Jugoplastica, Efes and among the eternals: The best teams in the history of the Final 4

Every team that wins a title goes down in history. But there are also those who dazzled with their basketball, but also those who imposed their dominance for a pious period, creating a way of dynasties. Let’s look at the best teams in the history of Final 4 her Euroleague. The list includes from Yugoplastica to Efes, but in between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos who have left their own mark on the institution.

Yugoplastika 1989-91: What to say and what to write… It is the first dynasty in the history of the Final Four and one of the most talented teams in history. With Božindar Malković (the first two seasons) and Željko Pavlićević (in the third year) on the bench, with leaders Toni Kukoc and Dino Raja and worthy supporters Zoran Savić, Velimir Perasović, Dusko Ivanovic and Jean Tabak, he dragged everything into read her and won three consecutive trophies in the event. In 1989 he defeated Barcelona (in the semi-final) and Maccabi Tel Aviv (in the final), in 1990 it was the turn of Limoges (in the semi-final) and Barcelona (in the final), while in 1991 as PDO 84 he defeated Scavolini (in the semi-final) and Barcelona ( in the final). Somehow it became the first (and only to date) team in the history of the Final Four to do the three-peat! The disintegration of Yugoslavia followed and somewhere there the fairytale journey of the children from Split came to an end.

Zalgiris 1999: In a decade dominated by tough defenses (note that the finals of 1993, 1994 and 1998 were decided under 60 points) and individual (and by extension offensive) talent came second squadron, a group from Kaunas appeared, where they gave a different perspective. With Jonas Kazlauskas at the “helm” and an “American” logic in their game, Zalgiris reached the maiden trophy in their history at the Final Four in Munich. Tyus Edney, Anthony Bowie, Saulius Stobergas and Jiri Zidek played at a… speed above the rest, they offered a rich spectacle and gave the Lithuanians the “cup” after cleaning Olympiacos (87-71 in the semi-final) and Kinder Bologna (82-74 in the final).

Maccabi Tel Aviv 2004-05: The absolute ruler of that two-year period. With a very rich and complete roster, she left no room for doubt to her opponents. Sarunas Jasikevicius, Anthony Parker, Tal Bernstein, Matteo Baston and Nikola Vušić formed a sonorous ensemble led by Pini Gerson. In the 2004 Final Four held at home, it beat CSKA Moscow (93-85 in the semi-final) and Skipper Bologna (118-74 in the final), setting a number of records with its margin and offensive performance in the final. A year later he repeated in Moscow, where he defeated Panathinaikos (91-82 in the semi-final) and Baskonia (90-78 in the final).

CSKA Moscow 2006-09: The destabilization of the aforementioned Maccabi Tel Aviv came… from Russia. Ettore Messina on the bench and Theodoris Papaloukas, JR Holden, Traian Langton and Matias Smodis (assisted by Andersen and Siskauskas in 2008) on the floor led the “army team” to 2 trophies and 4 consecutive finals, which is record performance in Final Four history. In Prague 2006, CSKA Moscow swept Barcelona (84-75 in the semi-final) and Maccabi Tel Aviv (73-69 in the final) to reach their 5th trophy in the competition’s history and first since 1971! Two years later in Madrid, they overcame Baskonia in the semi-final (83-79) to reach the final, where they went on to win over Maccabi (91-77) with a very good second half. The evil demon of the Russians during this time, Panathinaikos…

Panathinaikos 2007-11: The “clover” was looking for a return to the throne and with Zeljko Obradovic masterfully guiding it, it took 3 trophies in five years building a small dynasty and growing its “myth” even more. It all started in 2007, when he took full advantage of the fact that the Final Four was held in his stadium: with 20,000 fans on his side and forwards Diamantidis, Siskauskas and Batiste, he defeated Tau Keramika (67-53 in the semi-final) and CSKA Moscow (93 -91 in the final). In 2009 in the most demanding and rich Final Four in history, he sewed his 5th star in Berlin having one of the most complete teams in history. Victory over Olympiakos in a semi-final thriller (84-82) gave the Greens a ticket to the final, where they produced a legendary first half but saw CSKA Moscow close within striking distance: Siskauskas’ missed shot gave the 6th “cup” for Panathinaikos and caused delirium of excitement among its fans. In 2011 in Barcelona, ​​it was Diamantidis’ Final Four, with 3D masterfully guiding the “cloverleaf” to the trophy, after defeating Siena (77-69 in the semi-final) and Maccabi (78-70 in the final).

Olympiacos 2012-13: The dominance of Panathinaikos was succeeded by the “golden” two years of the eternal rival. In 2012 in Istanbul under the guidance of the pardoned Dusan Ivkovic, he returned to the top after 15 years, after imposing Barcelona 68-64 in the semi-final and in the final achieved the most epic reversal in the history of the finals: from -19 to the end of 3rd period at +1 (62-61) with Printezis’ buzzer beater five-pointer. The very next season, the “red and white” changed coach (with Giorgos Bartzokas now on the bench), however they kept their sceptres. With Vassilis Spanoulis, Ace Law and Kyle Hines putting in outstanding performances, Olympiacos swept CSKA Moscow in the semi-finals (69-52) and demolished Real Madrid in the final (100-88), despite trailing by 17 points. in the first quarter (10-27)!

Real Madrid 2018:The “queen” won her second trophy in four years (previously in 2015). With a full roster that featured Luka Doncic, who had just… come of age, Real reached the magic number ’10’ in terms of ‘cups’ in Europe’s top competition. The Slovenian guard led the “merengues” in his last performances on the European courts, having Sergio Yul, Gustavo Ajon and Tre Tompkins as worthy supporters. In the semi-final, Lasso’s team prevailed 92-83 against CSKA Moscow and in the final they cleaned Obradovic’s Fenerbahce (85-80), with Fabian Kozer being the decisive factor, after scoring 17 points.

Effects 2019-2022: From… a poor relative of the organization, Efes turned in recent years into a superpower. The magical guard duo of Shane Larkin and Vasilije Misic started tearing up opposing defenses from the 2018-19 season, but the Turks were beaten in the final by CSKA Moscow (83-91). The season of…coronavirus followed, where Ataman’s team looked unbeaten and the absolute favorite for the trophy. In 2021, after years of hard work and sweat, Efes won the “cold” – due to the absence of fans – Final Four in Cologne, the maiden “cup” in its history in the competition. The two rocket-propelled guards provided substance and spectacle, anointing this team as one of the best in Final Four history. The… started with an 89-86 win over CSKA Moscow in the semi-final to be followed by an 86-81 win over Barcelona in the dramatic final. The back-to-back came in 2022 in Belgrade, with Vasilije Micic’s three-pointer in the semifinal against Olympiakos (77-74) and 58-57 in the final against Real.