The 2014–15 Turkish Airlines Euroleague was the 15th season of the modern era of EuroLeague basketball and the fifth under the title sponsorship of the Turkish Airlines. Including the competition's previous iteration as the FIBA Europe Champions Cup, this was the 58th season of the premier competition for European men's clubs.
The city of Madrid hosted the Final Four from May 15 to 17, 2015.Madrid to host 2015 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four; Euroleague.net, 17 May 2014
Allocation There were three routes to participation in the Euroleague:
The 12 teams with an A-Licence from the 2013–14 Euroleague, based on their Euroleague Club Ranking. The 2013–14 Eurocup winner was given a C-Licence. The rest of the teams places were allocated from a list of 28 teams given a B-Licence ranked according to their European national basketball league rankings over the last year. 13 teams were given both an A-Licence or C-Licence and a B-Licence. When a country ranking spot had already been assigned to an A-Licence team, the assignation jumped to the next country appearing in the ranking, and their league was not granted an additional place in the competition. At least the first 9 of the remaining 16 teams were given places in the regular-season, and the next 6 were given places in the qualifying competition. If the Eurocup champion was qualified by receiving a B licence or some team with it resigned from the competition, a wild card had to be given by the Euroleague.
The Euroleague had the right to cancel an A licence for one of the following reasons:2012–13 Euroleague bylaws The club had the lowest ranking of all clubs with an A Licence, according to the Club Ranking. The club had ranked among the clubs placed in the bottom half of the national championship final standings. The club had financial problems. In Spanish League, when the champion and/or the runner-up of the league were teams without an A licence. In that case, the A licence club with the lowest position would play in Eurocup in the next season. If that happened three times in five years, the A licence of the club would have been cancelled.
Euroleague allocation criteria A licences Classification after the 2013–14 Euroleague, including also the 2011–12 and the 2012–13 seasons.ULEB Ranking, EŭroKorbo.tk Rank Team Points 1. CSKA Moscow 164 2. FC Barcelona 163 3. Olympiacos 154 4. Real Madrid 148 5. Maccabi Electra 141 6. Panathinaikos 139 Rank Team Points 7. Anadolu Efes 105 8. Unicaja 100 9. Fenerbahçe Ülker 99 10. Laboral Kutxa 97 11. Žalgiris 95 12. EA7 Milano 86 The A licence of EA7 Milano expired in June 2014, but Euroleague confirmed it as an A licensed team.2014–15 Turkish Airlines Euroleague licence allocation criteria; Euroleague.net, 4 June 2014 Montepaschi Siena did not play in the Euroleague, due to financial troubles.Siena will not play neither in Serie A nor in Euroleague next season; Sportando, 16 June 2014
B licences B licences could be given to every team without an A licence. If in the allocation appeared a team with A licence, the next team in the criteria would receive the B licence, which qualified directly to the Regular Season.ECA Shareholders Meeting ushers in new season Euroleague.net, July 3, 2013
+ Key to colors A licensed teams B licensed teams Wild cards Teams qualified for the Qualifying Round
Team 1. FC Barcelona 1st 2. CSKA Moscow 1st 3. EA7 Milano 1st 4. Fenerbahçe Ülker 1st 5. Žalgiris 1st 6. Panathinaikos 1st 7. Limoges 1st 8. Bayern Munich 1st 9. Cibona ; Cibona withdrews from Euroleague, Crvena Zvezda to take its spot!, 22 June 2014 1st 10. PGE Turów Zgorzelec 1st 11. Cedevita 2nd 12. Real Madrid 2nd 13. Nizhny Novgorod 2nd 14. Montepaschi Siena 2nd Team 15. Galatasaray; Galatasaray Euroleague'de, 21 June 2014; Galatasaray Euroleague'de, 21 June 2014 2nd 16. NeptūnasKlaipėdos „Neptūnui“ kelias į Eurolygą - atviras ; Lietuvos Rytas, 16 June 2014 2nd 17. Olympiacos 2nd 18. Strasbourg 2nd 19. Alba Berlin 2nd 20. Crvena Zvezda 3rd 21. Budivelnyk 1st 22. ČEZ Nymburk 1st 23. Telenet Oostende 1st 24. Maccabi Electra 1st 25. Levski Sofia VEF Riga to play Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds; Euroleague, 3 July 2014 1st 26. Ventspils 1st 27. Worcester Wolves 1st 28. Stelmet Zielona Góra 2nd
C licence, replacements and wildcards To the regular season Valencia (C licence as 2013–14 Eurocup winner) Alba Berlin (one-year wildcard which substituted Asseco Prokom's A-Licence removed in 2013) Dinamo Sassari (one-year wildcard which substituted Montepaschi Siena's A-licence, after it resigned in 2014) Crvena Zvezda (one-year wildcard which substituted Cibona's B-licence) To the qualifying rounds UNICS (as 2013–14 VTB League best qualified without A or B licence) Hapoel Jerusalem (wildcard) ASVEL (wildcard) VEF Rīga (wildcard after the rejection of Levski Sofia)
Teams The participating teams for the season were announced on June 25, 2014.ECA board approves 2014-15 teams, steps toward comprehensive competition model; Euroleague.net, 25 June 2014.
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round (TH: EuroLeague title holders)
A - licensed clubs: teams with 3-year licence Associated clubs: teams with B and C temporary licenses 1st, 2nd, etc.: League position after Playoffs EC: Champion of the 2013–14 Eurocup WC: Wild card Bold: Qualification round winner
Regular seasonA-license FC Barcelona (1st) Olympiacos (2nd) Žalgiris (1st) Real Madrid (2nd) Fenerbahçe Ülker (1st) CSKA Moscow (1st) Unicaja (4th) Anadolu Efes (5th) Laboral Kutxa (6th) Maccabi Electra (1st)TH Panathinaikos (1st) EA7 Emporio Armani Milano (1st)Associated clubs Cedevita Bayern Munich Neptūnas (2nd) Crvena zvezda ALBA Berlin Nizhny Novgorod (2nd) Valencia (3rd) PGE Turów Zgorzelec Limoges Banco di Sardegna Sassari (3rd)Qualifying rounds SIG Strasbourg Hapoel Jerusalem (3rd) UNICS (3rd) ASVEL ČEZ Nymburk Stelmet Zielona Góra Telenet Oostende VEF Rīga WC
Qualifying rounds
Eight teams participated in a single-venue tournament format that took place in Ostend, Belgium, from 23 to 26 September.Ostend to host Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds in September; Euroleague, 10 July 2014 The winner advanced to the Euroleague regular season.ECA board approves 2014-15 teams, steps toward comprehensive competition model; Euroleague.net, 25 June 2014
Squads
Draw Teams were seeded into six pots of four teams in accordance with the Club Ranking, based on their performance in European competitions during a three-year period.
Two teams from the same country or league could not be drawn together in the same Regular Season group. In brackets, the points in the Club Ranking. Following the Eurocup bylaws, the lowest possible position that any club from that country or league could occupy in the draw was calculated by adding the results of the worst performing team from each league.
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Pot 5 Pot 6 CSKA Moscow FC Barcelona Olympiacos Real Madrid Maccabi Electra Panathinaikos Valencia Anadolu Efes Unicaja Fenerbahçe Ülker Laboral Kutxa Žalgiris Alba Berlin Galatasaray EA7 Milano Nizhny Novgorod † Crvena Zvezda Cedevita Bayern Munich Dinamo Sassari PGE Turów † Neptūnas † Limoges † UNICS ^
Regular season
The regular season was played between October 16 and December 19.
If teams were level on record at the end of the Regular Season, tiebreakers were applied in the following order: Head-to-head record. Head-to-head point differential. Point differential during the Regular Season. Points scored during the regular season. Sum of quotients of points scored and points allowed in each Regular Season game.
+ Key to colors Top four places in each group advanced to Bottom two teams in each group entered 2014–15 Eurocup Last 32 round
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Top 16
The Top 16 began on December 30 and ended on April 10, 2015.
If teams were level on record at the end of the Top 16, tiebreakers were applied in the following order:
Head-to-head record between teams still tied. Head-to-head point differential. Point differential during the Top 16. Points scored during the Top 16. Sum of quotients of points scored and points allowed in each Top 16 game.
+ Key to colors Top four places in each group advanced to Playoffs Eliminated See the detailed group stage page for tiebreakers if two or more teams are equal on points.
Group E
Group F
Quarterfinals
Final Four
The Final Four was the last stage of the Euroleague, consisting of the four winners from the quarterfinals. The semifinal games were played on 15 May, while the third place game and championship game were played on 17 May 2015. The Final Four was hosted by the Barclaycard Center in Madrid, Spain.
Attendances Average home attendances PosTeam1 Crvena Zvezda11159,309 18,733 5,90814,4832 Panathinaikos14177,418 16,033 8,16512,6723 Fenerbahçe14164,449 13,013 8,55911,7464 Maccabi Electra13143,780 11,060 11,06011,0605 Alba Berlin12123,561 14,133 8,22610,2966 Žalgiris12121,835 14,382 4,79510,1537 Laboral Kutxa12117,882 12,619 7,6899,8248 Olympiacos14125,907 11,653 6,0398,9939 Real Madrid14123,902 12,662 7,8068,85010 EA7 Milano1298,703 10,169 6,3448,22511 Galatasaray860,512 11,312 3,1387,56412 Unicaja1287,893 8,891 5,2377,32413 FC Barcelona1494,103 8,529 5,1626,72114 Anadolu Efes1485,495 10,174 2,5296,10615 Bayern Munich530,135 6,688 5,0476,02716 Valencia530,069 8,500 3,0056,01417 Neptūnas527,348 5,669 5,3095,47018 CSKA Moscow1465,509 5,349 4,3694,67919 Limoges523,292 5,080 4,3564,65820 Dinamo Sassari518,901 4,483 3,0683,78021 Cedevita518,811 4,091 3,2883,76222 UNICS514,490 3,876 5342,89823 Nizhny Novgorod1227,740 3,393 1,4922,31224 PGE Turów59,744 3,217 7091,949
Top 10 Round Game Home team Visitor Attendance 1Top 16 1 Crvena Zvezda Real Madrid 18,733 2Regular Season 4 Crvena Zvezda Olympiacos 18,732 3Top 16 11 Crvena Zvezda FC Barcelona 18,450 4Top 16 6 Crvena Zvezda Žalgiris 18,382 5Top 16 3 Crvena Zvezda Galatasaray 17,821 6Regular Season 1 Crvena Zvezda Galatasaray 16,834 7Top 16 9 Panathinaikos FC Barcelona 16,033 8Play Off 27 Panathinaikos CSKA Moscow 16,000 9Top 16 11 Panathinaikos Real Madrid 14,766 10Regular Season 3 Panathinaikos Fenerbahçe Ülker 14,480
Individual statistics Rating RankName TeamGamesRatingPIR1. Boban Marjanović Crvena Zvezda2461625.672. Taylor Rochestie Nizhny Novgorod2144221.053. Artsiom Parakhouski Nizhny Novgorod2342618.52
Points RankNameTeamGamesPointsPPG1. Taylor Rochestie Nizhny Novgorod2139718.902. Andrew Goudelock Fenerbahçe Ülker2949317.003. Boban Marjanović Crvena Zvezda2439816.58
Rebounds RankNameTeamGamesReboundsRPG1. Boban Marjanović Crvena Zvezda2425610.672. Nemanja Bjelica Fenerbahçe Ülker292468.483. Trey Thompkins Nizhny Novgorod231878.13
Assists RankNameTeamGamesAssistsAPG1. Miloš Teodosić CSKA Moscow241687.002. Thomas Heurtel Anadolu Efes281796.393. Marcus Williams Crvena Zvezda241466.08
Other statistics CategoryNameTeamGamesStatSteals per game Tarence Kinsey Nizhny Novgorod171.59Blocks per game Artsiom Parakhouski Nizhny Novgorod231.96Turnovers per game Miloš Teodosić CSKA Moscow243.67Fouls drawn per game Jamel McLean Alba Berlin215.81Minutes per game Jeremy Pargo Maccabi Electra2731:592FG% Semih Erden Fenerbahçe Ülker250.7583FG% Demetris Nichols CSKA Moscow270.575FT% Taylor Rochestie Nizhny Novgorod210.925
Game highs
CategoryNameTeamStatRating Samardo Samuels EA7 Milano47Points Samardo Samuels EA7 Milano36Rebounds Boban Marjanović Crvena Zvezda17Assists Marcus Williams Crvena Zvezda17Steals Yogev Ohayon Maccabi Electra8Blocks Alex Tyus Maccabi Electra6 Brian RandleTurnovers Thomas Heurtel Anadolu Efes8 Taylor Rochestie Nizhny NovgorodFouls Drawn 3 occasions 12
Awards Euroleague MVP Nemanja Bjelica ( Fenerbahçe Ülker)Euroleague.net 2014-15 bwin MVP: Nemanja Bjelica, Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul
Euroleague Final Four MVP