# 2008–09 Euroleague

The 2008–09 Euroleague was the 9th season of the professional basketball competition for elite clubs throughout Europe, organised by Euroleague Basketball Company, and it was the 52nd season of the premier competition for European men's clubs overall. The season, which featured 24 teams from 13 countries, culminated in the 2008–09 Euroleague Final Four at the new O$_2$ World arena in Berlin, Germany. It was won by Panathinaikos, who defeated in the final, the defending champions, CSKA Moscow.
While the general structure of the competition was identical to that used in recent seasons, changes were made to the format for two of its phases, the Regular Season and Quarterfinals.

## Teams of the 2008–09 Euroleague

Key to colors :
* Champion
* Runner-up
* Third place
* Fourth place
* Eliminated in Quarterfinals
* Eliminated in Last 16
* Eliminated in the regular season
| Country (League) | Teams | Teams (ranking in 2007-08 national championship) | Teams (ranking in 2007-08 national championship) | Teams (ranking in 2007-08 national championship) | Teams (ranking in 2007-08 national championship) | Teams (ranking in 2007-08 national championship) |
| Spain (ACB) | 5 | Tau Cerámica (1) | FC Barcelona (2) | DKV Joventut (SF) | Unicaja Málaga (SF) | Real Madrid (QF) |
| Italy (Lega A) | 4 | Montepaschi Siena (1) | Lottomatica Roma (2) | Air Avellino (SF) | Armani Jeans Milano (SF) | |
| Greece (ESAKE A1) | 3 | Panathinaikos (1) | Olympiacos (2) | Panionios Forthnet (3) | | |
| Turkey (TBL) | 2 | Fenerbahçe Ülker (1) | Efes Pilsen (SF) | | | |
| France (LNB Pro A) | 2 | Nancy (1) | Le Mans (SF) | | | |
| Lithuania (LKL) | 1 | Žalgiris (1) | | | | |
| Germany (BBL) | 1 | Alba Berlin (1) | | | | |
| Croatia (A1 Liga) | 1 | Cibona (SF) | | | | |
| Russia (Superleague A) | 1 | CSKA Moscow (1) | | | | |
| Israel (BSL) | 1 | Maccabi Electra (2) | | | | |
| Slovenia (SKL) | 1 | Union Olimpija (1) | | | | |
| Serbia (KLS) | 1 | Partizan (1) | | | | |
| Poland (PLK) | 1 | Asseco Prokom Sopot (1) | | | | |
* DKV Joventut qualified as ULEB Cup winners.

## Format

Regular Season
The first phase was a regular season, in which the competing teams were drawn into four groups, each containing six teams. Each team played every other team in its group at home and away, resulting in 10 games for each team in the first stage. The top 4 teams in each group advanced to the next round. This was the first year for this particular format; previously, the competing teams were split into three groups of eight teams each, with the top five teams in each group plus the best sixth-place team advancing.
If two or more clubs finished level on won-lost record, tiebreakers were 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
* Points scored in all group matches
* Sum of quotients of points scored and points allowed in each group match
Games were played from October 22, 2008 to January 15, 2009.
Top 16
The surviving teams were then divided into four groups of four teams each, and again a round-robin system was adopted resulting in 6 games each, with the top 2 teams advancing to the quarterfinals. Tiebreakers are identical to those used in the Regular Season. Games began on January 28 and ended March 12.
Quarterfinals
In the quarterfinals, the top placed teams from each Top 16 group played second placed teams from a different group in a best-of-five playoff series, with the winners of those series advancing to the Final Four. This was the first season in which the quarterfinals were best-of-five; previously, they had been best-of-three. The quarterfinal matches were played from March 24 until April 9.
Final Four format
The culminating stage of the Euroleague in which the four remaining teams played a semifinal match and the winners of those advance to the final. The losers played in a third-place playoff. The team which was victorious in the Final (Panathinaikos) would be Euroleague champion. The Final Four semifinals were played May 1, with the third-place game and final on May 3.

## Regular season

The regular season began on October 20, 2008 and concluded on January 15, 2009.
Key to colors :
* Top four places in each group advanced to Top 16
| Group A Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. Unicaja Málaga 1082771698+73 2. Olympiacos 1064815748+67 3. Maccabi Electra 1064815811+4 4. Cibona VIP 1055760772-12 5. Air Avellino 1037754814-60 6. Le Mans 1028747819-72 | Group B Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. FC Barcelona 1091813650+163 2. Montepaschi Siena 1082835750+85 3. Panathinaikos 1073763707+56 4. Asseco Prokom Sopot 1028675734-59 5. Žalgiris 1028716812-96 6. Nancy 1028706855-149 |
| Group C Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. Tau Cerámica 1082916808+108 2. Lottomatica Roma 1064814786+28 3. Fenerbahçe Ülker 1064779755+24 4. Alba Berlin 1046691748-57 5. DKV Joventut 1046800810-10 6. Union Olimpija 1028725818-93 | Group D Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. CSKA Moscow 1073774644+130 2. Real Madrid 1064740707+33 3. Armani Jeans Milano 1055734745-11 4. Partizan 1055706687+19 5. Efes Pilsen 1046713762-49 6. Panionios Forthnet 1037668790-122 |

## Top 16

The Top 16 stage was played from January 28 to March 12, 2009.
The draw was conducted on January 19 at Euroleague Basketball Company headquarters in Barcelona. The group winners in the Regular Season were drawn from one pot, the runners-up from one pot, the teams in 3rd place from one pot and those in 4th place from one pot. Teams that played in the same group in the Regular Season could not meet again in the Top 16. Also, teams from the same country could not be drawn into the same pool unless it was necessary to prevent teams from the same Regular Season group from being drawn together.
Key to colors :
* Top two places in each group advanced to quarterfinals
| Group E Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. Olympiacos 651496446+50 2. Tau Cerámica 642556474+82 3. Armani Jeans Milano 624455529-74 4. Asseco Prokom Sopot 615444502-58 | Group F Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. FC Barcelona 651508429+79 2. Real Madrid 651505487+18 3. Maccabi Electra 624459481-22 4. Alba Berlin 606427502-75 *FC Barcelona wins the group over Real Madrid by the head-to-head point differential. |
| Group G Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. Panathinaikos 651503428+72 2. Partizan 642420434-14 3. Unicaja Málaga 624484461+23 4. Lottomatica Roma 615441525-84 | Group H Team Pld W L PF PA Diff 1. CSKA Moscow 651454377+77 2. Montepaschi Siena 642472456+16 3. Cibona VIP 624423456-33 4. Fenerbahçe Ülker 615384444-60 |

## Quarterfinals

Team 1 hosted Games 1 and 2, plus Game 5 if necessary. Team 2 hosted Game 3, and Game 4 if necessary.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 3rd leg | 4th leg | 5th leg |
| Olympiacos | 3–1 | Real Madrid | 88–79 | 79–73 | 63–71 | 78–75 | |
| Regal FC Barcelona | 3–2 | Tau Cerámica | 75–84 | 85–62 | 62–69 | 84–63 | 78–62 |
| Panathinaikos | 3–1 | Montepaschi Siena | 90–85 | 79–84 | 72–53 | 91–84 | |
| CSKA Moscow | 3–0 | Partizan | 56–47 | 77–50 | 67–56 | | |

## Final four

The Final Four was played on May 1 and on May 3. Semifinal games were played on Friday, while the third-place playoff and Final were played on Sunday. The event was hosted at the O2 World in Berlin. It was the first time the event was held in Berlin.
| Semifinals May 1 | Semifinals May 1 | Final May 3 | Final May 3 |
| Regal FC Barcelona | 78 |
| CSKA Moscow | 82 | | |
| CSKA Moscow | 82 | CSKA Moscow | 71 |
| | | Panathinaikos | 73 |
| Olympiacos | 82 | Panathinaikos | 73 |
| Panathinaikos | 84 | | |
| Panathinaikos | 84 | Third place | Third place |
| | | Regal FC Barcelona | 95 |
| | | Olympiacos | 79 |

## Individual statistics
### Rating

| Rank | Name | Team | Games | Rating | PIR |
| 1. | D'or Fischer | Maccabi Electra | 13 | 279 | 21.46 |
| 2. | Terrell McIntyre | Montepaschi Siena | 19 | 377 | 19.84 |
| 3. | Mirsad Türkcan | Fenerbahçe Ülker | 14 | 271 | 19.36 |

### Points

| Rank | Name | Team | Games | Rating | PPG |
| 1. | Igor Rakočević | Tau Cerámica | 21 | 377 | 17.95 |
| 2. | Terrell McIntyre | Montepaschi Siena | 19 | 328 | 17.26 |
| 3. | David Logan | Asseco Prokom Sopot | 15 | 253 | 16.87 |

### Rebounds

| Rank | Name | Team | Games | Rating | RPG |
| 1. | Mirsad Türkcan | Fenerbahçe Ülker | 14 | 121 | 8.64 |
| 2. | D'or Fischer | Maccabi Electra | 13 | 99 | 7.62 |
| 3. | Ioannis Bourousis | Olympiacos | 22 | 162 | 7.36 |

### Assists

| Rank | Name | Team | Games | Rating | APG |
| 1. | Theodoros Papaloukas | Olympiacos | 22 | 114 | 5.18 |
| 2. | Omar Cook | Unicaja Málaga | 16 | 82 | 5.13 |
| 3. | Terrell McIntyre | Montepaschi Siena | 19 | 84 | 4.42 |

### Other Stats

| Category | Name | Team | Games | Stat |
| Steals per game | David Logan | Asseco Prokom Sopot | 15 | 2.67 |
| Blocks per game | Fran Vázquez | FC Barcelona | 23 | 1.74 |
| Turnovers per game | David Logan | Asseco Prokom Sopot | 15 | 2.93 |
| Fouls drawn per game | Sani Bečirović | Lottomatica Roma | 13 | 6.23 |
| Minutes per game | David Logan | Asseco Prokom Sopot | 15 | 34:18 |
| 2FG% | Luboš Bartoň | FC Barcelona | 23 | 0.800 |
| 3FG% | Marco Mordente | Armani Jeans Milano | 12 | 0.555 |
| FT% | Louis Bullock | Real Madrid | 20 | 0.953 |

### Game highs

| Category | Name | Team | Stat |
| Rating | Lior Eliyahu | Maccabi Electra | 42 |
| Points | Terrell McIntyre | Montepaschi Siena | 35 |
| Rebounds | Pat Burke | Asseco Prokom Sopot | 20 |
| Assists | Theodoros Papaloukas | Olympiacos | 13 |
| Steals | 7 occasions | 7 occasions | 6 |
| Blocks | Loren Woods | Žalgiris | 7 |
| Turnovers | 3 occasions | 3 occasions | 8 |
| Fouls Drawn | Sani Bečirović | Lottomatica Roma | 12 |

## Awards
### Euroleague 2008–09 MVP

* Juan Carlos Navarro ( FC Barcelona )

### Euroleague 2008–09 Final Four MVP

* Vassilis Spanoulis ( Panathinaikos )

### All-Euroleague Team 2008–09

| Position | All-Euroleague First Team | Club team | All-Euroleague Second Team | Club team |
| PG | Terrell McIntyre | Montepaschi Siena | Theodoros Papaloukas | Olympiacos |
| SG/SF | Igor Rakočević | Tau Cerámica | Ramūnas Šiškauskas | CSKA Moscow |
| SG/SF | Juan Carlos Navarro | FC Barcelona | Vassilis Spanoulis | Panathinaikos |
| PF/C | Ioannis Bourousis | Olympiacos | Erazem Lorbek | CSKA Moscow |
| PF/C | Nikola Peković | Panathinaikos | Tiago Splitter | Tau Cerámica |

### Rising Star

* Novica Veličković ( Partizan )

### Best Defender

* Dimitris Diamantidis ( Panathinaikos )

### Top Scorer (Alphonso Ford Trophy)

* Igor Rakočević ( Tau Cerámica )

### Coach of the Year (Alexander Gomelsky Award)

* Duško Vujošević ( Partizan )

### Club Executive of the Year

* Marco Baldi ( Alba Berlin)

### MVP Weekly
#### Regular season

| Game | Player | Team | Rating |
| 1 | Will McDonald | Tau Cerámica | 32 |
| 2 | Pops Mensah-Bonsu | Joventut Badalona | 37 |
| 3 | Igor Rakočević | Tau Cerámica | 34 |
| 4 | Mike Hall | Armani Jeans Milano | 28 |
| 5 | Edu Hernandez-Sonseca | Joventut Badalona | 38 |
| 6 | Lior Eliyahu | Maccabi Electra | 42 |
| 7 | Rawle Marshall | Cibona | 34 |
| 8 | Sani Bečirović | Lottomatica Roma | 38 |
| 9 | Immanuel McElroy | Alba Berlin | 38 |
| 10 | Oğuz Savaş | Fenerbahçe Ülker | 41 |

#### Top 16

| Game | Player | Team | PIR |
| 1 | Nikola Peković | Panathinaikos | 28 |
| 1 | D'or Fischer | Maccabi Electra | 28 |
| 1 | Lior Eliyahu (2) | Maccabi Electra | 28 |
| 2 | Novica Veličković | Partizan | 29 |
| 3 | Ersan İlyasova | FC Barcelona | 39 |
| 4 | Tiago Splitter | Tau Cerámica | 28 |
| 5 | Charles Gaines | Maccabi Electra | 33 |
| 5 | Mike Hall (2) | Armani Jeans Milano | 33 |
| 6 | Mike Batiste | Panathinaikos | 35 |

#### Quarter-finals

| Game | Player | Team | PIR |
| 1 | Romain Sato | Montepaschi Siena | 36 |
| 2 | Erazem Lorbek | CSKA Moscow | 33 |
| 3 | Ramūnas Šiškauskas | CSKA Moscow | 30 |
| 3 | Matjaž Smodiš | CSKA Moscow | 30 |
| 4 | Terrell McIntyre | Montepaschi Siena | 37 |
| 5 | Ersan İlyasova (2) | FC Barcelona | 26 |

### MVP of the Month

| Month | Player | Team |
| October 2008 | Ersan İlyasova | FC Barcelona |
| November 2008 | Sani Bečirović | Lottomatica Roma |
| December 2008 | Lior Eliyahu | Maccabi Electra |
| January 2009 | Igor Rakočević | Tau Cerámica |
| February 2009 | Novica Veličković | Partizan |
| March 2009 | Erazem Lorbek | CSKA Moscow |