2014–15 EuroChallenge

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.

EuroChallenge
Competition details
Season 2014–15
Teams 32
Dates 4 November 2014 – 26 April 2015
Final positions
Champions JSF Nanterre (1st title)
Runners-up Trabzonspor Medical Park
Third place Energia Târgu Jiu
Fourth place Fraport Skyliners
Awards
Final Four MVP Jamal Shuler
Statistical leaders
Points Ryan Pearson
19.8
Rebounds Kyrylo Fesenko
10.1
Assists Courtney Fortson
9.8

The regular season was composed by 32 teams and it started on 4 November 2014. The season ended on 26 April 2015, when JSF Nanterre beat 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. FIBA Europe announced the participants on 1 July 2014.[1] One day later, Szolnoki Olaj and VEF Rīga were moved to 2014–15 Eurocup as a replacement of two withdrawals. Trabzonspor Medical Park and 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) Uşak Sportif (7th) ratiopharm Ulm (7th) Astana (1st)
Belfius Mons-Hainaut (3rd) Tofaş (8th) Fraport Skyliners (11th) Šiauliai(6th)
Port of Antwerp Giants (4th) Trabzonspor Medical Park (9th) Enisey (6th) Bakken Bears (1st)
Oradea (2nd) Le Mans (5th) Avtodor [lower-alpha 1] (1st) Tsmoki-Minsk (1st)
U Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca (3rd) JSF Nanterre (9th) Enel Brindisi (6th) Tartu University Rock (2nd)
Energia Târgu Jiu (8th) Atomerőmű SE (2nd) Bonprix Biella [lower-alpha 2] (4th) Benfica (1st)
Kataja (2nd) Egis Körmend (8th) Södertälje Kings (1st) Lukoil Academic (2nd)
KTP (4th) magnofit Güssing Knights (1st) Borås (3rd) SPM Shoeters Den Bosch (2nd)
  1. Avtodor qualified as the winner of the Russian Basketball Super League, the second division of Russian basketball.
  2. Bonprix Biella finished in 4th place in the 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
Bakken Bears
Belfius Mons-Hainaut
SPM Shoeters

JSF Nanterre
Le Mans Sarthe
ratiopharm Ulm
Fraport Skyliners

Enel Brindisi
Angelico Biella
Borås Basket
Benfica

Conference 2
Seed 1 Seed 2 Seed 3 Seed 4

Tsmoki-Minsk
Tartu Ülikool/Rock
Tofaş
Atomerőmű

Enisey Krasnoyarsk
CSM Oradea
Körmend
U Mobitelco Cluj

Avtodor
Uşak Sportif
Trabzonspor Medical Park
Energia Târgu Jiu

UBC Güssing Knights
Lukoil Academic
Šiauliai
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[lower-alpha 1] 71–69 87–76 88–72
3 ratiopharm Ulm 6 3 3 477 467 +10 9[lower-alpha 1] 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 Energia Târgu Jiu 6 3 3 428 435 7 9[lower-alpha 1] 74–56 73–72 72–67
3 Egis Körmend 6 3 3 447 460 13 9[lower-alpha 1] 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. Energia Târgu Jiu win on point difference (–7 vs –13) vs 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 Borås 6 3 3 505 516 11 9 83–92 61–94 90–70
4 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 Astana 6 5 1 492 461 +31 11 75–73 73–65 80–64
3 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 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 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 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 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 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 Enisey 6 4 2 515 467 +48 10 Advance to last 16 95–79 86–68 87–82
2 Uşak Sportif 6 3 3 445 458 13 9 69–84 79–69 78–59
3 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 1st leg 2nd leg 3rd leg
Energia Târgu Jiu 2–1 Le Mans Sarthe 84–60 68–79 79–64
JSF Nanterre 2–0 Enel Brindisi 80–68 77–72 0
Fraport Skyliners 2–1 Enisey 77–74 68–78 85–80
Trabzonspor Medical Park 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]

 
Semifinals
24 April
Final
26 April
 
      
 
 
 
 
Energia Târgu Jiu 63
 
 
 
Trabzonspor MP 83
 
Trabzonspor MP 63
 
 
 
JSF Nanterre 64
 
JSF Nanterre 84
 
 
Fraport Skyliners 79
 
Third place game
 
 
 
 
 
Energia Târgu Jiu 83
 
 
Fraport Skyliners 80

Awards

Final Four MVP

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
Sean Marshall Trabzonspor
33
2
J'Covan Brown Astana
36
3
LaMonte Ulmer KTP
34
4
Christian Maråker Borås
39
5
Travis Peterson Avtodor
35
6
Stefan Wessels SPM Shoeters
43

Last 16

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

Quarterfinals

Johannes Voigtmann was the Round 3 MVP
Week Player Team PIR
1
Nemanja Milosevic Energia Târgu Jiu
33
2
Kyrylo Fesenko Avtodor
22
Mykal Riley JSF Nanterre
Terrico White Enisey Krasnoyarsk
3
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
Ryan Pearson Antwerp Giants
12
19.8
2
Dwight Hardy Trabzonspor
16
18.1
3
J'Covan Brown Astana
10
17.5

Rebounds

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

Assists

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

Season highs

Statistic Player Team
Points
42
Robert Arnold Kataja
Rebounds
20
Christian Maråker Borås
Assists
16
Teemu Rannikko Kataja
Steals
7
Terrico White Enisey
Blocks
6
Dounia Issa Le Mans Sarthe
Three-point field goals
8
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. 2014-07-04. Retrieved 2014-07-04.
  4. Schedule
  5. Trabzon to host EuroChallenge Final Four; FIBA Europe, 26 March 2015
  6. Jamal Shuler named Final Four MVP
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.