By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
What can you say about a league in which, just before the first half of the season is complete, there is one team at the top, five challengers tied in second place, and the last-place team is just three wins away from playoff position with 16 games to go?
You might even call it thrilling, right? The new Turkish Airlines EuroLeague has all the elements to captivate the world, to make new fans all the time, to take your breath away, to represent the unpredictable, the impossible, the historic! At the least, we are seeing this new competition create emotions and memories that can never be forgotten by the fans or the protagonists.
We are only a few days away from saying goodbye to 2016, a landmark year for Europe’s top league! And while the best is still ahead in a brilliant season that is going to come to a climax this spring in Istanbul, where the new king of the EuroLeague will emerge, we are going to share with you the five facts from 2016 that we are never going to forget!
There are many things to choose from and shine a light on in the course of 12 months, but with the criteria being their significance and unforgettable nature, we made a list of five things from 2016 that we are never going to forget!
1. CSKA Moscow: Return to the throne after 8 years!
It was May 4, 2008, when CSKA Moscow won the EuroLeague at the Final Four in Madrid against Maccabi FOX Tel-Aviv in a “remake” of the 2006 final in Prague! It was the third consecutive final for Ettore Messina’s team at the time and, as happened in 2007 in Athens, another lost one followed against Panathinaikos Athens in 2009 in Berlin. As such – led by Theodoros Papaloukas, J. R. Holden, Trajan Langdon, Matjaz Smodis – that team played in four consecutive finals and won two trophies.
Eight whole years had to go by until Moscow’s club could return to the throne! On May 15, 2016, in one of the most sensational finals of all time, CSKA defeated Fenerbahce Istanbul 101-96 in overtime and was again crowned champion of Europe!
Is there a player that played in both trophy-winning finals? Yes, Victor Khryapa, whose put-back shot sent the final in Berlin last spring into overtime and changed history! How things turn out in life sometimes…
This time, CSKA had a Greek coach, Dimitris Itoudis, and Nando De Colo and Milos Teodosic as the team leaders. Being at the top is not simple… In those eight years that followed 2008, CSKA appeared in six Final Fours (they missed only 2010 in Paris). They lost two finals (in 2009 and 2012, the biggest championship-game upset of all time in the competition) and they were defeated in the semifinal four other times.
For precisely this reason, the 2016 title held enormous value for the club. Yes, CSKA went through bitter moments and failed a number of times, based on their standards. But longevity in sports is one of the most important things, and this team is absolutely dominating! From the first Final Four in 2002 in Bologna until the last one in 2016 in Berlin, CSKA counts 13 Final Four appearances in 15 years, something that no other team has accomplished. You could even call that a “gold medal” in longevity at the highest level!
2. A 3D EuroLeague Legend has entered the pantheon!
One more reason we are not going to forget about 2016 is the decision of a great player to retire as he completed his journey in the EuroLeague. The Greek guard Dimitris Diamantidis was one of the most complete and successful players in the history of the competition!
He played in the league for 12 seasons, won three titles (2007, 2009, 2011), was the MVP of the 2011 season and MVP of the Final Four in 2007 and 2011! He won the Best Defender award an unbelievable six times! He won countless more individual distinctions, like the nine Greek championships and nine Greek Cups! He also won the gold medal at EuroBasket 2005 with the Greek national team, as well as silver in the 2006 World Championships.
What people are going to remember, though, as the decades go by, and the reason that Diamantidis is going to go down in history as a great player, is the way he played the game. With selflessness and a multifaceted contribution, he made his teammates better and his team a championship team.
He hung his boots up heading several EuroLeague all-time lists in different categories. The include: assists (1,255), steals (434), playing minutes (7,967:49) and appearances as a starter (228).
He ranks second only behind Juan Carlos Navarro with 278 appearances in total. He’s the eighthbest scorer on the all-time list with 2,495 points and, even though he was a playmaker, he was 12th in rebounds (969) and 16th in blocks (118)! Now you can see why the EuroLeague has annointed him a EuroLeague Legend since last year!
3. De Colo: He won everything there was to win!
In 2016, something happened for the first time in the history of the EuroLeague! The same player won the title of MVP of the season, MVP of the Final Four and, at the same time, the Alphonso Ford Trophy as the competition’s top scorer (with an average of 19.4 points)! We are talking about 29-year-old French guard Nando De Colo of France, who combined this unique season for him with CSKA’s winning of the title!
It can’t get any better than that! Or can it? We’ll find out in May 2017. What De Colo accomplished is without precedent in the league and after the end of that season, he signed a new contract with CSKA for the next three years!
4. Turkish flavor with historic events!
2016 was also the year in which Turkey’s representation in Europe’s top league was more powerful than ever! Zeljko Obradovic‘s Fenerbahce Istanbul team went all the way to the final in Berlin and made history as the first and, so far, the only team from that country that has played in the final. In fact, Fenerbahce was one defensive rebound away from winning the EuroLeague.
In the second half of 2016, something even more unique happened, with regard to Turkey. For the first time ever, we saw in the EuroLeague four teams not just from the same country, but the same city! Fenerbahce, Anadolu Efes Istanbul, Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul and Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul!
5. The best ever championship!
Above all, we are not going to forget about 2016 because it gave birth to the new format of the EuroLeague, which everything indicates is going to change everything and will enhance Europe’s top league even further, offering even bigger and more ambitious prospects for many years to come!
The EuroLeague, in close cooperation with the clubs, launched this unified championship of 16 teams that includes a regular season of 30 games and five weeks containing two rounds. The first samples are impressive on all levels! Endless suspense, countless derbies and thrills, fuller arenas, greater interest, more revenue, and an even better product not only in terms of basketball, but at every level.
This is just the beginning and the future looks fascinating, with 11 teams having signed a ten-year development plan and all signs suggesting that it’s just a matter of time until the EuroLeague has the global reach it deserves!
Goodnight 2016, we thank you! 2017 is winking an eye at us and hinting at what is to come with two traditional derbies between giants – Olympiacos Piraeus vs. Panathinaikos and Real Madrid vs. CSKA – in its very first week!
Happy New Year, #GameOn!