...Panathinaikos has reached consecutive Final Fours for the first time in over a decade? Despite winning titles in 2002, 2007 and 2009, Panathinaikos never made it back to the Final Four the following season. The last time the Greens reached back-to-back Final Fours was the 2000 Euroleague and the 2001 SuproLeague seasons.
...Panathinaikos can win its seventh Euroleague title? Panathinaikos previously won the competition in 1996, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009 and 2011. CSKA and Panathinaikos are tied for second place on the all-time list – and face each other in the semifinals! Real Madrid leads the all-time list with eight continental crowns.
...head coach Zeljko Obradovic is the winningest person in Euroleague history? Obradovic has eight Euroleague titles (Partizan 1992, Joventut 1994, Real Madrid 1995, Panathinaikos 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2011), which is more than any player or coach since the competition began in 1958.
...Obradovic is at his 13th Final Four – more than any other club since the format was adopted in 1988? FC Barcelona Regal leads all European clubs in Final Four appearances at 12 – one less than Coach Obradovic.
...Obradovic has taken five different teams to the Final Four. He has been there with Partizan, Joventut, Real Madrid, Benetton and Panathinaikos. Other than Obradovic, only Boza Maljkovic – with Split, Barcelona, Limoges, Panathinaikos and Baskonia – has coached five different teams to the Final Four.
...Obradovic has taken Panathinaikos to the Final Four for the eighth time? No other coach has taken the same team as many times to the Final Four. Aito Garcia Reneses took Barcelona six times.
...Dimitris Diamantidis, Kostas Tsartsaris and Mike Batiste can win their fourth Euroleague title together? Batiste, Tsartsaris and Diamantidis all won the Euroleague with Panathinaikos in 2007, 2009 and 2011. Only 11 players have won four Euroleague titles or more, including teammate Sarunas Jasikevicius. Dino Meneghin leads the all-time players list with seven Euroleague titles.
...Diamantidis has the chance to be chosen as the Final Four MVP for the third time in his career. Diamantidis earned Final Four MVP honors in 2007 and 2011. Diamantidis and Toni Kukoc (Split 1989 and 1990, Benetton 1993) are the only players to be chosen Final Four MVP more than twice.
...Aleks Maric is the only player to participate in each of the last three Final Fours? Maric played the 2010 Final Four with Partizan and won the 2011 Euroleague with Panathinaikos and is back with the Greens in 2012!
...Romain Sato is one of the four African-born players to win the Euroleague in the Final Four era? Sato, born in the Central African Republic, lifted the trophy with Panathinaikos last season. Boni Ndong (Barcelona 2010) and Marc M'Bahia and Richard Dacoury (Limoges 1993) did so before him.
...Ian Vougioukas is one of the 14 players to play for both Olympiacos and Panathinaikos? Another player on that list, Vassilis Spanoulis, will play for the Reds at the 2012 Final Four?
...Nick and Pat Calathes could become the first brothers to win the competition as players since Drazen and Aleksandar Petrovic did so in 1985?
...Vougioukas leads the 2011-12 Euroleague in fouls drawn per minute. His 40-minute average is 11.47 per game - that's one every 3:30!
...Diamantidis is ranked third all-time in the Euroleague in assists (645) and steals (307)? He was chosen as the Euroleague’s Best Defender six times through his career.
...Batiste is seventh all-time in points (2,263) and fourth in rebounds (1,011)? Only two other players rank in the Top 10 in both categories - Nikola Vujcic and David Andersen.
...Tsartsaris leads all Final Four players in Euroleague games played? Tsartsaris will play his 210th Euroleague game in Istanbul, which is fourth on the all-time list behind Theo Papaloukas (235), Jaka Lakovic (218) and Gianluca Basile (214).
...Panathinaikos players combine for 26 Final Four appearances and 20 Euroleague titles? No other Final Four team has accumulated that experience at the 2012 Final Four. In fact, all FCB Regal, Olympiacos and CSKA Moscow players together combine for 14 Euroleague titles – six fewer than Panathinaikos alone.
...Panathinaikos featuress four players who have previously been chosen to the All-Euroleague first team? They are Maric (2010), Batiste (2011), Jasikevicius (2004, 2005) and Diamantidis (2007, 2011).