Olympiacos back at Final Four
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 Olympiacos Piraeus confirmed its return to the European basketball elite by clinching a spot at the Euroleague Final Four for the first time in a decade. The 2009 Final Four will take place at the o2 Arena in Berlin, Germany, from May 1-3. Olympiacos defeated Real Madrid 75-78 on Thursday in the Spanish capital to win their best-of-five Quarterfinal Series 3-1. Head coach Panagiotis Giannakis’s team will face its arch Greek-League rival Panathinaiko, in the semifinals in Berlin. The Reds were last at the Final Four in 1999, which was also in one of Germany’s biggest cities, Munich. There they lost to eventual champion Zalgiris Kaunas in the semifinals before beating Fortitudo Bologna to claim third place. That run capped a series of four Final Four berths in six seasons, including winning the 1997 title in Rome by beating Barcelona in the title game. Olympiacos reached the 1994 and 1995 title games, in Tel Aviv and Zaragoza, where they lost, respectively, to Joventut Badalona and Real Madrid.
Landing in Berlin caps an exciting Euroleague season for the Reds that featured a number of ups and downs. Olympiacos won five of its first six games while settling new faces into the lineup to soar into first place in Group A. However the team stumbled down the stretch, losing three of its  last four regular season games to place second. But after losing its Top 16 opener at Armani Jeans Milano, Olympiacos came to life led by Nikola Vujcic to finish the stage with five straight wins, including the finale at Tau Ceramica to win Group E and clinch home-court advantage for the Quarterfinal Playoffs. Olympiacos used that advantage to the fullest by beating Real Madrid twice at home before heading to Spain and winning once more to clinch a spot in Berlin.
By reaching the Final Four, Olympiacos captain Theo Papaloukas stretches his streak of advancing to the event to seven consecutive seasons. He played the first six for CSKA Moscow. Vujcic advances to his fifth Final Four in six seasons and Yotam Halperin will also participate in his fifth Final Four. Vujcic and Halperin’s previous Final Fours were all with Maccabi Tel Aviv. Papaloukas, Vujcic and Halperin are all targeting their third Euroleague crowns.
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Euroleague.net
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