Berlin 2009: Down to the last shot

June 18, 2013

I have great memories from the 2009 Final Four in Berlin. I was fortunate to be able to work alongside Frank Lawlor and George Zidek to provide coverage and analysis for Euroleague TV in the newly constructed o2 World. I also had the chance to get to experience Berlin and discover how it has transformed into such a vibrant, modern and beautiful city.

CSKA and Panathinaikos had to fight for their lives to win in the semifinals. Panathinaikos beat Olympiacos by 2 points, and CSKA needed Siskauskas to score 18 fourth-quarter points to beat Barcelona by 4. The final was a rematch of the exciting Athens 2007 championship game that Panathinaikos won 93-91. Even though this one was not as high scoring, we could not have asked for a more thrilling, entertaining final – one that was not decided until the very last second. This was one of the most exciting finishes to a championship game that I have ever seen.

Panathinaikos actually dominated the game from the start and went up by 20 points at halftime. Few could have possibly expected the comeback that CSKA mounted. But how could one doubt the resolve and character of the defending European champs! CSKA came out to start the second half by getting back to its identity, which had enabled the team to enjoy so much success: DEFENSE. CSKA held Panathinaikos scoreless for more than eight minutes and went on a 17-0 run to pull within 4 points.

That was an amazing feat, because they were playing against an incredibly talented offensive team led by an unbelievable trio of point guards in Dimitris Diamantidis, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Vassilis Spanoulis. They played the best pick-and-roll offense seen anywhere with fast, powerful big men like Mike Batiste and Nikola Pekovic setting wide screens on the ball and quickly cutting to the basket, while shooters like Antonis Fotsis and Drew Nicholas spread the floor and kept their men from rotating too far to help. Panathinaikos shot nearly 50 percent from three-point range for the game as it stretched the CSKA defense.

CSKA had a well balanced offensive attack with J.R. Holden, Ramunas Siskauskas, and Trajan Langdon leading the way. But in the end, CSKA seemed to simply run out of time after staging several comebacks during the game. Panathinaikos defeated the defending champs 73-71 in a thrilling game that came down to a last-second three-point shot by Siskauskas that bounced around the rim a couple of times before falling out. Another great crowd, another great venue, four more great teams and, of course, a great champion in Panathinaikos!

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POSTED BY

Johnny Rogers - Euroleague.net

DATE:

Tuesday, May 08, 2012