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Vladimir Stankovic, Euroleague.net
April 25, 2002
The numbers - 8 for 8 and 4 for 7 - don't lie. But they only begin to tell the story of the amazing record among Europe's club elite that belongs to our next FINAL FOUR Interview subject, Zeljko Obradovic. The head coach of Panathinaikos has made the Final Four eight times with five different teams, all but one of which took home the title. The four winners: Partizan 1992, Joventut 1994, Real Madrid 1995 and Panathinaikos 2000. The near misses came in 1996 with Real Madrid (fourth), in 1998 with Benetton (third) and in 2001 with Panathinaikos (second). The unknown quantity is Bologna 2002. "I'm proud of my results in Europe. I was lucky to coach great teams that allowed me to work well, to develop my ideas and have good players to put those ideas to practice," Obradovic said. "Everything else is up to daily work, ambition, motivation and being able to transmit your ideas to the players."
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Frank Lawlor, Euroleague.net
April 24, 2002
They had one foot out of the Euroleague less than a month ago. But when given another chance, they pulled off one of the finest victories in their club's illustrious history. In Israel they may debate whether it is the same Maccabi Tel Aviv that won the SuproLeague last season, but take it from long-time team captain Nadav Henefeld, the subject of today's Final Four interview: the Yellows are ready. "It was a tough, long way, but we are there now and everything is possible," Henefeld said. "We know we have the ability." At the Final Four, with a whole country following its every move, Maccabi will once again face its modern rival, Panathinaikos in Athens, in the first semifinal on Friday, May 3. Read on, and find out what Henefeld thinks about the challenges that Maccabi faces this time around.
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Romano Petitti, Italy
April 23, 2002
One thing that assured Benetton Treviso's presence in the Final Four is the team's versatility. Centers shoot three-pointers while point guards attack the basket. The subject of our latest Final Four interview, team captain Riccardo Pittis, is the embodiment of his team's versatility. "I was born a versatile player," Pittis says. "It's my character." The winner of two European titles with Milan in 1987 and 1988, Pittis wants punctuate his career with another crown for Benetton. "I don't follow De Coubertin's ideas," he says. "I don't want to go there just to participate." For Pittis and Benetton, the challenge begins Friday, May 3 in a semifinal against defending Euroleague champion Kinder in Bologna.
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by:
Frank Lawlor, Euroleague.net
April 22, 2002
In more than one sense, he is the man at the center of the Final Four. His city, Bologna, is the host. His team, Kinder, is the defending champion. On the Final Four floor at PalaMalaguti arena, Ettore Messina has been known to conduct his team like an orchestra, but he was recently made to suffer through a soap opera to remain Kinder's head coach. Messina remains clear-eyed about the goal, making it this far, having already been met. Now, he can set his sights on a rare opportunity: making Kinder the first repeat European champion since the Jugoplastika teams of 1989 through 1991. "If we don't make it, that would be the normal thing, because the majority of clubs haven't been able to," Messina said in the first of Euroleague.net's Final Four interview series. "But if we do make it, that would be a great page in the history of Virtus."
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