Euroleague announces 2013-14 groups, new rules
The Euroleague Commercial Assets Shareholders held their annual meeting on Wednesday, approving the teams for the 2013-14 Euroleague, rule changes and a number of other items.
The 2013-14 Euroleague groups, calendar and qualifying rounds were announced on Thursday, along with the site for the Final Four. The announcements cap off a busy two days where the Euroleague Commercial Assets Shareholders also held their annual meeting to finalize the Euroleague participants, competition structure and also a few competition rule changes.
At the ECA Shareholders meeting, it was announced that the 2013-14 Euroleague would follow the same competition format as they did during the 2012-13 season. Competition will open on October 1 with eight clubs competing in a single elimination bracket to determine the 24th club and the sixth in Group D.
The clubs involved in the qualifying round will be: Cimberio Varese, first place in the Italian League regular season and runner-up in the Italian Cup; Ewe Baskets Oldenburg, runner-up in German league, reached FIBA EuroChallenge semifinals; Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius, competed in Euroleague last season, recently signed Dick Bauermann as their head coach; VEF Riga, has made it to the Eurocup last 16 the past two seasons and has won the Latvian League title three straight years; Khimki Moscow Region, played in the Euroleague Top 16 in 2012-13; Telenet Ostend, champions of Belgian league and Belgian Cup in 2012-13; CEZ Basketball Nymburk, this will be CEZ’s fourth inclusion in the Euroleague Qualifying round, unfortunately they have never closed the deal and made it to the show; Banvit BK Bandirma, runner-up in the Turkish League, recently hired Dimitris Itoudis as their head coach who has been an assistant coach with Panathinaikos since 1999, including five Euroleague titles.
The shareholders approved moving the eight clubs that do not qualify for the Top 16 after the 10-game regular season schedule into the Eurocup as participants in the Last 32.
Rule changes:
- Jump ball calls during the game will result in actual jump balls, not alternating possessions. The winner of the jump ball at the beginning of the game will also get the ball at the start of the fourth quarter, with their opponents getting the ball at the start of the second and third quarters.
- Technical fouls will only be given one free throw during the 2013-14 season, along with possession of the ball. Any player whistled for two technicals in a contest will be ejected.
- Timeouts are being reduced in time. During the first half each team will get one 60-second timeout and one 30-second timeout. In the second half the clubs will receive two 60-second timeouts and one 30-second timeout. During the final two minutes of the fourth quarter a coach may only use one of each.
- The time between quarters is being reduced from two minutes to 90 seconds.
The shareholders also announced that the Final Four will be held in Milan, Italy from May 16 to May 18, 2014.
2013-14 Euroleague Groups and Competition Schedule:
The Euroleague season will tip off on October 1 with the first round of the qualifying tournament. The eight participating clubs will play a single elimination tournament with the winning team advancing to Group D of the Euroleague.
The regular season will begin a 10-game season on October 17 and will run through December 20, 2013. The 24 participating teams have been divided up into four, six-team groups that will play a home/away series with each other team in their group.
The Top four clubs of each group will move on to the Top 16 and will begin play on January 2, wrapping up on April 11. The Top 16 round features two, eight-team groups, again playing every other team in their group a home/away series. The top four teams in each group advance to the quarter-finals.
The playoffs will begin on April 15 and will finish on April 25, 2014. At the end of the playoffs, the Final Four will have been determined:
The Final Four will take place in Milan, Italy from May 16 to May 18.
To download the Euroleague Regular Season calendar CLICK HERE.
To view the Regular Season calendar by date CLICK HERE
To browse calendar by Group: Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D
The four 2013-14 Euroleague regular season groups are:
| Group A | Group B |
| FC Barcelona | Real Madrid |
| CSKA Moscow | Anadolu Efes |
| Fenerbahce Ulker | Zalgiris Kaunas |
| Budivelnik Kiev | Brose Baskets |
| Partizan MT:S | EA7 Emporio Armani |
| JSF Nanterre | Strasbourg |
| Group C | Group D |
| Olympiacos Piraeus | Panathinaikos Athens |
| Montepaschi Siena | Maccabi Electra |
| Unicaja Malaga | Laboral Kutxa |
| Galatasaray Hospital | Lokomotiv Kuban |
| Stelmet Zielona Gora | Crvena Zvezda |
| FC Bayern Munich | Winner of Qualifying |