The winningest team in the history of the 7DAYS EuroCup, Valencia Basket is back, which generally is bad news for the rest of the teams.
Club profile: Valencia Basket
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The winningest team in the history of the 7DAYS EuroCup, Valencia Basket is back, which generally is bad news for the rest of the teams. Valencia has lifted the trophy four times, including in the EuroCup's inaugural season in 2003. Strong rosters, a great fan base, committed front office and sound business structure have turned Valencia into a continental power.
Founded in 1986, Valencia reached the top Spanish League in 1988, but did not stick for good until 1996. Two years later Valencia claimed its first trophy, the Copa del Rey, by downing DKV Joventut Badalona in epic fashion. Soon the then-named Pamesa Valencia became a regular in the Spanish playoffs. In Europe, Valencia reached the Saporta Cup final twice, but lost in 1999 to Benetton Treviso and in 2002 to Montepaschi Siena. Everything changed for Valencia in the 2002-03 season. First came the EuroCup title as it swept Krka Novo Mesto in the finals led by Finals MVP Dejan Tomasevic, Nacho Rodilla and Fabricio Oberto. Valencia then climbed to the Spanish League finals before losing to Barcelona. In its debut EuroLeague season in 2003-04, Valencia reached the Top 16 and came within one win of the Final Four.
Valencia had plenty of success in the EuroCup, but didn't capture the trophy again until 2010 when the then-named Power Electronics Valencia bested ALBA Berlin in the championship game in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. A year later, Valencia went all the way to the EuroLeague Playoffs before losing to Real Madrid. Valencia made it to another EuroCup final in 2012, but fell to Khimki Moscow Region. It returned to the EuroCup Finals in 2014 and left no doubts by sweeping UNICS Kazan behind an outstanding Justin Doellman. Valencia reached three finals in 2017: it lost against Real in the Copa del Rey final and against Unicaja Malaga in the EuroCup Finals, but claimed its first Spanish League title by defeating Real in the finals with Bojan Dubljevic taking MVP honors.
After playing the 2017-18 EuroLeague, Valencia came back to the EuroCup and promptly won the competition for the fourth time. Valencia won 16 of its final 17 games and bested ALBA in the finals to reclaim a EuroLeague spot. Will Thomas was chosen as the EuroCup Finals MVP while Dubljevic and Sam Van Rosson earned All-EuroCup honors. Valencia comes off consecutive EuroLeague campaigns for the first time ever and missed the playoffs last season despite a 19-15 record. It also reached the Spanish League semifinals for the seventh time in the last eight seasons. Now back in the EuroCup, Valencia is instantly among the favorites to win the competition and will be a force to be reckoned with.