By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Many remember the 2009 Final Four in Berlin as one of the absolute best in the history of Euroleague. The level of basketball was top notch and a lot of players or coaches that were involved have a legendary status in European basketball.
The semifinal between CSKA Moscow and Barcelona was decided in the last minute, and the one that came later between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos was a last-second affair.
Although it didn’t begin like that, the grand Final also evolved into a thriller. Panathinaikos was the surviving hero that wore the crown of the Euroleague champion with Vassilis Spanoulis being named Final Four MVP.
Of course, the stories that interweave to draw the landscape of that Final Four were not created on the basketball floor exclusively. So here are some things that we will never, ever forget from Berlin 2009, which happened at both the backstage and front-stage of the tournament.
The thin line between hero and zero
The 2009 Final Four festivities began with the semifinal between Barcelona and CSKA Moscow. The tactical plan of Xavi Pascual worked well enough for his team to have the lead in the score until the fourth quarter. Or perhaps until the moment when the “Ramunas Siskauskas volcano” started to erupt. With a majestic crescendo of 18 points in the last quarter and 29 points in total (a career high in Euroleague) the Lithuanian forward was the one to give CSKA Moscow the victory against Barcelona and the qualification to the Final almost single-handedly.
From being the hero of the semifinal,Siskauskas went on being kinda a last second fatal character of the Russian team in the final. With the score 73 – 71 and five seconds left for the end of the game, he undertook the task of either tying the score or perhaps winning the game. No-one would even question that he was the man of the job, since he had previously given breath to his team with the three-pointer for the 70 – 69. Faced with solid defense by Drew Nicholas, “Siska” attempted a difficult three-point shots which went off target. At the same time, the final buzzer of the Final Four sounded in the arena. CSKA Moscow had just failed to do the repeat and Panathinaikos was the new Euroleague champion.
A season MVP who couldn’t smile
Winning the Euroleague with Barcelona was the main reason behind Juan Carlos Navarro’s return to Europe after spending one season in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies. “La Bomba” went to Berlin after having completed one of his most diversely brilliant seasons ever in Euroleague, with performances that earned him season MVP honors.
Navarro had been named in the All-Euroleague team numerous times, before but he had never received the title of season MVP. Still this first-time individual honor was not enough to wash the bitter taste from his mouth, after the semifinal defeat in the hands of CSKA Moscow.
During the award ceremony he could only struck half a smile. Never a full one. Quite possibly wishing that he would be able to trade his award for a spot in the grand Final. After all, for a player possessing his mentality and burning desire to win, even such a momentous personal achievement was not enough to make up for a team loss that meant the end of the road in Euroleague. Of course, in the next year, Navarro and Barcelona were destined to go all the way to the top.
Don’t ask Zoc the wrong questions
The lights in O2 arena were starting to be shut down. The Final Four of 2009 was over with Panathinaikos taking home the grand trophy of Euroleague champion for the fifth time in club’s history. Obviously Zeljko Obradovic couldn’t have been happier with what he and his players had just accomplished. That, however, didn’t mean that he was ready to indulge in any sort of question someone would ask him.
At least that’s what we saw happening when he was asked for a post-game interview by the Greek television. After a small discussion concerning the absence of rings from his fingers – “we win cup in Europe, not rings”, said Zoc – the following dialogue ensued.
-“You talked about strange things some minutes before in the press conference. What did you mean?”
– “You believe that this is a good first question after the title? Asking about something I said in the press conference about strange things? Thank you very much, next time I will give you the opportunity to talk”.
Obradovic waved, headed to the hotel where the Panathinaikos resided and the celebrations were already underway, leaving the journalist wondering “why”.
Chasing and refusing NBA opportunities
David Andersen had been drafted to the NBA back in 2002, by the Atlanta Hawks but it wasn’t until 2009 that he actually signed a deal to play in the best league in the world. Not for the Hawks, but for the Houston Rockets. It was in the Final Four in Berlin that the representatives from the Rockets convinced the Australian center to make the jump in the NBA. And Although Barcelona’s player had a blasting performance of 24 points against CSKA Moscow in the semifinal, it was not enough to grant them entry to the Final. But it showed the people of the Texan team that their interest in Andersen was more than well-founded. This was also the last Euroleague Final Four for Ersan Ilyasova. The Turkish forward also left Barcelona at the end of this season in order to return to the Milwaukee Bucks after a two year break in Europe for the Spanish club.
Meanwhile, All-Euroleague first team center, Giannis Bourousis of Olympiacos had attracted heavy attention from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The San Antonio Spurs, in particular. A representative of Gregg Popovich went to Berlin in order to talk with Bourousis about joining the San Antonio Spurs. But the Greek center refused the invitation because, as he said “I wanted to win the Greek league with Olympiacos“.
Thanasis Giannakopoulos throwing money on Juan Carlos Arteaga
The “golden age” of Panathinaikos is inextricably linked to the name “Giannakopoulos”. Brothers Pavlos and Thanasis Giannakopoulos have been co-owners of the club until 2012, when they left Dimitris Giannakopoulos, Pavlos’ son, in charge. Nicknamed “typhoon” for often getting too emotional and a bit carried away when it comes to his beloved Panathinaikos, Thanasis Giannakopoulos fully lived up to this characterization in Berlin.
When the game between Panathinaikos and CSKA Moscow ended, Giannakopoulos rushed to join the coaches and the players for the celebrations. But something happened that caught his always gleaming eye for a moment. He noticed referee Juan Carlos Arteaga and he decided to… express his disappointment by some calls from the Spanish referee at the second half of the game. Furious with the officiating of Arteaga, Giannakopoulos began throwing money to him. A man of Giannakopoulos’ personal security tried to restrain him but his efforts were futile.
“If Panathinaikos lost the game, we would talk about the biggest steal in the history of basketball”, he said afterwards.