October 17, 2011 - Turkish Airlines Euroleague starts today!!!
With game Zalgiris - CSKA, today starts Turikish
AIrlines Euroleague 2011/2012 season. From today, you can follow all
news about Euroleague 2011/2012 regular season here.
October 14, 2011 - Euroleague.TV upgrades for new season!
Turkish
Airlines Euroleague fans will be able to enjoy bigger, better and
bolder video than ever before this season thanks to a package of
upgrades to Euroleague.TV. The improvements will boost the Euroleague
experience for fans by enhancing the presentation of everything from
video news pages to live event broadcasts over Euroleague.TV, the
competition's video channel. This initiative underlines Euroleague
Basketball's commitment, after four years of EBTV services, to continue
to improve the quality of video programming. Euroleague Basketball
strives to give new and existing fans the best video vehicle possible
with which to feel the excitement of the best international club
basketball. Read more here.
October 14, 2011 - Euroleague Commercial Assets board, assembly meet
Prior
to the 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague opening game on Monday,
October 17, members of the Euroleague Commercial Assets board and
shareholders both met to discuss the outlook for the upcoming season
and to review plans for enhancing European basketball competitions in
the future. Members unanimously approved the strategic plan for the
2012-15 seasons, which seeks to resize the number of participants in
European club competitions, opening them up to all European countries
meeting the minimum requirements, and solidifying their pyramid
structure. The proposal would limit European club competitions to the
Turkish Airlines Euroleague, with 24 teams, and the Eurocup, with 48
teams. Read more here.
October 6, 2011 - bwin Euroleague Fantasy Challenge returns with new design, extended schedule
The 2011-12 bwin Euroleague Fantasy Challenge opens
on Thursday with a new, improved design, a new sponsor and more chances
to win weekly prizes thanks to an extended scheduled that goes through
the end of the Quarterfinal Playoffs! Once again, you – the world's
most passionate basketball fans! – have the opportunity to select and
managed your very own Euroleague teams. Simply pick 10 players under
our 500-credit restrictions and compete against tens of thousands all
around the world! For an eighth consecutive season, you and your
friends can enjoy Euroleague fun at its finest by playing bwin
Euroleague Fantasy Challenge! Remember, you can create an unlimited
amount of teams, but only three trades per week will be allowed for the
better part of the season! Read more here.
October 2, 2011 - Final round
Spirou routed CEZ Nymburk 79-53
Belgacom
Spirou Basket established itself as the king of qualifying for the
second year in a row by routing CEZ Nymburk 79-53 at the Spiroudome in
Charleroi, Belgium, to advance to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague
Regular Season. The Belgian champs pulled away in the second quarter to
take a 34-21 halftime lead and never looked back as the margin crossed
the 30-point mark in the fourth quarter. Chris Hill shined with 21
points and 12 rebounds, Demond Mallet scored 18, Caleb Green had 12,
Christophe Beghin 11 and Jiri Welsch dished 7 assists for the winners.
Head coach Giovanni Bozzi’s squad advances to Euroleague Regular Season
Group C, where it will meet Anadolu Efes, Emporio Armani Milano,
Maccabi Electra, Partizan m:ts and Real Madrid, which Spirou will host
on opening night, October 20. Eugene Lawrence paced Nymbutk with 10
points. Read more here.
Galatasaray advanced to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season
Galatasaray
overcame Lietuvos Rytas 63-71 at Siemens Arena in Vilnius, Lithuania,
to advance to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season for the
first time in club history. Galatasaray trailed early, but used a 2-13
run to take a 28-30 halftime lead and continued to add to it throughout
the second half. Head coach Oktay Mahmuti’s men will play in Euroleague
Group D with Asseco Prokom, FC Barcelona Regal, Montepaschi Siena,
Unics Kazan and Union Olimpija. Preston Shumpert paced the Galatasaray
attack with 14 points off the bench, Josh Shipp and Luksa Andric added
12 apiece and Jaka Lakovic tallied 10 points and 5 assists for the
winners. Renaldas Seibutas scored 11 first-quarter points for Rytas,
but quieted after that and finished with 15. Read more here.
October 1, 2011 - Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds, Round 2
CEZ Nymburk 86 - 79 BC Khimki
In
the biggest upset of the season so far, CEZ Nymburk of the Czech
Republic rode a strong start to a close finish to defeat Khimki Moscow
Region of Russia by 86-79 on Saturday and reach the last day of the
Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds. Nymburk will play host
Belgacom Spirou in Charleroi, Belgium on Sunday, with the winner going
to the Euroleague regular season. Nymburk blasted out of the gates to a
21-3 lead in the first quarter and kept building on until ahead by
49-22 at halftime. Khimki's counter-punch was strong, a 5-24 run after
halftime that eventually closed the gap to 58-54 early in the final
quarter. But that's when Nymburk steadied itself and held on for
victory. Read more here.
Belgacom Spirou Basket 74 - 63 Alba Berlin
For
the second year in a row, Belgacom Spirou eliminated Alba Berlin in the
Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds with a no-doubt-about-it
74-63 victory at home in Charleroi, Belgium on Saturday. Spirou will
play the winner of Khimki Moscow Region vs. CEZ Nymburk later Saturday
in the bracket final. Sunday's winner advances to the Turkish Airlines
Euroleague Regular Season. Against Alba, Spirou had all the answers
with an aggressive defense and low turnovers. Dwayne Broyles led the
way for Spirou with 15 points. Caleb Green nailed 11, Justin Hamilton
and Demond Mallet added 10 apiece, and Jiri Welsch 9. Derrick Allen
bagged 20 for Alba and Bryce Taylor 13. Spirou's defense set the tone
as the hosts took a 36-23 lead after 15 minutes. Read more here.
Asvel Basket 83 - 93 Galatasaray
Galatasaray
got closer to reach the Turkish Airlines Euroleague regular season for
the first time ever by downing Asvel Basket 83-93 in the second
semifinal of the Qualifying Round in Vilnius, Lithuania on Saturday.
Galatasaray will reach the 2011-12 Euroleague if it beats Lietuvos
Rytas in the go-ahead game tomorrow. The club last had a similar chance
to get to Europe's top competition in 1990-91, losing in a two-way
series against defending champion Pop 84 Split in the final two-way
qualifying round. Asvel will play the 2011-12 Eurocup, in which will be
its fifth appearance in the competition in the last seven years. Jaka
Lakovic paced the winners with 22 points on 6-of-8 triples. Read more here.
Lietuvos Rytas 88 - 71 Cibona Zagreb
Lietuvos
Rytas got within one win of reaching the 2011-12 Turkish Airlines
Euroleague by knocking off Cibona 71-88 in the first Qualifying Round
semifinal in Vilnius, Lithuania on Saturday. L. Rytas will fight for a
Euroleague spot in the Qualifying Rounds final tomorrow. Meanwhile,
Cibona will make its Eurocup debut next season and its streak of 20
straight Euroleague seasons came to an end. Tyrese Rice led the winners
with 19 points. Ronnie Seibutis and Mindaugas Katelynas each added 13
for L. Rytas. Demonte Harper led Cibona with 14 points. Goran Suton
added 13 while Damjan Rudez had 11 for the Croatian powerhouse.
Katelynas shined late in the first quarter to give L. Rytas a 17-24
edge after 10 minutes. Read more here.
September 29, 2011 - Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds, Round 1
Spirou, fought off Donetsk of Ukraine 61-59
Belgacom Spirou Basket survived the
first Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Round by edging BC Donetsk
61-59 in Charleroi, Belgium on Thursday. Spirou keeps the chance to
return to the Euroleague for a second consecutive season and will face
Alba Berlin in the next round at the Spiroudome on Saturday. Both teams
met in last season's final Qualifying Round, which Spirou won to seal
its ticket to the 2010-11 Euroleague. Donetsk will make its Eurocup
debut in the 2011-12 season. Jiri Welsch led the winners with 13
points. Justin Hamilton added 10, including a key three-pointer in the
final minute. Michael Lee had 13 points for Donetsk while Ivan
Radenovic added 11. Donetsk led for the best part of the game, getting
a 21-28 margin at halftime behind an outstanding Lee. Read more here.
Lietuvos Rytas downed Buducnost 83-64
Lietuvos
Rytas stayed in the fight to reach the Turkish Airlines Euroleague by
downing KK Buducnost 83-64 in the first Qualifying Round in Vilnius,
Lithuania on Thursday. L. Rytas is set to face Cibona in the second
Qualifying Round on Saturday while Buducnost will play the 2011-12
Eurocup. Ronnie Seibutis paced the winners with 17 points. Tyrese Rice
had 14 of his 16 points in the first half, Jonas Valanciunas added 11
while Mindaugas Katelynas and Steponas Babrauskas each got 10 for L.
Rytas. Nikola Vucevic led Buducnost with 18 points while Nikola
Ivanovic added 14. Rice had 8 points in an 11-0 run that allowed L.
Rytas to get the lead for good, 34-25, midway through the second
quarter. Buducnost managed to get within 42-38 on a basket by Aleksa
Popovic. Read more here.
Alba Berlin dominated VEF Riga 82-60
German
powerhouse Alba Berlin pulled away strongly to an easy 82-60 victory
over VEF Riga of Latvia on Thursday to get the Turkish Airlines
Euroleague Qualifying Rounds going in Charleroi, Belgium. Alba will
face the winner of host club Belgacom Spirou vs. BC Donetsk of Ukraine
in the Charleroi semifinal on Saturday. Berlin looked in complete
control as it won the middle quarters 40-25 and never looked back on
its way to victory. Lucca Staiger hit 4 of 7 three-pointers and led
five Alba double-digit scorers with 15 points. Dashaun Wood had 13,
while Derrick Allen, Marko Simonovic and Kyle Weaver scored 11 each.
Alba enjoyed a 16-7 advantage in assists, 6 of those by Weaver. Read
more here.
Cibona finished strong in Vilnius
KK
Cibona Zagreb broke open a close game with stellar defense to defeat
Cholet of France 77-70 in Vilnius on Thursday to advance in the Turkish
Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds. Cibona will play the winner of
host Lietuvos Rytas vs. KK Buducnost in Saturday's second round. Cibona
trailed 47-53 midway through the third quarter but held Cholet to only
free throws for more than 13 minutes while turning the scoreboard in
its favor, 71-61, and holding on for victory. Antwain Barbour led the
winners with 16 points, while Demonte Harper had 13, Damjan Rudez 11
and Brian Chase 10. For Cholet, Talor Battle pumped in 23 points and
Fabien Causeur 14, but low shooting percentages except for at the foul
line hurt the losers. Read more here.
September 25, 2011 - Referees gear up for new season at clinic
A
total of 120 referees and observers gathered in Istanbul this week for
what has become an important preseason tradition, the 20th Clinic for
Euroleague Basketball-FIBA Europe International Referees. The three-day
clinic was conducted by the Euroleague Basketball refereeing department
with the goal of reviewing lessons learned from the previous season and
discussing the points of emphasis designed to help Europe’s best
referees prepare for the new 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague and
Eurocup seasons. Sessions were both theoretical and hands on, with
referees meeting in conference rooms and also taking to the court to
work on game-specific situations. Read more here.
September 23, 2011 - Qualifying Rounds coming up next!
The
2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague gets underway with the start of
two-exciting four-day qualifying rounds in Vilnius, Lithuania and
Charleroi, Belgium on September 29. The qualifying format has changed
to add more drama and excitement to the fight to reach the Turkish
Airlines Euroleague Regular Season. In each city, eight teams will
compete for a Euroleague spot, with the survivor after the weekend
winning a place in the regular season. The parallel tournaments are
being played in basketball capitals at either end of the continent.
Siemens Arena in Vilnius has been the scene of almost constant,
10,000-seat sellouts over the years, most recently for the middle round
of EuroBasket earlier this month. Read more here.
September 23, 2011 - Broadcasters prepare for new Turkish Airlines Euroleague and Eurocup seasons
The
fifth annual TV workshop for Turkish Airlines Euroleague host
broadcasters took place on Thursday in Barcelona, Spain, with
representatives of some of Europe’s best sports networks coming
together to prepare for the new season. The workshop featured 20
representatives from different television companies, including
broadcasters from France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey.
The cooperation between Euroleague Basketball and the official
television stations that broadcast the top European competitions
enables the quality of the Euroleague Basketball television product to
continue to improve from season to season. The TV workshop is a prime
contributing factor to that success. Read more here.
September 22, 2011 - Turkish Airlines Euroleague, Eurocup Head Coaches gather for preseason talks
With the start of the new 2011-12 season just around
the corner, 36 head coaches from the Turkish Airlines Euroleague and
the Eurocup met in Istanbul, Turkey on Wednesday to discuss issues
pertaining to rules, interpretations and points of emphasis in advance
of the first official games, the qualifying rounds of both competitions
that begin next week. The annual sitdown between the coaches and the
Euroleague Basketball refereeing department helps formulate the rule
interpretations and points of emphasis prior to the start of a new
season. Euroleague Basketball Director of Referees Costas Rigas
presided over the meeting, in which the coaches were able to review
video examples, make comments and discuss the officiating for the
coming season. As always, both sides also discussed rule changes and
made proposals for future seasons. Read more here.
September 21, 2011 - Turkish Airlines Euroleague Media Day
With less than a month to go until opening day,
Turkish Airlines Euroleague teams are preparing for a great new 2011-12
season in more ways than one. In addition to their training camps and
pre-season games, each and every team will hold Turkish Airlines
Euroleague Media Day in the coming weeks to talk about their
challenges, expectations and hopes for the coming season. In cities
from Kazan, Russia to Malaga, Spain – and everywhere in between –
Euroleague clubs will spend a morning each attending to the reporting,
interviewing, recording, social media and photography needs local and
international media . Turkish Airlines Euroleague Media Day will be
open to all journalists and will include all players and coaches from
every club. Read more here.
September 20, 2011 - INTERSPORT, Euroleague Basketball agree till 2013
Euroleague
Basketball is pleased to announce INTERSPORT as a new partner of the
Turkish Airlines Euroleague for the next two seasons. The agreement,
which extends through June of 2013, continues a strong relationship
between the two brands. INTERSPORT was previously an Euroleague
Basketball partner for the 2010 Final Four in Paris and the 2011
Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four in Barcelona. With more than
5,300 affiliated retailers in 40 countries – including Euroleague
countries like Spain, Greece, Russia, Italy and Turkey – INTERSPORT is
the worldwide leader in the sporting goods retail market. Euroleague
Basketball joins a list of top-level sports and events sponsored by
INTERSPORT, including several international football, skiing, track and
field, handball and hockey events. Read more here.
September 7, 2011 - 2011-12 Preseason: Games and Results
Even
as some of the top stars of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague are
representing their countries at EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania, their
clubs are hard at work getting ready for a new season. Almost all of
the 22 teams in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season have
started training camp, while the 16 teams playing in the qualifying
rounds starting September 29 are working hard, too. In some cases, so
many players are at EuroBasket 2011 that teams are relying on juniors
and tryouts. That was very much the case on Tuesday in Bormio, Italy,
for the first pre-season game between Euroleague teams, as Montepaschi
Siena defeated Anadolu Efes Istanbul 79-70 behind 20 points from Pietro
Aradori. Read more here.
August 30, 2011 - Euroleague Basketball Announces Licensing Partnership with EA SPORTS
Barcelona,
August 30, 2011. Electronic Arts and Euroleague Basketball are pleased
to announce their licensing partnership that makes the leading global
interactive entertainment software company an official partner under
the video gaming category. Under this agreement EA SPORTS will include
Turkish Airlines Euroleague players in the upcoming release of the
mythical arcade game NBA Jam: On Fire Edition. This is the first time
that European clubs will be officially represented in the NBA JAM
franchise, one of the most successful video games in sports history.
All fans will be able to choose any of the four participating teams in
the last Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four. Read more here.
August 29, 2011 - Zalgiris-CSKA to tip off Turkish Airlines Euroleague season!
A
shining new monument to Lithuania's first love, basketball, will be the
starting place for a Turkish Airlines Euroleague season full of promise
as Zalgiris Kaunas has been chosen to host long-time rival CSKA Moscow
in the 2011-12 opening game. Zalgiris and CSKA will face each other at
the recently inaugurated, 15,400-seat Zalgirio Arena on Monday, October
17 to open a week when all 24 teams of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague
will see their first action of the 2011-12 season. The regular season
will extend for 10 consecutive weeks, giving way in 2012 to the Top 16,
the Playoffs and the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four, where a
continental champion will be crowned next May in Istanbul. Read more here.
August 10, 2011 - Euroleague 2011-12, Qualifying Rounds Calendar
August 10, 2011 - EB, NTV Spor of Turkey expand broadcasting agreement
Euroleague
Basketball is pleased to announce that it has agreed to an expanded
broadcasting deal with Dogus Yayin Grubu (DYG) of Turkey, that
country’s one of the biggest media group. The new agreement gives DYG
broadcasting rights of Turkish Airlines Euroleague games for the next
three seasons, until the end of the 2013-14 season. NTV Spor, one of
the DYG channels, was one of the networks broadcasting Euroleague games
in Turkey last season, but with the new agreement it will have the
exclusive rights to both of Turkey’s Euroleague teams, Anadolu Efes and
Fenerbahce Ulker, as well as the 2012 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final
Four, which will take place in May at Sinan Erdem Arena in Istanbul,
and a solid number of other games around the league weekly, especialy
offering the Game of The Week on a steady basis. Read more here.
July 8, 2011 - Fifth annual European Basketball Marketing Summit
The
European Basketball Marketing Summit '11, held in Barcelona, Spain on
Thursday and Friday, attracted more than 60 representatives from
European clubs and 14 countries across the continent to hear from
experts and discuss together ways of better serving fans, sponsors and
communities. The fifth annual summit, which followed the draws for the
2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague and Eurocup, offered both long-term
visions and short-term strategies that clubs can put into effect in the
run-up to the new season. Read more here.
July 7, 2011 - Turkish Airlines Euroleague Draw 2011-12
The
thoughts of sneakers squeaking and balls sailing through the nets were
on the minds of all Thursday as the draws for the 2011-12 Turkish
Airlines Euroleague Regular Season and Qualifying Rounds and the
Eurocup Qualifying Round took place in Barcelona, Spain. Now basketball
fans around the world can begin marking their calendars with the dates
that their favorite teams will leap into action. The 22 teams that have
already secured their berths in the Euroleague Regular Season were
divided into four groups of six teams, with two more team still to be
added from the Qualifying Rounds. The Qualifying Rounds will take place
from September 29 through October 2 with 16 teams battling for two last
tickets to the Regular Season at separate eight-team tournaments. Among
the top seeds headlining the Regular Season groups are defending
Turkish Airlines Euroleague champion Panathinaikos, 2010 champion Regal
FC Barcelona and the winningest team in Euroleague history, Real
Madrid. Read more here.
July 7, 2011 - bwin partners with Euroleague Basketball
The bwin sports brand has today become the new
sponsor for Euroleague Basketball, the most important professional club
basketball competition in Europe. bwin’s marketing and media rights
agreement for Euroleague events runs until June 2014. This agreement
significantly broadens the footprint of bwin within European basketball
and also strengthens the bwin sports brand philosophy. “We are proud to
announce the Euroleague Basketball agreement which represents a perfect
match to our long lasting relationship with FIBA, the world governing
body for basketball. This makes bwin an even stronger brand as we will
now cover both club basketball with the Euroleague and the national
teams through our FIBA partnership. Basketball, along with football and
motorcycle racing, is one of the three pillars of our sport sponsorship
strategy,” said Norbert Teufelberger, Co-CEO of bwin.party digital
entertainment which owns the bwin brand. Read more here.
July 6, 2011 - A new home for European basketball
On
the eve of group draws that signal the start of the 2011-12 season, a
new era of growth in European basketball was celebrated Wednesday night
with the inauguration of the recently completed Euroleague Basketball
headquarters in Barcelona, Spain. An estimated 200 representatives from
across the breadth of the European basketball family joined in
festivities that symbolized the consistent expansion that the sport has
achieved since Euroleague Basketball was founded in 2000. Now in just
its second decade, Euroleague Basketball is more dedicated than ever to
continue helping clubs and leagues bring the unique game of European
basketball to more and more fans every season. "The new offices of
Euroleague Basketball answer to one simple reality: the growth of our
league:" Euroleague Basketball CEO Jordi Bertomeu said. "Growth that
has been accomplished in small steps, with plenty of debate; growth
that has carried European basketball to 192 countries thanks to
agreements with television broadcasters who have shown confidence in
us; growth that has tripled the revenues of the company, thanks to the
cooperation of our sponsors and partners; growth that has happened,
too, in our arenas, where our club have also bet on future growth by
building bigger venues and filling them. Congratulations are in order.
The work of our clubs and our national leagues has taken us this far --
and will carry us much further." Read more here.
July 5, 2011 - Euroleague Basketball referees working on their game, too, this summer
Three off-season camps designed to help Euroleague
Basketball referees hone their skills have been completed successfully
in locations around Europe, with a fourth scheduled for later this
summer. The first camp was held during the 2011 Turkish Airlines
Euroleague Final Four in Barcelona, Spain, during the first weekend of
May. A pair of camps held simultaneously in Douai, France and Istanbul,
Turkey last week brought the number of 2011 Euroleague Basketball
Referees Summer Camps so far to three. And a final camp will take place
in Ljubljana, Slovenia from August 5 to 10 thanks to an invitation from
the Slovenian Basketball Federation. Read more here.
July 4, 2011 - 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Draw seeds, info
The draw will be held according to seeds. The 22
directly qualified teams will be divided into six seeds with four teams
in each, in accordance with the Club Ranking described in Appendix I of
the Euroleague Basketball Club Licensing Rules. The performance of
teams in European competitions during a three year period will be used.
Each club will get 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw or loss
from the Regular Season onwards. 2 bonus points are allocated for
reaching the last 16, 2 bonus points are allocated for reaching the
last 8, 1 bonus point is allocated for reaching the last 4, 1 bonus
point is allocated for reaching the Final. The Club Ranking consists of
the sum of the club coefficients from the last three years. If two or
more teams have the same Club Ranking, the tie will be resolved by the
total number of wins during the three year period. Should a tie
persist, the final standings in the Euroleague and if necessary Eurocup
from the previous season will be used to break the tie. Read more here.
July 1, 2011 - Executives of the Year: Pavlos and Thanassis Giannakopoulos, Panathinaikos
A
quarter of a century spent building their club into the most successful
in modern European basketball has resulted in Pavlos and Thanassis
Giannakopoulos of Panathinaikos Athens being voted Executives of the
Year for the 2010-11 Turkish Airlines Euroleague season. Panathinaikos
lifted high its newest continental trophy following victory at the 2011
Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four in Barcelona last month. In so
doing, the club moved into a tie for second place on the the list of
Europe's most successful teams all-time with six Euroleague titles.
Panathinaikos is already the most successful team of the entire Final
Four era, which started in 1988, one year after the Giannakopoulos
brothers took control of the club. Read more here.
June 30, 2011 - Devotion Marketing Awards nominees announced
Euroleague Basketball is proud to announce that the
nominees for the fifth edition of the Devotion Marketing Awards are
Asefa Estudiantes, Asseco Prokom Gdynia and Union Olimpija Ljubljana.
The Devotion Marketing Awards recognize the efforts made by Euroleague
and Eurocup clubs to enhance the growth of basketball from a marketing
perspective. As every season, the criteria to select the three
nominees, from the many clubs participating in this edition, have been
based on four main pillars: spectators, distribution,
product/experience and branding. Read more here.
June 30, 2011 - New teams proposed as 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague participants
A week before its general assembly meets, Euroleague
Basketball has announced the proposal for teams to fill wild card
openings in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague for the upcoming 2011-12
season. In the Euroleague Basketball bylaws, the right is reserved to
grant wild cards. For the 2011-12 season, two wild cards have
been reserved for the qualifying rounds, while one more has been
produced in the regular season and three more in the qualifying rounds.
The vacancy in the regular season was due to Lottomatica Roma of Italy
having its A license suspended for having finished in the bottom half
of its national competition. Euroleague Basketball will propose
to the general assembly that Armani Jeans Milano, also of Italy,
substitute Lottomatica Roma during the 2011-12 regular season.
Euroleague Basketball will propose to the general assembly that ASVEL
Basket Lyon Villeurbanne of France and Alba Berlin of Germany be
granted wild cards to participate in the qualifying rounds. Read more here.
June 26, 2011 - Mastermind clinic closes EBI seminars
The
fourth annual Euroleague Basketball Institute Mastermind Coaching
Seminars reached a successful conclusion on Saturday as dozens of
students from around the world received their diplomas from the hands
of the coaching legends – Aito Garcia Reneses, Ettore Messina, Zeljko
Obradovic and Xavier Pascual – whom they had come great distances to
learn from. From Wednesday to Saturday in suburban Barcelona, a total
of 53 students participated in the Mastermind Coaching Clinic that
highlighted the end of five months' worth of on-line seminars offered
by each of the four legendary coaches. "For any coach who wants to
improve something, it's good to be here, to watch this clinic and to
have the chance to exchange opinions with everyone," said Zeljko
Obradovic of Panathinaikos, the winningest coach in Euroleague history,
with eight titles. "I think this is most important. I think that every
one of us must wake up in the morning and understand that we don't know
everything, in life or in basketball. As a coach, I am sure I must
improve." Read more here.
June 22, 2011 - Mastermind Coaching Clinic opens in Barcelona
Months
of basketball study reach a crescendo this weekend as participants in
the Euroleague Basketball Institute Mastermind Coaching Seminars
descend upon Barcelona to learn first-hand from four of the world's
finest bench bosses at the Mastermind Coaching Clinic. The clinic
features four days of on-court instruction, Wednesday through Saturday,
by legends Ettore Messina, Zeljko Obradovic, Xavier Pascual and Aito
Garcia Reneses. Dozens of students from who flew to Barcelona from
around the world will learn first-hand from all four coaches, expanding
on the knowledge they have gained in on-line seminars offered by each
since February. The on-court clinic will be held on the courts at
Complex Esportiu L'Hospitalet Nord in the Barcelona suburb of
L'Hospitalet. The coaches will speak in their on-court lectures about
five different concepts. The fourth edition of the clinic started with
a five-month long on-line course consisting of 25 lessons, and includes
a new scouting seminar, a first in a basketball course at this level.
Read more here.
June 22, 2011 - 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague teams
With
the conclusion of the domestic league competitions all around Europe
over the weekend, the teams that will aspire to become the next Turkish
Airlines Euroleague champion, starting from both the Regular Season and
the Qualifying Rounds, are almost fully known now.
A total 21 teams from 13 countries have already qualified directly for
the 2011-12 Regular Season through a combination of long-term A
licenses, B licenses won through results in national and regional
championships, and one C license for the Eurocup Champion. The final
remaining spot in the Regular Season is a wild card created when
Lottomatica Roma finished the 2010-11 season in the bottom half of the
Italian League final standings. This wild card needs to be confirmed by
the Euroleague General Assembly.
The two remaining
spots in the 24-team Regular Season will come from the Turkish Airlines
Euroleague Qualifying Rounds, which features 16 more teams from at
least 12 countries, including five new ones not yet represented in the
Regular Season. Of the 16 qualifying round teams, 13 have earned their
places through their national or regional championship results. One
wild card is already known due to this being the final year of a three
year agreement with the French League (LNB), one is a wild card created
when Dutch League (FEB) champion Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden renounced
their position, and one other is a wild card to be named shortly.
June 17, 2011 - Draws for 2011-12 season announced
Euroleague Basketball is pleased to announce that
the first calendar events of a new and exciting basketball season – the
draws for the 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague, Eurocup Qualifying
Rounds and EuroChallenge – will be held on Thursday, July 7 at the
Mediapro Auditorium, Imagina in Barcelona, Spain. For the sixth
consecutive year, the 2011-12 draws may be seen live on Euroleague.net.
Immediately after the draw, fans can also see live-streamed interviews
on Euroleague.net with Turkish Airlines Euroleague team coaches and
managers giving their impressions of the draw results. Read more here.
Turkish
Airlines Euroleague fans will be able to enjoy bigger, better and
bolder video than ever before this season thanks to a package of
upgrades to Euroleague.TV. The improvements will boost the Euroleague
experience for fans by enhancing the presentation of everything from
video news pages to live event broadcasts over Euroleague.TV, the
competition's video channel. This initiative underlines Euroleague
Basketball's commitment, after four years of EBTV services, to continue
to improve the quality of video programming. Euroleague Basketball
strives to give new and existing fans the best video vehicle possible
with which to feel the excitement of the best international club
basketball. Read more 
Prior
to the 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague opening game on Monday,
October 17, members of the Euroleague Commercial Assets board and
shareholders both met to discuss the outlook for the upcoming season
and to review plans for enhancing European basketball competitions in
the future. Members unanimously approved the strategic plan for the
2012-15 seasons, which seeks to resize the number of participants in
European club competitions, opening them up to all European countries
meeting the minimum requirements, and solidifying their pyramid
structure. The proposal would limit European club competitions to the
Turkish Airlines Euroleague, with 24 teams, and the Eurocup, with 48
teams. Read more 
Belgacom
Spirou Basket established itself as the king of qualifying for the
second year in a row by routing CEZ Nymburk 79-53 at the Spiroudome in
Charleroi, Belgium, to advance to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague
Regular Season. The Belgian champs pulled away in the second quarter to
take a 34-21 halftime lead and never looked back as the margin crossed
the 30-point mark in the fourth quarter. Chris Hill shined with 21
points and 12 rebounds, Demond Mallet scored 18, Caleb Green had 12,
Christophe Beghin 11 and Jiri Welsch dished 7 assists for the winners.
Head coach Giovanni Bozzi’s squad advances to Euroleague Regular Season
Group C, where it will meet Anadolu Efes, Emporio Armani Milano,
Maccabi Electra, Partizan m:ts and Real Madrid, which Spirou will host
on opening night, October 20. Eugene Lawrence paced Nymbutk with 10
points. Read more 
Galatasaray
overcame Lietuvos Rytas 63-71 at Siemens Arena in Vilnius, Lithuania,
to advance to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season for the
first time in club history. Galatasaray trailed early, but used a 2-13
run to take a 28-30 halftime lead and continued to add to it throughout
the second half. Head coach Oktay Mahmuti’s men will play in Euroleague
Group D with Asseco Prokom, FC Barcelona Regal, Montepaschi Siena,
Unics Kazan and Union Olimpija. Preston Shumpert paced the Galatasaray
attack with 14 points off the bench, Josh Shipp and Luksa Andric added
12 apiece and Jaka Lakovic tallied 10 points and 5 assists for the
winners. Renaldas Seibutas scored 11 first-quarter points for Rytas,
but quieted after that and finished with 15. Read more 
In
the biggest upset of the season so far, CEZ Nymburk of the Czech
Republic rode a strong start to a close finish to defeat Khimki Moscow
Region of Russia by 86-79 on Saturday and reach the last day of the
Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds. Nymburk will play host
Belgacom Spirou in Charleroi, Belgium on Sunday, with the winner going
to the Euroleague regular season. Nymburk blasted out of the gates to a
21-3 lead in the first quarter and kept building on until ahead by
49-22 at halftime. Khimki's counter-punch was strong, a 5-24 run after
halftime that eventually closed the gap to 58-54 early in the final
quarter. But that's when Nymburk steadied itself and held on for
victory. Read more 
For
the second year in a row, Belgacom Spirou eliminated Alba Berlin in the
Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds with a no-doubt-about-it
74-63 victory at home in Charleroi, Belgium on Saturday. Spirou will
play the winner of Khimki Moscow Region vs. CEZ Nymburk later Saturday
in the bracket final. Sunday's winner advances to the Turkish Airlines
Euroleague Regular Season. Against Alba, Spirou had all the answers
with an aggressive defense and low turnovers. Dwayne Broyles led the
way for Spirou with 15 points. Caleb Green nailed 11, Justin Hamilton
and Demond Mallet added 10 apiece, and Jiri Welsch 9. Derrick Allen
bagged 20 for Alba and Bryce Taylor 13. Spirou's defense set the tone
as the hosts took a 36-23 lead after 15 minutes. Read more 
Galatasaray
got closer to reach the Turkish Airlines Euroleague regular season for
the first time ever by downing Asvel Basket 83-93 in the second
semifinal of the Qualifying Round in Vilnius, Lithuania on Saturday.
Galatasaray will reach the 2011-12 Euroleague if it beats Lietuvos
Rytas in the go-ahead game tomorrow. The club last had a similar chance
to get to Europe's top competition in 1990-91, losing in a two-way
series against defending champion Pop 84 Split in the final two-way
qualifying round. Asvel will play the 2011-12 Eurocup, in which will be
its fifth appearance in the competition in the last seven years. Jaka
Lakovic paced the winners with 22 points on 6-of-8 triples. Read more 
Lietuvos
Rytas got within one win of reaching the 2011-12 Turkish Airlines
Euroleague by knocking off Cibona 71-88 in the first Qualifying Round
semifinal in Vilnius, Lithuania on Saturday. L. Rytas will fight for a
Euroleague spot in the Qualifying Rounds final tomorrow. Meanwhile,
Cibona will make its Eurocup debut next season and its streak of 20
straight Euroleague seasons came to an end. Tyrese Rice led the winners
with 19 points. Ronnie Seibutis and Mindaugas Katelynas each added 13
for L. Rytas. Demonte Harper led Cibona with 14 points. Goran Suton
added 13 while Damjan Rudez had 11 for the Croatian powerhouse.
Katelynas shined late in the first quarter to give L. Rytas a 17-24
edge after 10 minutes. Read more 
Lietuvos
Rytas stayed in the fight to reach the Turkish Airlines Euroleague by
downing KK Buducnost 83-64 in the first Qualifying Round in Vilnius,
Lithuania on Thursday. L. Rytas is set to face Cibona in the second
Qualifying Round on Saturday while Buducnost will play the 2011-12
Eurocup. Ronnie Seibutis paced the winners with 17 points. Tyrese Rice
had 14 of his 16 points in the first half, Jonas Valanciunas added 11
while Mindaugas Katelynas and Steponas Babrauskas each got 10 for L.
Rytas. Nikola Vucevic led Buducnost with 18 points while Nikola
Ivanovic added 14. Rice had 8 points in an 11-0 run that allowed L.
Rytas to get the lead for good, 34-25, midway through the second
quarter. Buducnost managed to get within 42-38 on a basket by Aleksa
Popovic. Read more 
German
powerhouse Alba Berlin pulled away strongly to an easy 82-60 victory
over VEF Riga of Latvia on Thursday to get the Turkish Airlines
Euroleague Qualifying Rounds going in Charleroi, Belgium. Alba will
face the winner of host club Belgacom Spirou vs. BC Donetsk of Ukraine
in the Charleroi semifinal on Saturday. Berlin looked in complete
control as it won the middle quarters 40-25 and never looked back on
its way to victory. Lucca Staiger hit 4 of 7 three-pointers and led
five Alba double-digit scorers with 15 points. Dashaun Wood had 13,
while Derrick Allen, Marko Simonovic and Kyle Weaver scored 11 each.
Alba enjoyed a 16-7 advantage in assists, 6 of those by Weaver. Read
more 
KK
Cibona Zagreb broke open a close game with stellar defense to defeat
Cholet of France 77-70 in Vilnius on Thursday to advance in the Turkish
Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds. Cibona will play the winner of
host Lietuvos Rytas vs. KK Buducnost in Saturday's second round. Cibona
trailed 47-53 midway through the third quarter but held Cholet to only
free throws for more than 13 minutes while turning the scoreboard in
its favor, 71-61, and holding on for victory. Antwain Barbour led the
winners with 16 points, while Demonte Harper had 13, Damjan Rudez 11
and Brian Chase 10. For Cholet, Talor Battle pumped in 23 points and
Fabien Causeur 14, but low shooting percentages except for at the foul
line hurt the losers. Read more 
A
total of 120 referees and observers gathered in Istanbul this week for
what has become an important preseason tradition, the 20th Clinic for
Euroleague Basketball-FIBA Europe International Referees. The three-day
clinic was conducted by the Euroleague Basketball refereeing department
with the goal of reviewing lessons learned from the previous season and
discussing the points of emphasis designed to help Europe’s best
referees prepare for the new 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague and
Eurocup seasons. Sessions were both theoretical and hands on, with
referees meeting in conference rooms and also taking to the court to
work on game-specific situations. Read more 
The
2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague gets underway with the start of
two-exciting four-day qualifying rounds in Vilnius, Lithuania and
Charleroi, Belgium on September 29. The qualifying format has changed
to add more drama and excitement to the fight to reach the Turkish
Airlines Euroleague Regular Season. In each city, eight teams will
compete for a Euroleague spot, with the survivor after the weekend
winning a place in the regular season. The parallel tournaments are
being played in basketball capitals at either end of the continent.
Siemens Arena in Vilnius has been the scene of almost constant,
10,000-seat sellouts over the years, most recently for the middle round
of EuroBasket earlier this month. Read more 
The
fifth annual TV workshop for Turkish Airlines Euroleague host
broadcasters took place on Thursday in Barcelona, Spain, with
representatives of some of Europe’s best sports networks coming
together to prepare for the new season. The workshop featured 20
representatives from different television companies, including
broadcasters from France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey.
The cooperation between Euroleague Basketball and the official
television stations that broadcast the top European competitions
enables the quality of the Euroleague Basketball television product to
continue to improve from season to season. The TV workshop is a prime
contributing factor to that success. Read more 
Euroleague
Basketball is pleased to announce INTERSPORT as a new partner of the
Turkish Airlines Euroleague for the next two seasons. The agreement,
which extends through June of 2013, continues a strong relationship
between the two brands. INTERSPORT was previously an Euroleague
Basketball partner for the 2010 Final Four in Paris and the 2011
Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four in Barcelona. With more than
5,300 affiliated retailers in 40 countries – including Euroleague
countries like Spain, Greece, Russia, Italy and Turkey – INTERSPORT is
the worldwide leader in the sporting goods retail market. Euroleague
Basketball joins a list of top-level sports and events sponsored by
INTERSPORT, including several international football, skiing, track and
field, handball and hockey events. Read more 
Even
as some of the top stars of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague are
representing their countries at EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania, their
clubs are hard at work getting ready for a new season. Almost all of
the 22 teams in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season have
started training camp, while the 16 teams playing in the qualifying
rounds starting September 29 are working hard, too. In some cases, so
many players are at EuroBasket 2011 that teams are relying on juniors
and tryouts. That was very much the case on Tuesday in Bormio, Italy,
for the first pre-season game between Euroleague teams, as Montepaschi
Siena defeated Anadolu Efes Istanbul 79-70 behind 20 points from Pietro
Aradori. Read more 
Barcelona,
August 30, 2011. Electronic Arts and Euroleague Basketball are pleased
to announce their licensing partnership that makes the leading global
interactive entertainment software company an official partner under
the video gaming category. Under this agreement EA SPORTS will include
Turkish Airlines Euroleague players in the upcoming release of the
mythical arcade game NBA Jam: On Fire Edition. This is the first time
that European clubs will be officially represented in the NBA JAM
franchise, one of the most successful video games in sports history.
All fans will be able to choose any of the four participating teams in
the last Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four. Read more 
A
shining new monument to Lithuania's first love, basketball, will be the
starting place for a Turkish Airlines Euroleague season full of promise
as Zalgiris Kaunas has been chosen to host long-time rival CSKA Moscow
in the 2011-12 opening game. Zalgiris and CSKA will face each other at
the recently inaugurated, 15,400-seat Zalgirio Arena on Monday, October
17 to open a week when all 24 teams of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague
will see their first action of the 2011-12 season. The regular season
will extend for 10 consecutive weeks, giving way in 2012 to the Top 16,
the Playoffs and the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four, where a
continental champion will be crowned next May in Istanbul. Read more 
The
European Basketball Marketing Summit '11, held in Barcelona, Spain on
Thursday and Friday, attracted more than 60 representatives from
European clubs and 14 countries across the continent to hear from
experts and discuss together ways of better serving fans, sponsors and
communities. The fifth annual summit, which followed the draws for the
2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague and Eurocup, offered both long-term
visions and short-term strategies that clubs can put into effect in the
run-up to the new season. Read more 
The
thoughts of sneakers squeaking and balls sailing through the nets were
on the minds of all Thursday as the draws for the 2011-12 Turkish
Airlines Euroleague Regular Season and Qualifying Rounds and the
Eurocup Qualifying Round took place in Barcelona, Spain. Now basketball
fans around the world can begin marking their calendars with the dates
that their favorite teams will leap into action. The 22 teams that have
already secured their berths in the Euroleague Regular Season were
divided into four groups of six teams, with two more team still to be
added from the Qualifying Rounds. The Qualifying Rounds will take place
from September 29 through October 2 with 16 teams battling for two last
tickets to the Regular Season at separate eight-team tournaments. Among
the top seeds headlining the Regular Season groups are defending
Turkish Airlines Euroleague champion Panathinaikos, 2010 champion Regal
FC Barcelona and the winningest team in Euroleague history, Real
Madrid. Read more 
On
the eve of group draws that signal the start of the 2011-12 season, a
new era of growth in European basketball was celebrated Wednesday night
with the inauguration of the recently completed Euroleague Basketball
headquarters in Barcelona, Spain. An estimated 200 representatives from
across the breadth of the European basketball family joined in
festivities that symbolized the consistent expansion that the sport has
achieved since Euroleague Basketball was founded in 2000. Now in just
its second decade, Euroleague Basketball is more dedicated than ever to
continue helping clubs and leagues bring the unique game of European
basketball to more and more fans every season. "The new offices of
Euroleague Basketball answer to one simple reality: the growth of our
league:" Euroleague Basketball CEO Jordi Bertomeu said. "Growth that
has been accomplished in small steps, with plenty of debate; growth
that has carried European basketball to 192 countries thanks to
agreements with television broadcasters who have shown confidence in
us; growth that has tripled the revenues of the company, thanks to the
cooperation of our sponsors and partners; growth that has happened,
too, in our arenas, where our club have also bet on future growth by
building bigger venues and filling them. Congratulations are in order.
The work of our clubs and our national leagues has taken us this far --
and will carry us much further." Read more 
A
quarter of a century spent building their club into the most successful
in modern European basketball has resulted in Pavlos and Thanassis
Giannakopoulos of Panathinaikos Athens being voted Executives of the
Year for the 2010-11 Turkish Airlines Euroleague season. Panathinaikos
lifted high its newest continental trophy following victory at the 2011
Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four in Barcelona last month. In so
doing, the club moved into a tie for second place on the the list of
Europe's most successful teams all-time with six Euroleague titles.
Panathinaikos is already the most successful team of the entire Final
Four era, which started in 1988, one year after the Giannakopoulos
brothers took control of the club. Read more 
Euroleague Basketball is proud to announce that the
nominees for the fifth edition of the Devotion Marketing Awards are
Asefa Estudiantes, Asseco Prokom Gdynia and Union Olimpija Ljubljana.
The Devotion Marketing Awards recognize the efforts made by Euroleague
and Eurocup clubs to enhance the growth of basketball from a marketing
perspective. As every season, the criteria to select the three
nominees, from the many clubs participating in this edition, have been
based on four main pillars: spectators, distribution,
product/experience and branding. Read more 
The
fourth annual Euroleague Basketball Institute Mastermind Coaching
Seminars reached a successful conclusion on Saturday as dozens of
students from around the world received their diplomas from the hands
of the coaching legends – Aito Garcia Reneses, Ettore Messina, Zeljko
Obradovic and Xavier Pascual – whom they had come great distances to
learn from. From Wednesday to Saturday in suburban Barcelona, a total
of 53 students participated in the Mastermind Coaching Clinic that
highlighted the end of five months' worth of on-line seminars offered
by each of the four legendary coaches. "For any coach who wants to
improve something, it's good to be here, to watch this clinic and to
have the chance to exchange opinions with everyone," said Zeljko
Obradovic of Panathinaikos, the winningest coach in Euroleague history,
with eight titles. "I think this is most important. I think that every
one of us must wake up in the morning and understand that we don't know
everything, in life or in basketball. As a coach, I am sure I must
improve." Read more 
Months
of basketball study reach a crescendo this weekend as participants in
the Euroleague Basketball Institute Mastermind Coaching Seminars
descend upon Barcelona to learn first-hand from four of the world's
finest bench bosses at the Mastermind Coaching Clinic. The clinic
features four days of on-court instruction, Wednesday through Saturday,
by legends Ettore Messina, Zeljko Obradovic, Xavier Pascual and Aito
Garcia Reneses. Dozens of students from who flew to Barcelona from
around the world will learn first-hand from all four coaches, expanding
on the knowledge they have gained in on-line seminars offered by each
since February. The on-court clinic will be held on the courts at
Complex Esportiu L'Hospitalet Nord in the Barcelona suburb of
L'Hospitalet. The coaches will speak in their on-court lectures about
five different concepts. The fourth edition of the clinic started with
a five-month long on-line course consisting of 25 lessons, and includes
a new scouting seminar, a first in a basketball course at this level.
Read more 
