The last time Berlin hosted a Final Four was in 2016 and it was historic for several reasons. And it was also packed with basketball thrills and drama that created a lifetime of memories.
Memories of 2016 Final Four in Berlin
News
4 Mins read
A championship game to remember
It was a dream championship game with the season's two best teams and two coaches and best of friends, Zeljko Obradovic in his third season on Fenerbahce Istanbul's bench, and Dimitris Itoudis in his second year as the head coach of CSKA Moscow. A ticket for the championship game was like gold with thousands of Fenerbahce fans in front of what is now called Uber Arena, willing to do whatever it took just to get that most valuable piece of paper.
Inside the arena, however, it was a little gloom and plenty of doom for Fenerbahce since CSKA, led by Milos Teodosic and Nando De Colo, played a near-perfect first half of basketball. It was a basketball clinic and at halftime, Teodosic had 10 points and 3 assists and De Colo 7 points and 5 assists to put CSKA up 50-30.
Fenerbahce rallied after the break, melting away the deficit and finally catching up in the final 5 minutes of the fourth quarter. Coach Obradovic's men eventually went ahead 83-81 with 21 seconds to go. But CSKA's legendary team captain Victor Khryapa scored a last-second put-back, probably the biggest basket of his career, maybe even in CSKA history, to force overtime, where CSKA prevailed 91-86.
History, ended dreams and emotions
After the final buzzer sounded at the end of the extra 5 minutes, one of the most emotional celebrations ever witnessed on a EuroLeague Final Four floor could be seen.
"They have been brewing and waiting for this a long time", one EuroLeague Basketball Legend whispered courtside, watching the entire CSKA team, staff and management crying tears of joy, as the club won its seventh title.
The entire occasion of the Final Four was also very special for Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, as the Russian club reached its maiden Final Four. But Lokomotiv did not just come to enjoy the experience. Led on the floor by players who later became big stars such as Malcolm Delaney, Chris Singleton and Ryan Broekhoff, and coached by Georgios Bartzokas, they were there there to do damage. Lokomotiv's dream season did end in the semis, in a historic first-ever all-Russian semifinal against CSKA, which won 88-81.
Not to forget, in the other semifinal, Fenerbahce got past Baskonia 88-77, but only after overtime and a big fourth quarter rally fueled by Jan Vesely and capped by Kostas Sloukas. Both of Fenerbahce's Final Four games went to overtime and its dream of winning a first EuroLeague championship had to wait another year.
De Colo's award collection and reveal nearly ruined
Nando De Colo was voted as the 2016 Final Four MVP, adding that accolade after already winning that season's top scorer as well as being chosen the 2015-16 EuroLeague MVP, thus becoming the first player to win all three awards in the same season. Like every other year, the name of the MVP was revealed at the award ceremony, but the surprise was nearly ruined. During the award ceremony rehearsal, the emcee read De Colo's name as the MVP winner.
Luckily, it was early enough in the morning not to cause any confusion. Especially because it turned out that he did not actually know winners' name, either. Between the All-EuroLeague members who were supposed to be present for the event a couple of hours later – Teodosic, Delaney, De Colo, Vesely and Ioannis Bourousis - he simply practiced his announcement with De Colo's name. He ended up being correct!
FanZone set the tone – and a record
In the build-up to the game, the Alexanderplatz, one of the city's biggest squares, played a big role in setting the tone as the home of the FanZone. The weather did not always play along that week, but it did not stop the FanZone from being as vibrant as ever and setting a record at the time with more than 1 million people checking it out over three days.
The Alexanderplatz was also where it quickly became evident that Baskonia fans would have an important say in creating the atmosphere and setting the jubilant mood. Back at the Final Four for the first time in eight years, they came representing their team in big numbers. Then, of course, there were the Fenerbahce fans, backing their team in huge numbers in part thanks to the huge Turkish community in Germany. It allowed Fenerbahce feel like it was playing on its home floor.
