By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
The eight teams that will battle it out for a place in the final four are well known, but what is their background in this phase? How many times has each one managed to advance in a knockout order? Which ones have the longest winning streak and other knockout stories…
Eurohoops looks back and remembers all the knockout stages of qualification for the Final Four from 2004-05 onwards, when this particular system was established, since up to that point the four finalists had emerged directly from the Top 16. Up to the 2007-08 season, the qualification was granted in two wins, but since then it’s granted in three wins.
This is just Fenerbahce’s third participation in the round of eight and the first one with a home advantage. The Turks had reached the top ‘eight’ in the 2004-05 season and were knocked out by CSKA (2-0), and in the 2007-08 season when they were knocked out by Siena, again with a sweep. So Zeljko Obradovic’s players are after their first win in the playoffs, but their ambitions go much further than that.
For the fifth season in a row Maccabi does not have the home advantage in the playoffs. However, the Israelis are the quintessential team (together with Laboral) when it comes to bringing it off even without an advantage. In the five times they’ve participated in the quarterfinals with a disadvantage, they’ve advanced twice (against Laboral and Milano), while they’ve qualified three times out of four when they competed with a home advantage.