By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Here is the complete article, posted at EuroLeague.net:
As opposed to previous texts here, for which numbers of titles, individual or collective, were cited to support my own personal impressions, memories and taste, I wish to base this ranking on numbers alone: specifically, Final Four participations. Of course, as always, I had to discard some names. For instance, Benetton Treviso and Montepaschi Siena have the same number of appearances – four – as Virtus Bologna and Partizan Belgrade, but these last two have won the title. Despite having just won it all, Fenerbahce Istanbul is not yet in my Top 10 Final Four clubs.
With the presence of Real Madrid, Fenerbahce, CSKA Moscow and Olympiacos Piraeus, we not only saw the same four teams at this year’s event as in 2015, but also the same semifinal pairings. In the full history of the Final Four, 31 editions, this happened for just the second time, the first one being in 2009 and 2012 with CSKA, FC Barcelona, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos Athens.
These are the 10 clubs I chose for the list.
10. PARTIZAN BELGRADE
A historic club with some problems in the present time, most of all economic. The team had four Final Four appearances: champion in 1992, third in 1988 and fourth in 1998 and 2010. A never-ending source of young talent, a full team of 12 players went from Belgrade to the NBA. Its great duo of guards formed by Sasha Djordjevic and Predrag Danilovic are still on top of Serbian basketball: Danilovic presides at the Serbian federation and Djordjevic coaches the national team, as well as FC Bayern Munich.
9. OLIMPIA MILAN
One of the historic teams in European basketball. It was the first Final Four champion in 1966 in Bologna, when the team was called Simenthal. Milan also repeated the title when the modern Final Four era began in 1988. The club finished second in 1967 and third in 1992 and was the home of many legends of Italian, European and world basketball, plus some legendary coaches. The team has not been back to the Final Four since 1992 but remains the most influential club in Italian basketball.
8. VIRTUS BOLOGNA
Another historic name in European basketball in a not-so-good moment, but a look into the past could be great consolation. Bearing the Kinder name, the team was European champ in 1998 in Barcelona, and then again in 2001 – albeit in a playoff format that time. The team also reached the championship game in 1999 and 2002. Just like Benetton and Milan, Virtus was an bottomless mine for great national and international players.