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Olympiacos: Return of the Reds
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After a decade-long effort, one of the Europe's signature clubs, Olympiacos Piraeus, has regained its place among the basketball elite with a berth in the 2009 Final Four. Olympiacos fans have already painted their seaport town red with joy, and now they wish to carry both their color and emotion to the German capital in support of their heroes. With an iconic Greek legend on its bench and a stable of diverse talents at his command, Olympiacos will try in Berlin to duplicate the club's 1997 run to the Euroleague trophy. Although that was their only continental crown so far, the Reds had already played two previous title games and would reach an additional Final Four, all in the span of six years in the 1990s. Now, on the way to its fifth Final Four, Olympiacos plans to make Berlin a place of destiny at the start of a new golden era.
Olympiacos was founded in the 1930s and won the first of its nine Greek League titles in 1949. Over the years, the Reds had surges of great accomplishments, including Greek League crowns in 1960, 1976 and 1978, as well as four Greek Cup titles over five seasons ending in 1980. But none of those achievements compared to the 1990s, when Olympiacos proved itself one of the best teams in Europe. In that decade, Olympiacos won its first Euroleague crown, reached three more Final Fours, won five consecutive Greek championships and claimed two Greek Cups. The first of those Final Fours came in 1994 in Tel Aviv, where the Reds bested rival Panathinaikos in the semifinals, but fell in the title game to DKV Joventut in a thriller. The Reds made it back to the title game the following season in Saragossa, Spain – again beating Panathinaikos in the semifinals – only to come up short against Arvydas Sabonis and Real Madrid. Their long-awaited Euroleague crown finally came in 1997, when David Rivers led the Reds over Barcelona at the Final Four in Rome. Olympiacos made one more Final Four visit in 1999, when it lost to eventual champion Zalgiris Kaunas in the semifinals. After that, Olympiacos took a step back – its only trophy since has been the Greek Cup in 2002 – but now the Reds are back and looking as strong as ever.
Its road to the 2009 Final Four started more than a year ago when Olympiacos tabbed the one and only Panagiotis Giannakis, one of Greece's top players and coaches ever, to take over the bench. During the off-season, Giannakis attracted superstar signings that started with former Euroleague and Final Four MVP Theo Papaloukas, who had formerly played with Olympiacos, and five-time All-Euroleague center Nikola Vujcic. Both of those players already owned two Euroleague titles, as did another import, combo guard Yotam Halperin. Olympiacos also recruited forward Josh Childress in a signing that made waves for its unexpectedness. Papaloukas became the fourth Olympiacos player to have already enjoyed national team success under Giannakis - the 2005 European championship and the 2006 World Championships silver medal - joining Ioannis Bourousis, Panagiotis Vasilopoulos and Sofoklis Schortsanitis. Other holdovers like scoring ace Lynn Greer, apprentice guard Milos Teodosic plus eager forwards Georgios Printezis and Zoran Erceg, assured the Reds enough depth and diversity to dream big. Olympiacos hit the ground running, winning five of its first six Euroleague games to seize first place in its regular season group. A slump followed, however, and after three losses in four games, the Reds finished second. The team also lost Childress for six weeks due to injury, but picked up guard Jannero Pargo to help make up for the absence. Alarm bells rang when Olympiacos also started the Top 16 by losing on the road, but a resurgence was close at hand. Vujcic and Papaloukas took charge in five consecutive victories with which the Reds claimed first place in their Top 16 group and won home-court advantage for the Quarterfinal Playoffs. The win streak reached seven as Olympiacos handed Real Madrid defeats in their first two playoff games. Papaloukas proved he was on form when it counted by tying the Euroleague playoff record of 13 assists in the series opener, while Vasilopoulos and Greer made big plays and small at the ends of both games. After dropping Game 3 on the road, Olympiacos followed Bourousis, who had a career-best night to cap his career-best season, to a Game 4 victory and a long-awaited return to the Final Four.
With a cast of former champs, ambitious new arrivals and capable youngsters, Olympiacos will be both an outsider and insider at its first Final Four of the decade. All-time Euroleague record-holders Vujcic, in overall performance index rating, and Papaloukas, in steals and assists, guarantee winning know-how, just as Giannakis will make sure that his team plays the right way. Mix in talent of every size and shape, and the Reds offer a potent mix of possibilities as they take their first of what surely will be more continental title shots in the new century.
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Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Euroleague.net
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SCHEDULE
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SEMIFINALS, May 1:
Regal FCB 78-82 CSKA Moscow
Olympiacos 82-84 Panathinaikos
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3RD PLACE, May 3:
Olympiacos 79-95 Regal FCB
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FINAL, May 3:
Panathinaikos 73-71 CSKA Moscow
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2008-09 ALL-EL TEAM, MVP
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