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2005 Euroleague Final Four May 17, 2005 by Tim Adams American basketball fans are quite familiar with the NBA playoffs and NCAA tournament, but nestled between college march madness and the late spring excitement of the NBA playoffs is the Euroleague Final Four. The European version of tourney basketball brings together the best teams from all over the continent, and is widely considered the best basketball outside of the NBA. The Euroleague brings together teams from 15 separate leagues, domestic leagues such as the Spanish ACB as well as regional ones like the Adriatic League. The Euroleague draws the best 24 teams into three groups of eight and plays a round robin format to determine the final 16 teams. The four left standing play in the final four, which was held this year in Moscow. The teams were Maccabi Tel Aviv who were the defending Euro champions and Israeli champs, CSKA Moscow (pronounced Chess-Ka) the home team and bearers of an unprecedented 53-1 record, the Spanish ACB league champs Tau Ceramica, and the Greek champions Panathinaikos. There were a number of American players participating, as well as quite a few NBA prospects and players whose rights are held by NBA teams. Ex-college players such as Anthony Parker (Bradley), Deon Thomas (Illinois), JR Holden (Bucknell), Lonny Baxter (Maryland), Maceo Baston (Michigan). Mike Battiste, Derrick Sharp, Travis Hansen, and Antonio Granger were prominent in their team rotations. Anthony Parker who plays for Maccabi was selected Euroleague MVP. There are also some names that might become familiar in the future. Argentine Luis Scola (6'9"-Ceramica) was drafted by the Spurs in 2002, and could very likely be in San Antonio next year providing top notch backup for Tim Duncan. The Australian big man David Anderson (7'0"- CSKA) has his rights held by the Atlanta Hawks, and could definitely help the Hawks down low sometime in the near future. Russian Sergei Monya (6'8"- CSKA) was selected by Portland in the 2004 draft. Some other players have made big names for themselves in Europe yet remain undrafted free agents. At the top of this list are two Lithuanian guards, Sarunas Jasikevicius (6'4"- Maccabi) who played at Maryland in the late '90s and is considered the top point guard in Europe, and Arvydas Macijauskas, considered the best pure shooter in the world. Spanish point gaurd Jose Manuel Calderon (6'3"- Ceramica) is a speedy young player who has brought interest from NBA scouts. Nikola Vujcic (6'11"- Maccabi) is a burly power forward/center with good passing skills who has received offers from NBA teams. Another player with NBA potential is 20 year old Brazilian Tiago Splitter (7'0"- Ceramica), a very multi dimensional seven footer with loads of potential. Splitter is a likely top ten pick whenever he decides to go into the draft. As for the final four itself, the first semifinal game was won by Tau Ceramica who upset CSKA 85-78, handing them only their second loss of the year in front of an unhappy home crowd. Arvydas Macijauskas lit it up from the perimeter in leading the way for Ceramica with 23 points, while JR Holden led CSKA with 20 points. In the other semifinal Maccabi held on to beat Panathinaikos 91-82. Derrick Sharp came off the bench to lead Maccabi with 20 points, tying his career high, while Jasikevicius added 13 points and 8 assists. The Euroleague plays a third place game, and unfortunately CSKA suffered their second loss in a row in what may actually have been the best game of the finals. Panathinaikos came back from 22 points behind to win in double over time 94-91, adding insult to injury to an otherwise brilliant CSKA season. The final game was hard fought, but Maccabi proved too tough for Ceramica as they pulled away to win 90-78. This marked the first back to back champion since Split Croatia, led by Toni Kukoc and Dino Radja, ran away with three in a row from '89 - '91. Jasikevicius scored 22 points with 6 rebounds and 5 assists in being named the final four MVP. This also marked the third year in a row that he has won the Euroleague title. Luis Scola led Ceramica with 16 points. Tim Adams
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