Greeks do it Better: The top performances of Greeks in Final 4

The history of the Euroleague is full of great moments given by Greek teams. But unlike clubs from other countries, most of the successes of Greek clubs in the Final 4 have the signature of native players, while there are also… Greeks abroad who have proven to be decisive.

The unstoppable Galis was… fourth

This is perhaps one of the biggest injustices in the history of basketball. THE Nikos Galis he played in three Final 4s with Aris and in fact consecutively (1988, 1989, 1990) and one with Panathinaikos (1994), but he did not succeed in any of them not only to get the trophy, but even to play in the final! However, he himself did everything in his power for this, with his performances in Ghent in 1988 to remain in history.

In the semi-final against Tracer Milan he scored 28 points, but the legendary Bob McAdoo led the more complete Italian team to the final 87-82. In the short final, “Gangster” scored another 39 (!) and emerged as the top scorer of the Final 4 with 67 (Makado remained at 64), even though Aris, losing to Partizan (103-95), finished fourth.

“Rambo” in Tel Aviv

Olympiacos and Panathinaikos faced each other for the first time in their European history in Tel Aviv Final 4 in 1993. Star galaxy, with Paspali, Tarpley, Fasoula on the one hand and Gali, Vrankovic, Volkov on the other lined up on the floor for the semi-final. But the MVP of the match was probably a… roll player. THE George Sigalas did an amazing job in marking Nikos Galis, who was limited to 8 points on just 4/9 shooting and 3 turnovers.



At the same time, however, he was very influential in the attack, after contributing to his team’s victory (77-72) with 15 points. Throw in 7 rebounds and 2 steals into the equation to see just how valuable he was. “Rambo” for Olympiakos, who, however, did not succeed in the final against Badalona (57-59). Even if Sigalas was again excellent with 14 points and 3 rebounds, while Paspali (15 points with 6/16 and two crucial missed shots) and Tarpley (12 points with 5/19 and 5 errors) lagged behind.

Kakiuzis did everything he could

One of the most forgotten performances of a Greek athlete is his Michalis Kakiouzis with her jersey Siena in the 2004 Final 4 in Tel Aviv. In the first semi-final an Italian civil war was formed, with the Montepaski to face Fortitudo Bolognabut one of our children stole the show.



The captain of the National team in the following years had 23 points (5/6 shots, 6/9 two-pointers, 2/4 three-pointers), 7 rebounds and 1 steal in 33 minutes, sent the match to overtime with a three-pointer from the corner at 11 ” before the end of the fourth period (90-90) however Yasmin Repesa’s Fortitudo with Carlos Delfino having 27 points with 5/7 three-pointers took the victory 103-102.

A Greek Tsar in Prague

Thirty-five years away from the top of Europe was already too much for her CSKA. After the fiasco of Dusan Ivkovic’s unbeaten team in the Final 4 in Moscow a year ago, the Thodoris Papaloukas led the atonement march with final destination Prague. There, “Teo”, who had already come from the triumph of the National Team in Eurobasket, took the situation into his own hands.



In the semi-finals, CSKA Moscow faced them Barcelona and Papaloukas showed his dispositions early on. With 19 points and masterful guidance of his teammates, he brought the Russian team to the final with 84-75 over the Catalans. The final against Maccabi it was his business again. With 18 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals, he put his signature at 73-69 and in addition to the big cup, he also got the Final 4 MVP awardcelebrating with the Greek flag.

Titan battle of two leaders

The Final 4 in Athens in 2007 pitted two of Europe’s top guards against each other. Dimitris Diamantidis and Thodoris Papaloukas in a unique duel they gave everything for their teams, with the first one smiling last and gifting the fourth to Panathinaikos, dethroning CSKA.

“Teo” captivated the audience with 23 points and 8 assists, staying on the bench for just five minutes while shooting 9/10. “Mitsos”, on the other hand, responded with 15 points, 4 assists and 3 steals, pushing Panathinaikos to a narrow victory with 93-91.

Kill Bill’s first rhapsody

O Basilis Spanoulis he has countless iconic moments in Final 4. But perhaps his most complete presence was the one in Berlin in 2009in what many consider the strongest Final 4 in history, offered two amazing performances and showed that he belongs to the elite of European basketball guards.



In the amazing May Day semi-final of the “eternals” he had 18 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists for the 84-82, bittering the man who helped him in his first steps, Panagiotis Giannakis. In the final against Zaplutis CSKA had a 68-60 3-pointer along with 13 points, relieved to see former teammate Ramunas Siskauskas’ buzzer-beater miss the mark. The 73-71 final gave him the first of three Euroleagues and the first of three Final 4 MVP awards in his career.

Saint George and the little ones

THE Olympic returned to the top of Europe after 15 years in the most epic Euroleague final of all time. And Vassilis Spanoulis may have been instrumental in the semi-final against Barcelona and not only that, but the man who completed the reversal of the… reversals for the City miracle in 2012 was George Printezis.



His 5-pointer, from an assist by Kill Bill who drew the defense on him and had the clarity to pass to the free teammate, just before the expiration, made it 62-61. THE Saint George, as it has been christened since after giving other occasions with big baskets at the end, had – besides Kill Bill – and help from… little ones. THE Kostas Papanikolaou with 18 points and great work on Andrei Kirilenko, but also the Kostas Sloukas and Vangelis Mantzarisbecame… men that night and for years formed the core of the group.