2017 was a milestone for the Euroleague, Europe’s top basketball league competition. The league expanded during the year and offered some great moments for all the basketball fans in its new format, which was embraced by the game’s supporters across the continent. Basketball website Eurohoops.net chose the top 10 highlight of 2017 based on their significance and … how we will remember them in the years to come! One of the top moments of the year was definitely Fenerbahce’s first title and the first one ever for a Turkish team in basketball.
Fenerbahce: The dream came true!
Fenerbahce won their first ever title in Istanbul and, as such, made 2017 a landmark year in their history but also in the history of Turkish basketball. The management worked together with Zeljko Obradovic and Maurizio Gherardini, maintaining a core group and making the necessary corrective moves every summer. First came the qualification for the Final Four of 2015, then the lost championship game of 2016. Finally, in their third attempt, Fenerbahce went all the way and picked up the “Holy Grail” of European basketball.
Led by Bogdan Bogdanovic and Udoh, together with a multitude of important players, the wild course to the final began in the playoffs. Even though they didn’t have a home-court advantage, they won the series with Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens 3-0, beat Real Madrid in the semifinal, and on May 21 became the new European champions by overcoming the last obstacle, Olympiacos, with a 80-64 win. It was the first title for Fenerbahce but also for Turkish basketball in general!
New format: The ultimate success story!
A very important event that unfolded and was completed in 2017 was the first season with the new format: 16 teams, a championship of 30 rounds, playoffs and a Final Four! The protagonists on the courts, players and coaches, the fans, media throughout the world, all agreed that this development was beneficial for the top league on every level!
Many more games, amazing thrills, endless suspense; an increase in people’s interest, in ticket sales, TV sales, revenues; growth on every level with a format that promises a lot for the future as well. The ultimate success story and the EuroLeague together with the clubs are working to boost the popularity of the top league in the world outside of the NBA to even higher levels!
Obradovic: Only one finger still ring-less for the Lord of the Rings!
Yet another title for the most successful coach in the history of the competition since 1958, when it started, to its current form today! Obradovic won his ninth title with the fifth different team! KK Partizan (1992), Joventut Badalona (1994), Madrid (1995), Panathinaikos (2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2011) and, the latest, Fenerbahce (2017)!
It goes without saying that there is no other coach with as many titles and that there is only one finger left that doesn’t have a ring on it for the Lord of the Rings of European basketball. It’s worth noting that his cycle of nine titles started in Istanbul with that unbelievable winning basket that Aleksandar Djordjevic scored and, for now at least, closed in the same city with Fenerbahce after 25 years!
more at eurohoops.net
