The 1965/66 EuroLeague season brought together 26 teams. For the first time in EuroLeague history, teams that advanced to 1/4 Finals, were split into two groups. The best two teams of each group eventually advanced to Final Four that was held in Bologna, Italy. The local fans had plenty of moments to cheer on.
The reigning champions – Real Madrid failed to complete a three-peat and reach the Final Four stage, finishing 4th in Group A. After winning two consecutive titles, Real struggled defensively, narrowly losing the crucial matchups. One of the teams that became a pleasant surprise of this tournament was Slavia VŠ Praha team. The Czechoslovak side featured the 22-year-old power forward Jiri Zidek, who became the Top Scorer of this season with 333 points in 11 games, averaging an impressive 30.2 points per game. He was the key reason why Slavia were able to reach the EuroLeague Final.
The other finalist and the eventual champion of this season was Olimpia Milano team, led by Bill Bradley and Gabriele Vianello. The latter was the Finals MVP, scoring 21 points and putting up some stellar performances throughout the season, averaging 18.5 points per game. The Olimpia successfully got past the experienced Soviet side, CSKA Moscow in the semifinals, and in the Final, the Italian team won their first EuroLeague title after a 77-72 win over Slavia.
1965/66 EUROLEAGUE CHAMPIONS
Team
Olimpia Milano
NAT
G
12
W
9
L
3
1965/66 EUROLEAGUE FINALS MVP
Team
Player
G.Vianello
Age
28
G
12
PPG
18.5
PTS
222
1965/66 EUROLEAGUE TOP SCORER
Team
Player
Jiri Zidek
Age
22
G
11
PPG
30.2
PTS
333
1965/66 EUROLEAGUE FINALS
GM1
77
72
AGG.
77
72
OLIMPIA MILANO
SLAVIA VŠ PRAHA
GAME 1 BOXSCORE
TEAM
TEAM
PLAYER
Gabriele Vianello
Skip Thoren
Bill Bradley
Sandro Riminucci
Gianfranci Pieri
Giulio Iellini
Massimo Masini
Giandomenico Ognaro
Marco Binda
PLAYER
Jiri Zidek
Jiri Ammer
Jiri Zedniček
Jaroslav Kovar
Karel Baroch
Jiri Štastny
Jaroslav Krivy
Jiri Konopasek
Jiri Lizalek
POINTS
21
21
14
10
4
4
3
0
0
77
POINTS
20
11
10
10
10
6
5
0
0
72
3RD PLACE GAME
GM1
85
62
AGG.
85
62
CSKA MOSCOW
AEK ATHENS
SEMIFINALS
GM1
68
57
AGG.
68
57
OLIMPIA MILANO
CSKA MOSCOW
GM1
103
73
AGG.
103
73
SLAVIA VŠ PRAHA
AEK ATHENS
1/4 FINALS GROUP STAGE
GROUP A
SLAVIA VŠ PRAHA
OLIMPIA MILANO
RACING MECHELEN
REAL MADRID
W
2
2
2
0
L
1
1
1
3
PD
+56
-13
-17
-14
PTS
5
5
4
4
GROUP A GAMES
GM1
71
83
GM2
80
63
AGG.
151
146
REAL MADRID
SLAVIA VŠ PRAHA
GM1
94
104
GM2
95
66
AGG.
189
170
OLIMPIA MILANO
RACING MECHELEN
GM1
104
95
GM2
99
101
AGG.
203
196
RACING MECHELEN
REAL MADRID
GM1
77
96
GM2
82
59
AGG.
159
155
SLAVIA VŠ PRAHA
OLIMPIA MILANO
GM1
66
71
GM2
93
76
AGG.
159
147
OLIMPIA MILANO
REAL MADRID
GM1
91
104
GM2
94
76
AGG.
185
180
SLAVIA VŠ PRAHA
RACING MECHELEN
GROUP B
CSKA MOSCOW
AEK ATHENS
CSKA SOFIA
KK ZADAR
W
2
2
1
1
L
1
1
2
2
PD
+4
+27
+4
-47
PTS
5
5
5
3
GROUP B GAMES
GM1
64
77
GM2
78
63
AGG.
142
140
CSKA SOFIA
CSKA MOSCOW
GM1
71
69
GM2
76
71
AGG.
147
140
AEK ATHENS
KK ZADAR
GM1
53
79
GM2
84
58
GM3
80
73
AGG.
217
120
CSKA SOFIA
KK ZADAR
GM1
66
74
GM2
81
48
AGG.
147
122
CSKA MOSCOW
AEK ATHENS
GM1
69
94
GM2
75
45
AGG.
144
139
AEK ATHENS
CSKA SOFIA
GM1
79
49
GM2
87
84
AGG.
166
133
CSKA MOSCOW
KK ZADAR
SECOND ROUND
GM1
78
90
GM2
70
58
GM3
65
59
AGG.
213
207
KK ZADAR
DINAMO BUC.
GM1
80
65
GM2
87
53
AGG.
187
118
OLIMPIA MILANO
HAPOEL TEL AVIV
GM1
53
61
GM2
86
65
AGG.
139
126
CSKA SOFIA
DENAIN VOLTAIRE
GM1
113
88
GM2
91
61
AGG.
201
149
REAL MADRID
ALVIK BK
GM1
113
96
GM2
125
76
AGG.
238
172
AEK ATHENS
WYDAD AC
GM1
87
66
GM2
88
57
AGG.
175
123
CSKA MOSCOW
VORWARTS LEIPZIG
GM1
100
62
GM2
82
81
AGG.
182
143
SLAVIA VŠ PRAHA
HONVED BUDAPEST
GM1
116
76
GM2
99
74
AGG.
210
150
RACING MECHELEN
HELSINGIN KT
FIRST ROUND
GM1
113
83
GM2
100
61
AGG.
213
144
RACING MECHELEN
ALDERSHOT WARRIORS
GM1
53
54
GM2
77
76
GM3
65
61
AGG.
193
191
WYDAD AC
SL BENFICA
GM1
72
71
GM2
81
79
AGG.
153
150
AEK ATHENS
WISLA KRAKOW
GM1
60
48
GM2
89
61
AGG.
149
109
ALVIK BK
KR REYKJAVIK
GM1
78
51
GM2
74
33
AGG.
152
84
DENAIN VOLTAIRE
COLLEGIANS
GM1
72
51
GM2
90
47
AGG.
162
98
CSKA SOFIA
BBC ETZELLA
GM1
88
77
GM2
103
73
AGG.
191
150
OLIMPIA MILANO
GIESSEN 46ERS
GM1
84
57
GM2
87
39
AGG.
171
96
SLAVIA VŠ PRAHA
GLADSAXE BK
GM1
82
75
GM2
79
64
AGG.
161
139
VORWARTS LEIPZIG
WIENER SK
GM1
85
71
GM2
75
68
AGG.
146
143
DINAMO BUCURESTI
FENERBAHCE
1965/66 EUROLEAGUE TOP 50 BEST SCORERS LIST
The best scorers of the 1965/66 EuroLeague season are ranked based on the total points scored by a player throughout the season. The totality gives a better insight on the value of the player than the scoring averages.
#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
Team
Player
Jiri Zidek
Bill Bradley
Willy Steveniers
Georgios Amerikanos
Georgios Trontzos
Gabriele Vianello
Emiliano Rodriguez
Clifford Luyk
Karel Baroch
Theo Hillen
Skip Thoren
Giuseppe Gjergja
Ron Loneski
Gennady Volnov
Christos Zoupas
Jiri Ammer
Lucien Michelet
Jiri Zedniček
Aleksandr Travin
Jaak Lipso
Bruno Marcelic
John Loridon
Massimo Masini
Temelaki Dimitrov
Thomas Duffer
Oliver Howell
Mihai Albu
Aleksandr Kulkov
Carlos Sevillano
Jaroslav Kovar
Željko Troskot
Stefan Filipov
Petar Jelic
Eas Larentzakis
Yury Korneev
Emil Mihajlov
Georgios Moschos
Atanas Golomeev
Robby Hendrickx
Krešimir Cosic
Stelios Vasiliadis
Kliment Kamenarov
Gheorghe Novac
Duro Stipčevic
Jose Alberto
Gianfranco Pieri
Viktor Zubkov
Tsvyatko Barchovski
Kaj Hakansson
Abdellatif Alami
G
11
12
10
12
12
12
8
8
12
10
11
9
7
10
12
12
10
11
10
10
10
9
12
7
4
10
5
10
8
9
5
8
9
12
10
8
12
7
9
10
12
8
5
10
3
11
10
4
4
4
PPG
30.2
26.5
27.5
22.3
18.6
18.5
24.8
23.5
14.5
17.0
15.4
17.7
22.0
15.4
18.6
11.6
12.9
11.2
12.0
11.8
10.4
10.8
7.9
12.0
22.0
8.8
17.0
8.3
10.3
8.7
15.6
9.8
8.2
6.1
7.2
7.6
5.4
9.1
7.0
6.3
5.1
7.6
12.0
5.9
19.3
5.0
5.4
13.3
13.3
13.0
PTS
333
318
275
267
223
222
198
188
174
170
170
159
154
154
144
140
129
125
120
118
104
97
95
91
89
88
85
83
82
79
78
78
74
74
72
66
65
64
63
63
62
61
60
59
58
55
54
53
53
52
1965/66 EUROLEAGUE BEST OFFENSIVE TEAMS
#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Team
RACING MECHELEN
SL BENFICA
WYDAD AC
REAL MADRID
OLIMPIA MILANO
SLAVIA VŠ PRAHA
AEK ATHENS
CSKA MOSCOW
GIESSEN 46ERS
WISLA KRAKOW
HELSINGIN KT
ALVIK BK
CSKA SOFIA
ALDERSHOT BC
FENERBAHCE
HONVED BUDAPEST
VORWARTS LEIPZIG
DINAMO BUCURESTI
DENAIN VOLTAIRE
WIENER SK
KK ZADAR
HAPOEL TEL AVIV
KR REYKJAVIK
BBC ETZELLA
GLADSAXE BK
COLLEGIANS BELFAST
G
10
2
4
8
12
12
12
10
2
2
2
4
11
2
2
2
4
5
4
2
10
2
2
2
2
2
PTS
976
191
365
695
1026
1018
939
770
150
150
150
298
799
144
143
143
284
353
278
130
696
118
109
98
96
84
PPG
97.6
95.5
91.3
86.9
85.5
84.8
78.3
77.0
75.0
75.0
75.0
74.5
72.6
72.0
71.5
71.5
71.0
70.6
69.5
69.5
69.6
59.0
54.5
49.0
48.0
42.0
1965/66 EUROLEAGUE BEST DEFENSIVE TEAMS
#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Team
DENAIN VOLTAIRE
CSKA MOSCOW
CSKA SOFIA
DINAMO BUCURESTI
OLIMPIA MILANO
SLAVIA VŠ PRAHA
FENERBAHCE
KK ZADAR
KR REYKJAVIK
COLLEGIANS BELFAST
WISLA KRAKOW
ALVIK BK
AEK ATHENS
VORWARTS LEIPZIG
WIENER SK
BBC ETZELLA
REAL MADRID
GLADSAXE BK
RACING MECHELEN
HONVED BUDAPEST
GIESSEN 46ERS
HAPOEL TEL AVIV
SL BENFICA
HELSINGIN KT
ALDERSHOT BC
WYDAD AC
G
4
10
11
5
12
12
2
10
2
2
2
4
12
4
2
2
8
2
10
2
2
2
2
2
2
4
PTS
223
650
718
356
873
876
146
737
149
153
153
310
936
314
161
162
657
171
864
192
191
187
193
210
213
429
PPG
55.8
65.0
65.3
71.2
72.8
73.0
73.0
73.7
74.5
76.0
76.5
77.5
78.0
78.5
80.5
81.0
82.1
85.5
86.4
91.0
93.5
95.5
96.5
105.0
106.5
107.3
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