February 10, 2012
Euroleague Basketball 2006-07: season in review
The 2006-07 Euroleague season came to an end with Panathinaikos lifting its fourth trophy after beating CSKA in an unforgottable final, an instant classic that punctuated the excitement of the entire season. Among the biggest winners when it was over were Panathinaikos head coach Zeljko Obradovic, who added to his legend with a record-extending sixth Euroleague title; one-of-a-kind guard Dimitris Diamantidis, who not only won his third Defensive Player of the Year honor, but was also chosen both the 2007 Final Four MVP and all-Euroleague First Team member; and Fragiskos Alvertis, who became the most-crowned player of the entire 20-year Final Four era in Europe to cap his 17th season wearing the green of Panathinaikos. From runner-up CSKA, point guard Theo Papaloukas made history as the 2007 Euroleague MVP, perhaps the first reserve player ever to win such an award, while also becoming the competition's all-time leader in assists and steals. Another All-Euroleague First Team selection and Final Four participant, Luis Scola of Tau Ceramica, not only became the Euroleague's all-time top scorer, but also the first to break the 2,000-point barrier in the competition. Nikola Vujcic of Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv, Juan Carlos Navarro of Winterthur FC Barcelona and Trajan Langdon of CSKA also earned All-Euroleague first team honors. Panathinaikos, Tau Ceramica and CSKA Moscow lived up to the expectations, winning their respective regular season and Top 16 groups and making it to the Final Four. Meanwhile, Unicaja provided the biggest surprise this season, taking its Top 16 group after struggling through the regular season and then knocking off Barcelona in the playoffs. It was another Euroleague Basketball season to remember, so sit back and enjoy this summary!

Nikola Vujcic - Maccabi EliteThe Regular Season set the tone for excitement with the very first tipoffs, as mighty Panathinaikos had to rally from a 24-point margin to down newcomer DKV Joventut 79-82 in the Euroleague's opening game in Badalona, Spain while Maccabi Elite needed overtime to edge Unicaja 106-101 at home. Surprising results continued pouring in. Partizan beat Maccabi 103-91 in Game 2 while Pau-Orthez upset CSKA 73-67 the following week. It would be the defending champions' only loss until the playoffs. Among the individual heroics that first month, Mike Batiste earned November MVP honors by leading the Greens to five victories without a loss. Vujcic, meanwhile, registered the Euroleague's second-ever triple-double - 27 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists - in a home game against Union Olimpija. Pau-Orthez continued to surprise, taking its third road win 106-110 in double-overtime at Zalgiris behind 30 points from Michael Wright. Joventut got its first victory in style, as Rudy Fernandez made an unbelievable a game-winning alley-oop tip-in against Unicaja in Malaga with just 0.1 seconds to go. That was a shot seen around the world. By the time the end-of-year break arrived, teams like Tau, Olympiacos, CSKA and Barcelona were virtually qualified for the Top 16, while Panathinaikos was already in and Scola was chosen MVP for December. The fight to make the next round highlighted the final dates of the regular season. Eldo Napoli edged Fenerbahce Ulker 88-93 in a thrilling overtime game but none of them advanced to the Top 16 in the end. Meanwhile, a three-pointer by Sanchez allowed Unicaja to force overtime in Belgrade and the guests ended up beating Partizan 90-94. That win allowed Lottomatica Roma to make it to the Top 16 instead of Cibona. Dozens of Roma fans wrote Euroleague.ne Fan Mail to Sanchez to thank him for the shot. Prokom, Aris TT Bank and Partizan were among the last teams to make the Top 16, while the driving force behind a qualified newcomer, Lazaros Papadopoulos of Dynamo Moscow, earned MVP honors for January.

Lazaros Papadopoulos, Dynamo MoscowThe Top 16 Draw grouped Tau with Lottomatica, Maccabi Elite and Pau-Orthez. CSKA had to battle against Partizan, Joventut and Joventut. Panathinaikos had to go against Efes Pilsen, Winterthur FCB and Prokom. And Dynamo headed the group that included Unicaja, Benetton and Aris. Panathinaikos left no doubt about its power by thrashing Efes and Barcelona in its first two Top 16 games at OAKA. Meanwhile, Tau sent a message that echoed everywhere by beating Maccabi 68-79 in Tel Aviv behind 19 points from Igor Rakocevic, who would end up winning the Alphonso Ford Top Scoring trophy. Joventut edged Olympiacos 58-56 in a rematch of the 1994 Euroleague final behind outstanding defense from teen sensation Ricky Rubio, who had 5 of his 7 steals in the fourth quarter. Rubio would later finish second in the Euroleague Rising Star Trophy vote, right behind his teammate, Fernandez. CSKA dominated its new group as Matjaz Smodis earned February MVP honors halfway through an undefeated round. Meanwhile Prokom got the first-ever Top 16 victory by a Polish team by defeating Efes in Istanbul to break an eight-game losing streak against the Turkish powerhouse. Game 4 happened to be pivotal in Group D, as Dynamo edge Aris 71-69 while Unicaja topped Benetton 76-79. Maccabi needed overtime to get a critical 94-98 road win against Pau in Game 5 behind 21 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists from a recovered Tal Burstein. Next, Unicaja beat Dynamo 73-62 to clinch first place in Group D. Two do-or-die showdowns took place in Game 6, as Dynamo faced Benetton for a direct playoff spot, while Olympiacos needed to beat Joventut in order to advance. Antonis Fotsis set a Euroleague record with 24 rebounds to go along with 22 points in Dynamo's 68-65 overtime win against Benetton, while Olympiacos advanced to the playoffs by beating Partizan 81-65. For helping his team become the only lower-seeded group winner, Daniel Santiago of Unicaja was named MVP for March.

Marko Tusek - UnicajaThe Quarterfinal Playoffs matchups were Unicaja vs. Barcelona, Tau vs. Olympiacos, Panathinaikos vs. Dynamo and CSKA vs. Maccabi. The latter was a rematch of the 2006 Euroleague title game and meant that one of those teams would miss a Final Four for the first time since 2003. Tau simply overwhelmed Olympiacos 84-59 in Game 1 on their best-of-three quarterfinal series. Rakocevic led the way for Tau with 24 points. Olympiacos faced a do-or-die situation in Game 2, but Tau advanced to its third consecutive Final Four with a 89-95 road win as Scola score 20 points, Tiago Splitter 18 and Rakocevic 17. For the first full Euroleague season of his career, Olympiacos coach Pini Gershon would miss the Final Four. Panathinaikos kept rolling and thrashed Dynamo 80-58 in Game 1 in front of 15,000 fans at OAKA. Sani Becirovic had 17 points for the Greens. Panathinaikos swept the series with a 65-73 road win in Game 2 in Moscow. Ramunas Siskauskas led the Greens with 19 points and would end up being chosen as the Euroleague's April MVP. CSKA got its 18th consecutive Euroleague win by downing Maccabi 80-58 in Game 1 behind 16 points from Langdon and 14 from David Andersen. Just when everybody expected a sweep, Maccabi hit back with a resounding 68-56 home win in Game 2. Vujcic and Lior Eliyahu combined for 28 points and 19 rebounds. CSKA bounced back from its first Euroleague loss since November and advanced to its record-breaking fifth consecutive Final Four by downing Maccabi 92-71 in Game 3. Papaloukas posted a double-double of 14 points and 10 assists. Unicaja took its first step to the Final Four with a 91-75 home win in Game 1 with its bench players contributing 54 points. Barcelona responded with a 80-58 home win in Game 2, as Navarro had 25 points on 5-of-6 triples. It all came down to the final seconds of Game 3, which Unicaja played without Santiago, who was injured. With 7.7 seconds left, Sanchez flicked his left wrist from three-point distance, the ball went down and 10,400 fans in Malaga went up as Unicaja advanced to its first-ever Final Four.

Everything was set for an outstanding Final Four in Athens, featuring the defending champion in CSKA, a home team in Panathinaikos backed by a majority of fans in OAKA, a perennial candidate in Tau and a newcomer ready to make some noise in Unicaja. CSKA faced Unicaja in the first semifinal while Panathinaikos would go against Tau Ceramica, in a rematch of last year's do-or-die playoff game that allowed Tau to advance to the Final Four. Unicaja battled CSKA despite not having Santiago and losing its best player of the night, Carlos Cabezas, midway through the third quarter to an eye injury. Unicaja would lead 46-47 early in the fourth quarter, but CSKA improved its defense and made its opponents go scoreless in the next 8 minutes for a 14-0 run that sealed the outcome. Trajan Langdon led CSKA with 13 points while Cabezas also got 13 for Unicaja. Pushed by an incredible crowd, Panathinaikos downed Tau Ceramica 67-53 in the other semifinal. Batiste and Becirovic each had 15 points for Panathinaikos, whichled 35-21 at halftime. Tau got within 53-47 with 4 minutes to go but Scola fouled out and his team ran out of chances. Two days later, Unicaja would edge Tau 74-76 for third place on a game-winning driving layup by Marcus Brown. Marko Tusek fired in 5-of-6 triples on his way to 18 points.

Greens Champ! - Panathinaikos - Final Four Athens 2007All that remained was a title game that will be remembered a long time for its championship-quality basketball, individual heroics and an atmosphere second to none in the history of basketball. It was simply one of the best title games in the history of the competition. Panathinaikos had a strong start but Langdon and Papaloukas got CSKA within 18-17 after 10 minutes. Milos Vujanic came off the bench and led the Greens to double-digit leads in the second quarter and a 46-36 advantage at halftime. An outstanding Papaloukas singlehandedly brought CSKA back in the third quarter, giving his team a 50-51 edge, but Diamantidis took over their duel to keep Panathinaikos a step ahead. Dejan Tomasevic became the Greens' go-to guy in the final quarter, as his three-point play gave Panathinaikos a 83-73 margin with 4 minutes to go. CSKA was not done, however, as Langdon blasted back-to-back triples to pull his team within 87-85 early in the final minute. A critical turnaround jumper by Batiste and free throws by Vujanic allowed a sea of green fans in the stands to shout out loud that once again, Panathinaikos was the King of European basketball! Diamantidis scored 15 points and displayed the needed leadership to take his team to glory. Ramunas Siskauskas, who tied a Euroleague final game record with 12 free throws made and set another with 17 attempted, shined with 20 points and 5 assists. Tomasevic added 16, Batiste and Vujanic 12 each and Nikos Hatzivrettas posted 10. Despite a game widely expected to be a defensive struggle, the final became a high-scoring thriller. Records were set by Panathinaikos for most free throws made (38) and attempted (46) in a final. The Greens also matched a final record for most points scored in the second quarter with 28. CSKA fell short in its bid to become the second straight team to win back-to-back titles, but scored the most points by a losing team in the Final Four era and the third-most in the 50-year history of European final games. Papaloukas did his best to carry the outgoing champs, scoring a career-high 23 points on 9-of-10 from the field to go with 8 assists, but it wasn't enough. Smodis finished with 18 points and Langdon wound up with 16.

The victory by Panathinaikos marked the 50th time that a champion was crowned in Europe. The Greens can lay claim after four titles in 11 seasons to being the most-accomplished club in a golden era of European basketball. And without doubt, they can claim to have inspired on May 6 in Athens one of the most compelling moments in world basketball history.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Javier Gancedo, Euroleague.net
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