Lega Basket Serie A
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2013) |
Current season, competition or edition: Lega Basket Serie A 2013–14 | |
| File:Lega basket.jpeg Lega Basket A | |
| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1920 |
| No. of teams | 16 |
| Country |  Italy |
| Continent |  FIBA Europe (Europe) |
| Most recent champion(s) | EA7 Milano (26th title) |
| Most titles | Olimpia Milano (26 titles) |
| Level on pyramid | 1st Tier (Italy) |
| Relegation to | Serie A2 Gold Basket |
| Related competitions | Italian Basketball Cup Italian Basketball Supercup |
| Official website | LegaBasket.it Template:It icon |
Lega Basket Serie A (English: Basket League A Series) is the first-tier level club competition in Italian professional basketball where play determines the national champion. It is organized by Lega Basket. The season consists of a home-and-away schedule of 30 games, followed by an eight-team playoff round. Quarterfinals and semifinals series are best-of-five, and the finals series is best-of-seven (in the 2012-13 season, all series are best-of-seven). The last placed club is relegated, and is replaced by the winner of the playoffs of the second-level Serie A2 Gold Basket.
2013–14 teams
| Team | City/Area | Colours |
|---|---|---|
| Acea Virtus Roma | Roma | red/yellow/blue |
| Banco di Sardegna Sassari | Sassari | white/blue |
| Acqua Vitasnella Cantu | Cantù | white/blue |
| Cimberio Varese | Varese | white/red |
| EA7 Armani | Milan | white/red |
| Enel Brindisi | Brindisi | white/blue |
| Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia | Pistoia | white/red |
| Juve Caserta | Caserta | white/black |
| Montepaschi Siena | Siena | white/green |
| Granarolo Bologna | Bologna | white/black |
| Scavolini Pesaro | Pesaro | white/red |
| Sidigas Avellino | Avellino | white/green |
| Sutor Montegranaro | Montegranaro | yellow/blue |
| Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia | Reggio Emilia | white/maroon |
| Umana Venezia | Venezia/Mestre (home arena in Villorba) | gold/maroon |
| Vanoli Cremona | Cremona | blue/black |
Source for team names:[1]
Arena standards
Currently, all clubs must play in arenas that seat at least 5,000 people.[citation needed]
History
The national basketball league was first organized for play in Italy in 1920. The first title was won by SEF Costanza Milano, and the team holding the record for title championships is Olimpia Milano, who have won 26 championships. Twenty different teams have won the championship since its inception. In recent years, the league has been dominated by a handful of teams:
- Virtus Bologna, with five scudetti between 1993 and 2001.
- Benetton Treviso, with five scudetti (league titles) since 1992.
- Virtus' crosstown rivals Fortitudo (who dropped from the professional ranks in 2009); although only with two scudetti, they had an 11-year run from 1996 to 2006 in which they appeared in the championship series 10 times.
- Montepaschi Siena, with eight scudetti since 2004.
Until the 2000s, the Italian Championship was the most important national domestic league in Europe, but now the Spanish ACB League and Greek Basket League are considered to be stronger than Serie A (European national basketball league rankings).
Through the 2007–08 season, 18 teams competed; however, in September 2008, two clubs, Basket Napoli (not related to the current NSB Napoli, which moved from Rieti to Naples after the 2008–09 season) and Orlandina, were forcibly relegated from the professional ranks for financial irregularities and were not replaced for the 2008–09 season. Today, 16 teams compete in the highest level of play.
Title holders
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Titles by club
| Club | Champions | Winning years |
|---|---|---|
| Olimpia Milano | 
|
1935-36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1971–72, 1981–82, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1995–96, 2013–14 |
| Virtus Bologna |
|
1945-46, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1975–76, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1997–98, 2000–01 |
| Varèse |
|
1960-61, 1963–64, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1998–99 |
| Mens Sana |
|
2003-04, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012-13 |
| Assi Milano |
|
1921, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927 |
| Ginnastica Triestina |
|
1930, 1932, 1934, 1939–40, 1940-41 |
| Treviso |
|
1991-92, 1996–97, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2005–06 |
| Ginnastica Roma |
|
1928, 1931, 1933, 1935 |
| Cantù |
|
1967-68, 1974–75, 1980–81 |
| Reyer Venezia |
|
1941-42, 1942–43 |
| VL Pesaro |
|
1987-88, 1989–90 |
| Fortitudo Bologna |
|
1999-00, 2004–05 |
| Costanza Milano |
|
1920 |
| Internazionale Milano |
|
1923 |
| Virtus Roma |
|
1982-83 |
| Juvecaserta |
|
1990-91 |
Olimpia Milano (1981-82)- Virtus Bologna (1983-84)
- Varèse (1998-99)
A1 Finals
A1 Final Performances by Club
| Club | W | L | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtus Bologna | |||
| Mens Sana | |||
| Olimpia Milano | |||
| Treviso | |||
| Fortitudo Bologna | |||
| Vuelle Pesaro | |||
| Varèse | |||
| Juvecaserta | |||
| Cantù | |||
| Virtus Roma | |||
| Libertas Livorno |
Titles per city
| City | Titles | Clubs |
 Milan |
34 | Olimpia Milano (26), Assi Milano (6), Internazionale Milano (1), Costanza Milano (1) |
| File:Bologna-Stemma.png Bologna | 17 | Virtus Bologna (15), Fortitudo Bologna (2) |
 Varese |
10 | Varèse (10) |
 Siena |
8 | Siena (8) |
 Trieste |
5 | Ginnastica Triestina (5) |
| File:Treviso-Stemma.png Treviso | 5 | Treviso (5) |
| File:Coat of arms of Rome.svg Rome | 5 | Ginnastica Roma (4), Virtus Roma (1) |
| File:Cantù-Stemma.png Cantù | 3 | Cantù (3) |
 Venice |
2 | Reyer Venezia (2) |
| File:Pesaro-Stemma.png Pesaro | 2 | Vuelle Pesaro (2) |
| Caserta | 1 | Juvecaserta (1) |
Individual awards
See also
- Italian Basketball Federation
- Italian Basketball Cup
- Italian Basketball Supercup
- Serie A2 Gold Basket
References
- ^ "Games / Schedule (2012-2013 - Italian Men Italy)". EuroBasket. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
External links
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