05-06-2007, 10:01 PM
Greeks don't have many NBA caliber players, but they know how to play well as a team. After the national team placed 2nd in the world championships 4 months ago the Panathinaikos Club team won the Euroleague today beating a team from Moscow. Oddly enough, Moscow's best player is a native Greek-Papaloukas who distinguished himself for Greece in the world championships.
GRE - Panathinaikos beat brave CSKA Moscow in Euroleague Final
ATHENS (Euroleague Final Four) - Panathinaikos held off CSKA Moscow in Athens on Sunday night to win the Euroleague title.
The Greens, with the majority of the 18,363 fans giving them an incredible homecourt advantage, prevailed 93-91.
Lithuanian international Ramunas Siskauskas led the way with 20 points - 10 in the fourth quarter - as the Greek giants captured their fourth European crown.
Panathinaikos coach Zeljko Obradovic already owned the record with five Euroleague titles.
His six are two more than three legends in the game: Spanish great Pedro Ferrandiz, the late Russian legend Alexander Gomelsky and fellow Serb Bozidar Maljkovic - the Tau Ceramica coach Obradovic beat in Friday's semi-final.
Obradovic said: "I've told my players that this is not the first and the last, that we've got quality and that this win will inspire us to continue.
"I'm really proud of my players' performance and I'm extremely happy for the fans and the club."
Panathinaikos made a record 38 of 46 free throws in the game, beating the previous mark 34.
Before the start of the campaign, most of the experts predicted these two sides would meet in the final and there was not much to separate them throughout the season.
CSKA had stunned two-time defending champions Maccabi Tel Aviv last year in Prague, and Papaloukas had spoken of nothing else all season other than his desire to return home to Athens for this game.
"I want to congratulate my national team-mates," said Papaloukas. "They played a great game.
"It was difficult to play having 30,000 fans against us, but I think the main reason why we lost was because of small details."
Pana opened up a 46-36 half-time lead and looked to be building momentum for a decisive victory, but CSKA went on a 10-1 at the start of the second half to trail 47-36.
Then when Papaloukas scored to make it 51-50, CSKA had their first lead since they held a 3-2 advantage.
But the Greens stormed back in front, with a Dejan Tomasevic free throw capping a 10-1 run late in the third quarter for a 65-55 lead.
Panathinaikos fans began to celebrate.
A Tomasevic three-point play with just over two minutes left in the game stretched their lead to 83-73.
CSKA were not done, though.
A Langdon lay-up and Smodis three-ball cut the deficit to 83-78.
Panathinaikos would re-establish an 87-79 lead with less than two minutes remaining on a three-point play by Siskauskas.
But Langdon, the former Duke University star, buried back-to-back shots from the arc to pull CSKA closer at 87-85 and force Panathinaikos coach Zeljko Obradovic to call a timeout with just over a minute left.
When play resumed, the Greeks fed the ball to Michael Batiste and the American powered his way up for a short jumper to stretch the lead back to 89-85.
Papaloukas, who had a game-high 23 points in defeat, raced to the other end and dunked to reduce the arrears to three, but Siskauskas added two more free throws before JR Holden's three-pointer at the buzzer accounted for the final score.
Papaloukas, voted the most valuable player of the Euroleague this season, made nine of 10 shots from the floor and five of six at the line.
Papaloukas, also the FIBA Europe Player of the Year in 2006, had eight assists. He was overcome by emotion at the end and cried on the CSKA bench before walking out to the court.
Dimitrios Diamantidis, the Euroleague Defender of the Year, for the third year in succession, was voted MVP of the Final Four.
He had 15 points, including two of two from the line.
Ettore Messina, the CSKA coach, laughed off suggestions in his press conference of a possible move to the NBA.
And he said his team can come back strong next season.
Messina said: "As long as we stick together, we accept this defeat together, I am convinced we can contend for the Euroleague title next season. We still have the Russian championship to think about and we want to win it.
"But much of it will depend on how we play next month and deal with this defea
GRE - Panathinaikos beat brave CSKA Moscow in Euroleague Final
ATHENS (Euroleague Final Four) - Panathinaikos held off CSKA Moscow in Athens on Sunday night to win the Euroleague title.
The Greens, with the majority of the 18,363 fans giving them an incredible homecourt advantage, prevailed 93-91.
Lithuanian international Ramunas Siskauskas led the way with 20 points - 10 in the fourth quarter - as the Greek giants captured their fourth European crown.
Panathinaikos coach Zeljko Obradovic already owned the record with five Euroleague titles.
His six are two more than three legends in the game: Spanish great Pedro Ferrandiz, the late Russian legend Alexander Gomelsky and fellow Serb Bozidar Maljkovic - the Tau Ceramica coach Obradovic beat in Friday's semi-final.
Obradovic said: "I've told my players that this is not the first and the last, that we've got quality and that this win will inspire us to continue.
"I'm really proud of my players' performance and I'm extremely happy for the fans and the club."
Panathinaikos made a record 38 of 46 free throws in the game, beating the previous mark 34.
Before the start of the campaign, most of the experts predicted these two sides would meet in the final and there was not much to separate them throughout the season.
CSKA had stunned two-time defending champions Maccabi Tel Aviv last year in Prague, and Papaloukas had spoken of nothing else all season other than his desire to return home to Athens for this game.
"I want to congratulate my national team-mates," said Papaloukas. "They played a great game.
"It was difficult to play having 30,000 fans against us, but I think the main reason why we lost was because of small details."
Pana opened up a 46-36 half-time lead and looked to be building momentum for a decisive victory, but CSKA went on a 10-1 at the start of the second half to trail 47-36.
Then when Papaloukas scored to make it 51-50, CSKA had their first lead since they held a 3-2 advantage.
But the Greens stormed back in front, with a Dejan Tomasevic free throw capping a 10-1 run late in the third quarter for a 65-55 lead.
Panathinaikos fans began to celebrate.
A Tomasevic three-point play with just over two minutes left in the game stretched their lead to 83-73.
CSKA were not done, though.
A Langdon lay-up and Smodis three-ball cut the deficit to 83-78.
Panathinaikos would re-establish an 87-79 lead with less than two minutes remaining on a three-point play by Siskauskas.
But Langdon, the former Duke University star, buried back-to-back shots from the arc to pull CSKA closer at 87-85 and force Panathinaikos coach Zeljko Obradovic to call a timeout with just over a minute left.
When play resumed, the Greeks fed the ball to Michael Batiste and the American powered his way up for a short jumper to stretch the lead back to 89-85.
Papaloukas, who had a game-high 23 points in defeat, raced to the other end and dunked to reduce the arrears to three, but Siskauskas added two more free throws before JR Holden's three-pointer at the buzzer accounted for the final score.
Papaloukas, voted the most valuable player of the Euroleague this season, made nine of 10 shots from the floor and five of six at the line.
Papaloukas, also the FIBA Europe Player of the Year in 2006, had eight assists. He was overcome by emotion at the end and cried on the CSKA bench before walking out to the court.
Dimitrios Diamantidis, the Euroleague Defender of the Year, for the third year in succession, was voted MVP of the Final Four.
He had 15 points, including two of two from the line.
Ettore Messina, the CSKA coach, laughed off suggestions in his press conference of a possible move to the NBA.
And he said his team can come back strong next season.
Messina said: "As long as we stick together, we accept this defeat together, I am convinced we can contend for the Euroleague title next season. We still have the Russian championship to think about and we want to win it.
"But much of it will depend on how we play next month and deal with this defea