2000–01 Euroleague

The FIBA European Champions' Cup was originally established by FIBA and it operated under its umbrella from 1958 until the summer of 2000, concluding with the 1999–2000 season. Euroleague Basketball Company was created by ULEB clubs in 2000. At the time the leagues of ULEB were Spain, Italy, Greece, Belgium, Portugal, England and Switzerland. However against the will of their domestic leagues clubs from Lithuania, Croatia, Russia, Israel and Slovenia opted for the Euroleague competition despite the fact that their leagues were not members of ULEB. FIBA had never trademarked the "EuroLeague" name and had no legal recourse on the usage of that name, so they had to find a new name for their league. The following 2000–01 season started with two top European professional club basketball competitions: FIBA SuproLeague (renamed from the FIBA EuroLeague) and Euroleague. Top clubs were split between the two leagues: Panathinaikos, Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv, CSKA Moscow, and Efes Pilsen stayed with FIBA, while Olympiacos, Kinder Bologna, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Tau Cerámica, and Benetton Treviso joined Euroleague Basketball. Lugano Tigers the Swiss champions were the last team to join the ULEB side and enter the competition. ==Rules, format changes and dates==

On 11 July 2000 in Thessaloniki during the ULEB Assembly format changes and dates were set for the new competition The Official List of the teams will include a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 16 players. Ten players will be allowed on the bench while 2 USA players per team are permitted. There was no Final Four but a best of three series in the Final. Andrea Bassani (ex-General Manager of the Italian League) was appointed in the Assembly as the Manager of Marketing and Media of the Euroleague. Referees Kostas Rigas was elected commissioner. Three referees will officiate every Euroleague game. The team of officials will be made up of 45 referees who have signed guaranteed contracts for three years with no age restriction. However FIBA did not allow them to officiate in their domestic leagues in 2000-01. Dates Games will be played on Thursdays, with the possibility of moving them forward to Wednesday when necessary. • Regular season: 19 October 2000 to 8 January 2001 • Play-offs 1/8 finals- 1,8,15 February 2001 • Play-offs ¼ finals: 22 Feb, 1, 8 March 2001 • Semi-finals: 27, 29 March, 3, 5, 12 April 2001 • Finals: 17, 19 April, 1, 3, 10 May 2001 == Team allocation ==

A total of 24 teams from 14 countries participate in the competition. Distribution The table below shows the default access list. The competition culminated in a best 3 out of 5 playoff series. Teams The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round • 1st, 2nd, etc.: League position after Playoffs • WC: Wild card == Regular season ==

The first phase was a regular season, in which the competing teams were drawn into four groups, each containing six teams. Each team played every other team in its group at home and away, resulting in 10 games for each team in the first stage. The top 4 teams in each group advanced to the next round, The Top 16. The complete list of tiebreakers is provided in the lead-in to the Regular Season results. If one or more clubs were level on won-lost record, tiebreakers were applied in the following order: • Head-to-head record in matches between the tied clubs • Overall point difference in games between the tied clubs • Overall point difference in all group matches (first tiebreaker if tied clubs were not in the same group) • Points scored in all group matches • Sum of quotients of points scored and points allowed in each group match Group A Source: Euroleague Group B Source: Euroleague Group C Source: Euroleague Group D Source: Euroleague == Playoffs ==

Bracket Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding, the numbers to the right indicate the result of games including result in bold of the team that won in that game, and the numbers furthest to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. First Round In a best-of-three series the remaining 16 teams were placed against each other. The games were held between the 31st of January and the 14th of February, 2001, with the top 8 teams advancing to the Playoffs. Quarterfinals In a best-of-three series the remaining eight teams were placed against each other. The games were held between 21 February and 7 March 2001, with the top 4 teams advancing to the semifinals. Semifinals In a best-of-five series the remaining four teams were placed against each other. The games were held between the 27th of March and the 7th of April, 2001. • Note:The game was replayed between the second and the third game. AEK won the originally game 75-74 after overtime. Dimos Dikoudis scored the winning basket into appears. After Tau's appeal, ULEB's judge decided the replay of the game. Finals The culminating stage of the Euroleague season, the two remaining teams that won the semifinal series played each other in a best-of-five series. == Awards ==

Top Scorer Regular season MVP Finals MVP Finals Top Scorer All-Euroleague First Team All-Euroleague Second Team Round MVP Regular season Playoffs == Individual statistics ==

Rating Points Rebounds Assists Other statistics Individual game highs == Aftermath ==

In May 2001, Europe had two continental champions, Maccabi Tel Aviv of the FIBA SuproLeague and Kinder Bologna of Euroleague Basketball Company's EuroLeague. The leaders of both organizations realized the need to come up with a new single competition. Negotiating from the position of strength ULEB dictated proceedings, and FIBA essentially had no choice but to agree to their terms. As a result, the EuroLeague was fully integrated under Euroleague Basketball Company's umbrella, and teams that competed in the FIBA SuproLeague during the 2000–01 season joined it as well. It is today officially admitted that European basketball had two champions that year, Maccabi of the FIBA SuproLeague and Kinder Bologna of the Euroleague Basketball Company's EuroLeague. A year later, Euroleague Basketball Company and FIBA decided that Euroleague Basketball's EuroLeague competition would be the main basketball tournament on the continent, to be played between the top level teams of Europe. FIBA Europe would also organize a European league for third-tier level teams, known as the FIBA Europe League competition, while Euroleague Basketball would also organize its own second-tier level league, combining FIBA's long-time Korać Cup and Saporta Cup competitions into one new competition, the EuroCup. In 2005, Euroleague Basketball and FIBA decided to cooperate with each other, and did so jointly until 2016. In essence, the authority in European professional basketball was divided over club-country lines. FIBA stayed in charge of national team competitions (like the FIBA EuroBasket, the FIBA World Cup, and the Summer Olympics), while Euroleague Basketball took over the European professional club competitions. From that point on, FIBA's Korać Cup and Saporta Cup competitions lasted only one more season before folding and merged to the FIBA Europe Champions Cup in 2002 which was when Euroleague Basketball launched the ULEB Cup. == See also ==