By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Yes, basketball throughout the world is progressing with big strides, but there was a time not so long ago – around 1999 in Munich – when you could bump into NBA commissioner David Stern at a hotel lobby and share a drink with him, after his annual joint press conference with FIBA.
The basketball world was small and familiar faces were all around. There was still a kind of semi-pro aura around everything which seems like a far cry in the modern Final Four era. How odd and bizzare things were and in some cases still are? Just read…
Pini’s long walks
Everyone loves a guy that never holds backs and speaks his mind out like Pini Gherson. And during the two year dominance of Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2004 and 2005 he was the star of the show, specially during the press conferences.
“I should be named Ghersonovic”, he taunted Ivkovic, Obradovic and Ivanovic during the Final Four of 2005 in Moscow, because he was the only not Serb coach present in the panel. Still his trademark was the fact that in Saturday’s final press conference, he walked from the hotel to the venue of the event, respecting the Jewish custom of the Sabbath which prevents him from driving or entering a car.
The incognito Pop
During the 2009 playoffs, the San Antonio Spurs were defeated in the first round by the Dallas Mavericks and it seems that coach Gregg Popovich – maybe – had the chance to enjoy the EuroLeague Final Four.
What can be confirmed is that during the Final Four, coach Pop traveled to Berlin and met with then player of Olympiacos, Giannis Bourousis, who was a candidate at the time to make the jump to the NBA. In fact Bourousis himself confirmed this in a television interview before last season’s Final Four. Oddly in a city full of basketball reporters, nobody had seen or recognized the coach of the Spurs, there’s no record of Popovich’s presence and he probably never entered the O2 Arena, at least not in a visible way.
The Serbian lobby
Speaking about coaches, it’s not a secret that Serb coaches – or at least some of them – help each other. That was never more evident than in 2002 at Bologna. Just after the initial press conference of the Final Four which was held on the town hall manor of the Italian city, Zeliko Obradovic, then coach of Panathinaikos, exited the building with coach Ettore Messina who was the host and the favorite to win the title on the bench of Virtus Bologna, following him.
And suddenly Messina froze. Just outside the town hall, Dusan Ivkovic was sitting on a nearby coffee shop at plain sight, waiting for Obradovic. The two of them chatted, maybe they even talked at all about basketball, but it was a stricking image coupled with Messina’s reaction. For the record, Panathinaikos beat Bologna in the final.
Ioannidis superstitions
Giannis Ioannidis was the best Greek coach of the 80s and 90s as he led Aris, Olympiacos and AEK in six Final Fours, he was there when all started back in 1988 but he never won the title, despite playing in three finals (1994, 1995, 1998).
However, his trademark was his superstitions. Legend has it that he even crushed his car on purpose before key games, because once he had an accident and on the same night he won. And there’s an odd coincidence that may explain why everything went wrong for him in the Final Fours. Strangely Aris picked a hotel back in 1988 at Ghent that had a black cat engraved in its coat of arms! The question is how Ioannidis permitted something like that…
Scout’s karma
Back in 1997 Olympiacos beat Barcelona in the final game. The Reds had an amazing performance, but it has to be revealed after all these years – and it’s something already published in many Greek media – that a well known Greek journalist who is also a coach, was present on his working station near the court during Barcelona’s practice.
He provided Olympiacos with a scouting report that may have helped. In a strange turn of events the same person was part of the coaching stuff of Olympiacos in 2010 when Barcelona beat the Reds. Yes, karma is a bitch.
“Typhoon” Thanasis
Brothers Pavlos and Thanasis Giannakopoulos have been co-owners of Panathinaikos until 2012, when they left Dimitris Giannakopoulos, Pavlos’ son, in charge.
While Pavlos is the partiarch of the family, Thanasis was always more vocal. In 2002, the first season in which Panathinaikos competed in the current EuroLeague after a season in FIBA’s Suproleague, he erupted in the marketing convention that was held during the day of the final, asking financial guarantees and threatening to pull Panathinaikos out of the final.
Still his masterpiece remains Berlin in 2009. At the final moments of the final game between Panathinaikos and CSKA Moscow, Giannakopoulos moved near Juan Carlos Arteaga and he decided to express his disappointment for his calls by throwing money towards the Spanish referee. A man of Giannakopoulos’ personal security tried to restrain him but in the end, he just tried to collect the money Giannakopoulos has thrown, which were 500 euro notes.