By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Basketball is a fair sport in which the best team wins most of the time. But what happens when David beats Goliath? Eurohoops.net showcases the biggest upsets over the years in Euroleague Regular Season history!
With 24 teams competing in the recent past the Euroleague Regular Season, there are often games where teams with differing styles and dynamics clash. Nonetheless, the result is often one that could have been predicted. However over the course of the last 15 years, there have been many upsets. Which are the 10 biggest?
On the heels of Fenerbahce Istanbul’s defeat at the hands of Unics Kazan Eurohoops.net undertook the challenge to review thousands of games for this retrospective, showcasing the defeats of some of Europe’s traditional basketball superpowers by some classic underdogs. The games presented here are only from the Euroleague Regular Season.
Panionios-Real Madrid 68-66
Panionios-Real Madrid 68-66
December 3, 2008
Round 6
In the team’s lone Euroleague campaign, Panionios managed to defeat Efes in Istanbul and Real Madrid at home, but was subsequently knocked out. Panionios’s crowning moment was that win over Los Blancos, when Coach Aleksandar Trifunovic’s men claimed the victory behind 21 points from Branko Cvetkovic. Ivan Zoroski added 10 points off the bench, while Aaron Miles the hero with the winning basket in the closing seconds. Panionios had dominated early and led 55-27 in the third quarter before Madrid stormed back to tie it and set up Miles’s game winner.
Olimpija Ljubljana-CSKA Moscow 74-72
Union Olimpija Ljubljana-CSKA Moscow 74-72
November 7, 2007
Round 3
In the 2007-08 season, CSKA Moscow was coming off its fifth straight Final Four season and would go on to win the Euroleague. In fact, Coach Ettore Messina’s charges would only lose five games and just two in the regular season. But its first defeat that season was a rather unexpected one. Union Olimpija Ljubljana actually had a promising start to the season; in Round 2 the Slovenian champs beat Olympiacos Piraeus, but then collapsed with just two more wins over the following 11 games. But on that night at Tivola Arena, Olimpija got 23 points from Jasmin Hukic on 6-of-10 three-point shooting and Marko Milic and Goran Dragic combined for 25 more. Milic scored the game-winning layup with 0.8 seconds remaining to end a special evening that started with the legendary Ivo Daneu having his jersey retired in a pre-game ceremony. Matjaz Smodis scored 18 and J.R. Holden also played well for CSKA.
Eldo Napoli-FC Barcelona 66-64
Eldo Napoli-Winterthur FC Barcelona 66-64
January 11, 2007
Round 11
Napoli was facing elimination with four games to go in its maiden Euroleague campaign. Coach Piero Bucchi’s team had little hope, but played an inspired game to remain alive. Even though Napoli ultimately failed to advance, it did win its next two games and went into the regular season finale against Benetton Treviso with a shot to finish as high as sixth in the group. Napoli not only recorded a memorable victory, but gave its fans plenty of drama too. The team trailed by 13 with 12 minutes to play before rallying with an incredible 23-3 run. Michel Morandais paced the winners with 21 points and Mason Rocca posted 15 points and 10 rebounds for the winners. Juan Carlos Navarro scored 21 points for Barcelona in defeat.
Brose Baskets-Olympiacos 73-61
Brose Baskets Bamberg-Olympiacos Piraeus 73-61
October 27, 2010
Round 2
The previous season’s finalist, Olympiacos, travelled to Bamberg as the big favorite. It lost to a player that would lead them to the first of consecutive Euroleague crowns a year later. Brian Roberts was the “executioner” for Bamberg with 23 points, but the player who made the big difference was the red-and-whites’ subsequent protagonist, Kyle Hines, who posted 14 points and added tremendous energy for the home team. Olympiacos, with the all-star backcourt of Milos Teodosic, Theodoros Papaloukas and Vassilis Spanoulis, and the frontline of Ioannis Bourousis, Rasho Nesterovic and Zoran Erceg, suffered one of its four defeats that season in Bamberg until the catastrophic playoff series against Siena.
Olimpija Ljubljana-Maccabi Tel Aviv 93-81
Union Olimpija Ljubljana-Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv 93-81
December 9, 2004
Round 6
One of the most impressive teams in the history of the Euroleague, Maccabi of the 2004-05 season was beaten only four times throughout the entire year. It lost three of those by a 2-point deficit. In contrast, Olimpija entered this game with a 2-3 record in which its average defeat came by 10 points. Union Olimpija would be the only team to beat the reigning champs that season by more than a basket and it would come after a 5-0 start to the season for Coach Pini Gershon’s men. This mighty Maccabi squad was without Nikola Vujcic, but still enjoyed 19 points and 8 assists from Sarunas Jasikevicius, 18 points from Anthony Parker and 17 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks from Maceo Baston. Maccabi led by 1 through three quarters, but crunch time was all Olimpija, which poured in 32 fourth-quarter points. Vladimer Boisa posted 28 points and Marino Bazdaric scored 22 for the victors.
Zalgiris Kaunas-Kinder Bologna 91-67
Zalgiris Kaunas-Kinder Bologna 91-67
December 13, 2001
Round 8
Zalgiris won the Euroleague in 1999, but three years later the Lithuanian champs didn’t have a team that would be expected to pose a problem for the reigning European champions, Kinder Bologna. Ettore Mesina’s players saw their undefeated start to the season end the previous round at the hands of Frankfurt in yet another big upset. However, the 24-point loss in Lithuania was totally unexpected. Dainius Salenga scored 26 points and Donatas Slanina had 23 on an excellent day to get the best of a mighty Bologna squad that featured Manu Ginobili, Marko Jaric, David Andersen, Antoine Rigaudeau, Matjaz Smodis, Rashard Griffith and Sani Becirovic. Kinder bounced back from this defeat to reach the Final Four on its home court, but lost the trophy to Panathinaikos in the final. Zalgiris finished the season with a 5-9 record and did not reach the Top 16.
Maccabi Tel Aviv-Cedevita Zagreb 73-83
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv-Cedevita Zagreb 73-83
November 6, 2014
Round 4
Cedevita’s first win that season and third overall in its brief Euroleague history was in Tel Aviv over the then European champion. Cedevita did not manage to advance to the next phase, but they definitely remember their historic win in Israel, in which they were losing for only 20 seconds! The win came to a large extent from their 14 made three-pointers of which Roko Ukic, Nemanja Gordic and Fran Pilepic contributed the most. That trio also combined for 47 points and 14 assists. For Maccabi, Jeremy Pargo tallied 24 points and 5 assists and Devin Smith added 14 points and 7 rebounds, but they weren’t nearly enough.