2018–19 ABA League First Division

The 2018–19 ABA League First Division is the 18th season of the ABA League with 12 teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia participating in it. It is the first time since the 2011–12 season that there are no participants from North Macedonia.

ABA League First Division
Season	2018–19
Duration	September 28, 2018 – March 17, 2019 (Regular season) March 23, 2019–April 22, 2019 (Playoffs)
Games played	143
Teams	12
TV partner(s)	Arena Sport, O2.TV
Regular season
Top seed	Crvena zvezda mts
Season MVP	Goga Bitadze [1]
Relegated	Petrol Olimpija
Finals
Champions	Crvena zvezda mts (4th title)
Runners-up	Budućnost VOLI
Semifinalists	Cedevita Partizan NIS
Finals MVP	Billy Baron [2]
Awards
Top Prospect	Goga Bitadze [3]
Statistical leaders
Points Dragan Apić 21.29 Rebounds Luka Božić 7.23 Assists Matic Rebec 5.84 Index Rating Dragan Apić 29.50
Records
Biggest home win	Crvena zvezda 97–54 Budućnost (22 April 2019)
Biggest away win	Mornar 57–90 Crvena zvezda (9 February 2019)
Highest scoring	Igokea 115–105 Olimpija (16 November 2018)
Winning streak	Crvena zvezda 16 games
Losing streak	Olimpija / Mornar 5 games
Highest attendance	8,000 Zadar 92–97 Partizan (19 January 2019)
Lowest attendance	500 Igokea 91–73 Krka (26 October 2018) Krka 69–71 Igokea (18 January 2019) Cedevita 94–80 Mornar (15 March 2019) FMP 73–72 Partizan (16 March 2019)
Attendance	384,820[1]
Average attendance	2,691[1]
← 2017–18 2019–20 → All statistics correct as of April 22, 2019.

Format changes

On March 13, 2018, the Adriatic League Assembly decided to abolish the National standings and, as of the 2018–19 season, participants are determined only based on the results in the competitions under the umbrella of the Adriatic League (First Division and Second Division). Promotion and relegation will now be based on the First and Second Division. The last place team in the First Division is relegated to the Second Division, while the winner of the Second Division is promoted. Also, as of the 2018–19 season, the 11th placed team of the 2018–19 First Division season and the runners-up of the 2018–19 Second Division season will play in a Relegation Playoff for a spot in the 2019–20 First Division season. The format of the Qualifiers will be best of three, while the home court advantage will be given to the team that played in the First Division in the previous season.^[2]

The maximum number of clubs from one country in the First Division is five. The last placed club in the First Division will have a guaranteed place in the Second Division in the following season. The confirmed competition system shall not be changed until the end of the 2024–25 season, if there are no significant changes in the European basketball by then.^[2]

Teams

Promotion and relegation

A total of 12 teams will contest the league, including 11 sides from the 2017–18 season and one promoted from the 2017–18 Second Division.

Team promoted from Second Division

• Krka

Team relegated to Second Division

• MZT Skopje Aerodrom

Venues and locations

Belgrade

Budućnost

Zagreb

Igokea

Krka

Mega

Mornar

Olimpija

Zadar

Belgrade clubs:

Crvena zvezda
FMP
Partizan

Zagreb clubs:

Cedevita
Cibona

Location of teams in the 2018–19 ABA League First Division

Team	Home city	Arena	Capacity
Budućnost VOLI	Podgorica	Morača Sports Center	5,500
Cedevita	Zagreb	Dom sportova	3,100
Cibona	Zagreb	Dražen Petrović Hall	5,400
Crvena zvezda mts	Belgrade	Aleksandar Nikolić Hall	5,878
FMP	Belgrade	Železnik Hall	3,000
Igokea	Aleksandrovac	Laktaši Sports Hall	3,050
Krka	Novo Mesto	Leon Štukelj Hall	2,500
Mega Bemax	Sremska Mitrovica	Pinki Sports Hall	2,500
Mornar	Bar	Topolica Sport Hall	2,625
Partizan NIS	Belgrade	Aleksandar Nikolić Hall	5,878
Petrol Olimpija	Ljubljana	Arena Stožice	12,480
Zadar	Zadar	Krešimir Ćosić Hall	7,997

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Budućnost VOLI	Jasmin Repeša	Suad Šehović	Spalding	VOLI / Tea Medica
Cedevita	Slaven Rimac	Andrija Stipanović	Adidas	Cedevita / INA
Cibona	Ivan Velić	Marin Rozić	Visual	Erste Bank
Crvena zvezda mts	Milan Tomić	Branko Lazić	Nike	mts
FMP	Vladimir Jovanović	Radoš Šešlija	Champion	FMP
Igokea	Dragan Nikolić	Vuk Radivojević	GBT	m:tel
Krka	Simon Petrov	Domen Bratož	Žolna šport	Krka
Mega Bemax	Dejan Milojević	Ognjen Čarapić	Adidas	Bemax / Tehnomanija
Mornar	Mihailo Pavićević	Marko Mijović	Armani	epcg
Partizan NIS	Andrea Trinchieri	Novica Veličković	Under Armour	NIS / mts
Petrol Olimpija	Jure Zdovc	Gregor Hrovat	Peak	Petrol
Zadar	Ante Nazor	Šime Špralja	Visual	OTP Bank / Crodux

Coaching changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced with	Date of appointment	Ref.
Igokea	Dragan Bajić	2 April 2018	Off-season	Žarko Milaković	2 April 2018	[3]
Crvena zvezda mts	Dušan Alimpijević	8 May 2018		Milenko Topić	8 May 2018	[4]
Cedevita	Jure Zdovc	6 June 2018		Sito Alonso	8 June 2018	[5][6]
Cibona	Ante Nazor	6 June 2018		Ivan Velić	8 June 2018	[7][8]
Zadar	Aramis Naglić	21 June 2018		Aleš Pipan	28 June 2018	[9][10]
Crvena zvezda mts	Milenko Topić	July 2018		Milan Tomić	13 July 2018	[11][12]
Igokea	Žarko Milaković	July 2018		Nenad Trajković	14 July 2018	[13][14]
Zadar	Aleš Pipan	23 October 2018	12th (0–4)	Ante Nazor	23 October 2018	[15][16]
Cedevita	Sito Alonso	25 October 2018	9th (1–3)	Slaven Rimac	25 October 2018	[17]
Partizan NIS	Nenad Čanak	26 October 2018	7th (2–3)	Andrea Trinchieri	1 November 2018	[18][19]
Igokea	Nenad Trajković	5 November 2018	9th (2–4)	Žarko Milaković	5 November 2018	[20]
Petrol Olimpija	Zoran Martič	19 November 2018	11th (2–6)	Saša Nikitović	19 November 2018	[21]
Igokea	Žarko Milaković	24 December 2018	10th (4–8)	Dragan Nikolić	24 December 2018	[22]
Budućnost VOLI	Aleksandar Džikić	29 December 2018	3rd (8–4)	Jasmin Repeša	30 December 2018	[23][24]
Petrol Olimpija	Saša Nikitović	19 February 2019	10th (6–13)	Jure Zdovc	19 February 2019	[25]

Regular season

The season began on September 28, 2018. The regular season ended on March 17, 2019.^[26]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Crvena zvezda mts	22	21	1	1875	1517	+358	43	Advance to the playoffs
2	Cedevita	22	16	6	1924	1769	+155	38[lower-alpha 1]
3	Budućnost VOLI	22	16	6	1783	1636	+147	38[lower-alpha 1]
4	Partizan NIS	22	14	8	1779	1663	+116	36
5	Mega Bemax	22	10	12	1802	1880	−78	32[lower-alpha 2]
6	FMP	22	10	12	1736	1786	−50	32[lower-alpha 2]
7	Cibona	22	9	13	1744	1810	−66	31
8	Igokea	22	8	14	1798	1869	−71	30[lower-alpha 3]
9	Mornar	22	8	14	1780	1907	−127	30[lower-alpha 3]
10	Krka	22	7	15	1587	1776	−189	29[lower-alpha 4]
11	Zadar	22	7	15	1803	1900	−97	29[lower-alpha 4]	Qualification to the relegation playoffs
12	Petrol Olimpija	22	6	16	1685	1783	−98	28	Relegation to the Second Division

Source: ABA League
Notes:

1. Cedevita 1–1, 1.02; Budućnost VOLI 1–1, 0.98
2. Mega Bemax 1–1, 1.06; FMP 1–1, 0.94
3. Igokea 2–0, 1.17; Mornar 0–2, 0.85
4. Krka 1–1, 1.05; Zadar 1–1, 0.95

Positions by round

	First place & advance to the playoffs
	Advance to the playoffs
	Qualification to the relegation playoffs
	Relegated

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Crvena zvezda mts	4	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Cedevita	8	6	7	9	5	8	6	4	4	4	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	3	2	2
Budućnost VOLI	1	4	4	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	3	2	3	3
Partizan NIS	5	3	5	5	7	5	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Mega Bemax	6	1	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
FMP	3	8	6	8	10	6	5	6	6	6	7	6	6	6	6	8	7	6	6	6	6	6
Cibona	9	10	11	10	8	4	7	9	10	8	6	7	9	7	8	6	8	8	9	7	7	7
Igokea	7	7	8	11	6	9	11	8	7	7	10	10	7	10	11	9	9	10	11	9	10	8
Mornar	11	12	9	6	9	10	9	12	12	11	11	11	8	9	7	7	6	7	8	10	8	9
Krka	12	9	10	7	11	12	12	10	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	10
Zadar	10	11	12	12	12	11	10	7	8	10	9	9	11	8	10	11	11	9	7	8	9	11
Petrol Olimpija	2	5	3	4	4	7	8	11	9	9	8	8	10	11	9	10	10	11	10	11	11	12

Source: ABA League

Results

Home \ Away	BUD	CED	CIB	CZV	FMP	IGO	KRK	MEG	MOR	PAR	OLI	ZAD
Budućnost VOLI	—	80–78	91–82	71–87	79–59	96–70	86–64	91–85	102–71	75–71	85–69	75–69
Cedevita	63–58	—	89–68	84–68	87–85	100–80	104–75	86–95	94–80	84–87	95–82	83–72
Cibona	83–77	78–75	—	54–76	90–71	84–86	99–71	89–71	84–73	59–83	87–70	66–97
Crvena zvezda mts	86–72	94–79	78–68	—	79–62	96–75	80–66	100–76	104–71	70–68	89–61	97–70
FMP	70–87	81–95	93–88	72–81	—	87–78	93–65	106–89	82–84	73–72	64–63	99–86
Igokea	78–85	75–78	87–69	77–79	74–85	—	91–73	79–80	81–60	84–92	115–105	100–82
Krka	69–64	82–71	90–100	66–96	71–76	69–71	—	82–69	80–76	80–76	62–59	77–78
Mega Bemax	70–77	101–107	82–80	68–78	89–61	93–88	80–72	—	82–80	74–81	81–77	85–97
Mornar	95–99	102–103	91–78	57–90	79–69	97–103	86–77	80–84	—	97–94	80–75	89–81
Partizan NIS	76–67	71–76	85–67	71–77	83–77	67–57	87–55	98–86	75–73	—	82–79	85–95
Petrol Olimpija	72–77	70–98	78–80	60–83	88–86	92–69	70–69	91–78	87–66	66–72	—	91–81
Zadar	69–89	85–95	95–91	69–87	79–85	95–80	64–72	80–84	83–93	92–97	84–80	—

Updated to match(es) played on March 17, 2019. Source: ABA League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Red = away team win.
Matches with lighter background shading were decided after overtime.

Playoffs

Main article: 2019 ABA League First Division Playoffs

The semi-finals will be played in a best-of-three format, while the Finals were played in a best-of-five format. Playoffs will begin on 23 March 2019 and planned to end by 22 April 2019.^[26]

Bracket

	Semifinals				Finals
	March 23 – April 6
	Crvena zvezda mts	2
					April 12 – April 22
	Partizan NIS	1
					Crvena zvezda mts	3
	March 25 – April 7
					Budućnost VOLI	2
	Cedevita	1
	Budućnost VOLI	2

2018–19 ABA League Champions
Crvena zvezda mts 4th title

Semifinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
Crvena zvezda mts	2–1	Partizan NIS	106–101	67–70	84–63
Cedevita	1–2	Budućnost VOLI	90–83	72–87	73–78

Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
Crvena zvezda mts	3–2	Budućnost VOLI	91–72	107–69	72–80	80–84	97–54

Relegation playoffs

As of the 2018–19 season, the 11th placed team of the 2018–19 First Division season and the runners-up of the 2018–19 Second Division season will play in the Qualifiers for a spot in the 2019–20 First Division season.

As the team coming from the ABA League, Zadar had the home court advantage in the first and third game of the series, while MZT was the host of the second game of the Qualifiers series.^[27] Zadar won the series 2−1 and kept its First League status.^[28]

Teams

• First Division 11th place: Zadar
• Second Division 2nd place: MZT Skopje Aerodrom

Results

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
Zadar	2–1	MZT Skopje Aerodrom	83–89	78–77	86−75

Statistical leaders

As of 22 April 2019

PIR Pos Player Club PIR 1 Dragan Apić FMP 29.50 2 Luka Božić Zadar 21.68 3 Sava Lešić Igokea 18.05 4 Tomislav Zubčić Igokea 17.57 5 Dominik Mavra Krka 17.29

Points Pos Player Club PPG 1 Dragan Apić FMP 21.29 2 Tomislav Zubčić Igokea 19.00 3 Jacob Pullen Cedevita 17.40 4 Dominik Mavra Krka 16.29 5 Sava Lešić Igokea 15.18

Rebounds Pos Player Club RPG 1 Luka Božić Zadar 7.23 2 Dragan Apić FMP 7.14 3 Uroš Luković Mornar 7.00 4 Michael Ojo Crvena zvezda 6.43 5 Sava Lešić Igokea 6.41

Assists Pos Player Club APG 1 Matic Rebec FMP 5.84 2 Joe Ragland Crvena zvezda 5.73 3 Dominik Mavra Krka 5.71 4 Alex Renfroe Partizan 5.54 5 Scottie Reynolds Olimpija 5.50

Source: ABA League Archived 2017-12-28 at the Wayback Machine

Awards

Pos.	Player	Team	Ref.
MVP
C	Goga Bitadze	Budućnost VOLI	[29]
Finals MVP
SG	Billy Baron	Crvena zvezda mts	[30]
Top Prospect
C	Goga Bitadze	Budućnost VOLI	[31]
Ideal Starting Five
PG	Joe Ragland	Crvena zvezda mts	[32]
SG	Jacob Pullen	Cedevita
SF	Stratos Perperoglou	Crvena zvezda mts
PF	Jock Landale	Partizan NIS
C	Goga Bitadze	Budućnost VOLI

MVP List

MVP of the Round

Round	Player	Team	PIR
1	Dragan Apić	FMP	40
2	Sava Lešić	Igokea	30
3	Nemanja Vranješ	Mornar	33
4	Uroš Luković	Mornar	31
5	Luka Božić	Zadar	36
6	Luka Božić (2)	Zadar	33
7	Stefan Pot	FMP	39
8	Luka Božić (3)	Zadar	36
9	Jacob Pullen	Cedevita	43
10	Vanja Marinković	Partizan	32
11	Marko Ljubičić	Cibona	30
12	Dragan Apić (2)	FMP	34
13	Dragan Apić (3)	FMP	42
14	Luka Božić (4)	Zadar	25
15	Elgin Cook	Cedevita	32
16	Filip Bundović	Cibona	29
17	Nemanja Vranješ (2)	Mornar	29
18	Stefan Pot (2)	FMP	35
19	Luka Ašćerić	Mega Bemax	35
20	Dominik Mavra	Krka	37
21	Goga Bitadze	Budućnost VOLI	31
22	Danilo Anđušić	Igokea	30
SF1	Dejan Davidovac	Crvena zvezda mts	26
SF2	Vanja Marinković (2)	Partizan	22
SF3	Nemanja Gordić	Budućnost VOLI	16
F1	Billy Baron	Crvena zvezda mts	27
F2	K. C. Rivers	Crvena zvezda mts	20
F3	Norris Cole	Budućnost VOLI	20
F4	Norris Cole (2)	Budućnost VOLI	36
F5	K. C. Rivers (2)	Crvena zvezda mts	21

Source: ABA League

MVP of the Month

Month	Player	Team	Ref.
2018
October	Goga Bitadze	Mega Bemax	[33]
November	Dragan Apić	FMP	[34]
December	Dragan Apić (2)	FMP	[35]
2019
January	Marcus Paige	Partizan	[36]
February	Stefan Pot	FMP	[37]

Attendances

Attendances include playoff games:

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Partizan NIS	66,420	7,920	1,200	5,535	+20.6%†
2	Crvena zvezda mts	73,031	6,858	2,345	4,564	+3.4%†
3	Zadar	48,750	8,000	1,000	4,432	+2.1%†
4	Budućnost VOLI	55,009	5,860	1,950	3,929	+15.5%†
5	Mornar	25,400	3,000	1,550	2,309	+8.6%†
6	Cedevita	25,850	5,500	500	1,988	+44.1%†
7	Igokea	19,350	3,500	500	1,759	−19.6%†
8	Petrol Olimpija	16,670	3,500	700	1,515	+6.2%†
9	Mega Bemax	16,080	2,500	1,000	1,462	+1.5%†
10	Cibona	14,740	2,350	590	1,340	−5.2%†
11	Krka	13,730	2,000	500	1,248	+51.3%1
12	FMP	9,790	1,400	500	890	−2.6%†
	League total	384,820	8,000	500	2,691	+5.7%†

Updated to match(es) played on April 22, 2019. Source: ^[1]
Notes:
1: previous season average applied to second division games

Clubs in European competitions

Competition	Team	Progress		Result
EuroLeague	Budućnost VOLI	Regular season		15th (6–24)
EuroCup	Partizan NIS	Top 16 Group E	(1)	4th (2–4)
	Crvena zvezda mts	Top 16 Group G	(1)	3rd (2–4)
	Cedevita	Top 16 Group H	(1)	4th (0–6)
	Mornar	Regular season Group D		5th (2–8)
Champions League	Petrol Olimpija	Regular season Group D		8th (1–13)

See also

• List of current ABA League First Division team rosters
• 2018–19 ABA League Second Division
• 2018 ABA League Supercup
• 2018–19 Junior ABA League
• 2018–19 WABA League

2018–19 domestic competitions

• 2018–19 Basketball League of Serbia
• 2018–19 Premijer liga
• 2018–19 Slovenian Basketball League
• 2018–19 Prva A liga
• 2018–19 Basketball Championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Teams

• 2018–19 KK Crvena zvezda season
• 2018–19 KK Partizan season

References

1. "Average attendance increases over 2,600 for the second time". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
2. "Important decisions confirmed at the ABA League j.t.d. Assembly Session". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
3. "Igokea smenila Bajića i odmah imenovala naslednika". sport.blic.rs. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
4. "NOVI ZVEZDIN TRENER Ko je Milenko Topić, miljenik navijača i čovek koji je pobedio Olimpijakos u Beogradu". sport.blic.rs. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
5. "Razišli se Cedevita i trener Jure Zdovc". gol.dnevnik.hr. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
6. "Bivši trener Barcelone preuzeo Cedevitu". gol.dnevnik.hr. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
7. "Cibona smijenila trenera: Ante Nazor i zagrebački klub nisu uspjeli dogovoriti nastavak suradnje". sportske.jutarnji.hr. 6 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
8. "Ivan Velić new Cibona head coach". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
9. "Aramis Naglić is no longer head coach of Zadar". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
10. "Zadar appoint Aleš Pipan as new head coach". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
11. "Milan Tomić novi trener KK Crvena zvezda mts!". kkcrvenazvezda.rs. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
12. "TOMIĆ NA TRI GODINE: Crvena zvezda rešila pitanje trenera ugovorom sa legendom Olimpijakosa". novosti.rs. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
13. "Igokea ima novog trenera!". mondo.rs. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
14. "Trajković novi trener Igokee". sportsport.ba. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
15. "Pipan više nije trener Zadra". www.kkzadar.net. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
16. "Ante Nazor returns to Zadar". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
17. "Rimac replaced Alonso at Cedevita bench". www.aba-liga.com. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
18. "Nenade, hvala!". kkpartizan.rs. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
19. "Trinkjeri tri godine na klupi Partizana!". novosti.rs. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
20. "Zbog loših rezultata: Rastali se Igokea i trener Nenad Trajković". scsport.ba. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
21. "Aleksandar Nikitović is the new Petrol Olimpija head coach". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
22. "Dragan Nikolić is the new head coach of Igokea". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
23. "Aleksandar Džikić is no longer head coach of Budućnost VOLI". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
24. "Jasmin Repeša is the new head coach of Budućnost VOLI". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
25. Tilen Jamnik (19 February 2019). "Vodstvo Olimpije potrdilo: Novi trener je Jure Zdovc" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
26. "ABA League is ready for the 2018/19 season". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
27. "ABA League Qualifiers to begin on 17 April". druga.aba-liga.com. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
28. "Zadar clinch the ticket for the 2019/20 ABA League season". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
29. "2018/19 Regular Season MVP: Goga Bitadze (Budućnost VOLI)". www.aba-liga.com.
30. "Playoffs MVP: Billy Baron". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
31. "2018/19 Top Prospect: Goga Bitadze (Budućnost VOLI)". www.aba-liga.com.
32. "Bitadze heads the Ideal Starting Five". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
33. MVP of October: Goga Bitadze (Mega Bemax)
34. MVP of November: Dragan Apić (FMP)
35. "MVP of December: Dragan Apić (FMP)". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
36. "MVP of January: Marcus Paige (Partizan NIS)". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
37. "MVP of February: Stefan Pot (FMP)". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 20 February 2019.

External links

• Official website
• ABA League at Eurobasket.com