2017–18 FIBA Europe Cup

The 2017–18 FIBA Europe Cup was the third season of the FIBA Europe Cup, a European professional basketball competition for clubs that was launched by FIBA. The competition began on 20 September 2017, with the qualifying rounds, and concluded with the second leg of the final on 2 May 2018. Umana Reyer Venezia won its first European competition, after defeating Sidigas Scandone in the all-Italian Finals.

FIBA Europe Cup
Season	2017–18
Dates	20 September – 11 October 2017 (qualifying) 18 October 2017 – 2 May 2018 (competition proper)
Games played	214
Teams	32+8 (competition proper) 30+30 (total)
Finals
Champions	Umana Reyer Venezia (1st title)
Runners-up	Sidigas Scandone
Semifinalists	Donar Bakken Bears
Statistical leaders
Points Mohamed Abukar 19.9 Rebounds Jeff Adrien 8.6 Assists Michael Thompson 5.6 Index Rating Stevan Jelovac 19.6

Format changes

For the 2017–18 season, the FIBA Europe Cup was reduced to 32 teams in the regular season. This included eight groups of four teams divided into two conferences and the two top teams from each regular season group would advance to the second round of four groups of four teams followed by the two-legged play-offs. 19 out of 22 teams were dropped from Champions League qualifying rounds while 10 teams come (with additional 3 lucky losers team) from the qualifying rounds that were implemented.^[1]

Eligibility of players

FIBA agreed to adopt eligibility rules, forcing the clubs to have at least 5 home-grown players in rosters of 11 or 12 players, or at least four if the team has got less players.^[1]

Team allocation

A total of 60 teams are expected to participate in the 2017–18 FIBA Europe Cup.^[1][2]

Teams

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round.

• 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.: League position after eventual Playoffs
• CL: Transferred from Champions League
  • RS: Fifth-placed and sixth-placed teams from regular season
  • QR: Losers from qualifying rounds

Play-offs
Dinamo Sassari (CL RS)	Ventspils (CL RS)	Movistar Estudiantes (CL RS)	Sidigas Avellino (CL RS)
Juventus (CL RS)	Élan Chalon (CL RS)	Umana Reyer Venezia (CL RS)	Oostende (CL RS)
Regular season
Alba Fehérvár (CL QR3)	Telenet Giants Antwerp (CL QR3)	Kalev/Cramo (CL QR2)	ece Bulls Kapfenberg (CL QR1)
Avtodor (CL QR3)	Tsmoki-Minsk (CL QR3)	Mornar (CL QR2)	Karpoš Sokoli (CL QR1)
Basic-Fit Brussels (CL QR3)	Bakken Bears (CL QR2)	Nizhny Novgorod (CL QR2)	Keravnos (CL QR1)
Donar (CL QR3)	Benfica (CL QR2)	U-BT Cluj-Napoca (CL QR2)	Luleå (CL QR1)
Kataja (CL QR3)	Budivelnyk (CL QR2)	Bosna (CL QR1)	Sigal Prishtina (CL QR1)
Lukoil Academic (CL QR3)	Divina Seguros Joventut (CL QR2)	Dinamo Tbilisi (CL QR1)	Vytautas (CL QR1)
Second qualifying round
Proximus Spirou (4th)	Tartu Ülikool (3rd)	Porto (2nd)	Khimik (2nd)
Beroe (2nd)	ESSM Le Portel (8th)	Steaua CSM EximBank (2nd)
Petrolina AEK Larnaca (2nd)	Falco Vulcano (2nd)	Södertälje Kings (2nd)
First qualifying round
İstanbul BB (10th)	Egis Körmend (4th)	JIP Pardubice (3rd)	Rabotnički (3rd)
Trabzonspor Medical Park (12th)	Szolnoki Olaj (5th)	s.Oliver Würzburg (14th)	Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski (3rd)
Demir İnşaat Büyükçekmece (13th)	Oradea (3rd)	KR (1st)	Parma (13th)
Rilski Sportist (3rd)	Sibiu (4th)	Bnei Herzliya (7th)	Borås (5th)
Balkan (6th)	Belfius Mons-Hainaut (7th)	Nevėžis (9th)	Dnipro (3rd)

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at the FIBA headquarters in Munich, Germany, unless stated otherwise):^[1][2]

Phase	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Qualifying rounds	First qualifying round	3 August 2017	19–24 September 2017	26–28 September 2017
	Second qualifying round		3–4 October 2017	10–11 October 2017
Regular season	Matchday 1		17–18 October 2017
	Matchday 2		24–25 October 2017
	Matchday 3		31 October – 1 November 2017
	Matchday 4		7–8 November 2017
	Matchday 5		14–15 November 2017
	Matchday 6		5–6 December 2017
Second round	Matchday 1		19–20 December 2017
	Matchday 2		9–10 January 2018
	Matchday 3		16–17 January 2018
	Matchday 4		23–24 January 2018
	Matchday 5		30–31 January 2018
	Matchday 6		6–7 February 2018
Play-offs	Round of 16	8 February 2018	6–7 March 2018	13–14 March 2018
	Quarter-finals		20–21 March 2018	27–28 March 2018
	Semi-finals		11 April 2018	18 April 2018
	Finals		25 April 2018	2 May 2018

Qualifying rounds

The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 3 August 2017 at the FIBA headquarters in Munich, Germany.^[2]

In the qualifying rounds, teams are divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same country cannot be drawn against each other.

First qualifying round

A total of 20 teams played in the first qualifying round. The first legs were played on 19–21 and 24 September, and the second legs were played on 26–28 September 2017.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Balkan	152–151	Oradea	82–66	70–85
Szolnoki Olaj	176–175	Trabzonspor Medical Park	108–98	68–77
Demir İnşaat Büyükçekmece	171–156	Dnipro	88–89	83–67
Borås	133–163	Egis Körmend	61–78	72–85
Sibiu	142–156	JIP Pardubice	78–79	64–77
KR	138–172	Belfius Mons-Hainaut	67–88	71–84
Bnei Herzliya	148–139	Slam Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski	84–74	64–65
Nevėžis	167–143	Rilski Sportist	76–81	91–62
Parma	183–136	Rabotnički	88–63	95–73
s.Oliver Würzburg	138–140	İstanbul BB	62–75	76–65

Second qualifying round

A total of 20 teams played in the second qualifying round: 10 teams which enter in this round, and the 10 winners of the first qualifying round. The first legs were played on 3 and 4 October, and the second legs were played on 10 and 11 October 2017.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Egis Körmend	164–147	Steaua CSM EximBank	91–75	73–72
Bnei Herzliya	150–151	Porto	65–68	85–83
Balkan	169–180	Falco Vulcano	95–96	74–84
Szolnoki Olaj	159–138	Södertälje Kings	86–63	73–75
İstanbul BB	165–158	Khimik	89–90	76–68
Parma	129–148	ESSM Le Portel	74–74	55–74
Nevėžis	156–145	Petrolina AEK Larnaca	90–60	66–85
Belfius Mons-Hainaut	167–135	Beroe	88–69	79–66
Demir İnşaat Büyükçekmece	160–146	University of Tartu	87–78	73–68
JIP Pardubice	141–180	Proximus Spirou	75–92	66–88

Lucky losers table

Three teams would advance as lucky losers of the qualifying rounds, for replacing teams dropped from the Champions League that refused to join the competition. The three teams with the smallest point difference in the second qualifying round advanced to the regular season.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Qualification
1	Bnei Herzliya	2	1	0	1	150	151	−1	Advance to regular season
2	Khimik	2	1	0	1	158	165	−7
3	Balkan	2	0	0	2	169	180	−11
4	Petrolina AEK Larnaca	2	1	0	1	145	156	−11
5	Tartu Ülikool	2	0	0	2	146	160	−14
6	Steaua CSM EximBank	2	0	0	2	147	164	−17
7	Parma	2	0	1	1	129	148	−19
8	Södertälje Kings	2	1	0	1	138	159	−21
9	Beroe	2	0	0	2	135	167	−32
10	JIP Pardubice	2	0	0	2	141	180	−39

Source: FIBA Europe Cup
Rules for classification: 1) Least point difference; 2) Points for; 3) Points against.

Regular season

Donar

Giants

Le Portel

Bosna

Avtodor

Bakken

Nevėžis

Benfica

Kataja

Mornar

Kapfenberg

Porto

Brussels

Keravnos

Balkan

Körmend

Dinamo

Cluj-Napoca

Academic

İstanbul BB

Alba

Herzliya

Spirou

Tsmoki

Prishtina

Mons

Khimik

Büyükçekmece

Nizhny Novgorod

Karpoš

Falco

Szolnoki

Location of teams of the 2017–18 FIBA Europe Cup regular season.
Red: Group A; Yellow: Group B; Green: Group C; Dark Green: Group D; Purple: Group E. Pink: Group F; Blue: Group G; Orange: Group H.

The draw for the regular season was held on 3 August 2017 at the FIBA headquarters in Munich, Germany.^[2]

The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same country cannot be drawn against each other. 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 second round, while the third-placed teams and fourth-placed teams are eliminated.

A total of 32 teams play in the regular season: the ten winners of the play-off round, the 19 of 24 losers of the 2017–18 Champions League qualifying rounds and the three lucky losers who replaced the defeated teams that used their opt-out clause.

FIBA has provided information on the situation of teams who signed a clause that allows them to withdraw from the FIBA Europe Cup if they are eliminated in the 2017–18 Basketball Champions League qualifying rounds. In other words, the following nine teams ended their continental adventure when they were eliminated from the main continental competition organized under the aegis of FIBA and therefore refuse to participate in the FIBA Europe Cup:^[3][4]

Opt-out clause teams

• Kalev/Cramo
• Nanterre 92
• MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg
• Juventus
• Vytautas
• Divina Seguros Joventut
• Movistar Estudiantes
• Luleå
• Budivelnyk

Notes:

• Strikethrough teams were eliminated from the Basketball Champions League qualifying rounds and refused to participate in the FIBA Europe Cup, So, additional 3 vacancies in the FIBA Europe Cup regular season were added.
• Teams marked in italics advanced to the Basketball Champions League regular season.

Depending on the number of teams mentioned above that were eliminated from the Basketball Champions League qualifying rounds and with the aim to complete the 32 places in the regular season, the number of the defeated teams in the second qualifying round of the FIBA Europe Cup that advanced to the regular season were determined by the point difference recorded at the end of their pairings. In their draw, the first qualifying round was used for tie-breaking. In the draw persists, the next criterion was the performance of clubs in the last three seasons at the European competitions.^[5]

Finally, the best three losing teams have qualified for the group stage:^[5]

Qualified lucky losers

• Bnei Herzliya
• Khimik
• Balkan

The three lucky losers were drawn into Groups D, F and G by FIBA Europe on 12 October in the House of Basketball in Mies, Switzerland.

The match-days were on 18 October, 25 October, 1 November, 8 November, 15 November and 6 December 2017.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		POR	DON	ANT	BOS
1	ESSM Le Portel	6	5	1	486	392	+94	11	Advance to second round		—	60–49	94–79	101–51
2	Donar	6	4	2	453	391	+62	10			77–72	—	84–82	94–56
3	Telenet Giants Antwerp	6	3	3	484	489	−5	9			70–73	78–77	—	84–77
4	Bosna	6	0	6	377	528	−151	6			66–86	43–72	84–91	—

Source: FIBA Europe Cup

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		NEV	BAK	AVT	BEN
1	Nevėžis	6	4	2	508	464	+44	10	Advance to second round		—	71–86	84–83	94–68
2	Bakken Bears	6	4	2	523	493	+30	10			64–90	—	97–85	95–76
3	Avtodor	6	3	3	526	497	+29	9			75–86	76–73	—	110–71
4	Benfica	6	1	5	484	587	−103	7			88–83	95–108	86–97	—

Source: FIBA Europe Cup

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		MOR	KAT	POR	KAP
1	Mornar Bar	6	4	2	437	417	+20	10	Advance to second round		—	76–71	81–70	74–58
2	Kataja	6	4	2	499	481	+18	10			81–76	—	88–84	83–87
3	Porto	6	3	3	464	459	+5	9			68–55	86–90	—	85–84
4	ece Bulls Kapfenberg	6	1	5	431	474	−43	7			69–75	72–86	61–71	—

Source: FIBA Europe Cup

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		KER	KOR	BRU	BAL
1	Keravnos	6	5	1	497	437	+60	11	Advance to second round		—	75–65	90–77	88–69
2	Egis Körmend	6	4	2	470	483	−13	10			93–92	—	74–61	90–86
3	Basic-Fit Brussels	6	2	4	447	463	−16	8			58–68	86–64	—	81–78
4	Balkan	6	1	5	480	511	−31	7			75–84	83–84	89–84	—

Source: FIBA Europe Cup

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		CLU	IBB	LUK	DIN
1	U-BT Cluj-Napoca	6	5	1	527	451	+76	11	Advance to second round		—	90–69	83–70	97–74
2	İstanbul BB	6	5	1	491	439	+52	11			92–82	—	81–69	72–52
3	Lukoil Academic	6	2	4	433	465	−32	8			73–88	76–80	—	73–70
4	Dinamo Tbilisi	6	0	6	402	498	−96	6			73–87	70–97	63–72	—

Source: FIBA Europe Cup

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		TSM	ALB	SPI	HER
1	Tsmoki-Minsk	6	4	2	461	439	+22	10	Advance to second round		—	87–82	76–78	83–65
2	Alba Fehérvár	6	3	3	456	436	+20	9			73–64	—	60–72	74–93
3	Proximus Spirou	6	3	3	429	441	−12	9			78–82	52–74	—	66–62
4	Bnei Herzliya	6	2	4	438	468	−30	8			63–69	68–93	87–83	—

Source: FIBA Europe Cup

Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		BUY	MON	SIG	KHI
1	Demir İnşaat Büyükçekmece	6	5	1	478	409	+69	11	Advance to second round		—	79–84	86–59	80–76
2	Belfius Mons-Hainaut	6	3	3	445	420	+25	9			64–69	—	72–74	75–51
3	Sigal Prishtina	6	3	3	422	441	−19	9			66–84	69–75	—	76–65
4	Khimik	6	1	5	389	464	−75	7			60–80	78–75	59–78	—

Source: FIBA Europe Cup

Group H

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		NIZ	SZO	FAL	KAR
1	Nizhny Novgorod	6	5	1	523	475	+48	11	Advance to second round		—	78–70	94–92	95–70
2	Szolnoki Olaj	6	4	2	515	458	+57	10			97–71	—	89–79	94–73
3	Falco Vulcano	6	3	3	546	471	+75	9			79–84	84–74	—	108–87
4	Karpoš Sokoli	6	0	6	413	593	−180	6			67–101	73–91	43–104	—

Source: FIBA Europe Cup

Second round

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 round of 16, while the third-placed teams and fourth-placed teams are eliminated.

A total of 16 teams play in the second round: the eight group winners and the eight runners-up of the regular season. The match-days will be on 20 December 2017, 10 January, 17 January, 24 January, 31 January and 7 February 2018.

Group I

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		POR	NIZ	IBB	KAT
1	ESSM Le Portel	6	6	0	496	403	+93	12	Advance to round of 16		—	79–72	86–49	90–68
2	Nizhny Novgorod	6	3	3	491	478	+13	9			57–76	—	110–86	84–75
3	İstanbul BB	6	3	3	469	523	−54	9			80–83	82–79	—	85–83
4	Kataja	6	0	6	465	517	−52	6			77–82	80–89	82–87	—

Source: FIBA Europe Cup

Group J

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		ALB	KOR	NEV	BUY
1	Alba Fehérvár	6	5	1	500	462	+38	11	Advance to round of 16		—	88–68	88–80	74–72
2	Egis Körmend	6	3	3	461	483	−22	9			77–85	—	85–79	73–71
3	Nevėžis	6	2	4	495	501	−6	8			90–87	81–86	—	75–78
4	Demir İnşaat Büyükçekmece	6	2	4	452	462	−10	8			75–78	79–72	77–90	—

Source: FIBA Europe Cup

Group K

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		BAK	TSM	MOR	SZO
1	Bakken Bears	6	4	2	509	536	−27	10	Advance to round of 16		—	75–96	93–92	100–96
2	Tsmoki-Minsk	6	3	3	472	429	+43	9			85–86	—	84–45	86–61
3	Mornar Bar	6	3	3	461	497	−36	9			76–87	83–76	—	73–68
4	Szolnoki Olaj	6	2	4	484	464	+20	8			91–68	79–45	89–92	—

Source: FIBA Europe Cup

Group L

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		DON	CLU	KER	BEL
1	Donar	6	4	2	511	444	+67	10	Advance to round of 16		—	92–72	109–69	96–72
2	U-BT Cluj-Napoca	6	3	3	455	468	−13	9			73–77	—	77–71	77–80
3	Keravnos	6	3	3	437	463	−26	9			74–72	67–71	—	89–72
4	Belfius Mons-Hainaut	6	2	4	451	479	−28	8			84–65	81–85	62–67	—

Source: FIBA Europe Cup

Ranking of third-placed teams

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	L	Keravnos	6	3	3	437	463	−26	9	Advance to round of 16
2	K	Mornar	6	3	3	461	497	−36	9
3	I	İstanbul BB	6	3	3	469	523	−54	9
4	J	Nevėžis	6	2	4	495	501	−6	8

Source: FIBA Europe Cup

Play-offs

Main article: 2017–18 FIBA Europe Cup Play-offs

In the play-offs, teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis. The playoff round starts with 16 teams, where second round group winners and runners-up are joined by eight more teams transferring from the Basketball Champions League. The draw was made without any restriction.^[6] Movistar Estudiantes, Élan Chalon, AEK Athens and SIG Strasbourg, had opt-out clauses from playing in the FIBA Europe Cup and in the event of them claiming fifth or sixth place, their spot would be filled by the best-ranked third-placed teams from the second round.^[7]

Bracket

	Round of 16						Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Finals
	Juventus	87	76	163
	Alba Fehérvár	74	78	152
							Juventus	77	68	145
							Sidigas Scandone	77	85	162
	Sidigas Scandone	70	81	151
	Tsmoki-Minsk	70	72	142
													Sidigas Scandone	75	82	157
													Bakken Bears	72	72	144
	Ventspils	73	81	154
	Bakken Bears	93	75	168
							Bakken Bears	76	80	156
							ESSM Le Portel	62	86	148
	Dinamo Sassari	72	81	153
	ESSM Le Portel	55	100	155
																			Sidigas Scandone	69	79	148
																			Reyer Venezia	77	81	158
	Reyer Venezia	83	86	169
	Egis Körmend	51	88	139
							Reyer Venezia	86	90	176
							Nizhny Novgorod	76	94	170
	Keravnos	62	61	123
	Nizhny Novgorod	77	71	148
													Reyer Venezia	82	80	162
													Donar	72	83	155
	Oostende	84	63	147
	Mornar	71	90	161
							Mornar	73	74	147
							Donar	67	101	168
	Donar	103	76	179
	U-BT Cluj-Napoca	76	69	145

Round of 16

The first legs were played on 6–7 March, and the second legs on 13–14 March 2018.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Keravnos	123–148	Nizhny Novgorod	62–77	61–71
Sidigas Scandone	151–142	Tsmoki-Minsk	70–70	81–72
Dinamo Sassari	153–155	ESSM Le Portel	72–55	81–100
Oostende	147–161	Mornar	84–71	63–90
Donar	179–145[A]	U-BT Cluj-Napoca	103–76	76–69
Ventspils	154–168	Bakken Bears	73–93	81–75
Juventus	163–152	Alba Fehérvár	87–74	76–78
Umana Reyer Venezia	169–139	Egis Körmend	83–51	86–88

Notes

1. ^
   Order of legs reversed after original draw, requested by Donar due to the no availability of their home arena for the second leg.

Quarter-finals

The first legs were played on 20–21 March, and the second legs on 27–28 March 2018.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Umana Reyer Venezia	176–170	Nizhny Novgorod	86–76	90–94
Juventus	145–162	Sidigas Scandone	77–77	68–85
Bakken Bears	156–148	ESSM Le Portel	76–62	80–86
Mornar	147–168	Donar	73–67	74–101

Semi-finals

The first legs will be played on 11 April, and the second legs will be played on 18 April 2018.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Umana Reyer Venezia	162–155	Donar	82–72	80–83
Sidigas Scandone	157–144	Bakken Bears	75–72	82–72

Finals

Main article: 2018 FIBA Europe Cup Finals

The first leg will be played on 25 April, and the second leg will be played on 2 May 2018.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Sidigas Scandone	148–158	Umana Reyer Venezia	69–77	79–81

Individual honours

Top Performer

After each gameday a selection of five players with the highest efficiency ratings is made by the FIBA Europe Cup. Afterwards, the official website decides which player is crowned Top Performer of the round.

Regular season

Round	Player	Team	EFF	Ref.
1	Jeff Adrien	Bnei Herzliya	38	[8]
2	Seth Tuttle	Proximus Spirou	29	[9]
3	Darrin Govens	Falco Vulcano	45	[10]
4	Kendrick Perry	Szolnoki Olaj	28	[11]
5	Evan Bruinsma	Donar	40	[12]
6	Krisztofer Durázi	Falco Vulcano	35	[13]

Second round

Round	Player	Team	EFF	Ref.
1	Jeffrey Crockett	Bakken Bears	27	[14]
2	Thomas Koenis	Donar	36	[15]
3	Péter Lóránt	Alba Fehérvár	38	[16]
4	Evan Bruinsma (2)	Donar	31	[17]
5	Ivan Strebkov	Nizhny Novgorod	32	[18]
6	Strahinja Milošević	Szolnoki Olaj	28	[19]

Round of 16

Leg	Player	Team	EFF	Ref.
1	Brandyn Curry	Donar	33	[20]
2	Frank Hassell	ESSM Le Portel	37	[21]

Quarterfinals

Leg	Player	Team	EFF	Ref.
1	Hrvoje Perić	Umana Reyer Venezia	27	[22]
2	Stevan Jelovac	Nizhny Novgorod	45	[23]

Semifinals

Leg	Player	Team	EFF	Ref.
1	Jason Rich	Sidigas Scandone	30	[24]
2	Evan Bruinsma (3)	Donar	23	[25]

See also

• 2017–18 EuroLeague
• 2017–18 EuroCup Basketball
• 2017–18 Basketball Champions League