Divizia A (Baschet Masculin)

Current season or competition: 2010–11 Divizia A
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1950
No. of teams	16
Country(ies)	Romania
Continent	FIBA Europe
Most recent champion(s)	U Mobitelco Cluj
Most titles	Dinamo Bucureşti (22 titles)
TV partner(s)	TVR
Official website	frbaschet.ro

The Divizia A is the top-tier professional basketball league of Romania. There are 16 teams in Men's Division A.

The regular season begins in October and is played over a normal round-robin home-and-away basis. The first 8 clubs qualify for the play-offs. The play-offs are played using the knock-out format. The quarter-finals and semifinals use "best of 5" series, while the final is played using a "best of 7" series. The last 2 teams following the regular season are automatically relegated to the Division B.

History

The championship was founded in 1950 and the most successful club is Dinamo Bucureşti with 22 titles, followed closely by Steaua Bucureşti with 21. But in recent years Asesoft Ploieşti is the best team in the country, winning the championship 6 times consecutively, 2004-Present. Asesoft is the only Romanian team who won a European competition, namely the FIBA EuroCup Challenge, in 2005.

Notable Divizia A players

Despite its mediocre present, Romanian basketball had a bright past, three of its former players becoming worldwide basketball stars. These three players have been recently inducted in the European Basketball Hall of Fame, as a recognition for their glorious careers.

• Gheorghe Mureşan - Signed in 1993 with the Washington Bullets, becoming the tallest player ever in the NBA. Played 6 successful seasons with the Bullets and the New Jersey Nets, averaging a career 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 0.5 assists. Obtained the title of NBA Most Improved Player following the 1995–96 NBA season. Began his career playing two years for Universitatea Cluj-Napoca.

• Antonio Alexe - Played all his career in the Romanian and Hungarian basketball leagues. Became Romanian champion 3 times, twice with CSU Asesoft and once with West Petrom Arad, before dying in a tragic car accident, in 2005.

• Constantin Popa - After debuting in Divizia A for BC Dinamo Bucureşti, went overseas to play for the University of Miami in the NCAA Division 1, becoming the tallest player ever in the history of the school. Drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1995 NBA Draft, he never played in the NBA, but had a successful career in the CBA, before returning to Europe.

Teams for 2010–11 season

Team	City	Arena	Capacity
BC Mures*	Târgu Mureş	Sala Sporturilor Târgu Mureş	2000
BC Steaua Turabo Bucureşti*	Bucureşti	Sala Mihai Viteazul	200
Asesoft Ploieşti*	Ploieşti	Sala Sporturilor Olimpia	4000
Gaz Metan Mediaş*	Mediaş	Sala Sporturilor Mediaş	1000
U Cluj	Cluj Napoca	Sala Sporturilor Horia Demian	2500
Energia Rovinari	Târgu Jiu	Sala Sporturilor Târgu Jiu	1000
CSM Bucureşti	Bucureşti	Sala Sporturilor Bucureşti	200
BC Argeş Piteşti	Piteşti	Sala Sporturilor Trivale	1000
BCM Elba Timişoara	Timişoara	Sala Constantin Jude	2000
CS Otopeni	Otopeni	Sala Otopeni	200
SCM Universitatea Craiova	Craiova	Sala Sporturilor Craiova	6000
CSM Oradea	Oradea	Arena Antonio Alexa	2000
CSU Sibiu	Sibiu	Sala Transilvania	3000
BC Miercurea Ciuc	Miercurea Ciuc	Sala Sporturilor Miercurea Ciuc	1500
CSU Braşov	Braşov	Sala Sporturilor Braşov	2000
Politehnica Iaşi	Iaşi	Sala Sporturilor Iaşi	1000

Winners by season

Season	Champion
1950/51	Metalul București
1951/52	Metalul București
1952/53	Dinamo Bucureşti
1953/54	Dinamo Bucureşti
1954/55	Dinamo Bucureşti
1955/56	Steaua Bucureşti
1956/57	Dinamo Bucureşti
1957/58	Steaua Bucureşti
1958/59	Steaua Bucureşti
1959/60	Steaua Bucureşti
1960/61	Steaua Bucureşti
1961/62	Steaua Bucureşti
1962/63	Steaua Bucureşti
1963/64	Steaua Bucureşti
1964/65	Dinamo Bucureşti
1965/66	Steaua Bucureşti
1966/67	Dinamo Bucureşti
1967/68	Dinamo Bucureşti
1968/69	Dinamo Bucureşti
1969/70	Steaua Bucureşti
1970/71	Dinamo Bucureşti
1971/72	Dinamo Bucureşti
1972/73	Dinamo Bucureşti
1973/74	Dinamo Bucureşti
1974/75	Dinamo Bucureşti
1975/76	Dinamo Bucureşti
1976/77
1977/78	Steaua Bucureşti
1978/79	Dinamo Bucureşti
1979/80	Steaua Bucureşti
1980/81	Steaua Bucureşti
1981/82	Steaua Bucureşti
1982/83	Dinamo Bucureşti
1983/84	Steaua Bucureşti
1984/85	Steaua Bucureşti
1985/86	Steaua Bucureşti
1986/87	Steaua Bucureşti
1987/88	Dinamo Bucureşti
1988/89	Steaua Bucureşti
1989/90	Steaua Bucureşti
1990/91	Steaua Bucureşti
1991/92	Universitatea Cluj-Napoca
1992/93	Universitatea Cluj-Napoca
1993/94	Dinamo Bucureşti
1994/95	CSU Sibiu
1995/96	Universitatea Cluj-Napoca
1996/97	Dinamo Bucureşti
1997/98	Dinamo Bucureşti
1998/99	CSU Sibiu
1999/00	BC Argeş Piteşti
2000/01	Petrom Arad
2001/02	Petrom Arad
2002/03	Dinamo Bucureşti
2003/04	Asesoft Ploieşti
2004/05	Asesoft Ploieşti
2005/06	Asesoft Ploieşti
2006/07	Asesoft Ploieşti
2007/08	Asesoft Ploieşti
2008/09	Asesoft Ploieşti
2009/10	Asesoft Ploieşti
2010/11	Universitatea Cluj-Napoca
2011/12

See also

• Romanian Women's Basketball League

External links

• Official site of the Romanian basketball federation
• Halfcourt.info (Romanian and English)
• Numaibaschet.ro (Romanian)