Maccabi Tel Aviv was of course the winner once again. This is a wonderfully built and organized team, which managed an improbable and rare repeat of Euroleague titles. In Europe, with the many ups and downs between teams, and the amount of players that leave their teams with the greatest of ease, it is no easy task to win two straight final fours, especially when the number one favorite, CSKA Moscow, had been preparing for this Final Four for years.
Before analyzing the Final game between Maccabi and the Cinderella Tau Ceramica, let's see what happened during the semi-finals, two days ago.
The Final Four Semifinals
MACCABI TEL AVIV-PANATHINAIKOS 91-82
by Dimitris Ritsonis
On Friday evening, Maccabi was looking to get by Panathinaikos and its strong defensive game. The Greek champions entered the court as the game's outsiders and, despite their excellent defense, which was built around stopping Maccabi's superstars Sarunas Jasikevicius, Anthony Parker and Nicola Vujcic, they were trailing throughout the game.
The reasons were, on one hand the marvelous offensive night of Derrick Sharp and Tal Burstein, and on the other hand the three quick fouls of Greens' first offensive option, Jaka Lakovic. suffered.
Lakovic was quickly replaced in the 1st period and the scoring options became limited for Panathinaikos. With Sharp having his best game of the last three years and Vujcic battling both Kostas Tsartsaris and Mike Batiste in the frontcourt, Maccabi led 25-18 during the 1st period and extended the margin to double digits late in the second (43-33).
Dimitris Diamantidis was running Panathinaikos' offense with a great will to cut down the margin, but the team's offensive options were limited, especially since the big men had a very disappointing game. The Greens began finding open shots that Ibrahim Kutluay, Nikos Chatzivretas and Vlado Scepanovic took advantage of, but with no player outside Diamantidis being creative at all, the Greek team only managed to cut the margin to 8 (49-41) at halftime.
With Maccabi's coach Pini Gherson watching his team winning over the court of the first half, despite Jasikevicius' and Parker's mediocre game; he began to feel better in the second half.
When Panathinaikos managed a strong comeback early in the 3rd quarter and took the lead 55-54, based mainly on the heroics of Diamantidis and Chatzivretas, Parker found some space and led his team to a 7-0 run. Panathinaikos was not able to bring back the score from that point on and went to the 4th period trailing by 6 (68-62).
Diamantidis and the now returned Lakovic, who, in the meantime had been charged with his fourth foul, tried to help the Greens return to the game, but it was too late. Jasikevicius was freed and his passing was as accurate as ever. A couple of back-to-back baskets from the Lithuanian and some serious support from Maceo Baston and Vujcic helped Maccabi leave the court with the ticket for the Final Game. The final score: 91-82.
The 34-year old Derrick Sharp and his 20 points in 25 minutes were as crucial as ever for Maccabi, also coming on excellent stats (7/10 FG, 3/5 Treys, 3/4 FT's). Baston and Burstein scored 14 a piece, proving that Maccabi's depth is insurmountable and can overcome even the toughest defenses in Europe. Jasikevicius had 13, but also dished out 8 assists, and Parker had 13 himself, along with 5 boards and 2 assists.
Diamantidis, in his first Final Four game might have been the best player on the floor, but his all-around game would have also been a winning one, if Panathinaikos had a decent presence in the frontline to support him. The Greek PG finished with 16 points (5/7 FG, 2/4 threes, 4/6 free throws), 6 boards, 5 assists, three steals and a block on his 25th birthday. The veteran Kutluay led Panathinaikos in scoring (17 points) and along with Scepanovic (16) covered for the loss of Lakovic, who finished the game with 4 points (1/6 FG) in 17 minutes. Panathinaikos' big men, Batiste and Tsartsaris finished with only 6 points combined.