Premier A Slovenian Basketball League
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The Premier A Slovenian Basketball League (Slovene: 1. A slovenska košarkarska liga), abbreviated as 1. A SKL and known for sponsorship reasons as the UPC Telemach League (Slovene: Liga UPC Telemach), is the top-level professional men's basketball league in Slovenia. The league, operated by the Basketball Federation of Slovenia, consists of 13 clubs, with the best-known internationally being the traditionally dominant Union Olimpija of Ljubljana, a regular Euroleague representative.
The league was founded in 1991, shortly after Slovenia gained its independence from Yugoslavia.
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[edit] Competition format
The league is conducted in two phases.
[edit] Regular season
In the first phase, 12 teams compete in a home-and-away round-robin series (22 games in all) with the country's representative in the Euroleague, currently Union Olimpija, being exempt from this stage. Although some leagues in the region, such as that of Serbia, exempt all of the country's representatives in the Adriatic League from the first phase of the league season, the Slovenia league exempts only the Euroleague representative. (The country currently has three representatives in the Adriatic League—Olimpija, Helios Domžale and Slovan.)
All teams advance from the regular season to one of two postseason stages, depending on their league position.
[edit] Second phase
The top seven teams from the regular season are joined by the Euroleague representative in the second phase. These teams start the second phase from scratch, with no results carrying over from the regular season. Each team plays a total of 14 games in this phase; as in the regular season, a home-and-away round-robin is used.
The top four teams at the end of this stage advance to the semifinals, conducted as a best-of-three playoff. The semifinal winners advance to the best-of-five championship finals, with the winners being crowned league champion.
[edit] Playouts
The bottom five teams play a home-and-away round-robin series with one another; these teams' results from the regular season carry over to the playouts. At the end of the playout phase, the bottom finisher is automatically relegated to the second level of the Slovenian league system, the 1. B SKL. That team is replaced in the following season's league by the 1. B SKL champion. The second-from-bottom finisher enters a home-and-away round-robin mini-league with the second- and third-place teams from the second league, with the team finishing on top of the mini-league taking up a place in the next year's 1. A SKL.
[edit] Clubs (2007-08)
Sponsored name of club, if applicable, in parentheses; teams are alphabetized by sponsored name.
| Team | City | Arena |
|---|---|---|
| KK Šentjur (Alpos Šentjur) | Šentjur | |
| KK Elektra (Elektra Esotech) | Šoštanj | |
| KD Slovan (Geoplin Slovan) | Ljubljana | |
| ŽKK Domžale (Helios Domžale) | Domžale | |
| KK Hopsi Polzela | Polzela | |
| KK Kraški zidar Sežana (Kraški zidar Jadran) | Sežana | |
| KK Krka | Novo Mesto | |
| KK Koper (Luka Koper) | Koper | Bonifika |
| KK Zreča (Rogla Zreča) | Zreče | |
| KK Škofja Loka (TCG Mercator) | Škofja Loka | |
| KK Union Olimpija | Ljubljana | Dvorana Tivoli |
| KK Zagorje | Zagorje | |
| KK Pivovarna Laško (Zlatorog) | Laško |
[edit] Past champions
[edit] Champions 1991-Present
| Year | Champion | Runner Up | Aggregate |
| 1991/92 |
Smelt Olimpija | Optimizem Postojna | 3-0 |
| 1992/93 |
Smelt Olimpija | Slovenica Koper | 3-1 |
| 1993/94 |
Smelt Olimpija | Tam Bus Maribor | 3-0 |
| 1994/95 |
Smelt Olimpija | Kovinotehna Savinjska Polzela | 3-0 |
| 1995/96 |
Smelt Olimpija | Interier Krško | 3-1 |
| 1996/97 |
Smelt Olimpija | Kovinotehna Savinjska Polzela | 3-0 |
| 1997/98 |
Union Olimpija | Kovinotehna Savinjska Polzela | 3-0 |
| 1998/99 |
Union Olimpija | Pivovarna Laško | 3-0 |
| 1999/00 |
Krka Telekom | Pivovarna Laško | 3-1 |
| 2000/01 |
Union Olimpija | Krka Telekom | 3-0 |
| 2001/02 |
Union Olimpija | Krka | 3-0 |
| 2002/03 |
Krka | Union Olimpija | 3-2 |
| 2003/04 |
Union Olimpija | Pivovarna Laško | 3-0 |
| 2004/05 |
Union Olimpija | Geoplin Slovan | 3-2 |
| 2005/06 |
Union Olimpija | Geoplin Slovan | 3-2 |
| 2006/07 |
Helios Domžale | Union Olimpija | 3-2 |
| 2007/08 |
Union Olimpija | Helios Domžale | 3-1 |
| 2008/09 |
[edit] Sources
- Official site of Slovenian Basketball Federation — most of site in Slovene; news feed also in English
- (Slovene) Competition system
