2008–09 Eurocup Basketball

Template:Future sport The ULEB Eurocup 2008-09 will be the seventh edition of Europe's second-tier transnational competition for men's basketball clubs, and the first to be contested under the Eurocup name.^[1] From the inception of the competition in 2002, it had been known as the ULEB Cup.

Teams of the 2008-2009 ULEB Eurocup

Country	Teams	Teams (place in national championship)
Russia	5	Khimki (2)	Dynamo Moscow (3)	Ural Great (4)	UNICS Kazan (5)	Triumph (6)
Spain	4	Pamesa Valencia (6)	Iurbentia Bilbao (7)	Akasvayu Girona (8)	Kalise Gran Canaria (9)
France	4	Chorale Roanne (2)	ASVEL (3)	Le Havre (5)	Cholet (8)
Greece	3	Maroussi (4)	Aris Thessaloniki (5)	Panellinios (6)
Italy	3	Orlandina Basket (6)	Fortitudo Bologna (8)	Benetton Treviso (10)
Serbia	3	Hemofarm (2)	KK Crvena zvezda (3)	FMP (4)
Turkey	3	Türk Telekom (2)	Beşiktaş (3)	Galatasaray (4)
Germany	3	Telekom Basket (2)	Artland Dragons (6)	Brose Baskets (7)
Lithuania	2	Lietuvos Rytas (2)	Šiauliai (3)
Poland	2	Turów (2)	Energa Czarni Slupsk (10)
Latvia	2	Barons LMT Riga (1)	ASK Riga (2)
Israel	2	Bnei HaSharon (3)	Hapoel Jerusalem (6)
Ukraine	2	Azovmash Mariupol (1)	BC Kyiv (2)
Belgium	2	Spirou Charleroi (2)	Telindus Oostende (5)
Switzerland	1	Benetton Fribourg (1)
Austria	1	Swans Allianz (1)
Estonia	1	Tartu Rock (1)
Montenegro	1	Budućnost (1)
Croatia	1	Zadar (1)
Bulgaria	1	Lukoil Academic (1)
Czech Republic	1	Nymburk (1)
Netherlands	1	Amsterdam (1)

Format

The competition format will also be revamped. A total of 48 clubs will compete, down from 54 in the previous year's competition. The competition will be jointly organised by ULEB and FIBA Europe.^[1]

First preliminary round

Sixteen teams will participate in the first preliminary round, which will be organised by FIBA Europe. These teams will be paired in two-legged matches, with winners decided on aggregate score. The eight winners advance to the second preliminary round, and the eight losers will parachute into the third-tier European competition, the EuroChallenge.

Second preliminary round

The second preliminary round, also organised by FIBA Europe, will also feature 16 teams, with the eight winners from the first preliminary round joined by eight automatic qualifiers to that phase. As in the first preliminary round, matches are two-legged and decided on aggregate score, with the winners advancing to the Eurocup regular season and the losers parachuting into the EuroChallenge.

Regular Season

Thirty-two teams—24 automatic qualifiers and the eight survivors of the second preliminary round—will enter the Regular Season. From this point onward, the competition is organised by ULEB. The teams are divided into eight groups of four teams each, with each group playing a double round-robin schedule. The first- and second-place teams in each group advance to the Last 16.

Last 16

For the first time in the history of the competition, a second group phase will be played. The survivors of the Regular Season will be divided into four-team groups, each playing a double round-robin schedule. This phase has a direct analogue in the top-tier Euroleague, which conducts an identical group phase, the Top 16, at the same stage of the competition. As in the Euroleague Top 16, the first- and second-place teams in each group advance to the next phase. However, unlike the Euroleague, which conducts a separate quarterfinal round before its Final Four, the Eurocup sends its surviving teams into a single knockout tournament, the Final Eight.

Final Eight

Like the Euroleague Final Four, this is a knockout tournament, conducted in one-off matches, held at a single site. The semifinal losers play a single match for third place, and the semifinal winners play a single match for the Eurocup title and an automatic place in the 2009-10 Euroleague.

Qualifying rounds

First qualifying round

Team #1		Team #2
Galatasaray	A	Šiauliai
FMP	B	Amsterdam
UNICS Kazan	C	Energa Czarni Slupsk
Tartu Rock	D	Swans Allianz
Telekom Basket	E	Panellinios
Telindus Oostende	F	Triumph
Benetton Treviso	G	Benetton Fribourg
Cholet	H	ASK Riga

Second qualifying round

Team #1		Team #2
Budućnost	A	Winner QR1 A
Ural Great	B	Winner QR1 B
Hapoel Jerusalem	C	Winner QR1 C
KK Crvena zvezda	D	Winner QR1 D
BC Kyiv	E	Winner QR1 E
Le Havre	F	Winner QR1 F
Kalise Gran Canaria	G	Winner QR1 G
Iurbentia Bilbao	H	Winner QR1 H

Regular Season

Group A

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Maroussi	0	0	0	0	0	0
2.	Chorale Roanne	0	0	0	0	0	0
3.	Zadar	0	0	0	0	0	0
4.	Winner QR2 H	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group B

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Dynamo Moscow	0	0	0	0	0	0
2.	Lukoil Academic	0	0	0	0	0	0
3.	Barons LMT Riga	0	0	0	0	0	0
4.	Winner QR2 C	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group C

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Khimki	0	0	0	0	0	0
2.	Beşiktaş	0	0	0	0	0	0
3.	Orlandina Basket	0	0	0	0	0	0
4.	Winner QR2 F	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group D

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Aris Thessaloniki	0	0	0	0	0	0
2.	Türk Telekom	0	0	0	0	0	0
3.	Bnei HaSharon	0	0	0	0	0	0
4.	Winner QR2 E	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group E

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Lietuvos Rytas	0	0	0	0	0	0
2.	ASVEL	0	0	0	0	0	0
3.	Azovmash Mariupol	0	0	0	0	0	0
4.	Winner QR2 G	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group F

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Turów	0	0	0	0	0	0
2.	Spirou Charleroi	0	0	0	0	0	0
3.	Brose Baskets	0	0	0	0	0	0
4.	Winner QR2 D	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group G

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Pamesa Valencia	0	0	0	0	0	0
2.	Fortitudo Bologna	0	0	0	0	0	0
3.	Artland Dragons	0	0	0	0	0	0
4.	Winner QR2 B	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group H

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
1.	Akasvayu Girona	0	0	0	0	0	0
2.	Hemofarm	0	0	0	0	0	0
3.	Nymburk	0	0	0	0	0	0
4.	Winner QR2 A	0	0	0	0	0	0

Notes and references

^ ^a ^b "ULEB, FIBA Europe announce new competitions names, formats" (Press release). Euroleague.net. 2008-07-02. Retrieved 2008-07-04. {{cite press release}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[Renaming-1] "ULEB, FIBA Europe announce new competitions names, formats" (Press release). Euroleague.net. 2008-07-02. Retrieved 2008-07-04. {{cite press release}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

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