When Obradovic meets Maljkovic, something great happens on the stage of the European basketball. Therefore, I have many reasons to believe that the second semifinal of the 2007 Euroleague Final Four is more than a matter of history. I think that it is matter of...mythology! The game between Panathinaikos and Tau Ceramica brings two European basketball "barons" to OAKA's court. Two great coaches, two different styles, one word: success! Both Zots Obradovic and Boza Maljkovic have the know-how in creating and managing great basketball teams. They have changed the game and dominated the Euroleague in an impressive way.

So far, both Obradovic and Maljkovic have won 39 titles between them, with 9 of the 19 Euroleague trophies in the Final Four era included! Maljkovic, who is eight years older than his compatriot, came up big at the end of the 80's when he presented the "total basketball" of Yugoplastika Split. The current coach of Tau led the "zutko" in back-to-back titles (Munich 1989, Zaragoza 1990), before leaving for Barcelona to play a third straight final, which was a big disappointment for him. Barcelona lost the title game to his old team, Split, in Paris…

Maljkovic returned to the throne in 1993, in Piraeus, Greece, where his new French team, Limoges, surprised everybody with their defense-oriented game...

The 2007 Final Four will take place at OAKA, where Panathinaikos has played since moving from Glyfada Stadium in 1995. That was the year that the Indoor Hall of the Olympic Sports Complex was opened, and since then it has hosted all the major basketball events in the world. With the addition of the upcoming Euroleague Final Four, OAKA will have the privilege of being the only court responsible for hosting a complete cycle of the world's most prestigous basketball events.

The Olympic Indoor Hall of Athens is considered to be one of the most renowned basketball temples worldwide. A few weeks after its completion, in June 1995, the European Championships for men was the very first event to be held there, with the national team of Yugoslavia returning from a three-year ban and winning the gold in a thrilling final against Lithuania. Croatia took the bronze medal and Greece came fourth. Twenty days later, OAKA hosted the Word Championships for junior men, where Greece beat Australia in the final game and captured the gold medal, while Spain ranked third and Croatia fourth. Among the junior world players that summer, Dimitris Papanikolaou from Panathinaikos, Luis Scola from Tau, Pepe Sanchez and Carlos Jimenez from Unicaja, and Trajan Langdon from CSKA Moscow are now returning, 12 years later,...