2002–03 FIBA Europe Champions Cup
The 2002–03 FIBA Europe Champions Cup was the 1st edition of Europe's 4th-tier level transnational competition for men's professional basketball clubs, the FIBA Europe Champions Cup, following the merger of the FIBA Korać Cup and FIBA Saporta Cup competitions into the new ULEB Cup competition. In this first edition of the competition, it was actually the 3rd-tier level on the European club basketball pyramid. The season consisted of 64 teams. The Greek club Aris Thessaloniki won the title, after beating the Polish club Prokom Trefl Sopot in the Final, which was held at Alexandreio Melathron, in Thessaloniki, Greece.
The competition, which was initially advertised as FIBA's attempt to revive the FIBA European Champions Cup. The competition attracted 15 national domestic league champions, and teams from 30 European national leagues, which represented it as a truly pan-European event. However, the competition was only able to attract second division clubs from Italy and Spain, and the newly promoted champions of the Israeli and Bosnian second divisions. The league was unable to make a good commercial impact, and was then dropped to being the European 4th-tier level in the following 2003–04 season, as FIBA launched the FIBA Europe League to replace it.
Teams
Competition system
- 64 teams from countries affiliated to FIBA Europe enter a Regional Qualifying Round, distributed in three major conferences number of winsin one-to-one games between the teams; 2) basket average between the teams; 3) general basket average within the group.
- The RQR group winners and runners-up, together with the best third-placed teams, advance to Pan-European Phase. Before the PEP phase, the group champions of the RQR Northern and Southern conferences participate in a final round to contest for the symbolic title of Conference Champion- in the case of the Northern conference, the final four doubles as NEBL championship.
- The 24 teams qualified for the PEP are divided into six groups of four teams each playing a Round-robin. The group winners, together with the two best runners-up, qualify for a quarterfinal play-off.
- The four winners of the quarterfinal play-off qualify for the final stage, played at a predetermined venue. The winner gets a wild card to participate in 2003–04 FIBA Europe League.
Conference North
| Top two places in each group advance to PEP | |
| Eliminated |
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Semifinals
January 14, Vilnius Palace of Sports, Vilnius3rd place game
January 15, Vilnius Palace of Sports, VilniusFinal
January 15, Vilnius Palace of Sports, VilniusConference South
The season ran from October 1, 2002 to November 5, 2002.| Top two places in each group advance to PEP | |
| Eliminated |
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Semifinals
January 16, Universiada Hall, Sofia3rd place game
January 17, Universiada Hall, SofiaFinal
January 17, Universiada Hall, SofiaConference West
The season ran from October 1, 2002 to November 5, 2002.| Top two places in each group advance to PEP | |
| Eliminated |
Group A
Group B
Group C
Pan-European phase
The phase ran from February 2, 2003 to March 25, 2003.| Advance to Quarterfinals | |
| Eliminated |
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
*In 2003, Tenerife CB signed a sponsorship contract with Unelco and adopted the commercial name "Unelco Tenerife CB".Quarterfinals
The quarterfinals were two-legged ties determined on aggregate score. The first legs was played on April 8. All return legs were played on April 15.Final Four
Semifinals
- May 2, 2003 at Alexandreio Melathron in Thessaloniki, Greece.
3rd place game
- May 4, 2003 at Alexandreio Melathron in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Final
- May 4, 2003 at Alexandreio Melathron in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Final standings