Sport Basketball Dates 22 Oct 2007 – 4 May 2008 | Finals champion PBC CSKA Moscow | |
Similar 2006–07 Euroleague, 2009–10 Euroleague, 2003–04 Euroleague, 2002–03 Euroleague, 2001–02 Euroleague | ||
The 2007–08 Euroleague was the 8th season of the professional basketball competition for elite clubs throughout Europe, organised by Euroleague Basketball Company, and it was the 51st season of the premier competition for European men's clubs overall. The 2007–08 season featured 24 competing teams. The Euroleague Regular Season draw was held on 30 June 2007, in Jesolo, Italy, during the inaugural Euroleague summer league. The official inauguration was held on October 22, at Hala Olivia in Gdańsk, Poland, before the season's opening game between Prokom Trefl Sopot and CSKA Moscow. The 2008 Final Four was held on May 2–4, 2008, at the Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid in Madrid, Spain. Russian power CSKA Moscow became the champion for the sixth time, placing them second in all-time European championships to Real Madrid.
Contents
Regular season
The regular season began on October 22, 2007.
The first phase was a regular season, in which the competing teams were drawn into three groups, each containing eight teams. Each team played every other team in its group at home and away, resulting in 14 games for each team in the first stage. The top 5 teams in each group and the best sixth-placed team advanced to the next round. The complete list of tiebreakers was provided in the lead-in to the Regular Season results.
If one or more clubs were level on won-lost record, tiebreakers are 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
Top 16
The surviving teams were divided into four groups of four teams each, and again a round robin system was adopted, resulting in 6 games each, with the two top teams advancing to the quarterfinals. Tiebreakers were identical to those used in the Regular Season.
The draw to set up the Top 16 groups was held on Monday, February 4, 2008 (the week after the end of the Regular Season), in Madrid.
The teams were placed into four pools, as follows:
Level 1: The three group winners, plus the top-ranked second-place team
Level 2: The remaining second-place teams, plus the top two third-place teams
Level 3: The remaining third-place team, plus the three fourth-place teams
Level 4: The fifth-place teams, plus the top ranked sixth-place team
Each Top 16 group included one team from each pool. The draw was conducted under the following restrictions:
- No more than two teams from the same Regular Season group could be placed in the same Top 16 group.
- No more than two teams from the same country could be placed in the same Top 16 group.
- If there is a conflict between these two restrictions, (1) would receive priority.
Another draw was held to determine the order of fixtures. In the cases of two teams from the same city in the Top 16 (Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, Efes Pilsen and Fenerbahçe), they were scheduled so that only one of the two teams would be at home in a given week.
Quarterfinals
Each quarterfinal was a best-of-three (if third serie necessary) series between a first-place team in the Top 16 and a second-place team from a different group, with the first-place team receiving home advantage. All opening games were played on April 1, 2008, and all second games were played on April 3. The deciding third games were played on April 9 and April 10.
Final Four
The Final Four is the last phase of each Euroleague season, and is held over a weekend. The semifinal games are played on Friday evening. Sunday starts with the third-place game, followed by the championship final.
Semifinals
May 2, Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid
3rd place game
May 4, Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid
Final
May 4, Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid
Final Four 2008 MVP
Trajan Langdon (CSKA Moscow)