By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Anadolu Efes Istanbul’s reign after two back-to-back titles, one more Final Four, and a big what-if in the season which ended prematurely due to COVID, is officially over. However, the stamp of this version of Anadolu Efes on European basketball will be remembered for years to come.
Despite missing out on a historic three-peat, Anadolu Efes not only won but did it by presenting a free-flowing game that could break the back of any opponent. Ergin Ataman created an environment that gave unusual European standards of freedom to his players and the end result was one of the most spectacular EuroLeague teams ever.
Even if you don’t want to call them a dynasty, then you can’t but accept their on-court excellence, and here are five games that will be remembered for a long time.
FC Barcelona-Anadolu Efes 68-102 (April 24, 2019)
Anadolu Efes had just lost the home-court advantage in the playoffs with Barcelona getting a 74-72 road win in Istanbul for the second game of the series. Nobody expected what happened next.
Efes led by as many as 37 points after three quarters (84-57), Shane Larkin had 30 points – after having scored 37 against Barcelona almost two months earlier in their regular season game of Istanbul – and the hosts simply couldn’t keep up.
It was a one-team show that included even a 25-1 run by Efes, which for the first time emerged not just as a title contender, but as a team that can leave their mark on the history of the EuroLeague.
When everything was said and done, Barcelona managed to take the series to Game 5, however, that night in Spain, Efes for the first time demonstrated their full team abilities on the offensive end, finishing the game with 25 assists, shooting 74% on two-pointers and 44% on threes on the road.
Anadolu Efes-Bayern Munich 104-75 (November 29, 2019)
Efes ended up being the runner-up in the 2018-19 season, still, Larkin at this point was hailed as the best player of the league. And he proved it beyond any doubt on a record night with record numbers that seem unbreakable.
Larkin registered the all-time best scoring output in modern EuroLeague history with 49 points, making 10 threes, dishing 5 assists, and having a grand total of 53 PIR. No other player has scored more than 41 points in a EuroLeague game and his 53 PIR was the highest performance index rating in the competition history since 2004.
Larkin went In-Shane on the court and everyone understood that it was just a matter of time before he and Efes won the title. By the way, Coach Ataman still insists that Efes should have been awarded some kind of a trophy for this season, which they dominated before COVID happened.
Anadolu Efes-Real Madrid 88-83 (April 4, 2021)
This is the season that Efes finally won the trophy and the final against Barcelona with Vasilije Micic making things happen would be the natural choice. Still, the game that decided the outcome of the season happened a little bit earlier.
Efes was rolling but despite losing the first two games of the series in Istanbul with ease a depleted Real Madrid managed to force a Game 5. The “Whites” seemed ready to derail Efes, the score was tied at 80 with one minute left, and with the clock ticking, Krunoslav Simon made the biggest shot of his life, a three from really long range that practically decided the outcome.
We simply had to include this game because Simon was arguably the glue of this team and his last season’s injury that pushed him out of the roster was probably one of the main reasons for Efes‘ demise. His absence on and off the court totally changed the chemistry of Efes and it’s more proof that no matter what, basketball remains a team sport.
Plus, the top scorer was not Larkin or Micic, but Chris Singleton.
Anadolu Efes-Maccabi Tel Aviv 109-77 (February 24, 2022)
Maccabi was in trouble, the team had recently parted ways with coach Giannis Sfairopoulos, and Anadolu Efes was just starting to pick up their pace. On paper, this was an easy game and it proved to be exactly that.
However, Efes had a way to make even a game like this a real spectacle. It’s not only about getting the win but also about how you get the win.
The defending champions were firing at all cylinders while they were just starting to click, and finished the night shooting 65% on threes, making 22 of 34 attempts. The 22 made three-pointers remain a EuroLeague record and set the tone for things to come.
Olympiacos-Anadolu Efes 74-77 (May 19, 2022)
Efes won its first title in an empty gym in Cologne due to COVID. In Belgrade, Stark Arena was packed by Olympiacos fans. On the court, the Reds managed to slow down the champs and entered the last seconds of the semifinal with the score tied at 74-74.
And then, the clock stopped and the whole gym entered an ethereal realm, where dreams are made true and legacies are created or shuttered. Vasilije Micic took the ball in the center of the biggest arena in his country, Thomas Walkup made the switch, and Sasha Vezenkov stretched his hand, but Micic’s shot found only net at the buzzer.
It was an out-of-body experience for everyone present, a story to be told for ages, and one of the biggest shots in European basketball. Some said it was karma for Olympiacos, as the Reds had more than their share of big shots in the Spanoulis-Printezis era. Others said that it was destiny for Efes and Micic.
Yes, there was also a final, but when all is said and done, this is the shot that encapsulates the essence of their legacy.
A team with a devil-may-care attitude that included players of immense talent and huge personalities, not only those mentioned already in the text but also Rodrigue Beaubois, Bryant Dunston, Tibor Pleiss, Elijah Bryant, and more, who won rare back-to-back titles by torching their opponents and always did it in their style, shooting the light outs.