2003–04 Lega Basket Serie A

Lega Basket Serie A
Season	2003–04
Duration	October 4, 2003 – June 5, 2004
Number of games	34
Number of teams	18
Regular season
Top seed	Montepaschi Siena
Season MVP	Gianluca Basile
Relegated	Coop Nordest Trieste Sicilia Messina
Finals
Champions	Montepaschi Siena 1st title
Runners-up	Skipper Bologna
Semifinalists	Benetton Treviso Scavolini Pesaro
Finals MVP	David Andersen
Statistical leaders
Points Charlie Bell 25.5 Rebounds K'zell Wesson 9.5 Assists Leonardo Busca 4.9
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

The 2003–04 Lega Basket Serie A, known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons, was the 82nd season of the Lega Basket Serie A, the highest professional basketball league in Italy.

The regular season ran from October 4, 2003 to May 9, 2004, 18 teams played 34 games each. The top 8 teams made the play-offs whilst the two lowest ranked teams, Coop Nordest Trieste and Sicilia Messina, were relegated to the Legadue.

Montepaschi Siena won their first ever title by winning the playoff finals series against Skipper Bologna.

Teams

Avellino

Treviso

Milano

Trieste

Roseto

Biella

Roma

Livorno

Varese

Siena

Cantù

Naples

Pesaro

Messina

Bologna

Udine

Teramo

Reggio Calabria

class=notpageimage|

Lega Basket 2003–04 – Club Locations

Season narrative

Preseason

The league signed a three-year sponsorship contract with mobile phone company TIM in September 2003, award the naming rights for the competition.^[1]

Prior to the start of play, in August 2003, Virtus Bologna were excluded from the league due to financial irregularities (namely unpaid wages), they were replaced by Sicilia Messina, the losing finalist of the preceding year's Legadue, a proposal to expand the league to 20 clubs and thus include both clubs was not approved.^[2][3]

Reigning champions Benetton Treviso were seen as the favourites to retain their title, teams Lottomatica Roma, Scavolini Pesaro, Montepaschi Siena and Skipper Bologna were seen as the main challengers, with Air Avellino, Coop Nordest Trieste, Mabo Livorno and above all Sicilia Messina seen as the clubs fighting to avoid relegation.^[4]

Regular season

Montepaschi Sienna finished first in the league for the first time of their history, Skipper Bologna and Benetton Treviso finished equal on points in second place but Skipper was 2-0 in their direct confrontations and hence superseded Treviso. The title was strongly expected to be disputed between these three teams.^[5]

At the other end of the standings, late promotee Sicilia Messina predictably struggled on the court - a relegation confirmed in the penultimate round seen as an achievement - and off the court, with financial problems and a perceived disinterest by the public.^[6] The other relegated team Coop Nordest Trieste also struggled financially (along with some other Serie A teams),^[7] both would declare bankruptcy in the course of the following year.

Playoffs

After reaching the finals for a historic first time, Montepaschi Sienna won its first championship after winning all of its playoff games.^[8] Losing finalist Skipper Bologna's prior defeat of Benetton Treviso meant that Benetton, who had won the last two editions, did not compete in the final for only the second time in six years.^[9]

Regular season

Individual statistics, regular season

Points

Rank	Name	Team	PPG
1.	Charlie Bell	Mabo Livorno	25.5
2.	Mario Boni	Teramo Basket	23.8
3.	Alphonso Ford	Scavolini Pesaro	23.5
4.	Mike Penberthy	Pompea Napoli	21.3
5.	Carlton Myers	Lottomatica Roma	20.2

Assists

Rank	Name	Team	APG
1.	Leonardo Busca	Sicilia Messina	4.9
2.	Gianmarco Pozzecco	Skipper Bologna	4.2
3.	Tyus Edney	Benetton Treviso	3.8
4.	Robert Fultz	Skipper Bologna	3.6
5.	Fabio Di Bella	Lauretana Biella	3.5

Rebounds

Rank	Name	Team	RPG
1.	K'zell Wesson	Euro Roseto	9.5
2.	Matt Bonner	Sicilia Messina	9.3
3.	Tyrone Grant	Teramo Basket	8.2
4.	Marquis Estill	Sicilia Messina	7.8
5.	Brooks Sales	Teramo Basket	7.5

Steals

Rank	Name	Team	SPG
1.	Nate Green	Air Avellino	3.9
2.	Alvin Sims	Coop Nordest Trieste	3.5
3.	Jerry McCullough	Metis Varese	3.0
4.	Hugo Sconochini	Breil Milano	3.0
5.	Fabio Di Bella	Lauretana Biella	2.7

Blocks

Rank	Name	Team	BPG
1.	Benjamin Eze	Tris Reggio Calabria	1.5
2.	Bud Eley	Scavolini Pesaro	1.3
3.	Alessandro Tonolli	Lottomatica Roma	1.1
4.	Michele Maggioli	Air Avellino	1.0
5.	Marquis Estill	Sicilia Messina	1.0

Valuation

Rank	Name	Team	VPG
1.	Tyrone Grant	Teramo Basket	24.5
2.	Matt Bonner	Sicilia Messina	22.8
3.	Tyus Edney	Benetton Treviso	22.5
4.	Alphonso Ford	Scavolini Pesaro	21.8
5.	Jorge Garbajosa	Benetton Treviso	19.9

Play-offs

Montepaschi Siena vs. Metis Varese

Scavolini Pesaro vs. Pompea Napoli

Benetton Treviso vs. Oregon Scientific Cantù

Skipper Bologna vs. Lottomatica Roma

Semifinals

Montepaschi Siena vs. Scavolini Pesaro

Skipper Bologna vs. Benetton Treviso

Finals

Montepaschi Siena vs. Skipper Bologna

Supercup

The Italian Basketball Supercup opened the season on September 27, 2003 in the PalaVerde in Treviso, it pitted reigning champions and 2002-03 cup holders Benetton Treviso against Oregon Scientific Cantù, finalists in the previous year's cup.^[10] Cantù upset Benetton 85-79 to win its first trophy in 12 years, with Nate Johnson named MVP for his first game in Italy.^[11]

All Star Game

The All Star Game was played in Genoa on December 13, 2004 in the newly opened PalaFiumara. The foreign All Stars beat Italy, bronze medalists at EuroBasket 2003, 106-99 after coming back from behind 55-26 down to force an overtime. Maurice Evans was designated MVP whilst Michele Mian won the three point shootout.^[12][13]

Cup

The Cup was contested between 25 February and 28 February in the PalaFiera(in Italian) in Forlì between the 8 best ranked teams of the first phase of the league. Benetton Treviso won the cup for the second successive season, beating Scavolini Pesaro 85-76, Jorge Garbajosa was named as the Final Eight MVP.^[14][15]

Awards

• Most Valuable Player:

Gianluca Basile (Skipper Bologna)

• Coach of the year:

Carlo Recalcati (Montepaschi Siena)^[16]

• Finals MVP:

David Andersen (Montepaschi Siena)^[17]

Notes

References

External links

• "Calendar of the 2003-04 season at." Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Lega Basket. Retrieved on 6 June 2015. (in Italian)