By Stelios Toromanidis / info@eurohoops.net
Since 2001, the year Euroleague entered our life in its modern form, the playoffs system has changed quite a few times in order to optimize the product. The quarterfinals were first inducted to the product from the 2004-05 season onwards, first in the form of best-of-three, then in the form of best-of-five since 2009.
Up until the 2018-19 season, there have been 56 playoffs series, from which 15 teams have managed to grab a ticket to the Final Four through the years. Eurohoops picked the Top 10 series, based both on their exciting outcome and the level of difficulty for the teams that turned out to win the series in the end.
Panathinaikos – Tau Ceramica (Baskonia) 1-2
Season: 2005-06
Results: 84-72, 79-85, 71-74
Laboral Kutxa went through the best season of its EuroLeague presence with players like Scola, Splitter, Hansen, Erdogan and Prigioni and faced Panathinaikos, who had the homecourt advantage in the series. The Greens’ roster back in the day included Spanoulis, Diamantidis, Alvertis, Tomasevic and more, while one could argue they had a slight advantage in the series. However, Baskonia emerged in the second and third games to seal their second consecutive Final Four ticket in 2006.
MVP: Serkan Erdogan
The Turkish guard was the pillar for Baskonia in Game 3 and had a key contribution in crunch time with a pair of free throws to send his team straight to the Final Four.
Unicaja Malaga – Barcelona 2-1
Season: 2006-07
Results: 91-75, 58-80, 67-64
Malaga, under the guidance of Sergio Scariolo, completed its best EuroLeague run, which also resulted in its first and only Final Four experience. The team fought off fellow Liga Endesa competitors Barcelona in a series full of suspense, that ended with a 67-64 victory for Unicaja in Game 3. Pepe Sanchez emerged as the hero of the night for the hosts with a three-pointer with just 7 seconds to play, and Marcus Brown completed the run with a pair of free throws towards the win.
MVP: Marko Tusek
The Slovenian forward carried the offensive end for his team in both home games of Malaga, handing a Final Four ticket to his team