By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
CSKA Moscow and Anadolu Efes will battle each other at Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, on Sunday night for the EuroLeague title. Which teams previously succeeded in the Final of Europe’s premier competition, which head coaches have made it this far before, which players of the two finalists have already tasted glory at this stage? Everything fans need to know about the 2019 EuroLeague Final, Efes and CSKA.
Teams appearances in EuroLeague Championship matches since 1958:
18 – Real Madrid (1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1985, 1995, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018)
15* – Maccabi Tel Aviv (1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1988, 1989, 2000, 2001*, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2014)
14 – CSKA Moscow (1961, 1963, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2016, 2019)
10 – Pallacanestro Varese (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979)
8 – Olympiacos Piraeus (1994, 1995, 1997, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017)
7 – FC Barcelona (1984, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2010)
7* – Panathinaikos Athens (1996, 2000, 2001*, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2011)
5 – Olimpia Milano (1966, 1967, 1983, 1987, 1988), Virtus Bologna (1981, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002)
4 – ASK Riga (1958, 1959, 1960, 1961), Split (1972, 1989, 1990, 1991)
3 – Fenerbahce Istanbul (2016, 2017, 2018)
2 – Akademic Sofia (1958, 1959), Dinamo Tblisi (1960, 1962), Spartak Brno (1964, 1968), Pallacanestro Cantu (1982, 1983), Cibona Zagreb (1985, 1986), Zalgiris Kaunas (1986, 1999), Joventut Badalona (1992, 1994), Benetton Treviso (1993, 2003), Saski Baskonia (2001, 2005)
1 – Slavia Prague (1966), Bosna Sarajevo (1979), Virtus Roma (1984), Partizan (1992), Limoges (1993), AEK (1998), Fortitudo Bologna (2004), Anadolu Efes Istanbul (2019)
* European basketball had two top-level competitions in 2000-01. Kinder Bologna won the Euroleague title in a five-game playoff series against Tau Ceramica. AEK Athens and Fortitudo Bologna reached the semifinals. Maccabi Tel Aviv won the SuproLeague in a Final Four that also featured Panathinaikos, the other finalist, CSKA Moscow and Efes Pilsen.
Head coaches with the most Final appearances since 1958:
12* – Zeljko Obradovic (Partizan 1992; Joventut 1994; Real Madrid 1995; Panathinaikos 2000, 2001*, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2011, Fenerbahce 2016, 2017, 2018)
9 – Ettore Messina (Virtus Bologna 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002; Benetton 2003; CSKA 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
7 – Pedro Ferrandiz (Real Madrid 1962, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1975)
6 – Alexander Gomelskiy (ASK Riga 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961; CSKA 1971, 1973)
5 – Lolo Sainz (Real Madrid 1976, 1978, 1980, 1985; Joventut 1992), Bozidar Maljkovic (Split 1989, 1990; Barcelona 1991; Limoges 1993; Panathinaikos 1996)
5 – Pini Gershon (Maccabi 2000, 2001*, 2004, 2005, 2006)
4 – Aleksandar Nikolic (Varese 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973), Sandro Gamba (Varese 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977), Ralph Klein (Maccabi 1977, 1980, 1982, 1988), Pablo Laso (Real Madrid 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018)
3 – Evgeny Alekseev (CSKA 1961, 1963, 1965), Zvi Sherf (Maccabi 1987, 1989, 2008), Aito Garcia Reneses (Barcelona 1990, 1996, 1997), Ioannis Ioannidis (Olympiacos 1994, 1995; AEK 1998)
* European basketball had two top-level competitions in 2000-01. Kinder Bologna won the Euroleague title in a five-game playoff series against Tau Ceramica. AEK Athens and Fortitudo Bologna reached the semifinals. Maccabi Tel Aviv won the SuproLeague in a Final Four that also featured Panathinaikos, the other finalist, CSKA Moscow and Efes Pilsen.
2019 finalists with previous Championship game experience:
3 – Nikita Kurbanov (2006, 2007, 2016 CSKA), Andrey Vorontsevich (2009, 2012, 2016 CSKA), Kyle Hines (2012, 2013 Olympiacos; 2016 CSKA), Sergio Rodriguez (2013, 2014, 2015 Real Madrid)
1 – Othello Hunter (2015 Olympiacos), Bryant Dunston (2015 Olympiacos), Nando De Colo (2016 CSKA), Cory Higgins (2016 CSKA)
Did you know that…
…CSKA has the chance to win its eighth EuroLeague title? The Russian powerhouse has previously lifted the top continental trophy in 1961, 1963, 1969, 1971, 2006, 2008 and 2016. Real Madrid is the winningest team in EuroLeague history with 10 titles.
…Kyle Hines can win his fourth EuroLeague title? He won back-to-back titles with Olympiacos in 2012 and 2013 and lifted the trophy again with CSKA in 2016.
…Hines can become the third player to ever win multiple EuroLeague titles with different teams? Only Dino Meneghin (five titles with Varese, two with Milan) and Fausto Bargna (two with Cantu, two with Milan) have done so since the competition was founded in 1958. Kostas Sloukas (Olympiacos 2012, 2013, Fenerbahce 2017) also has the chance to do so this season.
…Coach Dimitris Itoudis is one of two Greek coaches to have won the EuroLeague title. He did so with CSKA in 2016. Georgios Bartzokas lifted the trophy with Olympiacos in 2013. Now, he has a chance to be the first Greek coach to win two EuroLeague titles!
…Sergio Rodriguez could become the first Spanish player to win the EuroLeague with different teams? He won the EuroLeague with Real Madrid in 2015.
…Rodriguez could become the first Spanish-born player to win the EuroLeague with a non-Spanish team?
…Nando De Colo belongs to an exclusive list of players who have won the EuroLeague and the EuroCup titles? De Colo lifted the EuroCup trophy with Valencia Basket in 2010 and won the EuroLeague with CSKA in 2016.
…Othello Hunter has made it to the Final Four with three different teams? Hunter played the Final Four with Olympiacos in 2015, Real Madrid in 2017 and CSKA Moscow these past two seasons!
…six CSKA players – De Colo, Kurbanov, Hines, Vorontsevich, Cory Higgins and Mikhail Kulagin – won the EuroLeague with CSKA in 2016?
…Vorontsevich and Kurbanov are looking for their third EuroLeague titles? Kurbanov won his first title with CSKA in 2006. Vorontsevich lifted the trophy in 2008. Both of them won it again in 2016.
…two CSKA players – Rodriguez and De Colo – have been chosen as EuroLeague MVPs during their careers? Rodriguez was the 2013-14 EuroLeague MVP. De Colo earned the award for the 2015-16 season.
…De Colo is now tied for fifth place in the Final Four’s all-time scoring list? After scoring 23 points against Real Madrid, De Colo is tied with Dejan Bodiroga and Theo Papaloukas for sixth place, each with 164 points. Nikos Galis leads the standings with 231 points.
…Hines has climbed to third place on the Final Four’s all-time rebounds list. He has 71 rebounds in Final Four action. Victor Khryapa leads the all-time standings (107), followed by Matjaz Smodis (73).
…Rodriguez is third in assists (48) in Final Four history? Papaloulas leads the list (59), followed by Rodriguez’s former Real Madrid teammate Sergio Llull (52).
…Hines ranks fourth on the all-time block shots list (206)? He could climb a spot in the Final Four; Alex Tyus of Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv is third with 209 career rejections.
…Hines ranks eighth on the all-time rebounding list (1,147)? He climbed a spot in the Final Four; Andersen is ninth with 1,145 career boards.
…De Colo ranks ninth on the all-time scoring list with 2,672 career points?
…Rodriguez ranks fifth on the all-time assists list with 1,093 during his career?
…Kurbanov, Vorontsevich and Hines are in their fourth EuroLeague Championship Game appearance?
…De Colo could become the fifth player to win multiple Final Four MVP awards? Only Toni Kukoc (1990, 1991, 1993), Dejan Bodiroga (2002, 2003), Dimitris Diamantidis (2007, 2011) and Vassilis Spanoulis (2009, 2012, 2013) have managed to do so.
…De Colo ranks third in free throw shooting this season (94.4%). Jaycee Carroll of Real Madrid is in first place (96%), followed by his teammate Sergio Llull (95.7%).
…De Colo is the EuroLeague’s all-time leader in free throw shooting percentage? He has made 680 of his 725 free throw attempts throughout his 166-game career, an impressive 93.8%!
Did you know that…
…Efes has advanced to its first EuroLeague Championship Game ever! It is officially the best-ever EuroLeague season for the Turkish powerhouse.
…Efes ranked 16th and last in the 2017-18 Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season wit ha 7-23 record? It can do from worst to first!
…head coach Ergin Ataman is set to play his first EuroLeague Championship Game? He had lost two semifinals with Efes in 2000 and Montepaschi Siena in 2003.
…Ataman can become the third coach to win both the EuroLeague and EuroCup titles? Dusan Ivkovic (Olympiacos 1997, 2012; Dynamo Moscow 2006) and David Blatt (Maccabi Tel Aviv 2014, Darussafaka Istanbul 2018) are the only coaches to have won both titles. Ataman led Galatasaray Istanbul to the EuroCup title in 2016.
…Ataman has won three different European competitions in the past? Ataman won the 2002 Saporta Cup with Montepaschi, took the 2012 FIBA EuroChallenge with Besiktas Istanbul and lifted the 2016 EuroCup trophy with Galatasaray in 2016. Only Dusan Ivkovic (EuroLeague, ULEB Cup, Saporta, Korac) and Aito Garcia Reneses (ULEB Cup, Saporta, Korac, FIBA Eurocup) have won four different European competitions.
…Brock Motum can become the fourth Australian player to win the Euroleague? Joe Ingles (Maccabi 2014), Aleks Maric (Panathinaikos 2011) and David Andersen (Kinder Bologna 2001, CSKA 2006, 2008) are the only Australians to have won the EuroLeague before.
…Tibor Pleiss can become the fourth German player to win the EuroLeague? The late Chris Welp (Olympiacos 1997), Michael Koch (Panathinaikos 2000) and Patrick Femerling (FC Barceona 2003) are the only Germans to have won the EuroLeague before.
…Dunston ranks third in blocks in the EuroLeague this season with 1.2 blocks per game? Walter Tavares of Real Madrid leads the standings at 1.7 per night. Dunston has blocked 230 shots during his EuroLeague career, which ranks second all-time behind only Fran Vazquez (249 blocks).
…Moerman ranks second in defensive rebounds this season (4.88 drpg.)? He trails only Will Clyburn of CSKA Moscow (5.2 drpg.). Moerman ranks sixth in total rebounds (6.17 rpg.).
…Micic ranks third in assists this season at 5.5 per game? Nick Calathes of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens (8.7 apg.) and Mike James of AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan (6.4 apg.) are ahead of him.
… Pleiss ranks sixth in two-point shooting percentage? Pleiss has made 117 of 171 two-point shots (68.4%). Walter Tavares leads the charts at 79.2% (103 of 130).
…Pleiss is seventh in PIR per 40 minutes with an average of 27.6? He is also the fourth-best per-minute scorer in the competition with an average of 23.72 points prorated over 40 minutes.
…Efes enters the Championship Game with a team PIR of 100.7, which is 11th-best in competition history? It shatters the club’s previous record of 93.5 in the 2015-16 season.
…Efes ranks second in the league in assists this season (19.4 apg.) and fourth in blocks (2.97 bpg.)?
…Efes is first in two-point (58.7%) and second in three-point (40.7%) shooting percentage? Fenerbahce ranks first in three-point shooting percentage (43.0% 3FG).
…Efes has the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the competition with 1.71 assists per turnover? It is a club record and the fourth-best mark in competition history. Real Madrid owns the first (2.25, 2014-15), second (1.74, 2013-14) and third-best marks (1.72, 2018-19).
Photo Credit: EuroLeague