Basque basketball derby

Basque basketball derby
Native name	Basque: Euskal derbia; Spanish: Derbi vasco
Sport	Basketball
Location	Basque Country
Teams	Baskonia; Bilbao Basket;
First meeting	Bilbao 57–104 Baskonia; 2004–05 ACB; (3 October 2004)
Latest meeting	Bilbao 82–80 Baskonia; 2023–24 ACB; (24 March 2024)
Stadiums	Buesa Arena (Vitoria-Gasteiz); Bilbao Arena (Bilbao)
Statistics
Meetings total	49
Most wins	Baskonia (38)
All-time record	Baskonia 38–11 Bilbao
All-time series (Liga ACB only)	Baskonia 33–9 Bilbao
Regular season series	Baskonia 28–9 Bilbao
Largest victory	Bilbao 57–104 Baskonia; 2004–05 ACB; (3 October 2004)
Smallest victory	Bilbao 79–80 Baskonia; 2011–12 ACB; (29 December 2011); Baskonia 81–80 Bilbao; 2012–13 ACB; (16 December 2012)
Longest win streak	Baskonia (8)
Current win streak	Bilbao (1)
	Buesa Arena Bilbao Arena Location of the two teams' arena

The Basque basketball derby (Basque: Euskal derbia, Spanish: Derbi vasco), is the name given to the basketball matches between Baskonia from Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbao Basket from Bilbao, the two main basketball teams in the Basque Country. Both cities are only separated by 66 km.

History

First games

Since the dissolution of Cajabilbao in 1994, Baskonia was the only Basque team in the Liga ACB until Bilbao Basket, founded in 2003, achieved promotion to the Spanish top league in 2004.

The first match between both teams was played on 3 October 2004, in the first round of the 2004–05 ACB season, at Pabellón La Casilla. Baskonia won by a huge 57–104, the biggest loss ever received by Bilbao Basket.^[1] After a second defeat, Bilbao won its first derby on 22 January 2006, by 92–78.

On 6 January 2007, Bizkaia Arena registered the highest attendance to date for a Liga ACB game with 15,414 people in the 78–92 win by Baskonia.^[2]

Rise of the rivalry and cup games

As Bilbao Basket started to improve its level, the rivalry between both teams increased. On 29 September 2007, Baskonia won the Supercopa by defeating Bilbao at Bizkaia Arena by 73–85. One year later, both teams played the first derby in the 2008 Copa del Rey semifinal and Baskonia won again by a narrow 68–66.

First playoffs

In the 2009 ACB Playoffs both teams met in the quarterfinals. Baskonia the series by 2–0 and would repeat this result again in the 2012 edition.

Derbies at EuroLeague

Bilbao Basket qualified for the first time to the EuroLeague on 2011, after finishing as runner-up of the 2010–11 ACB season. As Spain had five teams in the competition, both teams were drawn in the same group. Bilbao Basket won both games and eliminated Baskonia in the game played at Bilbao Arena, where the Men in black won by 77–72.^[3] This was the first time Baskonia did not qualify for the Top16 in the modern era of the Euroleague. Bilbao advanced in the competition until the quarterfinals, where they were eliminated by CSKA Moscow.

Brawl at Bilbao Arena and decline of Bilbao Basket

On March 1, 2015, the derby finished with a brawl where Dejan Todorović of Bilbao and Tornike Shengelia of Baskonia were disqualified and twelve players were ejected due to court invasion during the fight.^[4]

With four seconds left and Bilbao winning by a huge margin, despite the referee's call for a travelling, Todorović was going to dunk when he was hit by Shengelia. After this, the Serbian player pushed Shengelia from behind and the Georgian forward reacted with a punch. After this, all the players who were in the bench came into the court and started the brawl. When Shengelia was leaving the court after the disqualifying foul, he apologized to a child who was in the first row of the arena.^[5]

The ACB announced this brawl would have severe consequences and sanctions and would talk with the Spanish Basketball Federation for changing the disciplinary regulations.^[6] On March 5, the league provisionally suspended Todorović and Shengelia until the final resolution of the case.^[7]

Both clubs claimed to have the same sanctions than in 2004, when the brawl Real Madrid and Estudiantes occurred.^[8] Finally, on March 11, the Disciplinary Judge accorded to suspend Tornike Shengelia for five games, Dejan Todorović for four and a €3,000 fine to Bilbao Basket player Dairis Bertāns and to Baskonia brothers Mamadou and Ilimane Diop.^[9]

On 13 May 2018, Baskonia won a derby at Bilbao Arena by 78–74, thus relegating Bilbao Basket to the LEB Oro after 14 consecutive years in the top league. Bilbao returned to Liga ACB at the first opportunity, earning immediate promotion with a second-place finish in the 2018–19 LEB Oro season.

Head-to-head statistics

Positions in Liga ACB
Season	BKN	BLB
2004–05	2	14
2005–06	2	15
2006–07	3	10
2007–08	1	7
2008–09	2	8
2009–10	1	9
2010–11	4	2
2011–12	3	6
2012–13	5	7
2013–14	6	14
2014–15	6	5
2015–16	4	10
2016–17	3	10
2017–18	2	17
2019–20	1	8
2020–21	5	17
2021–22	4	9
2022–23	5	12

Competition	GP	BKN	BLB
Liga ACB	37	28	9
ACB Playoffs	5	5	0
Copa del Rey	3	3	0
Supercopa	2	2	0
EuroLeague	2	0	2
Total in all games	49	38	11

Results

At ACB Regular season

#	Season	Date	R	Boxscore	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance
1	2004–05	3 October 2004	1	[1]	Bilbao	57 – 104	Baskonia	5,000
2	2004–05	26 February 2005	22	[2]	Baskonia	92 – 90	Bilbao	9,323
3	2005–06	22 January 2006	17	[3]	Bilbao	92 – 78	Baskonia	13,000
4	2005–06	19 April 2006	29	[4]	Baskonia	88 – 75	Bilbao	9,200
5	2006–07	6 January 2007	16	[5]	Bilbao	76 – 88	Baskonia	15,414
6	2006–07	12 May 2007	34	[6]	Baskonia	95 – 63	Bilbao	8,900
7	2007–08	2 December 2007	10	[7]	Baskonia	78 – 80	Bilbao	9,500
8	2007–08	15 March 2003	29	[8]	Bilbao	60 – 78	Baskonia	5,000
9	2008–09	13 December 2008	10	[9]	Baskonia	97 – 79	Bilbao	9,700
10	2008–09	15 March 2009	26	[10]	Bilbao	85 – 72	Baskonia	11,500
11	2009–10	15 October 2009	2	[11]	Baskonia	85 – 76	Bilbao	9,200
12	2009–10	24 January 2010	19	[12]	Bilbao	71 – 86	Baskonia	11,987
13	2010–11	12 December 2010	11	[13]	Bilbao	99 – 95	Baskonia	8,793
14	2010–11	17 April 2011	30	[14]	Baskonia	89 – 75	Bilbao	9,500
15	2011–12	29 December 2011	13	[15]	Bilbao	79 – 80	Baskonia	10,014
16	2011–12	6 May 2012	34	[16]	Baskonia	100 – 70	Bilbao	13,826
17	2012–13	16 December 2012	12	[17]	Baskonia	81 – 80	Bilbao	14,381
18	2012–13	1 May 2013	29	[18]	Bilbao	75 – 93	Baskonia	10,003
19	2013–14	22 December 2013	11	[19]	Bilbao	96 – 92	Baskonia	9,804
20	2013–14	26 April 2014	29	[20]	Baskonia	76 – 70	Bilbao	8,193
21	2014–15	26 October 2014	4	[21]	Baskonia	86 – 74	Bilbao	8,629
22	2014–15	1 March 2015	22	[22]	Bilbao	93 – 75	Baskonia	9,993
23	2015–16	13 December 2015	10	[23]	Bilbao	89 – 83	Baskonia	9,837
24	2015–16	6 March 2016	22	[24]	Baskonia	108 – 62	Bilbao	12,341
25	2016–17	15 January 2017	17	[25]	Baskonia	84 – 63	Bilbao	12,118
26	2016–17	10 May 2017	33	[26]	Bilbao	64 – 75	Baskonia	9,318
27	2017–18	9 December 2017	11	[27]	Baskonia	94 – 71	Bilbao	10,215
28	2017–18	13 May 2018	32	[28]	Bilbao	74 – 78	Baskonia	9,842
29	2019–20	13 October 2019	4	[29]	Bilbao	79 – 75	Baskonia	9,047
30	2020–21	7 November 2020	10	[30]	Baskonia	82 – 68	Bilbao	–
31	2020–21	21 March 2021	27	[31]	Bilbao	72 – 85	Baskonia	–
32	2021–22	11 December 2021	13	[32]	Baskonia	101 – 86	Bilbao	7,032
33	2021–22	27 March 2022	26	[33]	Bilbao	62 – 90	Baskonia	8,487
34	2022–23	30 October 2022	6	[34]	Bilbao	70 – 81	Baskonia	9,127
35	2022–23	26 March 2023	24	[35]	Baskonia	100 – 78	Bilbao	10,305
36	2023–24	30 September 2023	3	[36]	Baskonia	92 – 72	Bilbao	15,504
37	2023–24	24 March 2024	26	[37]	Bilbao	82 – 80	Baskonia	9,586

At ACB playoffs

#	Season	Date	R	Boxscore	Home team	Score	Away team	Arena	Attendance
1	2009	17 May 2009	QF	[38]	Baskonia	90 – 86	Bilbao	Buesa Arena, Vitoria-Gasteiz	9,500
2	2009	19 May 2009	QF	[39]	Bilbao	76 – 97	Baskonia	Bizkaia Arena, Barakaldo	10,500
3	2012	17 May 2012	QF	[40]	Baskonia	77 – 73	Bilbao	Buesa Arena, Vitoria-Gasteiz	14,162
4	2012	20 May 2012	QF	[41]	Bilbao	88 – 90	Baskonia	Bilbao Arena, Bilbao	9,430
5	2020	17 June 2020	GS	[42]	Bilbao	64 – 87	Baskonia	La Fonteta, Valencia	–

At Copa del Rey

#	Season	Date	R	Boxscore	Home team	Score	Away team	Arena	Attendance
1	2008	9 February 2008	SF	[43]	Baskonia	68 – 66	Bilbao	Buesa Arena, Vitoria-Gasteiz	9,463
2	2010	19 February 2010	QF	[44]	Bilbao	62 – 75	Baskonia	Bizkaia Arena, Barakaldo	14,417
3	2011	11 February 2011	QF	[45]	Baskonia	76 – 74	Bilbao	Palacio de Deportes, Madrid	12,850

At Supercopa

#	Season	Date	R	Boxscore	Home team	Score	Away team	Arena	Attendance
1	2007	29 September 2007	F	[46]	Bilbao	73 – 85	Baskonia	Bizkaia Arena, Bilbao	12,200
2	2011	30 September 2011	SF	[47]	Bilbao	88 – 93	Baskonia	Bilbao Arena, Bilbao	8,230

At EuroLeague

#	Season	Date	Stage	R	Boxscore	Home team	Score	Away team	Arena	Attendance
1	2011–12	16 November 2011	RS	5	[48]	Baskonia	84 – 89	Bilbao	Iradier Arena, Vitoria-Gasteiz	8,460
2	2011–12	22 December 2011	RS	10	[49]	Bilbao	77 – 72	Baskonia	Bilbao Arena, Bilbao	10,014

References

^ "El Tau humilla al Lagun Aro Bilbao y es el primer líder de la ACB" (in Spanish). Libertad Digital. 3 October 2004.
^ "Lagun Aro Bilbao - TAU, récord histórico de asistencia: 15.414 espectadores" (in Spanish). ACB.
^ "Gescrap edge Caja Laboral 77-72, advance to the Top 16". EITB. 23 December 2011.
^ El acta del partido de la infamia; Marca, 2 March 2015 (in Spanish)
^ Spanish Basketball Brawl Ends With Player Apologizing to Small Child; The Big Lead, 2 March 2015
^ La ACB pide remodelar el Reglamento Disciplinario tras la tangana en Bilbao Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine; Deia, 2 March 2015 (in Spanish)
^ El Juez Disciplinario suspende cautelarmente a Dejan Todorovic y Shengelia Archived 2019-04-03 at the Wayback Machine; ACB.com, 5 March 2015
^ Comunicado conjunto de Bilbao Basket y Saski Baskonia Archived 2015-10-06 at the Wayback Machine; ACB.com, 5 March 2015(in Spanish)
^ Resolución del Juez Disciplinario sobre incidentes Bilbao - Laboral Kutxa Archived 2019-06-18 at the Wayback Machine; ACB.com, 11 March 2015

External links

Vitoria-Bilbao rivalry at Proyecto 75ers (in Spanish)
Baskonia official website
Bilbao Basket official website

[1] "El Tau humilla al Lagun Aro Bilbao y es el primer líder de la ACB" (in Spanish). Libertad Digital. 3 October 2004.

[2] "Lagun Aro Bilbao - TAU, récord histórico de asistencia: 15.414 espectadores" (in Spanish). ACB.

[3] "Gescrap edge Caja Laboral 77-72, advance to the Top 16". EITB. 23 December 2011.

[4] El acta del partido de la infamia; Marca, 2 March 2015 (in Spanish)

[5] Spanish Basketball Brawl Ends With Player Apologizing to Small Child; The Big Lead, 2 March 2015

[6] La ACB pide remodelar el Reglamento Disciplinario tras la tangana en Bilbao Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine; Deia, 2 March 2015 (in Spanish)

[7] El Juez Disciplinario suspende cautelarmente a Dejan Todorovic y Shengelia Archived 2019-04-03 at the Wayback Machine; ACB.com, 5 March 2015

[8] Comunicado conjunto de Bilbao Basket y Saski Baskonia Archived 2015-10-06 at the Wayback Machine; ACB.com, 5 March 2015(in Spanish)

[9] Resolución del Juez Disciplinario sobre incidentes Bilbao - Laboral Kutxa Archived 2019-06-18 at the Wayback Machine; ACB.com, 11 March 2015

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