Lega Basket Serie A (English: Basket League A Series) is the highest level club competition in Italian professional basketball where play determines the national champion. It is organized by Lega Basket. The season consists of a home-and-away schedule of 30 games, followed by an eight-team playoff round. Quarterfinals and semifinals series are best-of-five, and the finals series is best-of-seven. The bottom two clubs are relegated, and replaced by the top team from the regular-season phase and the eight-team playoff round winner of the second-level Legadue. The Italian League is one of the 3 "A" level ranked European domestic leagues in the ULEB League Rankings system.
[edit] History
The national basketball league was first organized for play in Italy in 1920. The first title was won by SEF Costanza Milano, and the team holding the record for title championships is Olimpia Milano, who have won 25 championships. Twenty different teams have won the championship since its inception. In recent years, the league has been dominated by a handful of teams:
- Benetton Treviso, with five scudetti (league titles) since 1992.
- Virtus Bologna, with five scudetti between 1993 and 2001.
- Virtus' crosstown rivals Fortitudo (who dropped from the professional ranks in 2009); although only with two scudetti, they had an 11-year run from 1996 to 2006 in which they appeared in the championship series 10 times.
- Montepaschi Siena, with six scudetti since 2004.
Until the 2000s, the Italian Championship was the most important national domestic league in Europe, but now the Spanish ACB League is considered to be stronger than Serie A. Nonetheless, the league is still considered to be one of the three premiere European pro national domestic basketball leagues, along with the Spanish ACB and the Greek A1 League.[citation needed]
Through the 2007–08 season, 18 teams competed; however, in September 2008, two clubs, Basket Napoli (not related to the current NSB Napoli, which moved from Rieti to Naples after the 2008–09 season) and Orlandina, were forcibly relegated from the professional ranks for financial irregularities and were not replaced for the 2008–09 season. Today, 16 teams compete in the highest level of play.
[edit] Arena standards
Currently, all clubs must play in arenas that seat at least 3,500 people. Starting with the 2012–13 season, clubs must play in arenas that seat at least 5,000 people.
[edit] 2011–12 teams
[edit] Champions
[edit] Titles per club
[edit] Titles per city
[edit] Finals appearances
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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- Note: The Under-21 Championship is no longer held.
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Continental Tournament(s)
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Continental League(s)
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Subregional League(s)
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Subregional Tournament(s)
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Subregional League(s)
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Intercontinental Tournaments
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Subregional Leagues
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Lega Basket Serie A 2011–12
Italy
FIBA Europe (Europe)
