2015–16 Lega Basket Serie A

The 2015–16 Lega Basket Serie A, known for sponsorship reasons as the Serie A BEKO, was the 94th season of the Lega Basket Serie A, the highest professional basketball league in Italy.

Lega Basket Serie A
Season	2015–16
Duration	4 October 2015 - June 2016
Games played	240 (Regular season) 24–41 (Playoffs)
Teams	16
TV partner(s)	RAI, Sky Italia
Regular season
Top seed	EA7 Emporio Armani Milano
Season MVP	James Nunnally
Relegated	Obiettivo Lavoro Bologna
Finals
Champions	EA7 Emporio Armani Milano (27th title)
Runners-up	Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia
Semifinalists	Umana Reyer Venezia Sidigas Avellino
Finals MVP	Rakim Sanders
Statistical leaders
Points Austin Daye 21.3 Rebounds Dario Hunt 9.9 Assists Peyton Siva 6.5 Index Rating Austin Daye 22.4
Records
Biggest home win	Milano 87–50 Sassari (2 January 2016)
Biggest away win	Brindisi 53–79 Reggio Emilia (13 December 2015)
Highest scoring	Bologna 115–109 Brindisi (24 January 2016)
Highest attendance	12,683 Milano 94–90 Torino (6 March 2016)
Average attendance	3,967[1]
← 2014–15 2016–17 → All statistics correct as of 13 June 2016.

The regular season started on 4 October 2015 and finished on 4 May 2015, with the playoffs starting on 7 May (dependent on an Italian club qualifying for the 2016 Euroleague Final Four) and finished between 13 and 16 June, depending on results.^[2]

Banco di Sardegna Sassari was the defending champion.

EA7 Emporio Armani Milano won their 27th title by beating Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia in game 6 of the finals.

Teams

Venues and locations

Avellino

Milano

Sassari

Cantù

Bologna

Varese

Trento

Torino

Capo d'Orlando

Caserta

Pesaro

Cremona

Venezia

Pistoia

R. Emilia

Brindisi

Lega Basket Serie A 2015–16 – Club Locations

Team	Home city	Arena	Capacity	2014–15 season
Acqua Vitasnella Cantù	Cantù	Mapooro Arena	3,910	Quarterfinals 2015–16 playoffs
Banco di Sardegna Sassari	Sassari	PalaSerradimigni	5,000	Serie A Champions
Betaland Capo d'Orlando	Capo d'Orlando	PalaFantozzi	3,613	14th in Serie A
Consultinvest Pesaro	Pesaro	Adriatic Arena	6,119	15th in Serie A
Dolomiti Energia Trento	Trento	PalaTrento	4,360	Quarterfinals 2015–16 playoffs
EA7 Emporio Armani Milano	Milan	Mediolanum Forum	12,700	Semifinals 2015–16 playoffs
Enel Brindisi	Brindisi	PalaPentassuglia	3,534	Quarterfinals 2015–16 playoffs
Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia	Pistoia	PallaCarrara	4,000	9th in Serie A
Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia	Reggio Emilia	PalaBigi	3,800	Runners-up 2015–16 playoffs
Manital Torino	Turin	PalaRuffini	4,500	Serie A2 playoffs winner
Obiettivo Lavoro Bologna	Bologna	Unipol Arena	8,400	Quarterfinals 2015–16 playoffs
Openjobmetis Varese	Varese	PalaWhirlpool	5,300	11th in Serie A
Pasta Reggia Caserta ◆ [a]	Caserta	PalaMaggiò	6,387	16th in Serie A
Sidigas Avellino	Avellino	PalaDelMauro	5,300	13th in Serie A
Umana Reyer Venezia	Mestre	Taliercio	3,509	Semifinals 2015–16 playoffs
Vanoli Cremona	Cremona	PalaRadi	3,527	12th in Serie A

◆ Pasta Reggia Caserta took the place of Acea Roma which has renounced to the 2015–16 Serie A.

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Chairman	Head Coach	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Acqua Vitasnella Cantù	Dmitry Gerasimenko	Sergei Bazarevich	Macron	Acqua Vitasnella
Banco di Sardegna Sassari	Stefano Sardara	Federico Pasquini	Eyesportwear	Banco di Sardegna
Betaland Capo d'Orlando	Roberto Enzo Sindoni	Gennaro Di Carlo	Legea	Betaland
Consultinvest Pesaro	Ario Costa	Riccardo Paolini	Erreà	Consultinvest
Dolomiti Energia Trento	Luigi Longhi	Maurizio Buscaglia	Spalding	Dolomiti Energia
EA7 Emporio Armani Milano	Livio Proli	Jasmin Repeša	Armani	EA7 Emporio Armani
Enel Brindisi	Fernando Marino	Piero Bucchi	Bitre Sport	Enel
Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia	Roberto Maltinti	Vincenzo Esposito	Erreà	Giorgio Tesi Group
Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia	Maria Licia Ferrarini	Massimiliano Menetti	Sportika	Grissin Bon
Manital Torino	Antonio Forni	Francesco Vitucci	Spalding	Manital
Obiettivo Lavoro Bologna	Alberto Bucci	Giorgio Valli	Macron	Obiettivo Lavoro
Openjobmetis Varese	Stefano Coppa	Paolo Moretti	Spalding	Openjobmetis
Pasta Reggia Caserta	Nicola Cecere	Sandro Dell'Agnello	–	Pasta Reggia
Sidigas Avellino	Giuseppe Sampietro	Stefano Sacripanti	Joma	Sidigas
Umana Reyer Venezia	Federico Casarin	Walter De Raffaele	Erreà	Umana
Vanoli Cremona	Aldo Vanoli	Cesare Pancotto	Erreà	Vanoli Ferramenta

Managerial Changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced with	Date of appointment
Acqua Vitasnella Cantù	Stefano Sacripanti	Resigned	6 June 2015	Pre-season	Fabio Corbani	11 June 2015
Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia	Paolo Moretti	End of contract	13 June 2015		Vincenzo Esposito	22 July 2015
Pasta Reggia Caserta	Vincenzo Esposito	End of contract	21 June 2015		Sandro Dell'Agnello	23 June 2015
Openjobmetis Varese	Attilio Caja	End of contract	24 June 2015		Paolo Moretti	25 June 2015
EA7 Emporio Armani Milano	Luca Banchi	Resigned	25 June 2015		Jasmin Repeša	6 July 2015
Sidigas Avellino	Francesco Vitucci	Resigned	1 July 2015		Stefano Sacripanti	2 July 2015
Banco di Sardegna Sassari	Romeo Sacchetti	Sacked	21 November 2015	6th (4–3)	Marco Calvani	24 November 2015
Manital Torino	Luca Bechi	Sacked	14 December 2015	16th (2–9)	Francesco Vitucci	18 December 2015
Acqua Vitasnella Cantù	Fabio Corbani	Sacked	18 December 2015	11th (4–7)	Sergei Bazarevich	18 December 2015
Betaland Capo d'Orlando	Giulio Graccioli	Sacked	28 December 2015	15th (4–10)	Gennaro Di Carlo	30 December 2015
Umana Reyer Venezia	Carlo Recalcati	Sacked	14 February 2016	9th (10–10)	Walter De Raffaele	14 February 2016
Banco di Sardegna Sassari	Marco Calvani	Sacked	7 March 2016	9th (11–11)	Federico Pasquini	7 March 2016

Changes from 2014–15

The season saw historic public broadcaster RAI (one match every week) joined by Sky Italia (two matches every week) in broadcasting the league's games for television, after an agreement with Lega Basket covering the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons.^[4]

Rules

The season consists of a home-and-away schedule of 30 games, followed by an eight-team playoff round. The Quarterfinals are best-of-five, while the semifinals and finals 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 Basket.

Each team is allowed either five or seven foreign players under two formulas:

1. 5 foreigners from countries outside the European Union
2. 3 foreigners from countries outside the E.U., 4 foreigners from E.U. countries (also including those from countries signatory of the Cotonou Agreement)

In early September 2015, nine squads had chosen the 5+5 formula and seven the 3+4+5.^[5][6]

Regular season

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PR	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	EA7 Emporio Armani Milano	30	22	8	2452	2205	1.112	44	Qualification to playoffs
2	Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia	30	21	9	2424	2263	1.071	42
3	Sidigas Avellino	30	20	10	2389	2307	1.036	40
4	Vanoli Cremona	30	19	11	2258	2213	1.020	38
5	Umana Reyer Venezia	30	16	14	2320	2230	1.040	32
6	Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia	30	16	14	2311	2320	0.996	32
7	Banco di Sardegna Sassari	30	16	14	2509	2439	1.029	32
8	Dolomiti Energia Trento	30	15	15	2292	2274	1.008	30
9	Openjobmetis Varese	30	14	16	2252	2344	0.961	28
10	Enel Brindisi	30	13	17	2320	2351	0.987	26
11	Acqua Vitasnella Cantù	30	12	18	2422	2405	1.007	24
12	Consultinvest Pesaro	30	12	18	2282	2355	0.969	24
13	Betaland Capo d'Orlando	30	11	19	2058	2205	0.933	22
14	Pasta Reggia Caserta	30	11	19	2171	2288	0.949	22
15	Manital Torino	30	11	19	2261	2401	0.942	22
16	Obiettivo Lavoro Bologna	30	11	19	2239	2360	0.949	22	Relegation to Serie A2

Updated to match(es) played on 04 May 2016. Source: Legabasket

Calendar

Day one 04-10-15 17-01-16 97-90 Sassari-Cremona 73-72 80-73 Trento-Milano 79-83 69-65 Bologna-Venezia 69-73 85-78 Pistoia-Brindisi 71-67 51-58 Varese-Caserta 77-70 77-73 Avellino-Pesaro 88-82 73-65 Capo d'Orlando-Cantù 56-84 72-96 Torino-Reggio Emilia 72-77 Day four 25-10-15 07-02-16 73-51 Venezia-Cremona 73-74 71-81 Brindisi-Trento 92-89 80-70 Cantù-Torino 72-79 76-70 Pistoia-Avellino 76-84 70-86 Varese-Sassari 69-91 68-62 Capo d'Orlando-Reggio Emilia 66-75 68-63 Pesaro-Bologna 75-79 70-80 Caserta-Milano 86-91 Day seven 15-11-15 06-03-16 87-83 Venezia-Reggio Emilia 96-98 89-63 Trento-Varese 82-96 84-82 Cantù-Avellino 77-81 92-87 Bologna-Sassari 91-85 93-84 Pistoia-Caserta 94-88 65-69 Capo d'Orlando-Cremona 73-74 75-70 Pesaro-Brindisi 76-81 85-83 Torino-Milano 90-94 Day ten 06-12-15 26-03-16 73-88 Sassari-Trento 81-93 74-72 Reggio Emilia-Milano 80-84 95-103 Venezia-Cantù 76-72 81-93 Varese-Avellino 71-89 73-63 Cremona-Bologna 66-73 74-77 Capo d'Orlando-Brindisi 70-69 87-88 Torino-Pistoia 80-70 73-69 Caserta-Pesaro 72-71 Day thirteen 23-12-15 17-04-16 94-70 Sassari-Reggio Emilia 102-98 74-63 Trento-Capo d'Orlando 82-81 72-69 Brindisi-Torino 75-83 85-77 Bologna-Cantù 73-89 70-68 Pistoia-Venezia 68-74 87-82 Varese-Cremona 79-70 62-70 Avellino-Caserta 92-87 69-66 Pesaro-Milano 78-82

Day two 11-10-15 24-01-16 87-68 Reggio Emilia-Avellino 67-75 90-62 Milano-Varese 86-64 77-76 Venezia-Capo d'Orlando 53-55 81-54 Brindisi-Bologna 109-115 75-86 Cantù-Sassari 86-78 76-83 Cremona-Trento 78-71 73-74 Pesaro-Pistoia 75-77 63-65 Caserta-Torino 87-83 Day five 01-11-15 14-02-16 70-82 Sassari-Venezia 74-70 83-66 Reggio Emilia-Pesaro 80-90 89-71 Milano-Pistoia 85-80 100-103 Cantù-Brindisi 68-86 85-90 Bologna-Caserta 65-69 79-66 Avellino-Trento 80-68 62-66 Capo d'Orlando-Varese 82-81 80-93 Torino-Cremona 50-66 Day eight 22-11-15 13-03-16 106-80 Sassari-Pesaro 65-86 69-65 Reggio Emilia-Trento 90-84 87-65 Milano-Venezia 85-81 82-75 Varese-Bologna 67-76 83-81 Avellino-Brindisi 89-82 82-66 Cremona-Pistoia 79-72 69-71 Torino-Capo d'Orlando 73-86 71-73 Caserta-Cantù 69-92 Day eleven 13-12-15 03-04-16 84-57 Milano-Capo d'Orlando 71-78 80-66 Trento-Bologna 75-68 53-79 Brindisi-Reggio Emilia 59-76 74-82 Cantù-Cremona 85-95 67-65 Pistoia-Varese 78-91 86-79 Avellino-Torino 74-78 82-75 Pesaro-Venezia 100-96 70-86 Caserta-Sassari 75-87 Day fourteen 27-12-15 24-04-16 80-75 Sassari-Pistoia 68-77 86-69 Reggio Emilia-Varese 69-77 77-66 Venezia-Trento 67-62 90-65 Cantù-Pesaro 90-96 76-91 Cremona-Milano 77-81 55-73 Capo d'Orlando-Avellino 69-85 75-70 Torino-Bologna 54-73 80-75 Caserta-Brindisi 55-73

Day three 18-10-15 31-01-16 78-92 Sassari-Brindisi 82-88 97-92 Reggio Emilia-Cantù 74-70 54-74 Trento-Pistoia 69-64 64-76 Bologna-Capo d'Orlando 62-89 88-81 Varese-Pesaro 71-76 60-83 Avellino-Milano 81-80 69-60 Cremona-Caserta 64-73 62-84 Torino-Venezia 57-73 Day six 08-11-15 28-02-16 87-72 Milano-Bologna 101-85 81-74 Trento-Pesaro 72-79 89-84 Brindisi-Venezia 75-97 95-89 Pistoia-Cantù 74-82 92-78 Varese-Torino 84-72 88-90 Avellino-Sassari 95-94 68-61 Cremona-Reggio Emilia 77-86 78-66 Caserta-Capo d'Orlando 59-65 Day nine 29-11-15 20-03-16 65-58 Venezia-Caserta 80-73 93-85 Trento-Torino 69-71 80-74 Brindisi-Varese 69-80 71-78 Cantù-Milano 65-72 81-66 Bologna-Avellino 74-82 77-80 Pistoia-Reggio Emilia 71-94 52-77 Capo d'Orlando-Sassari 63-92 74-86 Pesaro-Cremona 72-77 Day twelve 20-12-15 10-04-16 87-62 Reggio Emilia-Caserta 87-82 77-72 Milano-Brindisi 50-64 84-58 Venezia-Varese 68-79 87-77 Cantù-Trento 75-79 76-72 Bologna-Pistoia 76-88 64-58 Cremona-Avellino 70-84 69-72 Capo d'Orlando-Pesaro 65-70 86-83 Torino-Sassari 98-112 Day fifteen 03-01-16 04-05-16 87-50 Milano-Sassari 80-83 71-66 Trento-Caserta 70-73 76-81 Brindisi-Cremona 61-76 67-77 Bologna-Reggio Emilia 78-82 103-75 Pistoia-Capo d'Orlando 65-58 79-66 Varese-Cantù 79-89 88-76 Avellino-Venezia 77-86 69-76 Pesaro-Torino 66-83

Statistical leaders

As of 04 May 2016.^[7]

Points

Rank	Name	Team	PPG
1.	Austin Daye	Consultinvest Pesaro	21.3
2.	Adrian Banks	Enel Brindisi	19.0
3.	James Nunnally	Sidigas Avellino	18.4
4.	D. J. White	Manital Torino	17.1
5.	David Logan	Banco di Sardegna Sassari	17.0

Assists

Rank	Name	Team	APG
1.	Peyton Siva	Pasta Reggia Caserta	6.5
2.	Ronald Moore	Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia	6.1
3.	Walter Hodge	Acqua Vitasnella Cantù	5.5
4.	Mike Green	Umana Reyer Venezia	5.3
5.	Roko Ukić	Acqua Vitasnella Cantù	5.2

Steals

Rank	Name	Team	SPG
1.	Peyton Siva	Pasta Reggia Caserta	2.0
2.	Deron Washington	Vanoli Cremona	2.0
3.	David Logan	Banco di Sardegna Sassari	1.9
4.	Jerome Dyson	Manital Torino	1.7
5.	Bobby Jones	Pasta Reggia Caserta	1.7

Rebounds

Rank	Name	Team	RPG
1.	Dario Hunt	Pasta Reggia Caserta	9.9
2.	Austin Daye	Consultinvest Pesaro	9.0
3.	Alex Oriakhi	Betaland Capo d'Orlando	8.8
4.	D. J. White	Manital Torino	8.6
5.	JaJuan Johnson	Acqua Vitasnella Cantù	8.2

Blocks

Rank	Name	Team	BPG
1.	Riccardo Cervi	Sidigas Avellino	1.4
2.	Dario Hunt	Pasta Reggia Caserta	1.4
3.	JaJuan Johnson	Acqua Vitasnella Cantù	1.4
4.	Ndudi Ebi	Manital Torino	1.3
5.	Alex Kirk	Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia	1.3

Valuation

Rank	Name	Team	VPG
1.	Austin Daye	Consultinvest Pesaro	22.4
2.	D. J. White	Manital Torino	21.7
3.	Adrian Banks	Enel Brindisi	19.7
4.	David Logan	Banco di Sardegna Sassari	19.4
5.	Alex Kirk	Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia	17.7

Playoffs

Main article: 2016 Lega Basket Serie A Playoffs

The Serie A playoffs quarterfinals are best-of-five, while the semifinals and finals series are best-of-seven.

As of 13 June 2016.^[8]

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
	1	EA7 Emporio Armani Milano	3
	8	Dolomiti Energia Trento	0
						1	EA7 Emporio Armani Milano	4
						5	Umana Reyer Venezia	2
	4	Vanoli Cremona	1
	5	Umana Reyer Venezia	3
											1	EA7 Emporio Armani Milano	4
											2	Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia	2
	3	Sidigas Avellino	3
	6	Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia	0
						3	Sidigas Avellino	3
						2	Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia	4
	2	Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia	3
	7	Banco di Sardegna Sassari	0

Serie A clubs in European competitions

Team	Competition	Progress
Banco di Sardegna Sassari	Eurocup	Round of 32
EA7 Emporio Armani Milano	EuroLeague	Quarterfinals
Dolomiti Energia Trento	Eurocup	Semifinals
Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia	Eurocup	Round of 32
Umana Reyer Venezia	Eurocup	Round of 32
Enel Brindisi	Eurocup	Regular Season
Acqua Vitasnella Cantù	FIBA Europe Cup	Round of 32
Openjobmetis Varese	FIBA Europe Cup	Final

Supercup

Main article: 2015 Italian Basketball Supercup

The 2015 Italian Supercup was the 21st edition of the super cup tournament in Italian basketball. It opened the season on 26 and 27 September 2015. Qualified for the tournament were league winners and cup winners Banco di Sardegna Sassari, cup finalists EA7 Emporio Armani Milano and league finalist Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia and Umana Reyer Venezia. These four teams competed for the title in Turin's PalaRuffini.^[9][10] Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia went on to win its first Supercoppa ever beating EA7 Emporio Armani Milano.

All Star Game

The league's All Star Game was contested on 10 January 2016 at PalaTrento in the city of Trento. The two teams were Dolomiti Energia Team and Cavit Team, for sponsorship reasons. The Cavit Team's head coach was the American Dan Peterson. The event was organized in a match between the two All Star teams, the three-point contest and the slam dunk contest. All teams' players had been voted by the Serie A supporters. Cavit Team won the game 154–148. Alex Kirk was named MVP of the 2016 Serie A All Star Game.

Cup

Main article: 2016 Italian Basketball Cup

The 48th edition of the Italian Cup, knows as the Beko Final Eight for sponsorship reasons, was contested between 19 and 21 February 2016 in Milan at the Mediolanum Forum.^[2] Eight teams qualified for the Final Eight were the best ranked teams at the end of the first stage of the 2015–16 Serie A. EA7 Emporio Armani Milano won their 5th Italian Cup since over 20 years.

Awards

As of 04 May 2016.^[11]

Most Valuable Player

Main article: Lega Basket Serie A MVP

Pos.	Name	Team	Votes
SF	James Nunnally	Sidigas Avellino	90
PF	Davide Pascolo	Dolomiti Energia Trento	41
SG	Krunoslav Simon	EA7 Emporio Armani Milano	38

Best Player Under 22

Main article: Lega Basket Serie A awards

Pos.	Name	Team	Votes
SG	Diego Flaccadori	Dolomiti Energia Trento	187
SF	Simone Fontecchio	Obiettivo Lavoro Bologna	83
PG	Tommaso Laquintana	Betaland Capo d'Orlando	75

Best Coach

Main article: Lega Basket Serie A awards

Pos.	Name	Team	Votes
1.	Cesare Pancotto	Vanoli Cremona	146
2.	Stefano Sacripanti	Sidigas Avellino	134
3.	Maurizio Buscaglia	Dolomiti Energia Trento	49

Best Executive

Main article: Lega Basket Serie A awards

Pos.	Name	Team	Votes
1.	Nicola Alberani	Sidigas Avellino	122
2.	Andrea Conti	Vanoli Cremona	84
3.	Salvatore Trainotti	Dolomiti Energia Trento	65

Finals MVP

Main article: Lega Basket Serie A Finals MVP

Pos.	Player	Team
G/F	Rakim Sanders	EA7 Emporio Armani Milano

Source: ^[12]

Notes

1. Relegated in 2014–15 but reprieved after Acea Roma renounced its position in the league.^[3]