# 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.

## 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) | Clubs (ranking in national league) | Clubs (ranking in national league) | Clubs (ranking in national league) | Clubs (ranking in national league) | 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 1082787684103 2. Real Madrid 107380472876 3. Lukoil Academic 107385582827 4. Opel Skyliners 106478671571 5. Zagreb 1028776882-106 6. Demon Ricoh Astronauts 10010656827-171 | Group B Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. Caprabo Lleida 108279672967 2. Auna Gran Canaria 1073770670100 3. RheinEnergie Köln 1064740785-45 4. Zadar 105577373439 5. Atlas 1037748774-26 6. Superfund Bulls 1019710845-135 |
| Group C Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. Metis Varese 107384477074 2. Ventspils 107381177239 3. Spirou 1064756759-3 4. Crvena zvezda 10558198154 5. Etosa Alicante 1037769820-51 6. Gravelines-Dunkerque 1028705768-63 | Group D Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. Reflex 109180671492 2. Hapoel Jerusalem 106483380033 3. DKV Joventut 106480178120 4. Go Pass Verviers-Pepinster 1037755779-24 5. Carisbo Virtus Bologna 1037769816-53 6. Telekom Bonn 1037747815-68 |
| Group E Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. Adecco Estudiantes 1091833728105 2. Makedonikos 1064778786-8 3. Le Mans 105579177318 4. Budućnost 1055820835-15 5. EiffelTowers Nijmegen 1037818832-14 6. Energy Braunschweig 1028769855-86 | Group F Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. Lietuvos rytas 1082786660126 2. Prokom Trefl Sopot 107379069694 3. Brighton Bears 1046791807-16 4. Split CO 1046792868-76 5. Cholet 1046762817-55 6. Ionikos Egnatia Bank 1037794867-73 |

## Elimination rounds
### Bracket

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

| 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

| 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

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)