1995–96 FIBA European League

The 1995–96 FIBA European League, also shortened to 1995–96 FIBA EuroLeague, was the 39th installment of the European top-tier level professional club competition for basketball clubs (now called EuroLeague). It began on September 7, 1995, and ended on April 11, 1996. The competition's Final Four was held at Paris.

1995–96 FIBA European League
League	FIBA European League
Sport	Basketball
Regular Season
Top scorer	Joe Arlauckas (Real Madrid)
Final Four
Champions	Panathinaikos
Runners-up	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana
Final Four MVP	Dominique Wilkins (Panathinaikos)
FIBA European League seasons
← 1994–95 1996–97 →

It was the last season of the competition that took place under the name of FIBA European League, as the competition was renamed to FIBA EuroLeague, starting with the next season.

Competition system

• 42 teams (the cup title holder, national domestic league champions, and a variable number of other clubs from the most important national domestic leagues) played knock-out rounds on a home and away basis. The aggregate score of both games decided the winner.
• The sixteen remaining teams after the knock-out rounds entered the Regular Season Group Stage, divided into two groups of eight teams, playing a round-robin. The final standing was based on individual wins and defeats. In the case of a tie between two or more teams after the group stage, the following criteria were used to decide the final classification: 1) number of wins in one-to-one games between the teams; 2) basket average between the teams; 3) general basket average within the group.
• The top four teams from each group after the Regular Season Group Stage qualified for a quarterfinal playoff (X-pairings, best of 3 games).
• The four winners of the quarterfinal playoff qualified for the final stage (Final Four), which was played at a predetermined venue.

First round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Dinamo Tbilisi	139–178	Žalgiris	70–78	69–100
Stavex Brno	175–186	Fidefinanz Bellinzona	106–93	69–93
Kalev	174–138	Danone-Honvéd	78–57	96–81
Dinamo Tirana	130–156	Forest Sibiu	63–87	67–69
Sankt Pölten	131–153	APOEL	60–67	71–86
Čelik	136–142	Baník Cígeľ Prievidza	68–71	68–71
Sunair Oostende	156–125	Alvik	79–61	77–64
Résidence	161–184	Sheffield Sharks	79–99	82–85
Kouvot	173–185	Hapoel Galil Elyon	92–82	81–103
Rabotnički	134–147	Budivelnyk	65–64	69–83
Mazowzanka	147–167	Zrinjevac	79–74	68–93
Pleven	178–185	Partizan	83–93	95–92
Rene Coltof Den Helder	139–182	Pau-Orthez	72–94	57–88

Second round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Žalgiris	122–145	Panathinaikos	56–59	66–86
Fidefinanz Bellinzona	162–223	CSKA Moscow	88–107	74–116
Kalev	148–172	Buckler Beer Bologna	65–81	83–91
Forest Sibiu	139–221	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	74–99	65–122
APOEL	116–139	Cibona	70–82	46–57
Baník Cígeľ Prievidza	162–184	Benetton Treviso	87–91	75–93
Sunair Oostende	149–155	Ülker	74–69	75–86
Sheffield Sharks	132–145	Real Madrid Teka	57–67	75–78
Hapoel Galil Elyon	137–176	Iraklis Aspis Pronoia	83–91	54–76
Budivelnyk	161–179	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	98–77	63–102
Zrinjevac	136–165	Unicaja	70–85	66–80
Partizan	159–176	Benfica	64–64	95–112
Pau-Orthez	193–146	Smelt Olimpija	96–71	97–75

Automatically qualified to the second round

•   FC Barcelona Banca Catalana
•   Olympiacos
•   Olympique Antibes

Group stage

If one or more clubs are level on won-lost record, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

1. Head-to-head record in matches between the tied clubs
2. Overall point difference in games between the tied clubs
3. Overall point difference in all group matches (first tiebreaker if tied clubs are not in the same group)
4. Points scored in all group matches
5. Sum of quotients of points scored and points allowed in each group match

Key to colors

	Qualified to Playoff
	Eliminated

Group A Team Pld Pts W L PF PA PD 1.   CSKA Moscow 14 24 10 4 1162 1081 +81 2.   Benetton Treviso 14 24 10 4 1157 1096 +61 3.   Olympiacos 14 24 10 4 1132 1046 +86 4.   Ülker 14 20 6 8 1078 1104 +26 5.   Unicaja 14 20 6 8 1104 1081 +23 6.   Olympique Antibes 14 20 6 8 1108 1169 -61 7.   Bayer 04 Leverkusen 14 19 5 9 1067 1112 -45 8.   Iraklis Aspis Pronoia 14 17 3 11 945 1064 -119

Group B Team Pld Pts W L PF PA PD 1.   FC Barcelona Banca Catalana 14 24 10 4 1145 1077 +68 2.   Real Madrid Teka 14 23 9 5 1108 1079 +29 3.   Panathinaikos 14 23 9 5 1035 1007 +28 4.   Pau-Orthez 14 22 8 6 1127 1092 +35 5.   Buckler Beer Bologna 14 20 6 8 1181 1149 +32 6.   Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv 14 20 6 8 1105 1143 -38 7.   Cibona 14 20 6 8 1011 1052 -41 8.   Benfica 14 16 2 12 1046 1159 -113

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg	3rd leg
Pau-Orthez	1–2	CSKA Moscow	78–65	89–104	74–83
Panathinaikos	2–1	Benetton Treviso	70–67	69–83	65–64
Ülker	0–2	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana	77–105	66–96
Olympiacos	1–2	Real Madrid Teka	68–49	77–80	65–80

Final four

Main article: 1996 FIBA European League Final Four

Semifinals

April 9, Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, Paris

Team 1	Score	Team 2
CSKA Moscow	71–81	Panathinaikos
FC Barcelona Banca Catalana	76–66	Real Madrid Teka

3rd place game

April 11, Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, Paris

Team 1	Score	Team 2
CSKA Moscow	74–73	Real Madrid Teka

Final

April 11, Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, Paris

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Panathinaikos	67–66	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana

1995–96 FIBA European League Champions
Panathinaikos 1st Title

Final standings

	Team
	Panathinaikos
	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana
	CSKA Moscow
	Real Madrid Teka

Awards

FIBA European League Top Scorer

•   Joe Arlauckas (  Real Madrid Teka)

FIBA European League Final Four MVP

•   Dominique Wilkins (  Panathinaikos)

FIBA European League Finals Top Scorer

•   Artūras Karnišovas (  FC Barcelona Banca Catalana)

FIBA European League All-Final Four Team

FIBA European League All-Final Four Team
Player	Team	Ref.
Vasily Karasev	CSKA Moscow	^[1]
Fragiskos Alvertis	Panathinaikos
Artūras Karnišovas	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana
Dominique Wilkins (MVP)	Panathinaikos
Stojko Vranković	Panathinaikos

References

1. Champions Cup 1995–96.

External links

• 1995–96 FIBA European League
• 1995–96 FIBA European League
• Eurobasket.com 1995–96 FIBA European League