# 2017–18 ABA League First Division

The 2017–18 ABA League First Division was the 17th season of the ABA League with 12 teams from Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Macedonia participating in it. It was the inaugural season as the first tier as a part of two level competition.

## Format changes

On May 23, 2017, ABA League Assembly has decided that there will be 12 clubs competing in the league in the 2017–18 season. Having analysed the current situation in European and the regional basketball, as well as the fact that the ABA League is still not officially recognized by the national basketball federations, and with a goal to protect the interests of the ABA League founding clubs, the clubs that have competed in the 2016–17 season will have a right to participate in the forthcoming season as well and the priority of participation will be given to the founders of the ABA League (from the 2015–16 season). The formula to determine the participants which will be respected is the following:
* Serbia – three clubs
* Croatia – three clubs
* Slovenia – one club
* Bosnia and Herzegovina – one club
* Montenegro – one club
* Macedonia – one club
Two additional spots will be allocated to the clubs from countries, whose clubs have achieved the best coefficients in the country rankings during the 2016–17 season. Those two countries are Serbia and Montenegro. The places from Serbia will be filled in accordance with the final standings of the Basketball League of Serbia, in accordance with the recognition and cooperation with the ABA League.
In accordance with the previously mentioned decisions, the participating clubs of the ABA League for the 2017–18 season are: Cedevita, Zadar, Cibona, Union Olimpija, Igokea, Budućnost VOLI, MZT Skopje Aerodrom and Mornar, while the remaining four places (from Serbia), were determined in accordance with the standings in the Basketball League of Serbia.

## Teams
### National standings

The numbers of teams by country is determined by a coefficient that is the sum of all victories clubs from a certain country achieve in a regular season divided by the number of clubs from that country. By using this coefficient majority of places for current season are allocated, while the remaining places are given via wild cards from league board.
| Country | No. | 2016–17 coeff. | 2017–18 no. of clubs |
| Serbia | 3 | 16.25 | 4 |
| Montenegro | 1 | 14.00 | 2 |
| Croatia | 3 | 13.33 | 3 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 | 13.00 | 1 |
| Slovenia | 1 | 9.00 | 1 |
| Macedonia | 1 | 9.00 | 1 |
| Total | 10 | best coeff. (+2) | 12 |

### Team allocation

League positions of the previous domestic league season after playoffs shown in parentheses.
Regular season :
| Crvena zvezda mts (1st) | Mega Bemax (4th) | Cedevita (1st) | Igokea (1st) |
| FMP (2nd) | Budućnost VOLI (1st) | Cibona (2nd) | Petrol Olimpija (1st) |
| Partizan NIS (3rd) | Mornar (2nd) | Zadar (6th) | MZT Skopje Aerodrom (1st) |

### Venues and locations

| Team | Home city | Arena | Capacity |
| Budućnost VOLI | Podgorica | Morača Sports Center | 4,000 |
| Cedevita | Zagreb | Dražen Petrović | 5,400 |
| Cibona | Zagreb | Dražen Petrović | 5,400 |
| Crvena zvezda mts | Belgrade | Aleksandar Nikolić | 5,878 |
| FMP | Belgrade | Železnik Hall | 3,000 |
| Igokea | Aleksandrovac | Laktaši Sports Hall | 3,050 |
| Mega Bemax | Sremska Mitrovica | Sports Hall Pinki | 2,500 |
| Mornar | Bar | Topolica Sport Hall | 2,625 |
| MZT Skopje Aerodrom | Skopje | Jane Sandanski | 7,500 |
| Partizan NIS | Belgrade | Aleksandar Nikolić | 5,878 |
| Petrol Olimpija | Ljubljana | Arena Stožice | 12,480 |
| Zadar | Zadar | Krešimir Ćosić | 7,847 |

### Personnel and sponsorship

| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Budućnost VOLI | Aleksandar Džikić | Suad Šehović | Spalding | VOLI |
| Cedevita | Jure Zdovc | Roko Ukić | Nike | Cedevita |
| Cibona | Ante Nazor | Marin Rozić | Adidas | — |
| Crvena zvezda mts | Dušan Alimpijević | Branko Lazić | Nike | mts |
| FMP | Vladimir Jovanović | Filip Čović | Champion | FMP |
| Igokea | Dragan Bajić | Vuk Radivojević | GBT | m:tel |
| Mega Bemax | Dejan Milojević | Nikola Rebić | Adidas | Bemax |
| Mornar | Mihailo Pavićević | Marko Mijović | Adidas | Bar Municipality |
| MZT Skopje Aerodrom | Željko Lukajić | Damjan Stojanovski | Adidas | UNIBanka, triglav |
| Partizan NIS | Nenad Čanak | Novica Veličković | Under Armour | NIS |
| Petrol Olimpija | Zoran Martič | Gregor Hrovat | Macron | Petrol |
| Zadar | Aramis Naglić | Šime Špralja | Champion | OTP Bank |

### Coaching changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced with | Date of appointment |
| Budućnost VOLI | Ilias Zouros | 14 April 2017 | Off-season | Aleksandar Džikić | 22 June 2017 |
| Cedevita | Veljko Mršić | 9 June 2017 | Off-season | Jure Zdovc | 14 June 2017 |
| Cibona | Damir Mulaomerović | 13 June 2017 | Off-season | Slobodan Subotić | 17 June 2017 |
| Partizan NIS | Aleksandar Džikić | 13 June 2017 | Off-season | Miroslav Nikolić | 18 July 2017 |
| MZT Skopje Aerodrom | Ante Nazor | 15 June 2017 | Off-season | Aleksandar Todorov | 15 June 2017 |
| Mornar | Đorđije Pavićević | 1 July 2017 | Off-season | Mihailo Pavićević | 1 July 2017 |
| Crvena zvezda mts | Dejan Radonjić | 15 July 2017 | Off-season | Dušan Alimpijević | 21 July 2017 |
| FMP | Dušan Alimpijević | 21 July 2017 | Off-season | Vladimir Jovanović | 27 July 2017 |
| Cibona | Slobodan Subotić | 11 November 2017 | 9th (3–5) | Ante Nazor | 13 November 2017 |
| MZT Skopje Aerodrom | Aleksandar Todorov | 7 December 2017 | 12th (2–8) | Željko Lukajić | 8 December 2017 |
| Partizan NIS | Miroslav Nikolić | 12 December 2017 | 5th (5–6) | Nenad Čanak | 14 December 2017 |
| Petrol Olimpija | Gašper Okorn | 8 January 2018 | 11th (5–10) | Zoran Martič | 8 January 2018 |

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Crvena zvezda mts | 22 | 19 | 3 | 1955 | 1679 | +276 | 41 | Advance to the playoffs |
| 2 | Budućnost VOLI | 22 | 17 | 5 | 1863 | 1661 | +202 | 39 | Advance to the playoffs |
| 3 | Cedevita | 22 | 17 | 5 | 1798 | 1645 | +153 | 39 | Advance to the playoffs |
| 4 | Mornar | 22 | 14 | 8 | 1825 | 1790 | +35 | 36 | Advance to the playoffs |
| 5 | Partizan NIS | 22 | 11 | 11 | 1936 | 1893 | +43 | 33 | |
| 6 | Zadar | 22 | 10 | 12 | 1846 | 1885 | −39 | 32 | |
| 7 | Petrol Olimpija | 22 | 10 | 12 | 1738 | 1793 | −55 | 32 | |
| 8 | FMP | 22 | 9 | 13 | 1756 | 1763 | −7 | 31 | |
| 9 | Mega Bemax | 22 | 8 | 14 | 1849 | 1858 | −9 | 30 | |
| 10 | Igokea | 22 | 7 | 15 | 1782 | 1876 | −94 | 29 | |
| 11 | Cibona | 22 | 7 | 15 | 1754 | 1890 | −136 | 29 | |
| 12 | MZT Skopje Aerodrom | 22 | 3 | 19 | 1659 | 2028 | −369 | 25 | Relegation to the Second Division |
* 1 2 Budućnost VOLI 1–1, 1.01; Cedevita 1–1, 0.99
* 1 2 Zadar 1–1, 1.09; Petrol Olimpija 1–1, 0.92
* 1 2 Igokea 1–1, 1.03; Cibona 1–1, 0.97

### Positions by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| Crvena zvezda mts | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Budućnost VOLI | 6 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Cedevita | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Mornar | 12 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Partizan NIS | 9 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Zadar | 8 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| Petrol Olimpija | 5 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| FMP | 11 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Mega Bemax | 2 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Igokea | 7 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Cibona | 10 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| MZT Skopje Aerodrom | 4 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |

### Results

| Home \ Away | BUD | CED | CIB | CZV | FMP | IGO | MEG | MOR | MZT | PAR | OLI | ZAD |
| Budućnost VOLI | — | 66–60 | 71–62 | 92–86 | 87–64 | 81–59 | 84–64 | 79–70 | 104–62 | 86–79 | 88–66 | 87–85 |
| Cedevita | 76–71 | — | 91–68 | 79–74 | 74–67 | 79–84 | 75–73 | 99–74 | 77–65 | 85–75 | 84–60 | 102–101 |
| Cibona | 87–93 | 100–94 | — | 87–93 | 84–85 | 87–86 | 95–93 | 79–82 | 77–92 | 74–90 | 96–85 | 78–80 |
| Crvena zvezda mts | 75–79 | 82–66 | 107–69 | — | 84–77 | 85–80 | 90–80 | 88–77 | 112–73 | 86–74 | 80–76 | 97–67 |
| FMP | 76–93 | 71–80 | 99–79 | 77–100 | — | 95–73 | 96–88 | 79–84 | 100–72 | 83–71 | 81–86 | 91–76 |
| Igokea | 98–94 | 61–69 | 63–57 | 76–82 | 75–65 | — | 82–89 | 79–93 | 99–108 | 67–74 | 86–78 | 94–92 |
| Mega Bemax | 83–94 | 77–81 | 95–88 | 85–90 | 74–72 | 99–87 | — | 91–70 | 106–77 | 89–102 | 77–86 | 71–73 |
| Mornar | 87–81 | 89–94 | 78–82 | 74–82 | 73–81 | 87–83 | 87–83 | — | 106–75 | 83–81 | 101–81 | 80–70 |
| MZT Skopje Aerodrom | 71–93 | 64–85 | 76–83 | 58–92 | 67–72 | 68–77 | 76–92 | 69–72 | — | 92–89 | 55–96 | 80–85 |
| Partizan NIS | 94–83 | 82–92 | 80–69 | 84–100 | 87–84 | 117–104 | 89–73 | 93–98 | 112–94 | — | 77–78 | 95–87 |
| Petrol Olimpija | 79–88 | 65–64 | 78–80 | 73–82 | 73–64 | 95–93 | 69–76 | 64–67 | 94–85 | 89–87 | — | 90–85 |
| Zadar | 78–69 | 76–92 | 79–73 | 76–88 | 83–77 | 82–76 | 95–91 | 77–93 | 105–80 | 97–104 | 97–77 | — |

## Playoffs

The semi-finals was played in a best-of-three format, while the Finals were played in a best-of-five format. Playoffs started on 17 March 2018, while the Finals ended on 14 April 2018.
| Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| 18 March–2 April | 18 March–2 April |
| Crvena zvezda mts | 2 |
| Crvena zvezda mts | 2 | 9–14 April | 9–14 April |
| Mornar | 1 | 9–14 April | 9–14 April |
| Mornar | 1 | Crvena zvezda mts | 1 |
| 18 March–2 April | 18 March–2 April | | Crvena zvezda mts | 1 |
| 18 March–2 April | 18 March–2 April | Budućnost VOLI | 3 |
| Budućnost VOLI | 2 | Budućnost VOLI | 3 |
| Cedevita | 1 | | |
* 2017–18 ABA League Champions
* Budućnost VOLI 1st title

### Semifinals

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| Crvena zvezda mts | 2–1 | Mornar | 91–63 | 84–88 | 88–69 |
| Budućnost VOLI | 2–1 | Cedevita | 84–83 | 75–82 | 72–57 |

### Finals

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
| Crvena zvezda mts | 1–3 | Budućnost VOLI | 76–80 | 69–59 | 77–78 | 73–77 | 0 |

## Final standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Budućnost VOLI | 29 | 22 | 7 | 2388 | 2178 | +210 | 51 | Qualification to EuroLeague |
| 2 | Crvena zvezda mts | 29 | 22 | 7 | 2513 | 2193 | +320 | 51 | Qualification to EuroCup |
| 3 | Cedevita | 25 | 18 | 7 | 2020 | 1876 | +144 | 43 | Qualification to EuroCup |
| 4 | Mornar | 25 | 15 | 10 | 2045 | 2053 | −8 | 40 | Qualification to EuroCup |
| 5 | Partizan NIS | 22 | 11 | 11 | 1936 | 1893 | +43 | 33 | |
| 6 | Zadar | 22 | 10 | 12 | 1846 | 1885 | −39 | 32 | |
| 7 | Petrol Olimpija | 22 | 10 | 12 | 1738 | 1793 | −55 | 32 | |
| 8 | FMP | 22 | 9 | 13 | 1756 | 1763 | −7 | 31 | |
| 9 | Mega Bemax | 22 | 8 | 14 | 1849 | 1858 | −9 | 30 | |
| 10 | Igokea | 22 | 7 | 15 | 1782 | 1876 | −94 | 29 | |
| 11 | Cibona | 22 | 7 | 15 | 1754 | 1890 | −136 | 29 | |
| 12 | MZT Skopje Aerodrom | 22 | 3 | 19 | 1659 | 2028 | −369 | 25 | Relegation to Second Division |

## Statistical leaders

    As of 12 March 2018 , after the end of the Regular Season.
| PIR Pos Player Club PIR 1 Luka Žorić Cibona 23.24 2 Uroš Luković Mornar 20.90 3 Patrick Miller Partizan NIS 20.36 4 Nigel Williams-Goss Partizan NIS 20.30 5 Luka Božić Zadar 19.09 | Points Pos Player Club PPG 1 Luka Žorić Cibona 19.71 2 Josh Bostic Zadar 19.23 3 Nigel Williams-Goss Partizan NIS 16.85 4 Derek Needham Mornar 16.82 5 Filip Čović FMP 15.76 |
| Rebounds Pos Player Club RPG 1 Luka Božić Zadar 7.77 2 Uroš Luković Mornar 7.52 3 Devin Oliver Petrol Olimpija 7.27 4 Jordan Morgan Petrol Olimpija 7.18 5 Luka Žorić Cibona 6.95 | Assists Pos Player Club APG 1 Filip Čović FMP 7.43 2 Nigel Williams-Goss Partizan NIS 6.95 3 Dominik Mavra MZT Skopje Aerodrom 6.25 4 Taylor Rochestie Crvena zvezda mts 5.95 5 Patrick Miller Partizan NIS 5.43 |
Source: ABA League Archived 2017-12-28 at the Wayback Machine

## Awards

| Pos. | Player | Team |
| MVP ||||
| C | Luka Žorić | Cibona |
| Finals MVP ||||
| PG | Nemanja Gordić | Budućnost VOLI |
| Top Prospect ||||
| SF | Džanan Musa | Cedevita |
| Ideal Starting Five ||||
| PG | Taylor Rochestie | Crvena zvezda mts |
| SG | Nemanja Gordić | Budućnost |
| SF | Džanan Musa | Cedevita |
| PF | Novica Veličković | Partizan NIS |
| C | Uroš Luković | Mornar |

## MVP List
### MVP of the Round

| Round | Player | Team | PIR |
| 1 | Mathias Lessort | Crvena zvezda mts | 30 |
| 2 | Will Cherry | Cedevita | 27 |
| 3 | Luka Božić | Zadar | 32 |
| 4 | Luka Žorić | Cibona | 41 |
| 5 | Patrick Miller | Partizan NIS | 40 |
| 6 | Uroš Luković | Mornar | 31 |
| 7 | Milko Bjelica | Crvena zvezda mts | 35 |
| 8 | Derek Needham | Mornar | 30 |
| 9 | Džanan Musa | Cedevita | 46 |
| 10 | Josh Bostic | Zadar | 29 |
| 11 | Roko Ukić | Cedevita | 28 |
| 12 | Nikola Jevtović | Igokea | 29 |
| 13 | Uroš Luković (2) | Mornar | 40 |
| 14 | Josh Bostic (2) | Zadar | 40 |
| 15 | Novica Veličković | Partizan NIS | 31 |
| 16 | Dominik Mavra | MZT Skopje Aerodrom | 34 |
| 17 | Novica Veličković (2) | Partizan NIS | 36 |
| 18 | Vlatko Čančar | Mega Bemax | 29 |
| 19 | Derek Needham (2) | Mornar | 29 |
| 20 | Danilo Nikolić | Budućnost VOLI | 33 |
| 21 | Novica Veličković (3) | Partizan NIS | 36 |
| 22 | Jordan Morgan | Petrol Olimpija | 32 |
| SF1 | Nemanja Gordić | Budućnost VOLI | 30 |
| SF2 | Demetris Nichols | Cedevita | 30 |
| SF3 | Ognjen Dobrić | Crvena zvezda mts | 23 |
| F1 | Nikola Ivanović | Budućnost VOLI | 23 |
| F2 | Alen Omić | Crvena zvezda mts | 27 |
| F3 | Nemanja Gordić (2) | Budućnost VOLI | 21 |
| F4 | Filip Barović | Budućnost VOLI | 23 |

### MVP of the Month

| Month | Player | Team |
| 2017 ||||
| October | Patrick Miller | Partizan NIS |
| November | Milko Bjelica | Crvena zvezda mts |
| December | Josh Bostic | Zadar |
| 2018 ||||
| January | Novica Veličković | Partizan NIS |
| February | Uroš Luković | Mornar |

## Attendances

Attendances include playoff games:
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Partizan NIS | 50,500 | 6,300 | 2,850 | 4,591 | −2.5%$^†$ |
| 2 | Crvena zvezda mts | 66,244 | 7,237 | 1,987 | 4,416 | +1.8%$^†$ |
| 3 | Zadar | 47,750 | 6,500 | 2,050 | 4,341 | +30.6%$^†$ |
| 4 | Budućnost VOLI | 51,028 | 6,000 | 1,150 | 3,402 | +34.6%$^†$ |
| 5 | Igokea | 24,080 | 3,000 | 1,550 | 2,189 | +31.7%$^†$ |
| 6 | Mornar | 25,524 | 3,500 | 1,200 | 2,127 | −11.7%$^†$ |
| 7 | MZT Skopje Aerodrom | 21,700 | 4,000 | 900 | 1,973 | +53.7%$^†$ |
| 8 | Mega Bemax | 15,840 | 2,550 | 700 | 1,440 | +5.5%$^†$ |
| 9 | Petrol Olimpija | 15,700 | 3,000 | 750 | 1,427 | +5.1%$^†$ |
| 10 | Cibona | 15,550 | 3,500 | 250 | 1,414 | +15.2%$^†$ |
| 11 | Cedevita | 16,560 | 2,200 | 800 | 1,380 | −5.2%$^†$ |
| 12 | FMP | 10,050 | 1,350 | 750 | 914 | +76.0%$^†$ |
| | League total | 360,576 | 7,237 | 250 | 2,539 | +24.1%$^†$ |
Updated to match(es) played on April 14, 2018. Source: ABA League

## ABA League clubs in European competitions

| Competition | Team | Progress | Progress | Result |
| EuroLeague | Crvena zvezda mts | Regular season | Regular season | 14th (11–19) |
| EuroCup | Budućnost VOLI | Quarterfinals | (2) | Eliminated by Darüşşafaka, 0–2 |
| EuroCup | Cedevita | Top 16 Group G | (1) | 4th (0–6) |
| EuroCup | Partizan NIS | Regular season Group C | Regular season Group C | 6th (1–9) |
| Champions League | Petrol Olimpija | Regular season Group C | Regular season Group C | 7th (4–10) |
| Champions League | Mornar | Second qualifying round | Second qualifying round | Eliminated by Avtodor Saratov, 132–158; transferred to FIBA Europe Cup |
| FIBA Europe Cup | Mornar | Quarterfinals | (3) | Eliminated by Donar, 147–168 |