The 2017–18 FIBA Europe Cup was the third season of the
FIBA Europe Cup
The FIBA Europe Cup (FEC) is an annual professional club basketball competition organised by FIBA for eligible European clubs. It is FIBA Europe's second level competition. Clubs mainly qualify based on their performance in national leagues an ...
, a European
professional
A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...
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 (appro ...
competition for
clubs
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Club (magazine), ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands a ...
that was launched by
FIBA
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...
. The competition began on 20 September 2017, with the qualifying rounds, and concluded with the second leg of the final on 2 May 2018.
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 Italian basketball league sys ...
won its first European competition, after defeating
Sidigas Scandone in the all-Italian
Finals
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
.
Format changes
For the 2017–18 season, the FIBA Europe Cup was reduced to 32 teams in the regular season. This included eight groups of four teams divided into two conferences and the two top teams from each regular season group would advance to the second round of four groups of four teams followed by the two-legged play-offs. 19 out of 22 teams were dropped from
Champions League qualifying rounds while 10 teams come (with additional 3 lucky losers team) from the qualifying rounds that were implemented.
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.
Team allocation
A total of 60 teams are expected to participate in the 2017–18 FIBA Europe Cup.
Teams
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
* CL: Transferred from Champions League
** RS: Fifth-placed and sixth-placed teams from regular season
** QR: Losers from qualifying rounds
Round and draw dates
The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at the FIBA headquarters in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, unless stated otherwise):
Qualifying rounds
The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 3 August 2017 at the FIBA headquarters in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.
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.
First qualifying round
A total of 20 teams played in the first qualifying round. The first legs were played on 19–21 and 24 September, and the second legs were played on 26–28 September 2017.
Second qualifying round
A total of 20 teams played in the second qualifying round: 10 teams which enter in this round, and the 10 winners of the first qualifying round. The first legs were played on 3 and 4 October, and the second legs were played on 10 and 11 October 2017.
Lucky losers table
Three teams would advance as lucky losers of the qualifying rounds, for replacing teams dropped from the Champions League that refused to join the competition. The three teams with the smallest point difference in the second qualifying round advanced to the regular season.
Regular season
The draw for the regular season was held on 3 August 2017 at the FIBA headquarters in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.
The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four, 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 and runners-up advance to the
second round
The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...
, while the third-placed teams and fourth-placed teams are eliminated.
A total of 32 teams play in the regular season: the ten winners of the play-off round, the 19 of 24 losers of the
2017–18 Champions League qualifying rounds and the three lucky losers who replaced the defeated teams that used their opt-out clause.
FIBA has provided information on the situation of teams who signed a clause that allows them to withdraw from the FIBA Europe Cup if they are eliminated in the
2017–18 Basketball Champions League qualifying rounds. In other words, the following nine teams ended their continental adventure when they were eliminated from the main continental competition organized under the aegis of FIBA and therefore refuse to participate in the FIBA Europe Cup:
;Opt-out clause teams
*
Kalev/Cramo
* ''
Nanterre 92
Nanterre 92 is a professional basketball club from the city of Nanterre (a western suburb of Paris), France. The club has played in French basketball league system, the top-tier level basketball league in France, the LNB Pro A, Pro A, since 2011. ...
''
* ''
MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg''
* ''
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
''
*
Vytautas
Vytautas the Great (; 27 October 1430) was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was also the prince of Grodno (1370–1382), prince of Lutsk (1387–1389), and the postulated king of the Hussites.
In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revere ...
*
Divina Seguros Joventut
* ''
Movistar Estudiantes''
*
Luleå
Luleå ( , , locally ; ; ) is a Cities in Sweden, city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the County Administrative Boards of Sweden, capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban ...
*
Budivelnyk
Depending on the number of teams mentioned above that were eliminated from the Basketball Champions League qualifying rounds and with the aim to complete the 32 places in the regular season, the number of the defeated teams in the second qualifying round of the FIBA Europe Cup that advanced to the regular season were determined by the point difference recorded at the end of their pairings. In their draw, the first qualifying round was used for tie-breaking. In the draw persists, the next criterion was the performance of clubs in the last three seasons at the European competitions.
[
Finally, the best three losing teams have qualified for the group stage:]
;Qualified lucky losers
* Bnei Herzliya
Bnei Herzliya Basket (, lit. ''Sons of Herzliya''), is a professional basketball club that is based in Herzliya, in central Israel. The club plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top division of Israeli basketball.
History
The club w ...
* Khimik
* Balkan
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
The three lucky losers were drawn into Groups D, F and G by FIBA Europe on 12 October in the House of Basketball in Mies, Switzerland.
The match-days were on 18 October, 25 October, 1 November, 8 November, 15 November and 6 December 2017.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Second round
In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advance to the round of 16
A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
, while the third-placed teams and fourth-placed teams are eliminated.
A total of 16 teams play in the second round: the eight group winners and the eight runners-up of the regular season. The match-days will be on 20 December 2017, 10 January, 17 January, 24 January, 31 January and 7 February 2018.
Group I
Group J
Group K
Group L
Ranking of third-placed teams
Play-offs
In the play-offs
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
, teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis. The playoff round starts with 16 teams, where second round group winners and runners-up are joined by eight more teams transferring from the Basketball Champions League
The Basketball Champions League (BCL), also commonly known as the FIBA Champions League, is an annual professional basketball competition for European sports club, clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the European professional club basketball system ...
. The draw was made without any restriction. Movistar Estudiantes, Élan Chalon
Élan Sportif Chalonnais, commonly known as Élan Chalon, is a French professional basketball club that is based in Chalon-sur-Saône, France. The team's main colors are red and white, and their mascot is a moose. The team's home arena is called ...
, AEK Athens
A.E.K. (; Athlitikà Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens.
Establishe ...
and SIG Strasbourg, had opt-out clauses from playing in the FIBA Europe Cup and in the event of them claiming fifth or sixth place, their spot would be filled by the best-ranked third-placed teams from the second round.
Bracket
Round of 16
The first legs were played on 6–7 March, and the second legs on 13–14 March 2018.
Quarter-finals
The first legs were played on 20–21 March, and the second legs on 27–28 March 2018.
Semi-finals
The first legs will be played on 11 April, and the second legs will be played on 18 April 2018.
Finals
The first leg will be played on 25 April, and the second leg will be played on 2 May 2018.
Individual honours
Top Performer
After each gameday a selection of five players with the highest efficiency
Efficiency is the often measurable ability to avoid making mistakes or wasting materials, energy, efforts, money, and time while performing a task. In a more general sense, it is the ability to do things well, successfully, and without waste.
...
ratings is made by the FIBA Europe Cup. Afterwards, the official website decides which player is crowned Top Performer of the round.
;Regular season
;Second round
;Round of 16
;Quarterfinals
;Semifinals
See also
* 2017–18 EuroLeague
The 2017–18 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague was the 18th season of the modern era of Euroleague Basketball and the eighth under the title sponsorship of the Turkish Airlines. Including the competition's previous incarnation as the FIBA Europe Champi ...
* 2017–18 EuroCup Basketball
* 2017–18 Basketball Champions League
References
External links
FIBA Europe Cup
(official website)
FIBA
(official website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:2017-18 FIBA Europe Cup
FIBA Europe Cup seasons