). The formula and venue was also criticised, with calls to organise a single final, in a city bereft of a

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basketball (such as

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

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), or even abroad, in the manner of the Italian football Supercup.

Title holders

Mens Sana are the record-holders with seven cups,

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

and

Milano Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city has ...

follow with four titles,

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

have participated in the most finals (11), winning the cup three times. * 1995: Buckler Beer Bologna * 1996: Riello Mash Verona * 1997: Benetton Treviso * 1998: Teamsystem Bologna * 1999: Varese Roosters * 2000: Aeroporti di Roma Virtus * 2001: Benetton Treviso * 2002: Benetton Treviso * 2003: Oregon Scientific Cantù * 2004:

* 2005: Climamio Bologna * 2006: Benetton Treviso * 2007:

* 2008:

* 2009:

* 2010:

* 2011:

* 2012: Lenovo Cantù * 2013: ''

'' (revoked)Following an investigation for accounting and fiscal fraud, the Italian Basketball Federation revoked all the domestic titles won by the club during the 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons. * 2014: Banco di Sardegna Sassari * 2015:

* 2016: EA7 Emporio Armani Milano * 2017: EA7 Emporio Armani Milano * 2018: AX Armani Exchange Milano * 2019: Banco di Sardegna Sassari * 2020: AX Armani Exchange Milano * 2021: Virtus Segafredo Bologna * 2022: Virtus Segafredo Bologna

The finals

*Player nationalities by

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

. Note: boxscores from Lega Basket (retrieved 21 September 2021)

Performance by club

References

External links

Results from Lega Basket
Retrieved 14 September 2015 {{European basketball cups Annual sporting events in Italy Recurring sporting events established in 1995 1995 establishments in Italy Supercup

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 re ...

Professional sports leagues in Italy