Liga ACB

Current season or competition: 2011–12 ACB season
200px Logo ACB
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1957 (as Liga Nacional)
Inaugural season	1983–84
No. of teams	18
Country(ies)	Spain
Continent	FIBA Europe (Europe)
Most recent champion(s)	FC Barcelona (16th title)
Most titles	Real Madrid (30 titles)
TV partner(s)	TDP
Related competitions	Spanish King's Cup Spanish Supercup
Level on pyramid	1st Tier (Spain)
Relegation to	LEB Oro – 2nd Tier (Last 2)
Official website	www.acb.com (Spanish)

The Liga ACB (English: ACB League), known as the Liga Endesa (English: Endesa League) for sponsorship reasons, is the first tier level men's professional basketball league in Spain. It began in 1957, with the name of Liga Nacional, and was originally organized by the Spanish Basketball Federation. The league changed to its current form, beginning with the 1983–84 season, after the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB) took control over the league. The league is rated as one of the top three European national domestic/regional leagues in the ULEB League Rankings system.

The ACB League, which is played under FIBA rules, currently consists of 18 teams, including Real Madrid, FC Barcelona Regal, Cajasol Banca Cívica, Asefa Estudiantes, Gran Canaria 2014, Caja Laboral Baskonia, Valencia Basket, and Unicaja Málaga.

Other competitions[link]

• Spanish King's Cup
• Spanish Supercup

Liga championship rules[link]

Each team has to play all the other teams in its division twice, once at home and once away. This means that in Liga ACB the league's regular season ends after all teams play 34 matches.

Like many other national domestic leagues in continental Europe, the Liga ACB takes a winter break once each team has played half of its scheduled games. One feature of the league that may be unusual to North American observers, is that the two halves of the season are played in the same order — that is, the order of each team's first-half fixtures is repeated in the second half of the season. This is normal in Spanish sports; it is also used by La Liga in association football.

At the end of the league, the eight best teams in the standings start a play-off, pitting the first place team in the standings versus the 8th place team in the standings, and so on. There are three playoff rounds, each consisting of five game series, and the winner of the finals round becomes the champion of the Liga ACB. This is similar to the NBA playoffs system, but shorter.

Arena standards[link]

Currently, Liga ACB clubs must have home arenas that seat at least 5,000 people.

Liga Nacional (1957–1983)[link]

Titles[link]

ACB Finals (1983–84 season – Present)[link]

Season	Champion	Runner-up	Series Result	Finals MVP	Champion's Coach
1983–84	Real Madrid	FC Barcelona	2 – 1	N/A	Lolo Sainz
1984–85	Real Madrid	Joventut Badalona	2 – 1	N/A	Lolo Sainz
1985–86	Real Madrid	FC Barcelona	2 – 0	N/A	Lolo Sainz
1986–87	FC Barcelona	Joventut Badalona	3 – 1	N/A	Aíto García Reneses
1987–88	FC Barcelona	Real Madrid	3 – 2	N/A	Aíto García Reneses
1988–89	FC Barcelona	Real Madrid	3 – 2	N/A	Aíto García Reneses
1989–90	FC Barcelona	Joventut Badalona	3 – 0	N/A	Aíto García Reneses
1990–91	Joventut Badalona	FC Barcelona	3 – 1	Corny Thompson	Lolo Sainz
1991–92	Joventut Badalona	Real Madrid	3 – 2	Mike Smith	Lolo Sainz
1992–93	Real Madrid	Joventut Badalona	3 – 2	Arvydas Sabonis	Clifford Luyk
1993–94	Real Madrid	FC Barcelona	3 – 0	Arvydas Sabonis	Clifford Luyk
1994–95	FC Barcelona	CB Málaga	3 – 2	Michael Ansley	Aíto García Reneses
1995–96	FC Barcelona	CB Sevilla	3 – 0	Xavi Fernández	Aíto García Reneses
1996–97	FC Barcelona	Real Madrid	3 – 2	Roberto Dueñas	Aíto García Reneses
1997–98	Manresa	Baskonia	3 – 1	Joan Creus	Luis Casimiro
1998–99	FC Barcelona	CB Sevilla	3 – 0	Derrick Alston	Aíto García Reneses
1999–00	Real Madrid	FC Barcelona	3 – 2	Alberto Angulo	Sergio Scariolo
2000–01	FC Barcelona	Real Madrid	3 – 0	Pau Gasol	Aíto García Reneses
2001–02	Baskonia	CB Málaga	3 – 0	Elmer Bennett	Duško Ivanović
2002–03	FC Barcelona	Valencia BC	3 – 0	Šarūnas Jasikevičius	Svetislav Pešić
2003–04	FC Barcelona	Estudiantes	3 – 2	Dejan Bodiroga	Svetislav Pešić
2004–05	Real Madrid	Baskonia	3 – 2	Louis Bullock	Božidar Maljković
2005–06	CB Málaga	Baskonia	3 – 0	Jorge Garbajosa	Sergio Scariolo
2006–07	Real Madrid	FC Barcelona	3 – 1	Felipe Reyes	Joan Plaza
2007–08	Baskonia	FC Barcelona	3 – 0	Pete Mickeal	Neven Spahija
2008–09	FC Barcelona	Baskonia	3 – 1	Juan Carlos Navarro	Xavier Pascual
2009–10	Baskonia	FC Barcelona	3 – 0	Tiago Splitter	Duško Ivanović
2010–11	FC Barcelona	Bilbao Basket	3 – 0	Juan Carlos Navarro	Xavier Pascual

Finals appearances[link]

ACB trophy 2008-2009, FC Barcelona museum

Total league championships (Liga Nacional + ACB)[link]

Current clubs[link]

• Assignia Manresa
• Baloncesto Fuenlabrada
• Bizkaia Bilbao Basket
• Blancos de Rueda Valladolid
• CAI Zaragoza
• Caja Laboral Baskonia
• Cajasol Banca Cívica
• FIATC Mutua Joventut
• Asefa Estudiantes
• FC Barcelona Regal
• Gran Canaria 2014
• Lagun Aro GBC
• CB Lucentum Alicante
• Valencia BC
• Real Madrid
• Unicaja Málaga
• UCAM Murcia
• Obradoiro CAB

Promoted to League ACB[link]

• CB Murcia
• Obradoiro CAB

Relegated to League LEB[link]

• CB Granada
• Menorca Bàsquet

Awards[link]

• ACB Most Valuable Player Award
• ACB Finals Most Valuable Player Award
• ACB Rising Star Award

ACB records[link]

• Most Points in a Game

• 54 by Epi, FC Barcelona vs. Joventut Massana on February 18, 1984

• Most Field Goals Made in a Game

• 25 by Essie Hollis, Arabatxo Baskonia at OAR Ferrol on February 5, 1984

• Most Three Point Field Goals Made in a Game

• 11 by Oscar Schmidt, Fórum Valladolid at CB Murcia on March 19, 1994

• Most Free Throws Made in a Game

• 29 by Jeff Lamp, Granada at Fórum Filatélico Valladolid on December 21, 1991

• Most Rebounds in a Game

• 29 by Clarence Kea, Juver Murcia vs. Dyc Breogán on December 21, 1991

• Most Assists in a Game

• 18 by Joaquim Costa, Valvi Girona vs. Puleva Baloncesto Granada on November 9, 1990

• Most Steals in a Game

• 13 by Lance Berwald, BBV Villalba at Caja Guipúzcoa on March 11, 1989

• Most Blocks in a Game

• 12 by Fran Vázquez, FC Barcelona at Grupo Capitol Valladolid on January 7, 2007

• Most Points in a Game

• 147 – FC Barcelona defeated Cajabilbao 147–106 on January 31, 1987

• Fewest Points in a Game

• 39 – Lagun Aro GBC was defeated by Blancos de Rueda Valladolid 61–39 on April 25, 2010

• Largest Margin of Victory in a Game

• 55 – FC Barcelona defeated Breogán Caixa Galicia 82–137 on April 12, 1986
• 55 – Real Madrid defeated Clesa Ferrol 116–61 on October 5, 1985

• Victory with fewest points

• 49 – Assignia Manresa defeated Meridiano Alicante 49–48 on March 6, 2011

External links[link]

• Official ACB League Page (Spanish)
• Euroleague.net Spanish League Page

v t e Liga ACB venues · 2011–12 Palacio de los Deportes (Asefa Estudiantes) Bilbao Arena (Bizkaia Bilbao Basket) Fontes do Sar (Blu:sens Monbús) Príncipe Felipe Arena (CAI Zaragoza) Fernando Buesa Arena (Caja Laboral Baskonia) Palacio San Pablo (Cajasol Sevilla) Palacio de Deportes (CB Murcia) Palau Municipal d'Esports (Club Joventut Badalona) Palau Blaugrana (FC Barcelona Regal) Polideportivo Fernando Martin (Fuenlabrada) Centro Insular de Deportes (CB Gran Canaria) Illumbe (Lagun Aro - Gipuzkoa BC) Palacio de los Deportes (Real Madrid) Nou Congost (Bàsquet Manresa) Centro de Tecnificación (Meridiano Alicante) Martín Carpena (Unicaja Málaga) Fonteta (Valencia CB) Pabellón Pisuerga (CB Valladolid)

Liga can refer to:

Name[link]

• Līga (name), a Latvian female given name

Sports[link]

• 1. Liga, third-highest ice hockey league in Switzerland
• Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain
• Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito, Ecuadorian professional football club based in Quito
• Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain
• La Liga, highest professional division of the Spanish football league system

Other[link]

• Liga, common appellation for Független Szakszervezetek Demokratikus Ligája "Democratic Confederation of Free Trade Unions"), Hungarian national trade union
• LIGA, acronym of Lithographie, Galvanoformung, Abformung ("Lithography, Electroplating, and Molding"), fabrication technology used to create high-aspect-ratio microstructures

People[link]

• Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or Liga, Italian rock singer-songwriter

See also[link]

• Prva Liga (disambiguation)
• Druga Liga (disambiguation)
• Vysshaya Liga (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

ACB may refer to:

Banking[link]

• African Central Bank, one of the three financial institutions of the African Union
• Asia Commercial Bank, a commercial bank in Vietnam

Environment[link]

• ASEAN Center for Biodiversity an intergovernmental organization

Investment[link]

• Adjusted cost base, a calculation used to determine the cost of an investment for tax purposes

Music[link]

• Animal Crack Box, a live box set by American music act, Animal Collective

Sports[link]

• ACB Lagos, a former professional association football team based in Lagos, Nigeria
• Angel City Brigade, a supporter group for the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer club
• Australian Cricket Board, the former name of Cricket Australia, the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia
• Liga ACB (Spanish: Asociación de Clubes de Baloncesto), the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Spain
• Afghanistan Cricket Board, the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Afghanistan

Other uses[link]

• Acton Bridge railway station (National Rail code) in Cheshire, England
• Airport City Belgrade, an urban neighborhood of Belgrade
• Alameda Civic Ballet, the official dance company for Alameda, California
• Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, a nonprofit organization devoted to maintaining and preserving the Chesapeake Bay
• American Council of the Blind, a nationwide organization in the United States
• Aortocoronary bypass, a medical procedure to treat coronary artery disease
• Association for Clinical Biochemistry, the British professional body for clinical biochemists, a member of the Science Council
• Australian Classification Board, Australia's statutory censorship and classification body
• Air circuit breaker, a type of switchgear used in electricity supply industry
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, a game set in the Italian renaissance.

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Hervé Touré (born February 25, 1982 in Lyon, France) is a French basketball player currently signed with CB Valladolid although he left this team on February 28, 2012.

At 202 cm, he plays the small forward and power forward positions.

Clubs[link]

• 2000-2005 Basket ASVEL
• 2005 Basket Charleroi
• 2005-2006 Basket Avellino
• 2006-2007 Basket Capo d'Orlando
• 2007 Basket Milano
• 2007-2009 Basket Cantù
• 2009-2010 Basket Roma
• 2010-2011 Basket Brindisi
• 2011-2012 CB Valladolid

References[link]

This biographical article relating to a French basketball figure is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Ricky Rubio

No. 9 – Minnesota Timberwolves
Point guard
Personal information
Born	(1990-10-21) October 21, 1990 (age 21) El Masnou, Barcelona, Spain
Nationality	Spain
Listed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
NBA Draft	2009 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5th overall
Selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves
Pro career	2005–present
League	NBA
Career history
2005–2009	DKV Joventut Badalona
2009–2011	FC Barcelona Bàsquet
2011–present	Minnesota Timberwolves
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2012) NBA BBVA Rising Star (2012) FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship MVP (2006) 3× FIBA European Young Player of the Year (2007, 2008, 2009) Superbasket Magazine's European Player of the Year: Mr. Europa (2008) Euroleague Rising Star (2010)
Medals Men's Basketball Competitor for  Spain Olympic Games Silver 2008 Beijing National Team FIBA European Championship Gold 2011 Lithuania National Team Gold 2009 Poland National Team

Ricard "Ricky" Rubio i Vives (born October 21, 1990) is a Spanish professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Rubio became the youngest player ever to play in the Spanish ACB League on October 15, 2005, at age 14.^[1][2] He made his Euroleague debut on October 24, 2006, at age 16, becoming the first player born in the 1990s to play in a Euroleague game.^[3] On June 25, 2009, he was drafted with the fifth pick in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft by the Timberwolves,^[4] making him the first player born in the 1990s to be drafted by the NBA. The Timberwolves had an agreement in principle with his former Spanish team, DKV Joventut, to buy out his contract, but Rubio backed out of the deal.^[5] On August 31, 2009, Joventut traded the rights to Rubio to FC Barcelona,^[6] and Rubio signed a six-year contract with FC Barcelona the following day.^[7] On May 31, 2011, Rubio reached an agreement with Minnesota to join the Timberwolves for the 2011–12 NBA season.^[8]

Player profile[link]

Rubio playing in Spain

Rubio is regarded by some as the best European guard prospect ever.^[9] Rubio has been compared by some to Pete Maravich.^[10]

2009 NBA Draft[link]

On June 24, 2009, the Minnesota Timberwolves acquired the 5th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov from the Washington Wizards, in exchange for Randy Foye and Mike Miller.^[11] With the 5th pick, Minnesota selected Rubio, making him the first player born in the 1990s to be drafted.^[12] The Timberwolves had a total of four first round picks in the 2009 NBA Draft. They used the 6th and 18th picks in the first round and chose two other point guards, Jonny Flynn from Syracuse and Ty Lawson from North Carolina, surprising many in the NBA.^[13][14] Lawson's draft rights were soon traded to the Denver Nuggets.^[14] The Timberwolves then used the 28th pick to select Wayne Ellington, a shooting guard from North Carolina.

The following day, Rubio's father told a Spanish media outlet that his son may return to Spain for at least one more season.^[13] Rubio did not attend an introductory press conference by the Timberwolves.^[15] Rubio had a buyout clause in his Joventut contract reported by various media outlets as ranging from $6.6 million to $8.2 million, and Timberwolves general manager David Kahn admitted that Rubio may have to play one more season in Spain to reduce or avoid the buyout.^[15]

After the draft[link]

On July 22, the Associated Press reported that Rubio was seeking to leave Joventut, regardless of whether he was able to come to the NBA. The report indicated that ACB powers FC Barcelona and Real Madrid were both interested in signing Rubio if he could not immediately come to the NBA. The main stumbling block to Rubio's NBA move was a clause in the league's collective bargaining agreement that prohibits a team from paying more than $500,000 toward a player's contract buyout. Barça and Real, as ACB clubs, are not subject to this rule and could pay far more toward a buyout.^[16] In another development, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported on August 4 that Rubio's representatives had been actively seeking endorsement deals in Minnesota to help finance his buyout (the NBA buyout rules are binding on teams, but not on third parties).^[17]

However, on August 31, 2009, ESPN reported that Rubio would not come to the NBA until 2011 at the earliest.^[6] Joventut expressed a willingness to reduce the buyout, and the Timberwolves apparently had a deal to bring him to the NBA, but in the end Rubio did not feel ready to come across the Atlantic. Rubio issued the following statement:^[5]

Kahn believed that Rubio and his family were being pressured by the Spanish media, his national teammates, and people in his hometown to stay in Spain, adding, "It's just been a tough summer. From an 18-year-old's perspective and his family's perspective, it was very nerve-racking."^[5]

ESPN reported that his original buyout with Joventut was €5.7 million ($8.1 million) in both 2009 and 2010.^[6] Barça bought out Rubio's contract for €3.5 million ($5.0 million), and announced on September 1 that he had signed a six-year deal with the club. The contract gave him the option to go to the NBA after the 2010–11 season,^[18] with ESPN reporting that the buyout at that time would be a more manageable $1.4 million (of which the Timberwolves could pay $500,000).^[5]

Pro career[link]

Spain[link]

Signed jersey of Ricky Rubio (2009)

Rubio debuted in the Spanish ACB League in the 2005-06 season with DKV Joventut. He won the EuroChallenge championship with Joventut that year. He led the Spanish ACB League in steals during the 2006-07 season. He also won the Spanish ACB League's Rising Star Award that season. Rubio was also named the 2007, 2008, and 2009 FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year.^[19] He made his Euroleague debut on October 24, 2006, versus Panathinaikos of Athens as Joventut's backup point guard for Elmer Bennett. Rubio averaged 2.8 assists per game in his first season of Euroleague play. He won the Eurocup championship with Joventut in 2008. He was also voted the Spanish ACB League's best point guard in 2008 and 2010. He won the Euroleague 2009-2010 with FC Barcelona.

Despite his notability, he was carefully shielded. DKV Joventut and Rubio's parents agreed not to make him available for interviews until his 18th birthday on 21 October 2008.^[20] However, the restrictions were ended a few months early once he was selected for the Spanish national team that would play at the 2008 Olympics.^[21]

Rubio won the 2008 Mr. Europa Award, which is given out yearly by the Italian Superbasket Magazine. In 2009, his club Badalona raised the amount of money that his contract paid per year from 80,000 euros net income to 300,000 euros net income.^[22] He was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the Spanish ACB League 2008-09 season, and he also led the league in steals that season. Rubio declared himself eligible for the 2009 NBA Draft on April 20, 2009.^[23][24] Rubio's agent is Dan Fegan.^[25]

Minnesota Timberwolves (2011–present)[link]

On June 1, 2011, sources reported that Rubio had "reached an agreement with Minnesota to join the Timberwolves" for the 2011–12 NBA season.^[8] Rubio arrived off a plane in Minnesota to a barrage of fans waiting to welcome him to America.^[26][27] On June 17, 2011, Rubio held a press conference announcing that he had signed with Minnesota.^[28]

Becoming the 10th Spanish NBA player,^[29] Rubio made his regular season debut on December 26, 2011, to a sellout crowd at Target Center, the team's first sellout crowd since the 2007-08 season. Rubio recorded 6 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists in 26 minutes a 4-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.^[30] He was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month after the first month of the season.^[31] In February, Rubio and teammate Derrick Williams were selected to participate in the 2012 Rising Stars challenge. However, Rubio was drafted to Team Shaq, while Williams was drafted to Team Chuck. Rubio scored a career high 22 points on February 19, 2012 in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers.^[32] In a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on March 9, 2012, Rubio tore his ACL and his lateral collateral ligament after colliding into Kobe Bryant. He missed the rest of the season.^[33][34] Rubio finished second in Rookie of the Year voting, trailing only Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Kyrie Irving^[35] Rubio had averaged 10.6 points, 8.2 assists and 2.2 steals in 41 games.

Spanish national team[link]

Under-16 national team[link]

In August 2006, Rubio led the rising junior Spanish national team to the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. During the tournament Rubio achieved two triple-doubles and a quadruple-double. In the 110–106 double overtime finale victory over Russia, Rubio scored 51 points, the first player to do so in FIBA tournaments since Luol Deng (in 2001), grabbed 24 rebounds, made 12 assists, and stole the ball 7 times—a performance unprecedented in the tournament's history. He also forced the first overtime with a three-point, buzzer-beating shot from mid-court. Rubio was subsequently named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament after leading it in points, rebounds, assists and steals.

Senior national team[link]

The young Spaniard was selected to take part in the Spanish National Team which participated at the 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament in Beijing, China. The team was composed of current and former NBA players such as Pau Gasol, José Calderón, Rudy Fernández, Marc Gasol, Raúl López, Jorge Garbajosa, and Juan Carlos Navarro, among others.

He played in the 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament's gold medal game against the USA's "Redeem Team", and thus at 17 became the youngest basketball player to ever play in an Olympic basketball final. Rubio shared the Spanish national team's silver medal after his team suffered a 118–107 loss. The next year he was chosen to play for Spain at the EuroBasket 2009 in Poland, where Spain won the gold medal by defeating Serbia 85–63. During the tournament, Rubio averaged 22.7 minutes, 5.9 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

Awards and accomplishments[link]

Joventut[link]

• Spanish King's Cup (1): 2008
• EuroChallenge (1): 2006
• Eurocup (1): 2008
• Catalan Cup Tournament (3): 2005, 2007, 2008

FC Barcelona Basquet[link]

• Spanish League (1): 2010–11
• Spanish King's Cup (2): 2010, 2011
• Euroleague (1): 2010
• Spanish Supercup (2): 2009, 2010
• Catalan Cup Tournament (2): 2009, 2010

Spanish national team[link]

• FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: Bronze Medal (2005)
• FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: Gold Medal (2006)
• 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament: Silver Medal
• EuroBasket 2009: Gold Medal
• EuroBasket 2011: Gold Medal

Personal awards[link]

• MVP of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: he averaged 22.3 points, 12.8 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 6.5 steals. In the final, accumulated 51 points, 24 rebounds, 12 assists and 7 steals.^[36]
• 2× led the Spanish ACB League in steals: (2007, 2009)
• Won the Spanish ACB League Rising Star Award: (2007)
• 3× FIBA European Young Player of the Year: (2007, 2008, 2009)
• 2× Spanish ACB League's Best Point Guard: (2008, 2010)
• 2× All-Spanish ACB League Team: (2008, 2010)
• Italian Superbasket Magazine's European Player of the Year: Mr. Europa: (2008)
• Spanish ACB League Defensive Player of the Year: (2009)
• Catalan Cup Tournament MVP: (2009)
• Euroleague Rising Star: (2010)
• Won the Spanish ACB League Top 5 Trophy: Most Spectacular Player of the Year (2010)

European professional club career statistics[link]

Note that 2pt field goal percentage and 3pt field goal percentage need to be averaged together to get the overall field goal percentage, as ULEB and Liga ACB do not list the overall field goal % in the stats like the NBA does. ACB stats include both regular season and playoff games.^[37][38]