The 2008–09 Euroleague was the 9th season of the professional basketball competition for elite clubs throughout Europe, organised by Euroleague Basketball Company, and it was the 52nd season of the premier competition for European men's clubs overall. The season, which featured 24 teams from 13 countries, culminated in the 2008–09 Euroleague Final Four at the new O2 World arena in Berlin, Germany.[1] It was won by Panathinaikos, who defeated in the final, the defending champions, CSKA Moscow.

Euroleague
The Final Four was held in the O2 World in Berlin
Season2008–09
Duration22 October 2008 – 3 May 2009
Games played188
Teams24
Regular season
Season MVPSpain Juan Carlos Navarro
Finals
ChampionsGreece Panathinaikos
5th title
  Runners-upRussia CSKA Moscow
Third placeSpain FC Barcelona
Fourth placeGreece Olympiacos
Final Four MVPGreece Vassilis Spanoulis
Awards
Rising StarSerbia Novica Veličković
Best DefenderGreece Dimitris Diamantidis
Coach of the YearSerbia Duško Vujošević
Statistical leaders
Points Serbia Igor Rakočević 18.0
Rebounds Turkey Mirsad Türkcan 8.6
Assists Greece Theodoros Papaloukas 5.2
Index Rating Israel D'or Fischer 21.5

While the general structure of the competition was identical to that used in recent seasons, changes were made to the format for two of its phases, the Regular Season and Quarterfinals.

Top 16 game between Real Madrid and Maccabi Electra

Teams of the 2008–09 Euroleague

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Key to colors
     Champion
     Runner-up
     Third place
     Fourth place
     Eliminated in Quarterfinals
     Eliminated in Last 16
     Eliminated in the regular season
Country (League) Teams Teams (ranking in 2007-08 national championship)
  Spain (ACB) 5 [2] Tau Cerámica (1) FC Barcelona (2) DKV Joventut (SF) Unicaja Málaga (SF) Real Madrid (QF)
  Italy (Lega A) 4 Montepaschi Siena (1) Lottomatica Roma (2) Air Avellino (SF) Armani Jeans Milano (SF)
  Greece (ESAKE A1) 3 Panathinaikos (1) Olympiacos (2) Panionios Forthnet (3)
  Turkey (TBL) 2 Fenerbahçe Ülker (1) Efes Pilsen (SF)
  France (LNB Pro A) 2 Nancy (1) Le Mans (SF)
  Lithuania (LKL) 1 Žalgiris (1)
  Germany (BBL) 1 Alba Berlin (1)
  Croatia (A1 Liga) 1 Cibona (SF)
  Russia (Superleague A) 1 CSKA Moscow (1)
  Israel (BSL) 1 Maccabi Electra (2)
  Slovenia (SKL) 1 Union Olimpija (1)
  Serbia (KLS) 1 Partizan (1)
  Poland (PLK) 1 Asseco Prokom Sopot (1)
  • DKV Joventut qualified as ULEB Cup winners.

Team rosters

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Format

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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. This was the first year for this particular format; previously, the competing teams were split into three groups of eight teams each, with the top five teams in each group plus the best sixth-place team advancing.

If two or more clubs finished level on won-lost record, tiebreakers were applied in the following order:[3]

  1. Head-to-head record in matches between the tied clubs
  2. Overall point difference in games between the tied clubs
  3. Overall point difference in all group matches
  4. Points scored in all group matches
  5. Sum of quotients of points scored and points allowed in each group match

Games were played from October 22, 2008 to January 15, 2009.[4]

Top 16

The surviving teams were then divided into four groups of four teams each, and again a round-robin system was adopted resulting in 6 games each, with the top 2 teams advancing to the quarterfinals. Tiebreakers are identical to those used in the Regular Season. Games began on January 28 and ended March 12.

Quarterfinals

In the quarterfinals, the top placed teams from each Top 16 group played second placed teams from a different group in a best-of-five playoff series, with the winners of those series advancing to the Final Four. This was the first season in which the quarterfinals were best-of-five; previously, they had been best-of-three. The quarterfinal matches were played from March 24 until April 9.

Final Four format

The culminating stage of the Euroleague in which the four remaining teams played a semifinal match and the winners of those advance to the final. The losers played in a third-place playoff. The team which was victorious in the Final (Panathinaikos) would be Euroleague champion. The Final Four semifinals were played May 1, with the third-place game and final on May 3.

Regular season

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The regular season began on October 20, 2008 and concluded on January 15, 2009.

Key to colors
     Top four places in each group advanced to Top 16

Group A

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Team Pld W L PF PA Diff
1.   Unicaja Málaga 10 8 2 771 698 +73
2.   Olympiacos 10 6 4 815 748 +67
3.   Maccabi Electra 10 6 4 815 811 +4
4.   Cibona VIP 10 5 5 760 772 -12
5.   Air Avellino 10 3 7 754 814 -60
6.   Le Mans 10 2 8 747 819 -72

Group B

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Team Pld W L PF PA Diff
1.   FC Barcelona 10 9 1 813 650 +163
2.   Montepaschi Siena 10 8 2 835 750 +85
3.   Panathinaikos 10 7 3 763 707 +56
4.   Asseco Prokom Sopot 10 2 8 675 734 -59
5.   Žalgiris 10 2 8 716 812 -96
6.   Nancy 10 2 8 706 855 -149

Group C

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Team Pld W L PF PA Diff
1.   Tau Cerámica 10 8 2 916 808 +108
2.   Lottomatica Roma 10 6 4 814 786 +28
3.   Fenerbahçe Ülker 10 6 4 779 755 +24
4.   Alba Berlin 10 4 6 691 748 -57
5.   DKV Joventut 10 4 6 800 810 -10
6.   Union Olimpija 10 2 8 725 818 -93

Group D

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Team Pld W L PF PA Diff
1.   CSKA Moscow 10 7 3 774 644 +130
2.   Real Madrid 10 6 4 740 707 +33
3.   Armani Jeans Milano 10 5 5 734 745 -11
4.   Partizan 10 5 5 706 687 +19
5.   Efes Pilsen 10 4 6 713 762 -49
6.   Panionios Forthnet 10 3 7 668 790 -122

Top 16

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The Top 16 stage was played from January 28 to March 12, 2009.

The draw was conducted on January 19 at Euroleague Basketball Company headquarters in Barcelona. The group winners in the Regular Season were drawn from one pot, the runners-up from one pot, the teams in 3rd place from one pot and those in 4th place from one pot. Teams that played in the same group in the Regular Season could not meet again in the Top 16. Also, teams from the same country could not be drawn into the same pool unless it was necessary to prevent teams from the same Regular Season group from being drawn together.

Key to colors
     Top two places in each group advanced to quarterfinals

Group E

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Team Pld W L PF PA Diff
1.   Olympiacos 6 5 1 496 446 +50
2.   Tau Cerámica 6 4 2 556 474 +82
3.   Armani Jeans Milano 6 2 4 455 529 -74
4.   Asseco Prokom Sopot 6 1 5 444 502 -58

Group F

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Team Pld W L PF PA Diff
1.   FC Barcelona 6 5 1 508 429 +79
2.   Real Madrid 6 5 1 505 487 +18
3.   Maccabi Electra 6 2 4 459 481 -22
4.   Alba Berlin 6 0 6 427 502 -75

*FC Barcelona wins the group over Real Madrid by the head-to-head point differential.

Group G

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Team Pld W L PF PA Diff
1.   Panathinaikos 6 5 1 503 428 +72
2.   Partizan 6 4 2 420 434 -14
3.   Unicaja Málaga 6 2 4 484 461 +23
4.   Lottomatica Roma 6 1 5 441 525 -84

Group H

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Team Pld W L PF PA Diff
1.   CSKA Moscow 6 5 1 454 377 +77
2.   Montepaschi Siena 6 4 2 472 456 +16
3.   Cibona VIP 6 2 4 423 456 -33
4.   Fenerbahçe Ülker 6 1 5 384 444 -60

Quarterfinals

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Team 1 hosted Games 1 and 2, plus Game 5 if necessary. Team 2 hosted Game 3, and Game 4 if necessary.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg 3rd leg 4th leg 5th leg
Olympiacos   3–1   Real Madrid 88–79 79–73 63–71 78–75
Regal FC Barcelona   3–2   Tau Cerámica 75–84 85–62 62–69 84–63 78–62
Panathinaikos   3–1   Montepaschi Siena 90–85 79–84 72–53 91–84
CSKA Moscow   3–0   Partizan 56–47 77–50 67–56

Final four

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The Final Four was played on May 1 and on May 3. Semifinal games were played on Friday, while the third-place playoff and Final were played on Sunday. The event was hosted at the O2 World in Berlin. It was the first time the event was held in Berlin.

 
Semifinals
May 1
Final
May 3
 
      
 
 
 
 
  Regal FC Barcelona78
 
 
 
  CSKA Moscow82
 
  CSKA Moscow71
 
 
 
  Panathinaikos73
 
  Olympiacos82
 
 
  Panathinaikos84
 
Third place
 
 
 
 
 
  Regal FC Barcelona 95
 
 
  Olympiacos 79

Individual statistics

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Rating

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Rank Name Team Games Rating PIR
1.   D'or Fischer   Maccabi Electra 13 279 21.46
2.   Terrell McIntyre   Montepaschi Siena 19 377 19.84
3.   Mirsad Türkcan   Fenerbahçe Ülker 14 271 19.36

Points

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Rank Name Team Games Rating PPG
1.   Igor Rakočević   Tau Cerámica 21 377 17.95
2.   Terrell McIntyre   Montepaschi Siena 19 328 17.26
3.   David Logan   Asseco Prokom Sopot 15 253 16.87

Rebounds

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Rank Name Team Games Rating RPG
1.   Mirsad Türkcan   Fenerbahçe Ülker 14 121 8.64
2.   D'or Fischer   Maccabi Electra 13 99 7.62
3.   Ioannis Bourousis   Olympiacos 22 162 7.36

Assists

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Rank Name Team Games Rating APG
1.   Theodoros Papaloukas   Olympiacos 22 114 5.18
2.   Omar Cook   Unicaja Málaga 16 82 5.13
3.   Terrell McIntyre   Montepaschi Siena 19 84 4.42

Other Stats

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Category Name Team Games Stat
Steals per game   David Logan   Asseco Prokom Sopot 15 2.67
Blocks per game   Fran Vázquez   FC Barcelona 23 1.74
Turnovers per game   David Logan   Asseco Prokom Sopot 15 2.93
Fouls drawn per game   Sani Bečirović   Lottomatica Roma 13 6.23
Minutes per game   David Logan   Asseco Prokom Sopot 15 34:18
2FG%   Luboš Bartoň   FC Barcelona 23 0.800
3FG%   Marco Mordente   Armani Jeans Milano 12 0.555
FT%   Louis Bullock   Real Madrid 20 0.953

Game highs

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Category Name Team Stat
Rating   Lior Eliyahu   Maccabi Electra 42
Points   Terrell McIntyre   Montepaschi Siena 35
Rebounds   Pat Burke   Asseco Prokom Sopot 20
Assists   Theodoros Papaloukas   Olympiacos 13
Steals 7 occasions 6
Blocks   Loren Woods   Žalgiris 7
Turnovers 3 occasions 8
Fouls Drawn   Sani Bečirović   Lottomatica Roma 12

Awards

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Euroleague 2008–09 MVP

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Euroleague 2008–09 Final Four MVP

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All-Euroleague Team 2008–09

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[5]

Position All-Euroleague First Team Club team All-Euroleague Second Team Club team
  Terrell McIntyre   Montepaschi Siena   Theodoros Papaloukas   Olympiacos
  Igor Rakočević   Tau Cerámica   Ramūnas Šiškauskas   CSKA Moscow
  Juan Carlos Navarro   FC Barcelona   Vassilis Spanoulis   Panathinaikos
  Ioannis Bourousis   Olympiacos   Erazem Lorbek   CSKA Moscow
  Nikola Peković   Panathinaikos   Tiago Splitter   Tau Cerámica

Rising Star

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Best Defender

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Coach of the Year (Alexander Gomelsky Award)

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Club Executive of the Year

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MVP Weekly

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Regular season

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Game Player Team Rating
1   Will McDonald   Tau Cerámica 32
2   Pops Mensah-Bonsu   Joventut Badalona 37
3   Igor Rakočević   Tau Cerámica 34
4   Mike Hall   Armani Jeans Milano 28
5   Edu Hernandez-Sonseca   Joventut Badalona 38
6   Lior Eliyahu   Maccabi Electra 42
7   Rawle Marshall   Cibona 34
8   Sani Bečirović   Lottomatica Roma 38
9   Immanuel McElroy   Alba Berlin 38
10   Oğuz Savaş   Fenerbahçe Ülker 41

Top 16

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Game Player Team PIR
1   Nikola Peković   Panathinaikos 28
  D'or Fischer   Maccabi Electra 28
  Lior Eliyahu (2)   Maccabi Electra 28
2   Novica Veličković   Partizan 29
3   Ersan İlyasova   FC Barcelona 39
4   Tiago Splitter   Tau Cerámica 28
5   Charles Gaines   Maccabi Electra 33
  Mike Hall (2)   Armani Jeans Milano 33
6   Mike Batiste   Panathinaikos 35

Quarter-finals

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Game Player Team PIR
1   Romain Sato   Montepaschi Siena 36
2   Erazem Lorbek   CSKA Moscow 33
3   Ramūnas Šiškauskas   CSKA Moscow 30
  Matjaž Smodiš   CSKA Moscow 30
4   Terrell McIntyre   Montepaschi Siena 37
5   Ersan İlyasova (2)   FC Barcelona 26

MVP of the Month

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Month Player Team
October 2008   Ersan İlyasova   FC Barcelona
November 2008   Sani Bečirović   Lottomatica Roma
December 2008   Lior Eliyahu   Maccabi Electra
January 2009   Igor Rakočević   Tau Cerámica
February 2009   Novica Veličković   Partizan
March 2009   Erazem Lorbek   CSKA Moscow

See also

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References and notes

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  1. ^ EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL, AEG ANNOUNCE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT, May 3, 2008
  2. ^ "El AXA FCB, quinto español en la Euroliga... y el Kalise GC, a la ULEB Cup". Archived from the original on 2017-10-28. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
  3. ^ "Euroleague Basketball Top 16 Draw procedures". Euroleague. 2008-01-29. Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  4. ^ New competition system for 2008-09 Euroleague
  5. ^ "2008-09 All-Euroleague, MVP announced". 3 October 2024.
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