Liga ACB

Liga ACB

Current season or competition: 2012–13 ACB season
Logo ACB
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1957 (as Liga Nacional)
Inaugural season	1983–84
No. of teams	18
Country(ies)	Spain
Continent	FIBA Europe (Europe)
Most recent champion(s)	FC Barcelona (17th title)
Most titles	Real Madrid (30 titles)
TV partner(s)	TDP
Related competitions	Spanish King's Cup Spanish Supercup
Level on pyramid	1st Tier
Relegation to	LEB Oro – 2nd Tier (Last 2)
Official website	www.acb.com (Spanish)

The Liga ACB (English: ACB League), known as the Liga Endesa (English: Endesa League) for sponsorship reasons, is the first tier level men's professional basketball league in Spain. It began in 1957, with the name of Liga Nacional, and was originally organized by the Spanish Basketball Federation. The league changed to its current form, beginning with the 1983–84 season, after the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB) took control over the league. The league is rated as one of the top three European national domestic/regional leagues in the European national basketball league rankings system.

The ACB League, which is played under FIBA rules, currently consists of 18 teams, including Real Madrid, FC Barcelona Regal, Cajasol Banca Cívica, Asefa Estudiantes, Gran Canaria 2014, Caja Laboral Baskonia, Valencia Basket, and Unicaja Málaga.

Other competitions

• Spanish King's Cup
• Spanish Supercup

Liga championship rules

Each team has to play all the other teams in its division twice, once at home and once away. This means that in Liga ACB the league's regular season ends after all teams play 34 matches.

Like many other national domestic leagues in continental Europe, the Liga ACB takes a winter break once each team has played half of its scheduled games. One feature of the league that may be unusual to North American observers, is that the two halves of the season are played in the same order — that is, the order of each team's first-half fixtures is repeated in the second half of the season. This is normal in Spanish sports; it is also used by La Liga in association football.

At the end of the league, the eight best teams in the standings start a play-off, pitting the first place team in the standings versus the 8th place team in the standings, and so on. There are three playoff rounds, each consisting of five game series, and the winner of the finals round becomes the champion of the Liga ACB. This is similar to the NBA playoffs system, but shorter.

Arena standards

Currently, Liga ACB clubs must have home arenas that seat at least 5,000 people.

Liga Nacional (1957–1983)

Main article: Liga Española de Baloncesto (1957–1983)

Season Champion Runner-up 1957 Real Madrid FC Barcelona 1958 Real Madrid Joventut 1958–59 FC Barcelona Real Madrid 1959–60 Real Madrid Joventut 1960–61 Real Madrid Orillo Verde 1961–62 Real Madrid Joventut 1962–63 Real Madrid Estudiantes 1963–64 Real Madrid Picadero JC 1964–65 Real Madrid Picadero JC 1965–66 Real Madrid Picadero JC 1966–67 Joventut Real Madrid 1967–68 Real Madrid Estudiantes 1968–69 Real Madrid Joventut 1969–70 Real Madrid Picadero JC

Season Champion Runner-up 1970–71 Real Madrid Joventut 1971–72 Real Madrid FC Barcelona 1972–73 Real Madrid Joventut 1973–74 Real Madrid FC Barcelona 1974–75 Real Madrid FC Barcelona 1975–76 Real Madrid FC Barcelona 1976–77 Real Madrid FC Barcelona 1977–78 Joventut Real Madrid 1978–79 Real Madrid FC Barcelona 1979–80 Real Madrid FC Barcelona 1980–81 FC Barcelona Real Madrid 1981–82 Real Madrid FC Barcelona 1982–83 FC Barcelona Real Madrid

Titles

Team	Winners	Runners-up
Real Madrid	22	5
FC Barcelona	3	9
Joventut	2	6
Picadero JC	0	4
Estudiantes	0	3
Orillo Verde	0	1

ACB Finals (1983–84 season – Present)

Season	Champion	Runner-up	Series Result	Finals MVP	Champion's Coach
1983–84	Real Madrid	FC Barcelona	2 – 1	N/A	Lolo Sainz
1984–85	Real Madrid	Joventut Badalona	2 – 1	N/A	Lolo Sainz
1985–86	Real Madrid	FC Barcelona	2 – 0	N/A	Lolo Sainz
1986–87	FC Barcelona	Joventut Badalona	3 – 1	N/A	Aíto García Reneses
1987–88	FC Barcelona	Real Madrid	3 – 2	N/A	Aíto García Reneses
1988–89	FC Barcelona	Real Madrid	3 – 2	N/A	Aíto García Reneses
1989–90	FC Barcelona	Joventut Badalona	3 – 0	N/A	Aíto García Reneses
1990–91	Joventut Badalona	FC Barcelona	3 – 1	Corny Thompson	Lolo Sainz
1991–92	Joventut Badalona	Real Madrid	3 – 2	Mike Smith	Lolo Sainz
1992–93	Real Madrid	Joventut Badalona	3 – 2	Arvydas Sabonis	Clifford Luyk
1993–94	Real Madrid	FC Barcelona	3 – 0	Arvydas Sabonis	Clifford Luyk
1994–95	FC Barcelona	CB Málaga	3 – 2	Michael Ansley	Aíto García Reneses
1995–96	FC Barcelona	CB Sevilla	3 – 0	Xavi Fernández	Aíto García Reneses
1996–97	FC Barcelona	Real Madrid	3 – 2	Roberto Dueñas	Aíto García Reneses
1997–98	Manresa	Baskonia	3 – 1	Joan Creus	Luis Casimiro
1998–99	FC Barcelona	CB Sevilla	3 – 0	Derrick Alston	Aíto García Reneses
1999–00	Real Madrid	FC Barcelona	3 – 2	Alberto Angulo	Sergio Scariolo
2000–01	FC Barcelona	Real Madrid	3 – 0	Pau Gasol	Aíto García Reneses
2001–02	Baskonia	CB Málaga	3 – 0	Elmer Bennett	Duško Ivanović
2002–03	FC Barcelona	Valencia BC	3 – 0	Šarūnas Jasikevičius	Svetislav Pešić
2003–04	FC Barcelona	Estudiantes	3 – 2	Dejan Bodiroga	Svetislav Pešić
2004–05	Real Madrid	Baskonia	3 – 2	Louis Bullock	Božidar Maljković
2005–06	CB Málaga	Baskonia	3 – 0	Jorge Garbajosa	Sergio Scariolo
2006–07	Real Madrid	FC Barcelona	3 – 1	Felipe Reyes	Joan Plaza
2007–08	Baskonia	FC Barcelona	3 – 0	Pete Mickeal	Neven Spahija
2008–09	FC Barcelona	Baskonia	3 – 1	Juan Carlos Navarro	Xavier Pascual
2009–10	Baskonia	FC Barcelona	3 – 0	Tiago Splitter	Duško Ivanović
2010–11	FC Barcelona	Bilbao Basket	3 – 0	Juan Carlos Navarro	Xavier Pascual
2011–12	FC Barcelona	Real Madrid	3 – 2	Erazem Lorbek	Xavier Pascual

Finals appearances

ACB trophy 2008-2009, FC Barcelona museum

Num	Team	W	L
22	FC Barcelona	14	8
14	Real Madrid	8	6
7	Baskonia	3	4
6	Joventut Badalona	2	4
3	CB Málaga	1	2
2	CB Sevilla	0	2
1	Manresa	1	0
1	Valencia BC	0	1
1	Estudiantes	0	1
1	Bilbao Basket	0	1

Total league championships (Liga Nacional + ACB)

Team	Winners	Runners-up	Winning years
Real Madrid	30	12	1957, 1958, 1960–66, 1968–77, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984–86, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2005, 2007
FC Barcelona	17	17	1959, 1981, 1983, 1987–90, 1995–97, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2012
Joventut Badalona	4	10	1967, 1978, 1991, 1992
Baskonia	3	4	2002, 2008, 2010
CB Málaga	1	2	2006
Bàsquet Manresa	1	0	1998
Picadero JC	0	4
Estudiantes	0	4
CB Sevilla	0	2
Orillo Verde	0	1
Valencia BC	0	1
Bilbao Basket	0	1

Current clubs

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity	Last season	Head coach	Season
Asefa Estudiantes	Madrid	Palacio de los Deportes	13,500	17th	Txus Vidorreta	1st
Blancos de Rueda Valladolid	Valladolid	Polideportivo Pisuerga	6,800	18th	Roberto González	2nd
Blu:sens Monbús	Santiago de Compostela	Multiusos Fontes do Sar	6,050	13th	Moncho Fernández	3nd
CAI Zaragoza	Zaragoza	Príncipe Felipe Arena	10,744	10th	José Luis Abós	4rd
Cajasol	Sevilla	Palacio San Pablo	10,200	7th	Aíto García Reneses	1st
CB Canarias	San Cristóbal de La Laguna	Pabellón Insular Santiago Martín	5,100	1st (LEB Oro)	Alejandro Martínez	7th
FC Barcelona Regal	Barcelona	Palau Blaugrana	8,250	1st	Xavi Pascual	6th
FIATC Mutua Joventut	Badalona	Palau Municipal d'Esports	12,500	11th	Salva Maldonado	2nd
Herbalife Gran Canaria	Las Palmas de Gran Canaria	Centro Insular de Deportes	5,200	14th	Pedro Martínez	7th (4rd)
La Bruixa d'Or	Manresa	Nou Congost	5,000	12th	Jaume Ponsarnau	7th
Laboral Kutxa	Vitoria-Gasteiz	Fernando Buesa Arena	15,504	3rd	Žan Tabak	1st
Lagun Aro GBC	San Sebastián	San Sebastián Arena	11,000	5th	Sito Alonso	2nd
Mad-Croc Fuenlabrada	Fuenlabrada	Fernando Martin	5,700	16th	Trifón Poch	1st
Real Madrid	Madrid	Palacio de los Deportes	13,500	2nd	Pablo Laso	2nd
UCAM Murcia	Murcia	Palacio de Deportes de Murcia	7,454	15th	Óscar Quintana	2nd
Unicaja	Málaga	Martín Carpena	10,500	9th	Jasmin Repeša	1st
Uxúe Bilbao Basket	Bilbao	Bilbao Arena	10,014	6th	Fotis Katsikaris	4th
Valencia Basket	Valencia	Fuente San Luis	9,000	4th	Velimir Perasović	2nd

All-time Liga ACB table

The All-time Liga ACB table is an overall record of all match results, points, and goals of every team that has played in Liga ACB since the 1983–84 season. The table is accurate as of the end of the 2011–12 season.

Pos	Team	Season	Played	Won	Lost	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	QF	PO	Debut	Since/Last App	Best
1	Barcelona	30	1228	927	301	14	8	4	1	2	29	1983–84	1983–84	1
2	Real Madrid	30	1190	856	334	8	6	6	2	6	28	1983–84	1983–84	1
3	Baskonia	30	1138	716	422	3	4	4	4	9	24	1983–84	1983–84	1
4	Joventut Badalona	30	1107	665	442	2	4	5	4	5	20	1983–84	1983–84	1
5	Estudiantes	30	1108	616	492	–	1	5	7	9	22	1983–84	1983–84	2
6	Baloncesto Málaga	28	1036	580	436	1	2	3	4	8	18	1983–84	1987–88	1
7	Valencia BC	24	864	470	394	–	1	–	1	11	13	1988–89	1983–84	2
8	CB Valladolid	29	964	417	547	–	–	–	–	4	4	1983–84	2009–10	6
9	Bàsquet Manresa	26	902	406	496	1	–	–	2	2	5	1983–84	2007–08	1
10	CDB Sevilla	24	839	400	439	–	2	–	–	5	7	1989–90	1989–90	2
11	CB Gran Canaria	22	767	349	418	–	–	–	–	9	9	1985–86	1995–96	5
12	CB Girona	20	731	330	401	–	–	–	–	4	4	1988–89	2007–08	5
13	CB Zaragoza	13	473	270	203	–	–	2	3	6	11	1983–84	1995–96	3
14	CB Breogán	16	604	242	362	–	–	–	–	2	2	1984–85	2005–06	6
15	Baloncesto Fuenlabrada	15	488	200	288	–	–	–	–	4	4	1996–97	2005–06	7
16	Baloncesto León	11	398	179	219	–	–	–	–	3	3	1990–91	2007–08	6
17	CB Peñas Huesca	12	441	173	268	–	–	–	–	–	–	1983–84	1995–96	10
18	Granollers EB	10	352	166	186	–	–	–	–	7	7	1983–84	1992–93	5
19	CB Cáceres	11	388	163	225	–	–	–	–	1	1	1992–93	2002–03	5
20	CB Murcia	15	500	157	343	–	–	–	–	–	–	1990–91	2011–12	12
21	Club Ourense Baloncesto	12	383	143	240	–	–	–	–	2	2	1989–90	2000–01	8
22	CB OAR Ferrol	10	350	140	210	–	–	–	–	1	1	1983–84	1993–94	7
23	CB Granada	12	411	140	271	–	–	–	–	–	–	1996–97	2010–11	10
24	Bilbao Basket	9	285	137	148	–	1	–	–	3	4	2004–05	2004–05	2
25	CB Lucentum Alicante	9	316	132	184	–	–	–	–	3	3	2000–01	2011–12	6
26	CB 1939 Canarias	8	249	94	155	–	–	–	–	2	2	1983–84	2012–13	6
27	CB Collado Villalba	5	226	93	133	–	–	–	–	1	1	1987–88	1991–92	8
28	CD Oximesa	6	225	82	143	–	–	–	–	–	–	1986–87	1991–92	11
29	CB Maristas de Málaga	4	160	76	84	–	–	–	–	–	–	1988–89	1991–92	13
30	CB Cajabilbao	5	184	76	108	–	–	–	–	–	–	1986–87	1990–91	9
31	RCD Espanyol	5	165	73	92	–	–	–	–	1	1	1984–85	1988–89	8
32	BC Andorra	4	147	66	81	–	–	–	–	1	1	1992–93	1995–96	8
33	Gipuzkoa BC	6	171	64	107	–	–	–	–	1	1	2006–07	2008–09	5
34	CE Lleida Bàsquet	4	140	57	83	–	–	–	–	1	1	2001–02	2004–05	8
35	Cantabria Baloncesto	5	170	53	117	–	–	–	–	–	–	1997–98	2001–02	14
36	Menorca Bàsquet	5	168	51	117	–	–	–	–	–	–	2005–06	2011–12	15
37	Círculo Católico	3	97	49	48	–	–	–	1	1	2	1983–84	1985–86	4
38	CD Cajamadrid	3	98	46	52	–	–	–	–	1	1	1983–84	1985–86	5
39	Basket Zaragoza 2002	4	100	40	60	–	–	–	–	–	–	2008–09	2010–11	10
40	Gijón Baloncesto	4	144	37	107	–	–	–	–	–	–	1995–96	2001–02	15
41	CB Salamanca	2	76	36	40	–	–	–	–	–	–	1994–95	1995–96	9
42	Tenerife AB	2	89	28	61	–	–	–	–	–	–	1988–89	1989–90	22
43	CB Llíria	2	79	27	52	–	–	–	–	–	–	1991–92	1992–93	16
44	Tenerife Baloncesto	2	68	25	43	–	–	–	–	–	–	2003–04	2004–05	10
45	Obradoiro CAB	3	68	21	47	–	–	–	–	–	–	2009–10	2011–12	13
46	CB L'Hospitalet	1	31	11	20	–	–	–	–	–	–	1983–84	1983–84	15
47	CB Ciudad de Huelva	1	39	11	28	–	–	–	–	–	–	1997–98	1997–98	17
48	Askatuak SBT	1	43	10	33	–	–	–	–	–	–	1988–89	1988–89	24

League or status at 2012–13:

	2012–13 ACB season
	2012–13 LEB Oro season
	2012–13 LEB Plata season
	2012–13 Liga EBA season
	Lower divisions
	Clubs that no longer exist

Awards

• ACB Most Valuable Player Award
• ACB Finals Most Valuable Player Award
• ACB Rising Star Award
• All-ACB Team

ACB records

• Most Points in a Game

• 54 by Epi, FC Barcelona vs. Joventut Massana on 18 February 1984

• Most Field Goals Made in a Game

• 25 by Essie Hollis, Arabatxo Baskonia at OAR Ferrol on 5 February 1984

• Most Three Point Field Goals Made in a Game

• 11 by Oscar Schmidt, Fórum Valladolid at CB Murcia on 19 March 1994

• Most Free Throws Made in a Game

• 29 by Jeff Lamp, Granada at Fórum Filatélico Valladolid on 21 December 1991

• Most Rebounds in a Game

• 29 by Clarence Kea, Juver Murcia vs. Dyc Breogán on 21 December 1991

• Most Assists in a Game

• 18 by Joaquim Costa, Valvi Girona vs. Puleva Baloncesto Granada on 9 November 1990

• Most Steals in a Game

• 13 by Lance Berwald, BBV Villalba at Caja Guipúzcoa on 11 March 1989

• Most Blocks in a Game

• 12 by Fran Vázquez, FC Barcelona at Grupo Capitol Valladolid on 7 January 2007

• Most Points in a Game

• 147 – FC Barcelona defeated Cajabilbao 147–106 on 31 January 1987

• Fewest Points in a Game

• 39 – Lagun Aro GBC was defeated by Blancos de Rueda Valladolid 61–39 on 25 April 2010

• Largest Margin of Victory in a Game

• 55 – FC Barcelona defeated Breogán Caixa Galicia 82–137 on 12 April 1986
• 55 – Real Madrid defeated Clesa Ferrol 116–61 on 5 October 1985

• Victory with fewest points

• 49 – Assignia Manresa defeated Meridiano Alicante 49–48 on 6 March 2011

External links

• Official ACB League Page (Spanish)
• Euroleague.net Spanish League Page