THE CLUB: Partizan Belgrade
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  Any club that has achieved its signature success in the way that Partizan Belgrade did almost 20 years ago has to be considered a candidate to win the Euroleague whenever the opportunity arises. Over six-and-a-half decades, Partizan Belgrade has built up a tremendous fan base in the Serbian capital, developed countless young prospects into stars and launched the careers of prominent coaches, all while meeting the basic goal of the club: winning. Partizan can boast 16 domestic championships – including its ongoing streak of eight in a row – plus 11 domestic cups, three Adriatic League crowns and four continental trophies, which includes the greatest of them all, the 1992 Euroleague championship. It took over 30 years after the club was founded before it started winning titles, but the legendary Drazen Dalipagic and Dragan Kicanovic made up for lost time when they got together. Together they helped Partizan win its first Yugoslav League crown in 1976 and then its first Korac Cup two years later, downing Bosna 117-110 in an overtime classic. The following year, without Dalipagic, but with a young Dusan Ivkovic on the bench, Kicanovic led Partizan to repeat as Korac Cup winners. Another young head coach, 29-year-old Dusko Vujosevic, took Partizan to its next great feat, reaching the Euroleague Final Four in 1988 led by budding stars Zarko Paspalj and Vlade Divac. They were joined by Sasha Djordjevic and Predrag Danilovic as Partizan added another Korac Cup to its coffers in 1989. Three years later, Djordjevic and Danilovic were Partizan’s biggest stars as a rookie head coach, Zeljko Obradovic, guided the club to its first – and to date only – Euroleague title. It was won on a miraculous buzzer-beater by Djordjevic that has gone down as one of the great shots in basketball history. Partizan remained a force domestically and also made the1998 Euroleague Final Four in Barcelona, led by Dejan Tomasevic, but that would be the club’s last appearance in the continental spotlight for several years. Vujosevic’s return to Partizan in 2001 helped restart the winning tradition. Partizan once again started to produce young elite players and the team began to knock off the giants of the Euroleague en route to three straight playoff appearances. Now, the resurgence is complete, with a return to the Final Four!
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Euroleague.net
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