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Pana claim Euroleague crown
Defending European champions Kinder Bologna failed to benefit from home advantage when the Euroleague crown was on the line, Greek giants Panathinaikos sweeping the Italians aside 89-83 in this season’s final at the PalaMalaguti.
The Italians were aiming to become the first side for ten years to win consecutive titles having despatched rivals Benetton Treviso 90-82 in their semi-final on Friday evening. However despite a lead of 13 points, Ettore Messina's men failed to contain an increasingly buoyant Panathinaikos who were spurred by a MVP display from Dejan Bodiroga who led the victors with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
"It was our third final in three seasons and our second cup in three years," he said. "This means that we are the best team in Europe. Thank God we made it. This victory belongs to all of us, to all the players and the staff of the team. Everybody believed that Kinder was the favorite but we proved otherwise tonight. This season we changed a lot of things, we added new players but nothing changed. We are still a great team."
Head coach Zeljko Obradovic rose to the status of coaching legend, winning his fifth title with four different clubs in eight Final Four appearances over 11 years. After a Kinder second-quarter burst, the Athens outfit patiently worked its way back into the game.
Centre Lazaros Papadopoulos was the catalyst of the comeback, but in the second half veterans Bodiroga, Ibrahim Kutluay and Johnny Rogers took over.
Panathinaikos, who had defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 83-75 in their semi-final, were 52-42 behind early in the third period, Pana went on an 11-2 run and quickly went ahead for the first time since the opening moments, a cushion which they never relinquished.
"In the first half we had the chance to break the game open but we made two or three defensive mistakes and they came within 8 points," lamented Messina. "We started the second half playing terrible defense amd without easy shots. We got nervous because the game started to be played in the half court, which is Panathinaikos' tactic. We lost our fluidity, and we missed 16 free throws because the ball started to be heavy."
Kinder's Emanual Ginobile led all scorers with 27 points.
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