2014–15 EuroChallenge

The 2014–15 EuroChallenge was the 12th and last edition of Europe's third-tier level transnational competition for men's professional basketball clubs. The winner and the runner-up of this competition earned a place at the group stage of next year's Eurocup season.

EuroChallenge
Season2014–15
Duration4 November 2014 – 26 April 2015
Teams32
Finals
ChampionsFrance JSF Nanterre (1st title)
  Runners-upTurkey Trabzonspor Medical Park
Third placeRomania Energia Târgu Jiu
Fourth placeGermany Fraport Skyliners
Final Four MVPUnited States Jamal Shuler
Statistical leaders
Points United States Ryan Pearson 19.8
Rebounds Ukraine Kyrylo Fesenko 10.1
Assists United States Courtney Fortson 9.8

The regular season was composed by 32 teams and it started on 4 November 2014. The season ended on 26 April 2015, when JSF Nanterre beat Trabzonspor Medical Park 63–64 in the Final in Trabzon, Turkey.

It was the last season of the EuroChallenge, starting from the 2015–16 season, the competition was replaced by the FIBA Europe Cup.

Competition format

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As in the previous season, the 32 participants were divided into two conferences. Teams were divided into eight round-robin groups of four teams each for the regular season. The two best-placed teams qualified to the next phase of the competition.

Teams

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No qualification rounds were played, all teams entered the regular season. FIBA Europe announced the participants on 1 July 2014.[1] One day later, Szolnoki Olaj and VEF Rīga were moved to 2014–15 Eurocup as a replacement of two withdrawals. Trabzonspor Medical Park and Enisey Krasnoyarsk replaced them in the EuroChallenge.[2] The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round. (TH: Title holder)

  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.: League position after eventual playoffs
Regular season
  Okapi Aalstar (2nd)   Uşak Sportif (7th)   ratiopharm Ulm (7th)   Astana (1st)
  Belfius Mons-Hainaut (3rd)   Tofaş (8th)   Fraport Skyliners (11th)   Šiauliai (6th)
  Port of Antwerp Giants (4th)   Trabzonspor Medical Park (9th)   Enisey (6th)   Bakken Bears (1st)
  Oradea (2nd)   Le Mans (5th)   Avtodor [a] (1st)   Tsmoki-Minsk (1st)
  U Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca (3rd)   JSF Nanterre (9th)   Enel Brindisi (6th)   Tartu University Rock (2nd)
  Energia Târgu Jiu (8th)   Atomerőmű SE (2nd)   Bonprix Biella [b] (4th)   Benfica (1st)
  Kataja (2nd)   Egis Körmend (8th)   Södertälje Kings (1st)   Lukoil Academic (2nd)
  KTP (4th)   magnofit Güssing Knights (1st)   Borås (3rd)   SPM Shoeters Den Bosch (2nd)
  1. ^ Avtodor qualified as the winner of the Russian Basketball Super League, the second division of Russian basketball.
  2. ^ Bonprix Biella finished in 4th place in the DNA Gold, the second division in Italian basketball.

Draw

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The draw for the regular season was held on 6 July in Munich, Germany.

The 32 clubs registered for this year's competition were divided into two conferences (1 and 2), based on broad geographical criteria.[3]

Conference 1
Seed 1 Seed 2 Seed 3 Seed 4

  Port of Antwerp Giants
  Okapi Aalstar
  Joensuun Kataja
  Södertälje Kings

  KTP-Basket
  Bakken Bears
  Belfius Mons-Hainaut
  SPM Shoeters

  JSF Nanterre
  Le Mans Sarthe
  ratiopharm Ulm
  Fraport Skyliners

  Enel Brindisi
  Angelico Biella
  Borås Basket
  Benfica

Conference 2
Seed 1 Seed 2 Seed 3 Seed 4

  Tsmoki-Minsk
  Tartu Ülikool/Rock
  Tofaş
  Atomerőmű

  Enisey Krasnoyarsk
  CSM Oradea
  Körmend
  U Mobitelco Cluj

  Avtodor
  Uşak Sportif
  Trabzonspor Medical Park
  Energia Târgu Jiu

  UBC Güssing Knights
  Lukoil Academic
  Šiauliai
  Astana

Regular season

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The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four. 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 last 16, while the third-placed teams and fourth-placed teams are eliminated.

If teams in the same group finished tied on points at the end of the regular season, tiebreakers were applied in the following order:

  1. Head-to-head record.
  2. Head-to-head point differential.
  3. Point differential during the regular season.
  4. Points scored during the regular season.
  5. Sum of quotients of points scored and points allowed in each regular season match.

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification BRI SPM ULM SÖD
1   Enel Brindisi 6 5 1 496 400 +96 11 Advance to last 16 76–62 88–70 90–69
2   SPM Shoeters Den Bosch 6 3 3 498 499 −1 9[a] 71–69 87–76 88–72
3   ratiopharm Ulm 6 3 3 477 467 +10 9[a] 76–77 91–82 88–62
4   Södertälje Kings 6 1 5 441 546 −105 7 52–96 115–108 71–76
Source: EuroChallenge
Notes:

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification TAR ENE KÖR LUK
1   Tartu University Rock 6 4 2 428 420 +8 10 Advance to last 16 66–59 81–83 71–59
2   Energia Târgu Jiu 6 3 3 428 435 −7 9[a] 74–56 73–72 72–67
3   Egis Körmend 6 3 3 447 460 −13 9[a] 72–79 77–76 63–76
4   Lukoil Academic 6 2 4 447 435 +12 8 73–75 97–74 75–80
Source: EuroChallenge
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Energia Târgu Jiu win on point difference (-7 vs -13) vs Egis Körmend

Group C

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification OKA FRA BOR BAK
1   Okapi Aalstar 6 5 1 557 507 +50 11 Advance to last 16 94–59 119–118 103–100
2   Fraport Skyliners 6 4 2 464 421 +43 10 80–58 70–72 74–64
3   Borås 6 3 3 505 516 −11 9 83–92 61–94 90–70
4   Bakken Bears 6 0 6 457 539 −82 6 83–92 61–94 79–86

Group D

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification AVT AST TOF ORA
1   Avtodor 6 5 1 530 438 +92 11 Advance to last 16 83–75 80–75 92–73
2   Astana 6 5 1 492 461 +31 11 75–73 73–65 80–64
3   Tofaş 6 2 4 469 504 −35 8 66–101 102–104 84–75
4   Oradea 6 0 6 429 517 −88 6 74–101 74–83 69–77

Group E

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification NAN BEL SLB KAT
1   JSF Nanterre 6 5 1 529 478 +51 11 Advance to last 16 88–68 80–68 102–92
2   Belfius Mons-Hainaut 6 5 1 489 451 +38 11 94–86 92–63 71–62
3   Benfica 6 2 4 486 519 −33 8 86–96 86–96 107–82
4   Kataja 6 0 6 479 535 −56 6 70–77 83–85 90–93

Group F

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification TS GÜS UMO ASE
1   Trabzonspor Medical Park 6 6 0 514 450 +64 12 Advance to last 16 80–72 91–72 103–81
2   magnofit Güssing Knights 6 4 2 477 456 +21 10 67–77 84–77 93–84
3   U-Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca 6 1 5 442 478 −36 7 80–81 68–81 64–73
4   Atomerőmű SE 6 1 5 454 503 −49 7 78–82 70–80 68–81

Group G

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Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MSB ANT BIE KTP
1   Le Mans 6 5 1 478 414 +64 11 Advance to last 16 72–66 88–74 71–52
2   Port of Antwerp Giants 6 3 3 542 514 +28 9 78–87 92–82 98–83
3   Bonprix Biella 6 3 3 511 525 −14 9 82–64 97–96 81–77
4   KTP 6 1 5 475 553 −78 7 62–96 93–112 108–95

Group H

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification ENI UŞA ŠIA TSM
1   Enisey 6 4 2 515 467 +48 10 Advance to last 16 95–79 86–68 87–82
2   Uşak Sportif 6 3 3 445 458 −13 9 69–84 79–69 78–59
3   Šiauliai 6 3 3 493 515 −22 9 93–92 75–78 83–80
4   Tsmoki-Minsk 6 2 4 473 486 −13 8 76–71 85–73 91–94

Last 16

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The sixteen teams were divided in four groups of four. 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 quarterfinals, while the third-placed teams and fourth-placed teams are eliminated.

Group I

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification ENE BRI AST OKA
1   Energia Târgu Jiu 6 4 2 501 498 +3 10 Advance to quarterfinals 67–78 90–89 93–60
2   Enel Brindisi 6 3 3 485 445 +40 9 76–78 74–65 101–66
3   Astana 6 3 3 512 509 +3 9 113–89 83–75 77–73
4   Okapi Aalstar 6 2 4 475 521 −46 8 82–84 86–81 108–85

Group J

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification NAN MSB GÜS USA
1   JSF Nanterre 6 4 2 487 434 +53 10 Advance to quarterfinals 85–68 89–86 100–67
2   Le Mans 6 4 2 464 429 +35 10 72–60 93–60 84–63
3   magnofit Güssing Knights 6 2 4 458 471 −13 8 62–82 82–65 91–63
4   Uşak Sportif 6 2 4 430 505 −75 8 79–71 79–82 79–77

Group K

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification FRA AVT TAR SPM
1   Fraport Skyliners 6 5 1 512 471 +41 11 Advance to quarterfinals 68–71 92–73 75–70
2   Avtodor Saratov 6 4 2 567 546 +21 10 103–112 105–106 89–85
3   Tartu University Rock 6 2 4 457 501 −44 8 62–71 68–91 71–64
4   SPM Shoeters Den Bosch 6 1 5 496 514 −18 7 92–94 107–108 78–77

Group L

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification TS ENI ANT BEL
1   Trabzonspor Medical Park 6 5 1 502 456 +46 11 Advance to quarterfinals 90–85 89–79 76–68
2   Enisey 6 3 3 516 495 +21 9 96–82 85–86 83–88
3   Port of Antwerp Giants 6 3 3 481 509 −28 9 72–90 78–93 82–75
4   Belfius Mons-Hainaut 6 1 5 435 474 −39 7 56–75 71–74 77–84

Quarterfinals

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The quarterfinals were played in a best-of-three playoff format. Teams that finished first in their top 16 group played the first and third leg at home. Matchdays were on 10 March, 12 March and 17 March 2015.

Team 1 Series Team 2 Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
Energia Târgu Jiu   2–1   Le Mans Sarthe 84–60 68–79 79–64
JSF Nanterre   2–0   Enel Brindisi 80–68 77–72 0
Fraport Skyliners   2–1   Enisey 77–74 68–78 85–80
Trabzonspor Medical Park   2–0   Avtodor Saratov 94–88 100–73 0

Final Four

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The 2015 Final Four was played on 24 April and 26 April 2015[4] at Hayri Gür Arena, Trabzon, Turkey.[5]

 
Semifinals
24 April
Final
26 April
 
      
 
 
 
 
  Energia Târgu Jiu 63
 
 
 
  Trabzonspor MP 83
 
  Trabzonspor MP 63
 
 
 
  JSF Nanterre 64
 
  JSF Nanterre 84
 
 
  Fraport Skyliners 79
 
Third place game
 
 
 
 
 
  Energia Târgu Jiu 83
 
 
  Fraport Skyliners 80

Awards

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Final Four MVP

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Top Statistical Performer

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Each round a Weekly MVP is chosen, determined by the Performance Index Rating (PIR) system.

Regular season

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Week Player Team PIR
1
  Sean Marshall   Trabzonspor
33
2
  J'Covan Brown   Astana
36
3
  LaMonte Ulmer   KTP
34
4
  Christian Maråker   Borås
39
5
  Travis Peterson   Avtodor
35
6
  Stefan Wessels   SPM Shoeters
43

Last 16

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Week Player Team PIR
1
  Kyle Weems   JSF Nanterre
39
2
  Jerry Johnson   Astana
37
3
  Travis Taylor   Güssing Knights
32
4
  Nik Caner-Medley   Astana
28
5
  Courtney Fortson   Avtodor
42
6   DeAndre Kane   Antwerp Giants 37
  Quantez Robertson   Fraport Skyliners

Quarterfinals

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Johannes Voigtmann was the Round 3 MVP
Week Player Team PIR
1
  Nemanja Milosevic   Energia Târgu Jiu
33
2   Kyrylo Fesenko   Avtodor 22
  Mykal Riley   JSF Nanterre
  Terrico White   Enisey Krasnoyarsk
3
  Johannes Voigtmann   Fraport Skyliners
33

Individual statistics

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To be included in the top rankings in individual statistics, a player had to have a minimum of 9 games played.

Points

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Pos. Player Team GP PPG
1
  Ryan Pearson   Antwerp Giants
12
19.8
2
  Dwight Hardy   Trabzonspor
16
18.1
3
  J'Covan Brown   Astana
10
17.5

Rebounds

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Pos. Player Team GP RPG
1
  Kyrylo Fesenko   Avtodor
11
10.1
2
  Travis Taylor   Güssing Knights
12
10.1
3
  Nemanja Milosevic   Energia
17
8.5

Assists

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Pos. Player Team GP APG
1
  Courtney Fortson   Avtodor
13
9.8
2
  D.J. Cooper   Enisey
15
7.9
3
  Jerry Johnson   Astana
10
7.0

Season highs

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Statistic Player Team
Points
42
  Robert Arnold   Kataja
Rebounds
20
  Christian Maråker   Borås
Assists
16
  Teemu Rannikko   Kataja
Steals
7
  Terrico White   Enisey
Blocks
6
  Dounia Issa   Le Mans Sarthe
Three-point field goals 8   Benjamin Raymond   Bonprix Biella
  Kees Akerboom, Jr.   SPM Shoeters

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "EuroChallenge 2014–15 field confirmed". FIBA Europe. 1 July 2014.
  2. ^ "Krasnoyarsk, Trabzonspor join list". FIBA Europe. 2 July 2014.
  3. ^ "EuroChallenge Draw Seedings Announced". FIBA Europe. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  4. ^ Schedule
  5. ^ Trabzon to host EuroChallenge Final Four; FIBA Europe, 26 March 2015
  6. ^ Jamal Shuler named Final Four MVP