The 2019–20 LBA season was the 98th season of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the men's top tier professional basketball division of the Italian basketball league system. The regular season started on September 25, 2019, and was scheduled to finish on April 26, 2020. However, the season was cancelled prematurely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic On March 8, 2020, the Italian government halted the league until April 3, 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic in Italy. On April 7, 2020, after a month of suspension, the Italian Basketball Federation officially ended the 2019–20 season.Italian Basketball Federation officially ends LBA 2019-20 season, Sportando Virtus Bologna ended the season first, with 18 wins and 2 defeats, but the title was not assigned.Italian Basketball president Petrucci announces that LBA title won't be assigned, Sportando
As in previous years, Molten Corporation provided the official ball for all matches.
Umana Reyer Venezia are the defending champions.
Teams
Promotion and relegation (pre-season)
A total of 18 teams contest the league, including 15 sides from the 2018–19 season and three promoted from the 2018–19 Serie A2.
Teams promoted from Serie A2 Fortitudo Pompea Bologna Virtus Roma De' Longhi Treviso
Fortitudo Pompea Bologna and Virtus Roma are the two promoted clubs from the Serie A2 Basket as they ranked first on the league table at the end of the Regular Season. They returned to the top division, respectively, following a hiatus 10 and 4 years. De' Longhi Treviso is the winner team of the 2019 Serie A2 Playoffs and is the third promoted club to LBA.
The three promoted clubs from Serie A2 replaced Fiat Torino, which were relegated during the previous season after deducted 8 points by the Federal Council due to financial irregularities.
On July 12, 2019, after the resignation of Sidigas Avellino to play in LBA for financial difficulties, the LBA agreed to play a 17-team league.
Venues and locations
TeamHome cityArenaCapacityAllianz Pallacanestro TriesteTriesteAllianz DomeAlma Trieste. MilanCHI SIAMO. Allianz CloudIl nuovo Palalido si chiamerà Allianz Cloud: l'inaugurazione a maggio. Banco di Sardegna SassariSassariPalaSerradimigniBanco di Sardegna Sassari. Carpegna Prosciutto Basket PesaroPesaroAdriatic ArenaConsultinvest Pesaro. De' Longhi TrevisoTrevisoPalaVerde Dolomiti Energia TrentoTrentoBLM Group ArenaLa struttura, Trentino Volley. Germani Basket BresciaBresciaPalaLeonessaGermani Basket Brescia. Grissin Bon Reggio EmiliaReggio EmiliaPalaBigiGrissin Bon Reggio Emilia. Happy Casa BrindisiBrindisiPalaPentassugliaHappy Casa Brindisi. Openjobmetis VareseVareseEnerxenia ArenaOpenjobmetis Varese. OriOra PistoiaPistoiaPalaCarraraOriOra Pistoia. Pompea Fortitudo BolognaBolognaPalaDozzaSegafredo Virtus Bologna. S.Bernardo-Cinelandia CantùCantùPalaBancoDesio (in Desio)Red October Cantù. Segafredo Virtus BolognaBolognaPalaDozzaVirtus ArenaUmana Reyer VeneziaVenicePalasport TaliercioUmana Reyer Venezia. Vanoli CremonaCremonaPalaRadi Vanoli Cremona. Virtus RomaRomePalaLottomatica
Source:Legabasket.it
Personnel and sponsorship Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsorAllianz Pallacanestro Trieste Eugenio Dalmasson Andrea Coronica Adidas AllianzAX Armani Exchange Milano Ettore Messina Andrea Cinciarini Armani Banco di Sardegna Sassari Giacomo Devecchi Eye Sport Banco di Sardegna Giancarlo Sacco Zach Thomas Erreà Carpegna ProsciuttoDe' Longhi Treviso Massimiliano Menetti Matteo Imbrò Erreà De'LonghiDolomiti Energia Trento Nicola Brienza Spalding Dolomiti EnergiaGermani Basket Brescia Vincenzo Esposito David Moss Erreà Germani Trasporti, UBI BancaGrissin Bon Reggio Emilia Maurizio Buscaglia Giuseppe Poeta Adidas Grissin Bon, MapeiHappy Casa Brindisi Francesco Vitucci Adrian Banks Adidas EnelOpenjobmetis Varese Attilio Caja Giancarlo Ferrero Macron OpenjobmetisOriOra Pistoia Michele Carrea Gianluca Della Rosa Erreà OriOra, ConadPompea Fortitudo Bologna Antimo Martino Stefano Mancinelli Nike PompeaS.Bernardo-Cinelandia Cantù Cesare Pancotto Andrea La Torre Eye Sport Acqua S.Bernardo, CinelandiaSegafredo Virtus Bologna Aleksandar Đorđević Filippo Baldi Rossi Macron Segafredo ZanettiUmana Reyer Venezia Walter De Raffaele Michael Bramos Erreà UmanaVanoli Cremona Romeo Sacchetti Travis Diener Erreà Ferramenta VanoliVirtus Roma Piero Bucchi Eye Sport BMW
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Replaced by Date of appointment OriOra Pistoia Paolo Moretti End of contract 12 May 2019 Pre-season Michele Carrea 10 June 2019 Carpegna Prosciutto Basket Pesaro Matteo Boniciolli Resigned 14 May 2019 Federico Perego 14 June 2019 Germani Basket Brescia Andrea Diana Mutual consent 17 May 2019 Vincenzo Esposito 26 May 2019 Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia Stefano Pillastrini Sacked 19 May 2019 7 June 2019 S.Bernardo-Cinelandia Cantù Nicola Brienza Sacked 28 May 2019 Cesare Pancotto 14 June 2019 Dolomiti Energia Trento Sacked 30 May 2019 Nicola Brienza 10 June 2019 AX Armani Exchange Milano Simone Pianigiani Sacked 11 June 2019 Ettore Messina 11 June 2019 VL Pesaro Federico Perego Sacked 5 December 2019 17th (0–10) Giancarlo Sacco 5 December 2019
Changes from 2018–19 The 2019-20 edition of LBA, due to the expansion of the number of teams (from 16 to 18), will take place over 34 rounds and should start earlier than usual, September 25, 2019. Also, it will be the introduction of midweek matches, otherwise it would not be possible to end the season by June 9 (the date set by FIBA due to the pre-Olympic tournament starting July 3, 2020). More specifically, the first four days of the 2019-20 LBA, thanks to the double shifts, will take place from September 25, to the weekend of October 5–6, 2019. Four rounds in just 10 days.
Due to the expansion of the number of teams, at the end of the 2018–19 LBA season there were three promotions from the Serie A2 and just one relegation. For the next years, there will be two relegations and two promotions to maintain the number of clubs in LBA.
Rules Each team is allowed either five or seven foreign players under two formulas: 5 foreigners plus #5 Italian players 6 foreigners plus #6 Italian players
Each club can choose the 5+5 formula, that consists of five Italian players and five foreign players, or the 6+6 formula.
As in previous seasons, LBA clubs must play in arenas that seat at least 3,500 people.
Regular season In the regular season, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The eight first qualified teams will advance to the Playoffs, the last seven qualified teams will be eliminated, while the last two qualified teams will be relegated and replaced by the winner of the playoffs of the second-level Serie A2 Basket. The matchdays are from September 25, 2019, to April 26, 2020.
League table
Positions by round The table lists the positions of teams after completion of each round. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 13, but then postponed and played between rounds 16 and 17, it will be added to the standings for round 16. In italics, the team did not play any game in that round.
Results
Statistical leaders As of February 10, 2020.
Points RankNameTeam1. Adrian Banks Happy Casa Brindisi 21.22. Ethan Happ Vanoli Cremona 18.03. Pietro Aradori Pompea Fortitudo Bologna 16.84. Terran Petteway OriOra Pistoia 16.35. Jaylen Barford Carpegna Prosciutto Pesaro 16.0
Assists RankNameTeam1. Stefan Marković Segafredo Virtus Bologna 6.72. Luca Vitali Germani Basket Brescia 6.63. Miloš Teodosić Segafredo Virtus Bologna 6.14. Gal Mekel Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia 5.65. Aaron Craft Dolomiti Energia Trento 5.2
Rebounds RankNameTeam1. Jeremy Simmons Openjobmetis Varese 9.32. Henry Sims Pompea Fortitudo Bologna 8.93. Ethan Happ Vanoli Cremona 8.94. Davon Jefferson Virtus Roma 8.35. Angus Brandt OriOra Pistoia 7.9
Valuation RankNameTeam1. Ethan Happ Vanoli Cremona 23.42. Henry Sims Pompea Fortitudo Bologna 22.33. Adrian Banks Happy Casa Brindisi 22.24. Davon Jefferson Virtus Roma 20.25. Miro Bilan Banco di Sardegna Sassari 19.7
Other statistics Category Player Team Average Steals Aaron Craft Dolomiti Energia Trento Blocks Kevarrius Hayes S.Bernardo-Cinelandia Cantù Turnovers Jerome Dyson Virtus Roma 2P% Josh Owens Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia 3P% Michele Vitali Banco di Sardegna Sassari FT% Awudu Abass Germani Basket Brescia
Individual game highs Category Player Team Total Opponent Points Josh Mayo Openjobmetis Varese 32 Allianz Pallacanestro Trieste (Sep 29, 2019) John Brown Happy Casa Brindisi Carpegna Prosciutto Basket Pesaro (Oct 20, 2019) Wes Clark S.Bernardo-Cinelandia Cantù Allianz Pallacanestro Trieste (Dec 22, 2019) Terran Petteway OriOra Pistoia Carpegna Prosciutto Basket Pesaro (Dec 22, 2019) Kyle Weems Segafredo Virtus Bologna Pompea Fortitudo Bologna (Dec 25, 2019) Adrian Banks Happy Casa Brindisi S.Bernardo-Cinelandia Cantù (Jan 12, 2020) Rebounds Henry Sims Pompea Fortitudo Bologna Carpegna Prosciutto Basket Pesaro (Jan 12, 2020) Assists Stefan Marković Segafredo Virtus Bologna 14 OriOra Pistoia (Sep 29, 2019) Gal Mekel Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia Vanoli Cremona (Oct 13, 2019) Steals Kelvin Martin Happy Casa Brindisi 6 Virtus Roma (Sep 29, 2019) Vince Hunter Segafredo Virtus Bologna Pompea Fortitudo Bologna (Dec 25, 2019) Blocks Henry Sims Pompea Fortitudo Bologna Happy Casa Brindisi (Dec 22, 2019) Three Pointers Sergio Rodríguez AX Armani Exchange Milano 7 Happy Casa Brindisi (Oct 13, 2019) James Blackmon Jr. Dolomiti Energia Trento Openjobmetis Varese (Dec 29, 2019) Darius Johnson-Odom Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia Dolomiti Energia Trento (Jan 19, 2020) Source: RealGM
Awards
Round MVP RoundPlayer Team 1 James Blackmon Jr. Dolomiti Energia Trento 30 2 Josh Mayo Openjobmetis Varese 43 3 Adrian Banks Happy Casa Brindisi 42 4 Tyler Stone Happy Casa Brindisi 36 5 John Brown Happy Casa Brindisi 40 6 Josh Mayo (2) Openjobmetis Varese 29 Reggie Upshaw Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia 7 Dyshawn Pierre Banco di Sardegna Sassari 29 8 Jerome Dyson Virtus Roma 27 9 Julian Gamble Segafredo Virtus Bologna 33 10 Adrian Banks (2) Happy Casa Brindisi 33 11 Kodi Justice Allianz Pallacanestro Trieste 31 12 Wesley Saunders Vanoli Cremona 30 13 Giancarlo Ferrero Openjobmetis Varese 35 14 Henry Sims Pompea Fortitudo Bologna 42 15 Kyle Weems Segafredo Virtus Bologna 31 16 Dwayne Evans Banco di Sardegna Sassari 40 17 Jason Clark Openjobmetis Varese 36 18 Dyshawn Pierre (2) Banco di Sardegna Sassari 40 19 Dyshawn Pierre (3) Banco di Sardegna Sassari 44 20 Ethan Happ Vanoli Cremona 34 21 Ethan Happ (2) Vanoli Cremona 27
Playoffs The LBA playoffs quarterfinals and semifinals are best of five formats, while the finals series are best of seven format. The playoffs will start in May 2020, to finish in June 2020, depending on result.
Serie A clubs in European competitions Team Competition Progress AX Armani Exchange Milano EuroLeague Regular season Dolomiti Energia Trento EuroCup Top 16 Germani Basket Brescia Top 16 Segafredo Virtus Bologna Quarterfinals Umana Reyer Venezia Quarterfinals Banco di Sardegna Sassari Champions League Top 16 Happy Casa Brindisi Regular season
Supercup
The 2019 Italian Supercup, also known as Zurich Connect Supercoppa 2019 for sponsorship reasons, was the 25th edition of the super cup tournament of the Italian basketball. The Supercup opened the 2019–20 season on 21 and 22 September 2019, and it was contested in the PalaFlorio in Bari.
Qualified for the tournament were Vanoli Cremona and New Basket Brindisi, as Italian Cup finalists, while Umana Reyer Venezia and Banco di Sardegna Sassari as LBA Playoffs finalist.
AX Armani Exchange Milano were the defending champions.