# 1997–98 FIBA EuroCup

The 1997–98 FIBA EuroCup was the thirty-second edition of FIBA's 2nd-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition. it occurred between September 16, 1997, and April 14, 1998. The final was held at Pionir Hall, Belgrade, Yugoslavia. In the final, Žalgiris defeated Stefanel Milano, in front of 5,000 spectators.

## Competition system

* 48 teams (national domestic cup champions, plus the best qualified teams from the most important European national domestic leagues), entered a preliminary group stage, divided into eight groups of six teams each, and played a round-robin. The final standings were based on individual wins and defeats. In the case of a tie between two or more teams, after the group stage, the following criteria were used to decide the final classification: 1) number of wins in one-to-one games between the teams; 2) basket average between the teams; 3) general basket average within the group.
* The top four teams from each group qualified for a 1/16 Final Playoff (X-pairings, home and away games), where the winners advanced further to 1/8 Finals, 1/4 Finals, and 1/2 Final.
* The Final was played at a predetermined venue.

## Country ranking

For the 1997–1998 FIBA EuroCup, the countries are allocated places according to their place on the FIBA country rankings, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 1994–95 to 1996–97.
| Rank | Country | Points | Teams | Notes |
| 1 | Spain | 279.667 | 2 | |
| 2 | Greece | 275.000 | 2 | |
| 3 | Italy | 190.833 | 2 | |
| 4 | France | 117.500 | 2 | |
| 5 | Turkey | 96.667 | 2 | |
| 6 | Russia | 70.542 | 2 | |
| 7 | Germany | 55.389 | 2 | |
| 8 | Croatia | 50.833 | 2 | |
| 9 | Israel | 43.048 | 2 | |
| 10 | Slovenia | 38.833 | 2 | |
| 11 | Yugoslavia | 25.000 | 2 | |
| 12 | Portugal | 23.071 | 2 | |
| 13 | Belgium | 22.500 | 2 | |
| 14 | Poland | 21.206 | 2 | |
| 15 | Lithuania | 19.416 | 2 | |
| 16 | Ukraine | 15.762 | 2 | |
| 17 | Hungary | 9.667 | 1 | +1, Marc-Kormend got wild card |
| 18 | Czech Republic | 7.139 | 1 | +1, USK Erpet Praha got wild card |
| 19 | Slovakia | 6.555 | 1 | |
| Rank | Country | Points | Teams | Notes |
| 20 | Macedonia | 6.111 | 1 | +1, MZT got wild card |
| 21 | Austria | 5.445 | 1 | |
| 22 | Sweden | 5.333 | 1 | |
| 23 | Cyprus | 4.333 | 1 | |
| 24 | England | 4.167 | 1 | |
| 25 | Latvia | 3.722 | 1 | |
| 26 | Switzerland | 3.083 | 1 | -1, Fribourg Olympic withdrew |
| 27 | Bulgaria | 2.694 | 1 | -1, Slavia Sofia withdrew |
| 28 | Romania | 2.389 | 1 | -1, Dinamo București withdrew |
| 29 | Finland | 1.861 | 1 | |
| 30 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1.778 | 1 | |
| 31 | Estonia | 1.500 | 1 | |
| 32 | Netherlands | 1.500 | 1 | |
| 33 | Georgia | 1.500 | 0 | |
| 34 | Luxembourg | 1.444 | 0 | |
| 35 | Albania | 1.361 | 0 | |
| 36 | Denmark | 0.167 | 0 | |
| 37 | Moldova | 0.111 | 0 | |
| 38 | Belarus | 0.056 | 0 | |

## Team allocation

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:
* 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.: League position after eventual Playoffs
* CW: Cup winners
* WC: Wild card
Regular season :
| Festina Joventut (4th) | Bayer 04 Leverkusen (3rd) | Spirou (1st) | Rabotnički (1st) |
| Cáceres (10th) | Tatami Rhöndorf (5th) | Sunair Oostende (CW) | MZT Skopje (WC) |
| Panathinaikos (5th) | Zrinjevac (3rd) | Mazowzanka (1st) | Slovakofarma Pezinok (1st) |
| Apollon Achaia Clauss (7th) | Zagreb (6th) | Śląsk Wrocław (CW) | UKJ SÜBA Sankt Pölten (1st) |
| Stefanel Milano (5th) | Maccabi Ironi Ra`anana (3rd) | Žalgiris (1st) | Plannja Basket (1st) |
| Polti Cantù (8th) | Hapoel Eilat (4th) | Žemaitijos Lokiai (2nd) | Keravnos (1st) |
| ASVEL (CW) | Kovinotehna Savinjska Polzela (2nd) | Budivelnyk (1st) | London Towers (1st) |
| Le Mans (5th) | Pivovarna Laško (4th) | BIPA-Moda Odesa (2nd) | ASK Brocēni (1st) |
| Tofaş (4th) | FMP Železnik (CW) | Danone-Honvéd (1st) | Torpan Pojat (1st) |
| Fenerbahçe (5th) | Beobanka (3rd) | Marc-Körmend (WC) | Sloboda Dita (1st) |
| Avtodor Saratov (2nd) | Oliveirense (2nd) | ICEC Opava (1st) | Kalev Talinn (2nd) |
| Samara (3rd) | Portugal Telecom (3rd) | USK Erpet Praha (WC) | Libertel Dolphins EBBC (1st) |

## Preliminary group stage

Key to colors :
* Qualified to Round of 32
* Eliminated
| Group A TeamPldPtsWLPFPAPD 1. Festina Joventut 101991884782+102 2. Tofaş 101773793698+95 3. BIPA-Moda Odesa 101773731644+87 4. Torpan Pojat 101555738735+3 5. Žemaitijos Lokiai 101228734854−120 6. Rabotnički 1010010653820−167 | Group B TeamPldPtsWLPFPAPD 1. Le Mans 101773794792+2 2. Śląsk Wrocław 101664760751+9 3. Pivovarna Laško 101664800783+17 4. Fenerbahçe 101555783763+20 5. ASK Brocēni 101555879832+47 6. ICEC Opava 101119745840−95 |
| Group C TeamPldPtsWLPFPAPD 1. Žalgiris 101773777672+105 2. ASVEL 101773677642+35 3. Mazowzanka 101664827790+37 4. Zagreb 101664776704+72 5. Kalev 101446690737−47 6. MZT Aerodrom 1010010634836−202 | Group D TeamPldPtsWLPFPAPD 1. Cáceres 101664836767+69 2. Samara 101664801774+27 3. FMP Železnik 101664793719+74 4. Keravnos 101555681743−62 5. Oliveirense 101446713787−74 6. Plannja 101337819853−34 |
| Group E TeamPldPtsWLPFPAPD 1. Stefanel Milano 101882840729+111 2. Beobanka 101773784716+68 3. Hapoel Eilat 101773805787+18 4. Tatami Rhöndorf 101555765814−49 5. Danone-Honvéd 101228721779−58 6. London Towers 101119692782−90 | Group F TeamPldPtsWLPFPAPD 1. Spirou 101882855710+145 2. Apollon Patras 101773910795+115 3. Zrinjevac 101664836822+14 4. Kovinotehna Savinjska Polzela 101555859842+17 5. Libertel Dolphins EBBC 101337761889−128 6. USK Erpet Praha 101119730893−163 |
| Group G TeamPldPtsWLPFPAPD 1. Polti Cantù 101991916762+154 2. Sunair Oostende 101773860820+40 3. Marc-Körmend 101664822807+15 4. Bayer 04 Leverkusen 101555820884−64 5. Portugal Telecom 101337863873−10 6. Sloboda Dita 1010010735870−135 | Group H TeamPldPtsWLPFPAPD 1. Panathinaikos 101991865645+220 2. Avtodor Saratov 101882879834+45 3. Maccabi Ironi Ra`anana 101555778784−6 4. Slovakofarma Pezinok 101446756856−100 5. SÜBA Sankt Pölten 101228707802−95 6. Budivelnyk 101228695759−64 |

## Round of 32

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Fenerbahçe | 150–162 | Festina Joventut | 78–75 | 72–87 |
| Pivovarna Laško | 157–170 | Tofaş | 79–85 | 78–85 |
| BIPA-Moda Odesa | 143–171 | Śląsk Wrocław | 74–84 | 69–87 |
| Torpan Pojat | 144–131 | Le Mans | 77–69 | 67–62 |
| Keravnos | 101–130 | Žalgiris | 61–57 | 40–73 |
| FMP Železnik | 136–145 | ASVEL | 71–66 | 65–79 |
| Mazowzanka | 150–164 | Samara | 78–94 | 72–70 |
| Zagreb | 151–146 | Cáceres | 98–63 | 53–83 |
| Kovinotehna Savinjska Polzela | 111–168 | Stefanel Milano | 56–98 | 55–70 |
| Zrinjevac | 114–119 | Beobanka | 59–59 | 55–60 |
| Hapoel Eilat | 180–173 | Apollon Patras | 101–84 | 79–89 |
| Tatami Rhöndorf | 177–159 | Spirou | 83–77 | 94–82 |
| Slovakofarma Pezinok | 154–166 | Polti Cantù | 95–87 | 59–79 |
| Maccabi Ironi Ra`anana | 155–156 | Sunair Oostende | 86–82 | 69–74 |
| Marc-Körmend | 159–184 | Avtodor Saratov | 83–85 | 76–99 |
| Bayer 04 Leverkusen | 135–169 | Panathinaikos | 64–86 | 71–83 |

## Round of 16

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| ASVEL | 164–152 | Festina Joventut | 82–74 | 82–78 |
| Samara | 127–125 | Torpan Pojat | 77–74 | 50–51 |
| Tofaş | 131–133 | Žalgiris | 66–62 | 65–71 |
| Śląsk Wrocław | 142–131 | Zagreb | 76–60 | 66–71 |
| Sunair Oostende | 140–162 | Stefanel Milano | 68–80 | 72–82 |
| Avtodor Saratov | 160–126 | Tatami Rhöndorf | 71–50 | 89–76 |
| Beobanka | 163–136 | Polti Cantù | 88–58 | 75–78 |
| Hapoel Eilat | 148–164 | Panathinaikos | 80–78 | 68–86 |

## Quarterfinals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| ASVEL | 128–129 | Stefanel Milano | 58–67 | 70–62 |
| Avtodor Saratov | 181–175 | Samara | 92–65 | 89–110 |
| Žalgiris | 137–119 | Beobanka | 78–65 | 59–54 |
| Panathinaikos | 143–119 | Śląsk Wrocław | 82–58 | 61–61 |

## Semifinals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Panathinaikos | 138–144 | Stefanel Milano | 77–58 | 61–86 |
| Žalgiris | 159–151 | Avtodor Saratov | 96–74 | 63–77 |

## Final

April 14, Hala Pionir, Belgrade
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Žalgiris | 82–67 | Stefanel Milano |
* 1997–98 FIBA EuroCup Champions
* Žalgiris 1st title

## Awards
### FIBA Saporta Cup Finals MVP

* Saulius Štombergas ( Žalgiris)