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Italian Basketball Supercup
Current season, competition or edition:; 2023 Italian Basketball Supercup
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1995
No. of teams	4
Country	Italy
Confederation	FIBA Europe
Most recent; champion(s)	Olimpia Milano ; (5 titles)
Most titles	Mens Sana 1871 ; (6 titles)
TV partner(s)	Eurosport
Sponsor(s)	Discovery+
Related; competitions	LBA; Italian Cup

The Italian Basketball Supercup (Italian: Supercoppa Italiana di Pallacanestro), also known as Discovery+ Supercoppa for sponsorship reasons,^[2] is a professional basketball super cup competition. From the 2020 Supercup edition, all the teams of LBA took part in the competition. Created in 1995, it is organised by the Lega Basket – who run the LBA and the Italian Cup – in partnership with RCS Sport, and it traditionally opens the season.

History

The 2014 edition of the Supercup was played on October 4 and 5, at Sassari's PalaSerradimigni, in a final four format. Italian League and Italian Cup runners-up Montepaschi Siena (also defending champions), did not participate, after declaring bankruptcy over the summer. Italian League champions EA7 Emporio Armani Milano, comfortably dispatched Enel Brindisi (third in the 2014 cup), by a score of 71–59, in the first semifinal, on the back of Linas Kleiza's and Joe Ragland's long-distance shooting (17 and 16 points respectively), in a mistake-strewn game.

The other semifinal saw cup-holders Banco di Sardegna Sassari, have an easy 89–73 win over Acea Roma (league semifinalist), with the hosts always leading, and Sassari head coach Romeo Sacchetti, rotating his squad.^[3]

The final saw Sassari add a second title to their prior cup win, by downing Milano 96–88. The Sardinians started the game on the front foot, leading the first quarter, 29–14, while Milano struggled to score (0-for-6 from three). They continued to drive the game at the start of the second quarter, but Milano found a way back into the game, thanks to stronger defense and a stellar MarShon Brooks, to answer with a 15–0 run from, 36-18 down, with Sassari then finding their scoring shoes to finish the half 50–40. Three's from Ragland and Kleiza helped Milano claw back at the lead, but Brooks missed the shot to equalise, with the quarter ending on 72–68. Sassari would stay in front for the rest of the game, with Supercup MVP Jerome Dyson entertaining the fans. Brooks led all scorers with 26 points, followed for Milano by Ragland (17) and Kleizia (16), whilst Dyson paced the winners with 25, and three other players had 14 points.^[4]

The 2015 edition took place in Turin's PalaRuffini, on 26 and 27 September. It pitted Banco di Sardegna Sassari (both league and cup holders) against Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia (league runners-up) and EA7 Emporio Armani Milano (cup finalist and league semifinalist) against Umana Reyer Venezia (league semifinalist) in the semifinals.^[5]^[6]

Format

In 2000, the Supercup was organised on a bigger scale, with all but one of the Serie A and Serie A2 teams participating (Viola Reggio Calabria were caught up in a tournament in Buenos Aires), with the league and cup holders already qualified for the semifinals. The next year, the four best-ranked teams in the league took part in a Supercup final four.^[7]

The 2014 edition saw the Supercup contested by four squads, with the league champion playing the runner up of the cup, and the cup winner playing the league regular season runner-up (barring that, the next best placed team in the cup and the league are chosen in that order).^[8] The format was confirmed for the following editions.

In 2020 edition all the teams of LBA took part in the Supercup, due to the early conclusion of the 2019–20 LBA season caused by COVID-19 pandemic. The competition consists of 4 round robin groups that qualify 4 teams to the Final Four that was held in Bologna at the Segafredo Arena. The format was confirmed for the 2021 edition, with a Final Eight in place of a Final Four.

Media scrutiny

Some observers have derided the Italian Basketball Supercup as a, "minor trophy", in contrast to the Italian Cup.^[9] Journalist's such as the Corriere di Bologna's, Daniele Labanti, and Panorama's Paolo Corio, reacted to the low spectator turnout at the 2014 edition (as part of a general trend), organised in Sassari, by unfavorably comparing its appeal to that of the top level Italian league, the top level Italian Cup, and the EuroLeague (in which the home team would be involved).

The formula and venue was also criticised, with calls to organise a single final, in a city bereft of a professional club basketball (such as Bari or Palermo), or even abroad, in the manner of the Italian football Supercup.^[10]^[11]

Title holders

Mens Sana are the record-holders with seven cups, Treviso and Milano follow with four titles, Virtus Bologna have participated in the most finals (11), winning the cup three times.^[7]

1995: Buckler Beer Bologna
1996: Riello Mash Verona
1997: Benetton Treviso
1998: Teamsystem Bologna
1999: Varese Roosters
2000: Aeroporti di Roma Virtus
2001: Benetton Treviso
2002: Benetton Treviso
2003: Oregon Scientific Cantù
2004: Montepaschi Siena
2005: Climamio Bologna
2006: Benetton Treviso
2007: Montepaschi Siena
2008: Montepaschi Siena
2009: Montepaschi Siena
2010: Montepaschi Siena
2011: Montepaschi Siena
2012: Lenovo Cantù
2013: Montepaschi Siena (revoked)^[12]
2014: Banco di Sardegna Sassari
2015: Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia
2016: EA7 Emporio Armani Milano
2017: EA7 Emporio Armani Milano
2018: AX Armani Exchange Milano
2019: Banco di Sardegna Sassari
2020: AX Armani Exchange Milano
2021: Virtus Segafredo Bologna
2022: Virtus Segafredo Bologna
2023: Virtus Segafredo Bologna
2024: EA7 Emporio Armani Milano

The finals

Player nationalities by national team.

Season	Champions	Score	Runners-up	Venue	Location	MVP
Supercoppa Italiana di Pallacanestro
1995	Buckler Beer Bologna	90–72	Benetton Treviso	PalaMalaguti	Casalecchio di Reno	Orlando Woolridge
1996	Riello Mash Verona	79–72	Stefanel Milano	FilaForum	Assago	Giacomo Galanda
1997	Benetton Treviso	78–58	Kinder Bologna	FilaForum	Assago	Denis Marconato
1998	Teamsystem Bologna	66–59	Kinder Bologna	PalaMalaguti	Casalecchio di Reno	Alessandro Abbio
1999	Varese Roosters	68–61	Kinder Bologna	PalaIgnis	Varese	Andrea Meneghin
2000	Aeroporti di Roma Virtus	82–78	Kinder Bologna	Palasport Mens Sana	Siena	Jerome Allen
2001	Benetton Treviso	88–71	Scavolini Pesaro	PalaFiera	Genoa	Tyus Edney
2002	Benetton Treviso	100–72	Virtus Bologna	PalaFiera	Genoa	Tyus Edney (2x)
2003	Oregon Scientific Cantù	85–79	Benetton Treviso	PalaVerde	Treviso	Nate Johnson
2004	Montepaschi Siena	85–77	Benetton Treviso	Palasport Mens Sana	Siena	David Vanterpool
2005	Climamio Bologna	84–75	Benetton Treviso	PalaDozza	Bologna	Marco Belinelli
2006	Benetton Treviso	76–73	Eldo Napoli	PalaVerde	Treviso	Marcus Goree
2007	Montepaschi Siena	96–50	Benetton Treviso	Palasport Mens Sana	Siena	Shaun Stonerook
2008	Montepaschi Siena	108–72	Air Avellino	Palasport Mens Sana	Siena	Terrell McIntyre
2009	Montepaschi Siena	87–65	Canadian Solar Bologna	Palasport Mens Sana	Siena	Romain Sato
2010	Montepaschi Siena	82–64	Canadian Solar Bologna	Palasport Mens Sana	Siena	Bo McCalebb
2011	Montepaschi Siena	73–70	Bennet Cantù	PalaFiera	Forlì	Kšyštof Lavrinovič
2012	Lenovo Cantù	80–73	Montepaschi Siena	105 Stadium	Rimini	Manuchar Markoishvili
2013	Montepaschi Siena (revoked)	81–66	Cimberio Varese	Palasport Mens Sana	Siena	Daniel Hackett
2014	Banco di Sardegna Sassari	96–88	EA7 Emporio Armani Milano	PalaSerradimigni	Sassari	Jerome Dyson
2015	Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia	80–68	EA7 Emporio Armani Milano	PalaRuffini	Turin	Amedeo Della Valle
2016	EA7 Emporio Armani Milano	90–72	Sidigas Avellino	Mediolanum Forum	Assago	Krunoslav Simon
2017	EA7 Emporio Armani Milano	82–77	Umana Reyer Venezia	Unieuro Arena	Forlì	Jordan Theodore
2018	AX Armani Exchange Milano	82–71	Fiat Torino	PalaLeonessa	Brescia	Vladimir Micov
2019	Banco di Sardegna Sassari	83–80	Umana Reyer Venezia	PalaFlorio	Bari	Curtis Jerrells
2020	AX Armani Exchange Milano	75–68	Virtus Segafredo Bologna	Segafredo Arena	Bologna	Malcolm Delaney
2021	Virtus Segafredo Bologna	90–84	AX Armani Exchange Milano	Unipol Arena	Bologna	Alessandro Pajola
2022	Virtus Segafredo Bologna	72–69	Banco di Sardegna Sassari	PalaLeonessa	Brescia	Semi Ojeleye
2023	Virtus Segafredo Bologna	97–60	Germani Brescia	PalaLeonessa	Brescia	Tornike Shengelia

Note: boxscores from Lega Basket (retrieved 21 September 2021)

Performance by club

Rank	Club	Titles	Runner-up	Champion Years
1.	Mens Sana 1871	6	1	2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 (revoked)
2.	Olimpia Milano	5	3	2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2024
3.	Virtus Bologna	4	8	1995, 2021, 2022, 2023
4.	Treviso	4	5	1997, 2001, 2002, 2006
5.	Cantù	2	1	2003, 2012
6.	Fortitudo Bologna	2	0	1998, 2005
7.	Dinamo Sassari	2	1	2014, 2019
8.	Varese	1	1	1999
9.	Scaligera Verona	1	0	1996
10.	Virtus Roma	1	0	2000
11.	Reggiana	1	0	2015
12.	Felice Scandone	0	2
13.	Reyer Venezia	0	2
14.	Torino	0	1
15.	Victoria Libertas	0	1
16.	Napoli	0	1

References

^ "Ad Eurosport il pacchetto PAY di Serie A, Supercoppa e Coppa Italia. Il GM di Discovery: Gran colpo" [Eurosport has pay TV rights for Serie A, Supercoppa and Coppa Italia. GM of Discovery Channel: Great hit]. Sportando.com (in Italian). 12 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
^ "Basket, ecco la Supercoppa targata Discovery: dal 3 al 21 settembre". repubblica.it (in Italian). 26 July 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
^ "Basket, Supercoppa Italiana: Milano batte Brindisi, in finale contro Sassari" [Basketball, Italian Supercup: Milano beats Brindisi, [is] in final against Sassari]. Repubblica.it (in Italian). 4 October 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
^ Canfora, Mario (5 October 2014). "Basket, Supercoppa. Finale: Sassari-Milano 96-88" [Basketball, Supercup: finals: Sassari-Milano 96-88]. Gazzetta.it (in Italian). Sassari. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
^ "Beko Supercoppa 2015: si riparte da Dinamo – Reggio Emilia" [Beko Supercup 2015: starting again from Dinamo – Reggio Emilia]. DinamoBasket.com (in Italian). 15 July 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
^ "La Beko Supercoppa 2015 a Torino" [The Beko Supercup 2015 in Turin]. LegaBasket.it (in Italian). 8 May 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Il trionfo di Milano vale la finalissima della Supercoppa italiana" [The triumph over Milano is worth the Italian Supercup final]. GElocal.it/LaNuovaSardegna (in Italian). 11 February 2014. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
^ "Beko Supercoppa; le modalità di partecipazione" [Beko Supercup; the participation procedures]. LegaBasket.it (in Italian). 13 June 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
^ Fuochi, Walter (23 February 2015). "Amara Milano, la Coppa è di Sassari" [Bitter Milano, the Cup is for Sassari]. Repubblica.it (in Italian). Retrieved 14 September 2015.
^ Corio, Paolo (6 October 2014). "La Supercoppa e quegli spettatori in meno anche a Sassari" [The Supercup and its fewer spectators even in Sassari]. Panorama.it (in Italian). Retrieved 14 September 2015.
^ Labanti, Daniele (5 October 2014). "Il basket, Sassari e il flop della Supercoppa" [Basketball, Sassari and the Supercup's failure]. boblog.CorrierediBologna.Corriere.it (in Italian). Retrieved 14 September 2015.
^ Following an investigation for accounting and fiscal fraud, the Italian Basketball Federation revoked all the domestic titles won by the club during the 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons.