2020–21 ABA League First Division

The 2020–21 ABA League First Division was the 20th season of the ABA League with 14 teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia participating in it. The season has started on 2 October 2020.

ABA League First Division
Season	2020–21
Duration	October 2, 2020 – April 27, 2021 (Regular season)
Games played	24 each[a]
Teams	14[b]
TV partner(s)	Arena Sport, B92
Regular season
Top seed	Crvena zvezda mts
Season MVP	Filip Petrušev
Promoted	Studentski centar
Relegated	Koper Primorska (disqualified)
Finals
Champions	Crvena zvezda mts (5th title)
Runners-up	Budućnost VOLI
Semifinalists	Mornar Igokea
Finals MVP	Landry Nnoko
Awards
Top Prospect	Filip Petrušev
Statistical leaders
Points Filip Petrušev 23.71 Rebounds Marko Simonović 8.96 Assists Filip Čović 6.70 Index Rating Filip Petrušev 27.95
Records
Biggest home win	Mornar 109–68 Cibona (12 October 2020)
Biggest away win	Krka 57–98 Crvena zvezda mts (20 April 2021)
Highest scoring	Partizan NIS 99–101 Budućnost VOLI (10 October 2020)
Winning streak	9 games Crvena zvezda mts
Losing streak	26 games[c] Koper Primorska
← 2019–20 2021–22 → All statistics correct as of May 28, 2021.

The season is the first to be played after the previous season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ABA League Assembly ruled that the 12 teams from the previous season stays in the league and the first two clubs from Second Division were awarded two wild cards.^[1]

The Slovenian club Koper Primorska was disqualified from the competition in December 2020 and forfeited 0–20 for all games. Defending champions Crvena zvezda mts won its fifth title following a 3–2 win over Budućnost VOLI in the 2021 Finals.

Teams

Promotion and relegation

A total of 14 teams will contest the league, including all 12 sides from the previous season and two clubs with wild cards from the 2019–20 Second Division season. Two wild cards were awarded to Borac Čačak and Split, two highest-placed teams.^[1]

In season disqualification

The Slovenian club Koper Primorska was disqualified from the competition on 17 December 2020.^[2][3] Following this disqualification the league remain with 13 clubs for the rest of season.

Disqualified

Venues and locations

Belgrade

Borac

Budućnost

Cedevita Olimpija

Cibona

Igokea

00Primorska

Krka

Mornar

Split

Zadar

Belgrade clubs:

Crvena zvezda
FMP
Mega
Partizan

Location of teams in the 2020–21 season

Crvena zvezda

FMP

Mega

Partizan

Locations of the teams from Belgrade in the 2020–21 season

Team	Home city	Arena	Capacity
Borac Čačak	Čačak	Borac Hall	4,000
Budućnost VOLI	Podgorica	Morača Sports Center	6,000
Cedevita Olimpija	Ljubljana	Arena Stožice	12,480
Cibona	Zagreb	Dražen Petrović Hall	5,400
Crvena zvezda mts	Belgrade	Aleksandar Nikolić Hall	8,000
FMP	Belgrade	Železnik Hall	3,000
Igokea	Aleksandrovac	Laktaši Sports Hall	3,050
Koper Primorska	Koper	Arena Bonifika	3,000
Krka	Novo Mesto	Leon Štukelj Hall	2,500
Mega Soccerbet	Belgrade	Ranko Žeravica Sports Hall	5,000
Mornar	Bar	Topolica Sport Hall	2,625
Partizan NIS	Belgrade	Štark Arena	18,386
Split	Split	Arena Gripe	3,500
Zadar	Zadar	Krešimir Ćosić Hall	7,997

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Borac Čačak	Marko Marinović	Uroš Čarapić	—	P.S. Fashion
Budućnost VOLI	Dejan Milojević	Suad Šehović	Spalding	VOLI
Cedevita Olimpija	Jurica Golemac	Jaka Blažič	Adidas	Cedevita
Cibona	Vladimir Jovanović	Roko Prkačin	GBT	Erste Bank
Crvena zvezda mts	Dejan Radonjić	Branko Lazić	Adidas	mts
FMP	Vanja Guša	Radoš Šešlija		FMP
Igokea	Dragan Bajić	Marko Jošilo	GBT	m:tel
Koper Primorska	Andrej Žakelj	Luka Vončina	Erreà	Vehicle rent
Krka	Dalibor Damjanović	Luka Lapornik	—	Krka
Mega Soccerbet	Vlada Jovanović	Milenko Tepić	Adidas	Soccerbet / Tehnomanija
Mornar	Mihailo Pavićević	Marko Mijović	DaCapo	Bar Municipality / Barsko zlato
Partizan NIS	Aleksandar Matović	Novica Veličković	Under Armour	NIS / mts
Split	Mile Karakaš	Mateo Kedžo	Macron	Jugoplastika
Zadar	Veljko Mršić	Dominik Mavra		OTP Bank

Coaching changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced with	Date of appointment	Ref.
Mega Soccerbet	Dejan Milojević	1 June 2020	Off-season	Vlada Jovanović	1 June 2020	[4]
Crvena zvezda mts	Dragan Šakota	8 June 2020		Saša Obradović	10 June 2020	[5]
Zadar	Danijel Jusup	24 June 2020		Veljko Mršić	25 June 2020	[6]
Partizan NIS	Andrea Trinchieri	2 July 2020		Vlado Šćepanović	9 July 2020	[7][8]
	Vlado Šćepanović	30 October 2020	6th (2–2)	Milivoje Lazić (interim)	30 October 2020	[9]
	Milivoje Lazić (interim)	5 November 2020	7th (2–3)	Sašo Filipovski	5 November 2020	[10]
FMP	Vladimir Jovanović	14 December 2020	12th (2–6)	Bojan Đerić (interim)	14 December 2020	[11]
Crvena zvezda mts	Saša Obradović	24 December 2020	1st (9–1)	Dejan Radonjić	25 December 2020	[12][13]
Budućnost VOLI	Petar Mijović	27 January 2021	5th (11–3)	Dejan Milojević	28 January 2021	[14]
Cibona	Ivan Velić	31 January 2021	11th (5–10)	Vladimir Jovanović	2 February 2021	[15][16]
FMP	Bojan Đerić (interim)	13 February 2021	11th (5–10)	Vanja Guša	13 February 2021	[17][18]
Split	Ivica Skelin	17 February 2021	8th (5–13)	Mile Karakaš	21 February 2021	[19][20]
Partizan NIS	Sašo Filipovski	9 March 2021	7th (7–12)	Aleksandar Matović	9 March 2021	[21]
Krka	Vladimir Anzulović	17 March 2021	11th (6–14)	Dalibor Damjanović	17 March 2021	[22]

Regular season

The regular season began on 2 October 2020.

On 17 December 2020, the Slovenian club Koper Primorska was disqualified from the competition after failing to play two consecutive games due to financial problems.^[2] All of the Koper Primorska results were registered with the scores of 20–0 for their opponents and were not awarded a point for the defeat.^[3]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Crvena zvezda mts	26	23	3	2064	1694	+370	49	Advance to the playoffs
2	Budućnost VOLI	26	22	4	2056	1811	+245	48
3	Mornar	26	19	7	2066	1890	+176	45
4	Igokea	26	19	7	1973	1846	+127	45
5	Cedevita Olimpija	26	18	8	2116	1947	+169	44
6	Mega Soccerbet	26	14	12	1996	1955	+41	40
7	Partizan NIS	26	13	13	2003	1903	+100	39
8	FMP	26	11	15	2049	2135	−86	37
9	Cibona	26	10	16	1897	1998	−101	36
10	Zadar	26	9	17	1804	1923	−119	35
11	Borac Čačak	26	8	18	1919	1978	−59	34
12	Krka	26	8	18	1748	1938	−190	34
13	Split	26	8	18	1816	1969	−153	34	Qualification to the relegation playoffs
14	Koper Primorska	26	0	26	0	520	−520	0	Disqualified[2][3]

Source: ABA League

Positions by round

The Slovenaian club Koper Primorska was disqualified from the competition on 17 December 2020.^[2][3]

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

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
Crvena zvezda mts	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	4	4	6	6	6	5	5	4	3	2	3	3	1
Budućnost VOLI	2	4	3	2	3	7	9	7	5	6	7	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	6	6	6	4	4	4	1	2
Mornar	5	2	5	7	6	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	3	2	4	3
Igokea	11	8	6	5	2	5	7	8	6	4	4	4	4	3	3	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	1	1	2	4
Cedevita Olimpija	7	3	2	3	5	9	6	5	10	8	10	9	7	7	7	4	4	4	4	3	5	5	6	6	5	5
Mega Soccerbet	3	5	4	4	4	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	3	2	2	3	3	3	3	4	3	6	5	5	6	6
Partizan NIS	9	11	7	6	7	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7
FMP	4	6	9	9	8	10	11	12	12	12	11	12	10	10	9	10	10	11	13	11	9	9	8	8	8	8
Cibona	13	13	13	12	9	8	8	9	8	10	9	10	12	12	12	12	11	9	9	9	10	10	12	12	11	9
Zadar	10	12	12	8	11	11	12	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	12	11	12	12	12	9	10	9	10
Borac Čačak	6	9	10	13	13	13	13	11	11	11	12	11	11	11	11	11	12	13	12	13	13	13	11	9	10	11
Krka	8	10	8	10	12	12	10	10	7	7	6	7	8	9	10	9	9	10	10	10	11	11	13	13	13	12
Split	12	7	11	11	10	6	5	6	9	9	8	8	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	11	12	13
Koper Primorska	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14

Source: ABA League

Results

The Slovenaian club Koper Primorska was disqualified from the competition on 17 December 2020 and forfeited 0–20 for all matches before and following ejection.^[3] The club played nine games before ejection. They have not appeared in rounds 10 and 11. The club was disqualified from the further competition due to unjustified non-appearance in two consecutive games.

Home \ Away	BOR	BUD	COL	CIB	CZV	FMP	IGO	KRK	MEG	MOR	PAR	PRI	SPL	ZAD
Borac Čačak	—	72–76	82–95	77–82	64–95	83–76	78–101	86–90	83–97	76–87	75–71	20–0[d]	90–69	61–65
Budućnost VOLI	86–83	—	89–75	87–68	83–63	77–76	92–64	70–62	92–79	81–74	80–72	20–0[e]	84–59	98–75
Cedevita Olimpija	97–88	95–84	—	100–75	72–89	94–86	103–92	77–69	85–79	88–93	78–65	20–0[e]	94–66	77–56
Cibona	69–64	72–76	93–83	—	66–104	93–80	80–88	78–69	73–77	78–92	75–82	20–0[f]	74–76	77–75
Crvena zvezda mts	83–63	65–67	82–81	85–63	—	101–71	69–66	88–62	92–85	93–62	73–64	20–0[e]	78–76	81–66
FMP	93–87	88–99	91–88	90–86	75–111	—	82–87	91–85	91–92	94–92	90–103	20–0[g]	96–92	89–99
Igokea	73–71	82–87	76–70	88–80	85–65	84–74	—	77–64	62–84	79–88	90–84	20–0[h]	87–68	72–48
Krka	74–94	70–90	88–95	63–80	57–98	76–97	69–70	—	76–71	74–84	69–50	20–0[i]	77–71	63–81
Mega Soccerbet	86–84	78–72	88–93	72–71	73–76	76–84	84–86	71–70	—	90–89	88–98	20–0[e]	91–75	90–87
Mornar	86–72	100–92	71–81	109–68	78–86	84–74	90–76	80–61	80–73	—	77–76	20–0[j]	81–71	77–71
Partizan NIS	78–87	99–101	86–77	87–90	85–86	97–74	75–83	91–67	79–77	83–75	—	20–0[e]	80–58	78–63
Koper Primorska	0–20[e]	0–20[e]	0–20[k]	0–20[e]	0–20[l]	0–20[e]	0–20[e]	0–20[e]	0–20[m]	0–20[e]	0–20[e]	—	0–20[d]	0–20[n]
Split	74–86	78–77	81–98	77–74	60–71	86–71	78–79	78–80	74–65	87–95	74–86	20–0[e]	—	76–89
Zadar	75–73	62–76	78–80	97–92	70–90	63–76	63–86	70–73	83–90	66–82	96–94	20–0[e]	66–72	—

Source: ABA League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Red = away team win.
Matches with lighter background shading were decided after overtime.

Results by round

The table lists the results of teams in each round. The Slovenaian club Koper Primorska was disqualified from the competition on 17 December 2020 and forfeited 0–20 for all matches before and following ejection.

	Win		Loss		Postponed

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
Crvena zvezda mts	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	W
Budućnost VOLI	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	W
Mornar	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	L	W	W	W	L	W	L	L	W
Igokea	L	W	W	W	W	L	W	L	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	L	L
Cedevita Olimpija	W	W	W	L	W	L	W	W	W	W	L	L	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	L	W	L	L	W	W
Mega Soccerbet	W	W	W	L	L	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	L	L	W	W	L	W	W	L	W	L	L	L	L	L
Partizan NIS	L	L	W	W	L	W	W	L	L	W	L	W	W	L	L	W	L	L	L	L	L	W	W	W	W	W
FMP	W	L	L	L	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	W	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	W	W	L	W	W	W
Cibona	L	L	L	W	W	L	L	L	W	L	L	L	W	L	L	L	W	W	L	W	L	L	W	L	W	W
Zadar	L	L	L	W	L	L	L	W	L	L	W	W	L	L	L	W	W	W	W	L	L	L	L	W	L	L
Borac Čačak	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	W	L	W	L	W	L	L	L	W	L	L	W	L	W	L	W	L
Krka	L	L	W	L	L	L	L	W	W	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	W	L	W	W	L	L	L
Split	L	W	L	W	W	W	L	L	L	L	W	L	L	W	L	L	L	L	W	L	L	W	L	W	L	L
Koper Primorska[c]	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L

Source: ABA League

Playoffs

Main article: 2021 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.^[24]

	Semifinals				Finals
	1 Crvena zvezda mts	2
	4 Igokea	1
					1 Crvena zvezda mts	3
					2 Budućnost VOLI	2
	2 Budućnost VOLI	2
	3 Mornar	0

2020–21 ABA League Champions
Crvena zvezda mts 5th title

Semifinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
Crvena zvezda mts	2–1	Igokea	76–61	68–81	76–53
Budućnost VOLI	2–0	Mornar	97–88	92–81	—

Finals

See also: Budućnost–Crvena Zvezda basketball rivalry

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
Crvena zvezda mts	3–2	Budućnost VOLI	82–78	85–79	71–75	80–81	67–60

Relegation playoffs

The 13th placed team of the First Division season and the runners-up of the Second Division season will play in the Qualifiers for a spot in the next First Division season.^[25]

Qualified clubs

Leagues	Clubs
First Division	Split
Second Division	Spars

Results

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
Split	2–1	Spars	70–76	84–64	90–60

Statistical leaders

As of 28 May 2021

All players statistics from the nine games with Koper Primorska were annulled following their disqualification from the competition.

PIR Pos Player Club PIR 1 Filip Petrušev Mega Soccerbet 27.95 2 Marko Simonović Mega Soccerbet 19.17 3 Justin Cobbs Budućnost VOLI 18.90 4 Nemanja Nenadić FMP 18.59 5 Jaka Blažič Cedevita Olimpija 18.52

Points Pos Player Club PPG 1 Filip Petrušev Mega Soccerbet 23.71 2 Jaka Blažič Cedevita Olimpija 17.22 3 Nemanja Nenadić FMP 17.05 4 Jacob Pullen Mornar Bar 16.63 5 Jordan Loyd Crvena zvezda mts 16.00

Rebounds Pos Player Club RPG 1 Marko Simonović Mega Soccerbet 8.96 2 Filip Petrušev Mega Soccerbet 7.62 3 Rashawn Thomas Partizan NIS 7.17 4 Roko Prkačin Cibona 6.78 5 Chinanu Onuaku Zadar 6.52

Assists Pos Player Club APG 1 Filip Čović FMP 6.70 2 Scoochie Smith Mega Soccerbet 5.71 3 Jovan Novak Mega Soccerbet 5.50 4 Nikola Ivanović Budućnost VOLI 4.94 5 Derek Needham Mornar Bar 4.68

Source: ABA League

Awards

Pos.	Player	Team	Ref.
MVP
F/C	Filip Petrušev	Mega Soccerbet	[26]
Finals MVP
C	Landry Nnoko	Crvena zvezda mts	[27]
Top Scorer
F/C	Filip Petrušev	Mega Soccerbet	[28]
Best Defender
G/F	Branko Lazić	Crvena zvezda mts	[29]
Top Prospect
F/C	Filip Petrušev	Mega Soccerbet	[30]
Coach of the Season
HC	Dragan Bajić	Igokea	[31]
The Ideal Starting Five
PG	Jordan Loyd	Crvena zvezda mts	[32]
SG	Nikola Ivanović	Budućnost VOLI
SF	Jaka Blažič	Cedevita Olimpija
PF	Marko Simonović	Mega Soccerbet
C	Filip Petrušev	Mega Soccerbet

MVP List

MVP of the Round

Round	Player	Team	PIR
1	Marko Simonović	Mega Soccerbet	33
2	Justin Cobbs	Budućnost VOLI	30
3	Nikola Ivanović	Budućnost VOLI	32
4	Jordan Loyd	Crvena zvezda mts	22
5	Jaka Blažič	Cedevita Olimpija	31
6	Marko Radovanović	FMP	39
7	Jaka Blažič (2)	Cedevita Olimpija	29
8	Jacob Pullen	Mornar	38
9	Filip Petrušev	Mega Soccerbet	37
10	Ognjen Dobrić	Crvena zvezda mts	25
11	Filip Petrušev (2)	Mega Soccerbet	36
12	Dominik Mavra	Zadar	47
13	Ognjen Jaramaz	Partizan NIS	33
14	Mikael Hopkins	Cedevita Olimpija	39
15	Filip Petrušev (3)	Mega Soccerbet	41
16	Chinanu Onuaku	Zadar	33
17	Nemanja Gordić	Mornar	30
18	Chinanu Onuaku (2)	Zadar	41
19	Marko Simonović (2)	Mega Soccerbet	37
20	Toni Nakić	Cibona	28
21	Nemanja Nenadić	FMP	25
22	Nikola Jovanović	Igokea	31
23	Jacob Pullen (2)	Mornar	30
24	Filip Čović	FMP	32
25	Justin Cobbs (2)	Budućnost VOLI	24
26	Jaka Blažič (3)	Cedevita Olimpija	38
SF1	Justin Cobbs (3)	Budućnost VOLI	34
SF2	Justin Cobbs (4)	Budućnost VOLI	28
SF3	Dejan Davidovac	Crvena zvezda mts	33
F1	Jordan Loyd (2)	Crvena zvezda mts	23
F2	Ognjen Dobrić (2)	Crvena zvezda mts	27
F3	Nikola Ivanović (2)	Budućnost VOLI	19
F4	Justin Cobbs (5)	Budućnost VOLI	29
F5	Landry Nnoko	Crvena zvezda mts	28

Source: ABA League

MVP of the Month

Month	Player	Team	Ref.
2020
October	Filip Petrušev	Mega Soccerbet	[33]
November	Jaka Blažič	Cedevita Olimpija	[34]
December	Filip Petrušev (2)	Mega Soccerbet	[35]
2021
January	Jaka Blažič (2)	Cedevita Olimpija	[36]
February	Chinanu Onuaku	Zadar	[37]
March	Nikola Ivanović	Budućnost VOLI	[38]
April	Rashawn Thomas	Partizan NIS	[39]

Clubs in European competitions

Competition	Team	Progress		Result
EuroLeague	Crvena zvezda mts	Regular season		17th (10–24)
EuroCup	Budućnost VOLI	Quarterfinals	(2)	1–2 vs Monaco
	Partizan NIS	Top 16 Group F	(1)	4th (2–4)
	Cedevita Olimpija	Top 16 Group G	(1)	3rd (3–3)
	Mornar	Top 16 Group H	(1)	4th (1–5)
Champions League	Igokea	Playoffs Group J	(1)	3rd (3–3)

See also

• List of current ABA League First Division team rosters
• 2020–21 ABA League Second Division
• 2020–21 Junior ABA League
• 2020–21 WABA League

2020–21 domestic competitions

• 2020–21 Basketball Championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• 2020–21 HT Premijer liga
• 2020–21 Prva A liga
• 2020–21 Basketball League of Serbia
• 2020–21 Slovenian Basketball League

Teams

• 2020–21 KK Cedevita Olimpija season
• 2020–21 KK Crvena zvezda season
• 2020–21 KK Partizan season

Notes

1. Additionally, each team was awarded with two 20–0 wins over Koper Primorska following their ejection.
2. There is 13 teams in the competition as of December 2020 due to ejection of Koper Primorska.
3. Koper Primorska lost its first nine matches. They have not appeared in rounds 10 and 11. Due to unjustified non-appearance in two consecutive games the club was disqualified from the further competition and forfeited 0–20 for all 26 matches (before and following ejection).
4. Koper Primoprska was forfeited 0–20 due to unjustified non-appearance.
5. As of Round 12, Koper Primorska has been forfeited 0–20 as the disqualified club.
6. Cibona won 91–50. The result was overturned 20–0 for Cibona, following the Koper Primoprska disqualification.
7. FMP won 84–65. The result was overturned 20–0 for FMP, following the Koper Primoprska disqualification.
8. Igokea won 89–71. The result was overturned 20–0 for Igokea, following the Koper Primoprska disqualification.
9. Krka won 74–57. The result was overturned 20–0 for Krka, following the Koper Primoprska disqualification.
10. Mornar won 87–66. The result was overturned 20–0 for Mornar, following the Koper Primoprska disqualification.
11. Cedevita Olimpija won 102–65. The result was overturned 20–0 for Cedevita Olimpija, following Koper Primoprska disqualification.
12. Crvena zvezda won 84–72. The result was overturned 20–0 for Crvena zvezda, following the Koper Primoprska disqualification.
13. Mega Soccerbet won 71–69.^[23] The result was overturned 20–0 for Mega Soccerbet, following the Koper Primoprska disqualification.
14. Zadar won 77–55. The result was overturned 20–0 for Zadar, following the Koper Primoprska disqualification.