2003–04 ULEB Cup

The 2003–04 ULEB Cup was the second season of the second-tier level European professional club basketball competition, EuroCup Basketball, organized by the Euroleague Basketball Company. The EuroCup is the European-wide league level that is one tier below the EuroLeague level. Thirty-six teams participated in the competition. The final was held on April 13, in Charleroi, Belgium, between Real Madrid and Hapoel Jerusalem, the latter winning it by a score of 83–72.

ULEB Cup
Season	2003–04
Teams	36 (competition proper)
Finals
Champions	Hapoel Jerusalem 1st title
Runners-up	Real Madrid
Finals MVP	Kelly McCarty
Statistical leaders
Points Rasheed Brokenborough 26.6 Rebounds Geert Hammink 11.5 Assists Ivan Tomas 4.8 Index Rating Priest Lauderdale 28.0
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

Team allocation

For the first time teams from Israel, Lithuania, Greece, Latvia, Bulgaria, Poland, Austria and England joined the competition which was undisputedly considered now the 2nd tier of European club basketball. Three out of the 36 teams were domestic champions.

Teams

Country Teams Clubs (ranking in national league) Spain 6 Adecco Estudiantes (4th) Auna Gran Canaria (5th) DKV Joventut (7th) Etosa Alicante (8th) Real Madrid (10th) Caprabo Lleida (11th) Germany 4 Telekom Bonn (1st) Energy Braunschweig (3rd) RheinEnergie Köln (4th) Opel Skyliners (5th) Serbia & Montenegro 4 Reflex (2nd) Crvena zvezda (3rd) Budućnost (4th) Atlas Croatia 3 Split CO (1st) Zadar (2nd) Zagreb (3rd) France 3 Le Mans (3rd) Gravelines-Dunkerque (4th) Cholet (5th) Italy 3 Breil Milano (5th) Metis Varese (12th) Carisbo Virtus Bologna (15th) Belgium 2 Spirou (1st) Verviers-Pepinster (4th) Greece 2 Ionikos Egnatia Bank (8th) Makedonikos (10th) Netherlands 2 Demon Ricoh Astronauts (2nd) EiffelTowers Nijmegen (5th) Austria 1 Superfund Bulls (1st) Bulgaria 1 Lukoil Academic (1st) England 1 Brighton Bears (2nd) Israel 1 Hapoel Jerusalem (8th) Latvia 1 Ventspils (1st) Lithuania 1 Lietuvos rytas (2nd) Poland 1 Prokom Trefl Sopot (2nd)

Format

The 2003–04 ULEB Cup featured a total of 36 teams, divided into six groups of six. The round-robin group stage was followed by knock-out stages. The regular season began in November 2003.

Regular season

All 36 teams in 6 groups played a round-robin competition, home and away. Two teams from each group advanced to the knockout stage (eighth-finals). Four teams with best third place records in their respective groups also advanced to the knockout stage.

Eighth-finals

The winners from the eighthfinals advanced to the quarterfinals. The matches were played as two games, home and away. The match winners were determined by point differential.

Quarterfinals

The winners from the quarterfinals advanced to the semifinals. The matches were played as two games, home and away. The match winners were determined by point differential.

Semifinals

The winners from the semifinals advanced to the finals. The matches were played as two games, home and away. The match winners were determined by point differential.

Final

The match was played as one game.

Regular season

Key to colors

Top two places in each group, plus highest-ranked third-place team, advance to Top 16

Group A Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. Breil Milano 10 8 2 787 684 103 2. Real Madrid 10 7 3 804 728 76 3. Lukoil Academic 10 7 3 855 828 27 4. Opel Skyliners 10 6 4 786 715 71 5. Zagreb 10 2 8 776 882 -106 6. Demon Ricoh Astronauts 10 0 10 656 827 -171

Group B Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. Caprabo Lleida 10 8 2 796 729 67 2. Auna Gran Canaria 10 7 3 770 670 100 3. RheinEnergie Köln 10 6 4 740 785 -45 4. Zadar 10 5 5 773 734 39 5. Atlas 10 3 7 748 774 -26 6. Superfund Bulls 10 1 9 710 845 -135

Group C Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. Metis Varese 10 7 3 844 770 74 2. Ventspils 10 7 3 811 772 39 3. Spirou 10 6 4 756 759 -3 4. Crvena zvezda 10 5 5 819 815 4 5. Etosa Alicante 10 3 7 769 820 -51 6. Gravelines-Dunkerque 10 2 8 705 768 -63

Group D Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. Reflex 10 9 1 806 714 92 2. Hapoel Jerusalem 10 6 4 833 800 33 3. DKV Joventut 10 6 4 801 781 20 4. Go Pass Verviers-Pepinster 10 3 7 755 779 -24 5. Carisbo Virtus Bologna 10 3 7 769 816 -53 6. Telekom Bonn 10 3 7 747 815 -68

Group E Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. Adecco Estudiantes 10 9 1 833 728 105 2. Makedonikos 10 6 4 778 786 -8 3. Le Mans 10 5 5 791 773 18 4. Budućnost 10 5 5 820 835 -15 5. EiffelTowers Nijmegen 10 3 7 818 832 -14 6. Energy Braunschweig 10 2 8 769 855 -86

Group F Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. Lietuvos rytas 10 8 2 786 660 126 2. Prokom Trefl Sopot 10 7 3 790 696 94 3. Brighton Bears 10 4 6 791 807 -16 4. Split CO 10 4 6 792 868 -76 5. Cholet 10 4 6 762 817 -55 6. Ionikos Egnatia Bank 10 3 7 794 867 -73

Elimination rounds

Bracket

	Top16						Quarterfinals						Semifinals						Finals
	Makedonikos	89	58	147
	Caprabo Lleida	63	90	153
							Caprabo Lleida	82	68	150
							Adecco Estudiantes	73	96	169
	Spirou	56	91	147
	Adecco Estudiantes	74	84	158
													Adecco Estudiantes	75	73	148
													Real Madrid	83	82	165
	Real Madrid	87	61	148
	Auna Gran Canaria	68	63	131
							Real Madrid	68	62	130
							Metis Varese	67	57	124
	RheinEnergie Köln	81	62	143
	Metis Varese	70	81	151
																			Real Madrid			72
																			Hapoel Jerusalem			83
	Ventspils	68	89	157
	Reflex	79	95	174
							Reflex	81	79	160
							DKV Joventut	73	83	156
	DKV Joventut	78	69	147
	Breil Milano	62	81	143
													Reflex	70	76	146
													Hapoel Jerusalem	69	79	148
	Hapoel Jerusalem	77	82	159
	Prokom Trefl Sopot	67	86	153
							Hapoel Jerusalem	79	80	159
							Lietuvos rytas	72	81	153
	Lukoil Academic	77	78	155
	Lietuvos rytas	80	105	185

Source: ULEB Cup

Top 16

Main article: 2003–04 ULEB Cup Top 16

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Makedonikos	147–153	Caprabo Lleida	89–63	58–90
Spirou	147–158	Adecco Estudiantes	56–74	91–84
Real Madrid	148–131	Auna Gran Canaria	87–68	61–63
RheinEnergie Köln	143–151	Metis Varese	81–70	62–81
Ventspils	157–174	Reflex	68–79	89–95
DKV Joventut	147–143	Breil Milano	78–62	69–81
Hapoel Jerusalem	159–153	Prokom Trefl Sopot	77–67	82–86
Lukoil Academic	155–185	Lietuvos rytas	77–80	78–105

Quarterfinals

Main article: 2003–04 ULEB Cup Quarter finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Hapoel Jerusalem	159–153	Lietuvos rytas	79–72	80–81
Caprabo Lleida	150–169	Adecco Estudiantes	82–73	68–96
Real Madrid	130–124	Metis Varese	68–67	62–57
Reflex	160–156	DKV Joventut	81–73	79–83

Semifinals

Main article: 2003–04 ULEB Cup Semi finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Reflex	146–148	Hapoel Jerusalem	70–69	76–79
Adecco Estudiantes	148–165	Real Madrid	75–83	73–82

Final

Main article: 2003–04 ULEB Cup Final

April 13, Spiroudome, Charleroi

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Real Madrid	72–83	Hapoel Jerusalem

2003–04 ULEB Cup Champions
Hapoel Jerusalem 1st title

Finals MVP

• Kelly McCarty (Hapoel Jerusalem)

External links

• ULEB Cup 2003–04 on Eurocupbasketball.com
• Eurobasket.com