The draw for the second phase of the Eyroleague the “Top 16”, will be held on Monday, February 23 at Palau St Jordi in Barcelona.
So far 10 teams have made sure of taking part in the “Top 16”: Barcelona, Cinona Zagreb & Ulker Istanbul (Group A), CSKA Moscow, Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv & Montepaschi Siena (Group B), Efes Pilsen Istanbul, Benetton Treviso, Pamesa Valencia & TAU Vitoria (Group C). The other six qualifiers will b decided Wednesday or Thursday this week.
In the “Top 16” the teams will be drawn into four groups of four teams each. Three of the teams to be placed first in each group, are already known: Barcelona, CSKA & Efes Pilsen. Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv will be the fourth if they beat Siena or if Benetton will lose in Wroclaw (this game will be played on Wednesday). A Maccabi loss and a Benetton won will give them an equal win/loss position but Benetton has a higher cumulative score difference.
Before the draw, the 16 teams will be divided into four levels, based on their standings in the Regular Season according to following chart:
Level 1: 1st place, 1st place, 1st place, best 2nd place.
Level 2: 2nd place, 2nd place, 3rd place, 3rd place.
Level 3: worst 3rd place, 4th place, 4th place. 4th place.
Level 4: 5th place, 5th place, 5th place, best 6th place.
Two restrictions will be respected: A maximum of two teams from the same Regular Season group may coincide in the same “Top 16” group. A maximum of two teams of the from the same country may coincide in the same “Top 16” group.
The “Top 16” schedule will be the following: March 4, March 11, March 18, March 25, April 1, April 8. Each of the four group winners will advance to the Final Four to be held in the NOKIA Arena in Tel Aviv on April 29 and May 1.
