Countries & clubs who made history in Basketball Champions League
This Basketball Champions League season appointed its new champion, a surprise champion at the end of a Final 4 full of unexpected results. I propose to remember every Final 4 so far.
The inaugural edition took place in Santiago Martín la Laguna, Tenerife became the first champion after a final with Banvit, Monaco winning the fight for third place with Reyer Venezia. Marius Grigonis (Tenerife) became Final 4 MVP.
The 2nd edition took place in Athens, the hosts of the competition, AEK winning the final with Monaco, Murcia winning the match for third place with Ludwigsburg. Mike Green (AEK) was named MVP of the tournament.
The 3rd edition took place in Antwerp, Virtus Bologna won the final with Tenerife, and the host from Telenet Antwerp won the final for 3rd place with Brose Bamberg. Kevin Punter (Virtus Bologna) reached the final with another team and won the MVP title again.
Athens became the first city to host the tournament for the 2nd time (including the quarterfinals that were played in Athens due to COVID-19), but the 4th edition was not lucky this time for the host team, Burgos winning the final with AEK. In the battle for third place, Dijon won against Zaragoza. Thad McFadden (Burgos) won the MVP title.
Nizhny Novgorod was the host of edition number 5, Burgos becoming the first team to win back-to-back titles after a final with Pinar Karsiyaka. Zaragoza managed to improve its ranking from the previous edition by winning the match for 3rd place with Strasbourg. Keeping the same format as in the previous edition, the MVP of the tournament was Vitor Benite (Burgos).
From the 6th edition, it returned to the original Final 4 format, with Tenerife winning the second title in the first 100% Spanish final with Manresa. Ludwigsburg winning the 3rd place match with Hapoel Holon. Marcelinho Huertas (Tenerife) was named MVP of the tournament.
The 7th edition was won for the first time by a team from Germany, Bonn winning against Hapoel Jerusalem. The match for third place was won by Tenerife against the host from Unicaja Malaga. TJ Shorts was named Final 4 MVP after two dream performances.
In the 7 editions played so far, teams from Spain dominated the competition winning 4 finals (2xTenerife, 2xBurgos); the other countries that won the final were Greece (AEK), Italy (Virtus Bologna) and Germany (Telekom Bonn). Tenerife dominates the competition at the level of club teams, reaching the Final 4 4 times, reaching the final three times and winning the competition twice. Burgos reached the Final 4 twice, winning the competition both times. AEK has won a final and lost a final, and Virtus Bologna has won a final while Bonn. Banvit, Monaco, Pinar and Hapoel Jerusalem managed to reach the final without winning the trophy.
Petr Benda (Nymburg) is the player who has played the most matches (86), participating in every edition so far. Another player from Nymburk, Bojtech Hruban is the top scorer with 996 points, Tim Abromaitis (Tenerife, Unicaja Malaga) is the rebounding leader with 392 rebounds and Marcelinho Huertas (Tenerife) is the assists leader with 459 assists.
Valentin Petruta
Photo: BCL
