2014–15 EuroChallenge

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

EuroChallenge
Season2014–15
Duration4 November 2014 – 26 April 2015
Number of teams32
Finals
Champions
Final Four MVP
United States Jamal Shuler
Statistical leaders
Points United States Ryan Pearson 19.8
Rebounds Ukraine Kyrylo Fesenko 10.1
Assists United States Courtney Fortson 9.8

The 2014–15 EuroChallenge was the 12th and last edition of Europe's third-tier level transnational competition for men's professional basketball clubs. The winner and the runner-up of this competition earned a place at the group stage of next year's Eurocup season.

The regular season was composed by 32 teams and it started on 4 November 2014. The season ended on 26 April 2015, when

Trabzonspor Medical Park 63–64 in the Final in Trabzon
, Turkey.

It was the last season of the EuroChallenge, starting from the 2015–16 season, the competition was replaced by the FIBA Europe Cup.

Competition format

As in the previous season, the 32 participants were divided into two conferences. Teams were divided into eight round-robin groups of four teams each for the regular season. The two best-placed teams qualified to the next phase of the competition.

Teams

No qualification rounds were played, all teams entered the regular season.

Enisey Krasnoyarsk replaced them in the EuroChallenge.[2]
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round. (TH: Title holder)

  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.: League position after eventual playoffs
Regular season
Okapi Aalstar (2nd
)
Turkey Uşak Sportif (7th) Germany ratiopharm Ulm (7th) Kazakhstan Astana (1st)
Belgium Belfius Mons-Hainaut (3rd) Turkey Tofaş (8th)
Fraport Skyliners (11th
)
Lithuania Šiauliai (6th)
Port of Antwerp Giants (4th
)
Trabzonspor Medical Park (9th
)
Russia Enisey (6th) Denmark Bakken Bears (1st)
Oradea (2nd
)
5th
)
Avtodor [a] (1st
)
Tsmoki-Minsk
(1st)
U Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca (3rd
)
9th
)
Enel Brindisi (6th
)
Tartu University Rock (2nd
)
Romania Energia Târgu Jiu (8th) Hungary Atomerőmű SE (2nd) Italy Bonprix Biella [b] (4th)
Benfica (1st
)
2nd
)
Egis Körmend (8th
)
Södertälje Kings (1st
)
Lukoil Academic (2nd
)
4th
)
1st
)
Sweden Borås (3rd)
2nd
)
  1. Russian Basketball Super League
    , the second division of Russian basketball.
  2. DNA Gold
    , the second division in Italian basketball.

Draw

The draw for the regular season was held on 6 July in Munich, Germany.

The 32 clubs registered for this year's competition were divided into two conferences (1 and 2), based on broad geographical criteria.[3]

Conference 1
Seed 1 Seed 2 Seed 3 Seed 4

Port of Antwerp Giants

Okapi Aalstar

Joensuun Kataja

Södertälje Kings

KTP-Basket

Denmark Bakken Bears
Belgium Belfius Mons-Hainaut
SPM Shoeters

JSF Nanterre

France Le Mans Sarthe
Germany ratiopharm Ulm
Fraport Skyliners

Enel Brindisi

Italy Angelico Biella
Sweden Borås Basket
Portugal Benfica

Conference 2
Seed 1 Seed 2 Seed 3 Seed 4

Tsmoki-Minsk

Tartu Ülikool/Rock

Turkey Tofaş
Hungary Atomerőmű

Enisey Krasnoyarsk

CSM Oradea

Hungary Körmend
U Mobitelco Cluj

Russia Avtodor
Turkey Uşak Sportif

Trabzonspor Medical Park

Romania Energia Târgu Jiu

UBC Güssing Knights

Lukoil Academic

Lithuania Šiauliai
Kazakhstan Astana

Regular season

The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four. In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advance to the last 16, while the third-placed teams and fourth-placed teams are eliminated.

If teams in the same group finished tied on points at the end of the regular season, tiebreakers were applied in the following order:

  1. Head-to-head record.
  2. Head-to-head point differential.
  3. Point differential during the regular season.
  4. Points scored during the regular season.
  5. Sum of quotients of points scored and points allowed in each regular season match.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification BRI
SPM
ULM
SÖD
1
Enel Brindisi
6 5 1 496 400 +96 11 Advance to last 16 76–62 88–70 90–69
2
SPM Shoeters Den Bosch
6 3 3 498 499 −1 9[a] 71–69 87–76 88–72
3 Germany ratiopharm Ulm 6 3 3 477 467 +10 9[a] 76–77 91–82 88–62
4
Södertälje Kings
6 1 5 441 546 −105 7 52–96 115–108 71–76
Source: EuroChallenge
Notes:
  1. ^
    SPM Shoeters Den Bosch 1–1 (+6) ratiopharm Ulm

Group B

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
TAR
ENE KÖR LUK
1
Tartu University Rock
6 4 2 428 420 +8 10 Advance to last 16 66–59 81–83 71–59
2 Romania Energia Târgu Jiu 6 3 3 428 435 −7 9[a] 74–56 73–72 72–67
3
Egis Körmend
6 3 3 447 460 −13 9[a] 72–79 77–76 63–76
4
Lukoil Academic
6 2 4 447 435 +12 8 73–75 97–74 75–80
Source: EuroChallenge
Notes:
  1. ^
    Egis Körmend

Group C

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
OKA
FRA
BOR BAK
1
Okapi Aalstar
6 5 1 557 507 +50 11 Advance to last 16 94–59 119–118 103–100
2
Fraport Skyliners
6 4 2 464 421 +43 10 80–58 70–72 74–64
3 Sweden Borås 6 3 3 505 516 −11 9 83–92 61–94 90–70
4 Denmark Bakken Bears 6 0 6 457 539 −82 6 83–92 61–94 79–86

Group D

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
AVT
AST TOF
ORA
1
Avtodor
6 5 1 530 438 +92 11 Advance to last 16 83–75 80–75 92–73
2 Kazakhstan Astana 6 5 1 492 461 +31 11 75–73 73–65 80–64
3 Turkey Tofaş 6 2 4 469 504 −35 8 66–101 102–104 84–75
4
Oradea
6 0 6 429 517 −88 6 74–101 74–83 69–77

Group E

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
NAN
BEL
SLB
KAT
1
JSF Nanterre
6 5 1 529 478 +51 11 Advance to last 16 88–68 80–68 102–92
2 Belgium Belfius Mons-Hainaut 6 5 1 489 451 +38 11 94–86 92–63 71–62
3
Benfica
6 2 4 486 519 −33 8 86–96 86–96 107–82
4 Finland Kataja 6 0 6 479 535 −56 6 70–77 83–85 90–93

Group F

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
TS
GÜS
UMO
ASE
1
Trabzonspor Medical Park
6 6 0 514 450 +64 12 Advance to last 16 80–72 91–72 103–81
2
magnofit Güssing Knights
6 4 2 477 456 +21 10 67–77 84–77 93–84
3
U-Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca
6 1 5 442 478 −36 7 80–81 68–81 64–73
4 Hungary Atomerőmű SE 6 1 5 454 503 −49 7 78–82 70–80 68–81

Group G

Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MSB ANT BIE KTP
1 France Le Mans 6 5 1 478 414 +64 11 Advance to last 16 72–66 88–74 71–52
2
Port of Antwerp Giants
6 3 3 542 514 +28 9 78–87 92–82 98–83
3 Italy Bonprix Biella 6 3 3 511 525 −14 9 82–64 97–96 81–77
4
KTP
6 1 5 475 553 −78 7 62–96 93–112 108–95

Group H

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification ENI UŞA ŠIA
TSM
1 Russia Enisey 6 4 2 515 467 +48 10 Advance to last 16 95–79 86–68 87–82
2 Turkey Uşak Sportif 6 3 3 445 458 −13 9 69–84 79–69 78–59
3 Lithuania Šiauliai 6 3 3 493 515 −22 9 93–92 75–78 83–80
4
Tsmoki-Minsk
6 2 4 473 486 −13 8 76–71 85–73 91–94

Last 16

The sixteen teams were divided in four groups of four. In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advance to the quarterfinals, while the third-placed teams and fourth-placed teams are eliminated.

Group I

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification ENE
BRI
AST
OKA
1 Romania Energia Târgu Jiu 6 4 2 501 498 +3 10 Advance to quarterfinals 67–78 90–89 93–60
2
Enel Brindisi
6 3 3 485 445 +40 9 76–78 74–65 101–66
3 Kazakhstan Astana 6 3 3 512 509 +3 9 113–89 83–75 77–73
4
Okapi Aalstar
6 2 4 475 521 −46 8 82–84 86–81 108–85

Group J

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
NAN
MSB
GÜS
USA
1
JSF Nanterre
6 4 2 487 434 +53 10 Advance to quarterfinals 85–68 89–86 100–67
2 France Le Mans 6 4 2 464 429 +35 10 72–60 93–60 84–63
3
magnofit Güssing Knights
6 2 4 458 471 −13 8 62–82 82–65 91–63
4 Turkey Uşak Sportif 6 2 4 430 505 −75 8 79–71 79–82 79–77

Group K

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
FRA
AVT
TAR
SPM
1
Fraport Skyliners
6 5 1 512 471 +41 11 Advance to quarterfinals 68–71 92–73 75–70
2
Avtodor Saratov
6 4 2 567 546 +21 10 103–112 105–106 89–85
3
Tartu University Rock
6 2 4 457 501 −44 8 62–71 68–91 71–64
4
SPM Shoeters Den Bosch
6 1 5 496 514 −18 7 92–94 107–108 78–77

Group L

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
TS
ENI
ANT
BEL
1
Trabzonspor Medical Park
6 5 1 502 456 +46 11 Advance to quarterfinals 90–85 89–79 76–68
2 Russia Enisey 6 3 3 516 495 +21 9 96–82 85–86 83–88
3
Port of Antwerp Giants
6 3 3 481 509 −28 9 72–90 78–93 82–75
4 Belgium Belfius Mons-Hainaut 6 1 5 435 474 −39 7 56–75 71–74 77–84

Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were played in a best-of-three playoff format. Teams that finished first in their top 16 group played the first and third leg at home. Matchdays were on 10 March, 12 March and 17 March 2015.

Team 1 Series Team 2 Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
Energia Târgu Jiu Romania 2–1 France Le Mans Sarthe 84–60 68–79 79–64
JSF Nanterre France
2–0
Enel Brindisi
80–68 77–72 0
Fraport Skyliners Germany
2–1 Russia Enisey 77–74 68–78 85–80
Trabzonspor Medical Park Turkey
2–0
Avtodor Saratov
94–88 100–73 0

Final Four

The 2015 Final Four was played on 24 April and 26 April 2015[4] at Hayri Gür Arena, Trabzon, Turkey.[5]

 
Trabzonspor MP
83
 
JSF Nanterre
64
 
JSF Nanterre
84
 
 
Germany Fraport Skyliners 79
 
Third place game
 
 
 
 
 
Romania Energia Târgu Jiu 83
 
 
Germany Fraport Skyliners 80

Awards

Final Four MVP

  • JSF Nanterre
    )

Top Statistical Performer

Each round a Weekly MVP is chosen, determined by the Performance Index Rating (PIR) system.

Regular season

Week Player Team PIR
1
United States Sean Marshall
Trabzonspor
33
2
United States J'Covan Brown Kazakhstan Astana
36
3
United States LaMonte Ulmer
KTP
34
4
Sweden Christian Maråker Sweden Borås
39
5
United States Travis Peterson Russia Avtodor
35
6
Netherlands Stefan Wessels
SPM Shoeters
43

Last 16

Week Player Team PIR
1
United States Kyle Weems
JSF Nanterre
39
2
Kazakhstan Jerry Johnson Kazakhstan Astana
37
3
United States Travis Taylor Austria Güssing Knights
32
4
Azerbaijan Nik Caner-Medley Kazakhstan Astana
28
5
United States Courtney Fortson
Avtodor
42
6 United States DeAndre Kane Belgium Antwerp Giants 37
United States Quantez Robertson
Fraport Skyliners

Quarterfinals

Johannes Voigtmann was the Round 3 MVP
Week Player Team PIR
1
Nemanja Milosevic
Romania Energia Târgu Jiu
33
2 Ukraine Kyrylo Fesenko
Avtodor
22
United States Mykal Riley
JSF Nanterre
United States Terrico White
Enisey Krasnoyarsk
3
Germany Johannes Voigtmann
Fraport Skyliners
33

Individual statistics

To be included in the top rankings in individual statistics, a player had to have a minimum of 9 games played.

Points

Pos. Player Team GP PPG
1
United States Ryan Pearson Belgium Antwerp Giants
12
19.8
2
United States Dwight Hardy
Trabzonspor
16
18.1
3
United States J'Covan Brown Kazakhstan Astana
10
17.5

Rebounds

Pos. Player Team GP RPG
1
Ukraine Kyrylo Fesenko
Avtodor
11
10.1
2
United States Travis Taylor
Güssing Knights
12
10.1
3
Nemanja Milosevic
Romania Energia
17
8.5

Assists

Pos. Player Team GP APG
1
United States Courtney Fortson
Avtodor
13
9.8
2
D.J. Cooper
Russia Enisey
15
7.9
3
Kazakhstan Jerry Johnson Kazakhstan Astana
10
7.0

Season highs

Statistic Player Team
Points
42
United States Robert Arnold
Kataja
Rebounds
20
Sweden Christian Maråker Sweden Borås
Assists
16
Finland Teemu Rannikko
Kataja
Steals
7
United States Terrico White Russia Enisey
Blocks
6
France Dounia Issa France Le Mans Sarthe
Three-point field goals 8 United States Benjamin Raymond
Bonprix Biella
Kees Akerboom, Jr.
SPM Shoeters

See also

References

  1. ^ "EuroChallenge 2014–15 field confirmed". FIBA Europe. 1 July 2014.
  2. ^ "Krasnoyarsk, Trabzonspor join list". FIBA Europe. 2 July 2014.
  3. ^ "EuroChallenge Draw Seedings Announced". FIBA Europe. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  4. ^ Schedule
  5. ^ Trabzon to host EuroChallenge Final Four; FIBA Europe, 26 March 2015
  6. ^ Jamal Shuler named Final Four MVP