Panathinaikos won their second Men's Basketball Euroleague Final Four title, beating
Maccabi Tel Aviv 73-67 in Greek Thessaloniki.
It was a tale of two centres with Zeljko Rebraca driving the
Greek side to victory and Maccabi's Nate Huffman refusing to
give up.
Yugoslav Rebraca topscored for Panathinaikos with 20 points
but was outdone by a dazzling though ultimately doomed
performance from American Huffman who ended with 26.
The victory brought ecstasy for the 4,000 Panathinaikos fans
there to watch their heroes.
Dejan Bodiroga
with a trophy
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The scores were level 36-36 at half time but the Greek side
generally had the better of things in the second period,
building up an 11-point lead with 10 minutes to play.
The Greek crowd smelt victory but Huffman with two important
two pointers helped cut the deficit to four, only for
Panathinaikos to draw clear again.
Rebraca, a member of Yugoslavia's world championship winning
side of 1998, said: "It's a great success and we are very happy.
For me the next thing is the Olympic Games."
The result was a personal triumph for Panathinaikos coach
Zeljko Obradovic. With the triumph in Thessaloniki, he has become the first coach in the history of the Euroleague (former Champions' Cup) who won the title with four different clubs (Partizan Belgrade in 1992, Badalona in 1994, Real Madrid in 1995 and now Panathinaikos). He also coached Yugoslavia to their world title. He said: "I'm delighted for my players and for me of course. It's always a new feeling when you win it again even if it's with a different team."
Panathinaikos danger man Dejan Bodiroga, a national teammate of Rebraca, was expected to run Thursday's show but he had a quiet time, scoring just nine points.
Rebraca was voted the tournaments Most Valuable Player.
Maccabi centre Nate Huffman is the best scorer of the tournament with 50 points, and Efes Husein Besok grabbed most of the rebounds.
Won the title with
four different clubs:
Zeljko Obradovic
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Up to now, 13 Final Four tournaments of the Champions' Cup (later the Euroleague) have been played. As many as nine times the winners were the teams coached by the Yugoslavs. Zeljko Obradovic and Bozidar Maljkovic each won four titles, while Dusan Ivkovic won the title once.
European Men's Basketball Euroleague, Final-four, Thessaloniki, Greece, April 18-20 - Efficiency of the Yugoslav players
Semi-finals, April 18
PANATHINAIKOS (Greece) - EFES PILSEN (Turkey) 81-71 (41-33)
Dejan Bodiroga (Panathinaikos) - 22 points (5/6 2P FGs, 2/4 3P FGs, 6/7 FTs), five rebounds, three assists, in 33 minutes.
Zeljko Rebraca (Panathinaikos) - 15 points (5/10 2P FGs, 5/6 FTs), seven rebounds, in 27 minutes.
Predrag Drobnjak (Efes Pilsen) - 11 points (2/5 2P FGs, 1/1 3P FGs, 4/6 FTs), three rebounds, in 28 minutes.
BARCELONA (Spain) - MACCABI (Israel) 51-65 (22-38)
Milan Gurovic (Barcelona) - Five points (1/5 2P FGs, 1/4 3P FGs), four rebounds, in 28 minutes.
Third-place match, April 20
BARCELONA (Spain) - EFES PILSEN (Turkey) 69-75 (34-41)
Milan Gurovic (Barcelona) - 13 points (2/2 2P FGs, 3/6 3P FGs, 0/2 FTs), eight rebounds, in 27 minutes.
Predrag Drobnjak (Efes) - 16 points (5/9 2P FGs, 1/2 3P FGs, 3/4 FTs), five rebounds, in 40 minutes.
FINAL, April 20
PANATHINAIKOS (Greece) - MACCABI (Israel) 73-67 (36-36)
Dejan Bodiroga (Panathnaikos) - Nine points (2/8 2P FGs, 5/8 FTs), four rebounds, two assists, in 34 minutes.
Zeljko Rebraca (Panathinaikos) - 20 points (5/6 2P FGs, 10/14 FTs), eight rebounds, in 29 minutes.
Sacramento Kings concluded their regular 1999-2000 NBA season with a loss to Utah Jazz 86-95 in Salt Lake City. Predrag Stojakovic scored 11 points, Vlade Divac had 7, with 10 rebounds.
The Sacramento Kings are the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference and will face
the No. 1 seed Los Angeles Lakers in the first-round of the NBA Playoffs. Game No. 1 is scheduled on April 23 at Staples Center, Los Angeles.
Vlade Divac and Predrag Stojakovic - SEASON HIGHS AND RANKINGS
Vlade Divac recorded a game-high 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 105-92 win over Charlotte on March 8. He logged a triple-double, totaling 14 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in a 117-95 win over Philadelphia on April 2.
Vlade Divac is shooting .503 percent (384/764) from the field to rank 12th and ranks 7th in the NBA in Triple Double.
Predrag Stojakovic registered a career-high 30 points in a 123-117 overtime loss in Denver to Nuggets on February 21.
Predrag Stojakovic is shooting .881 percent (135/153) from the free-throw line to rank sixth in the NBA.
