Devotion

As you may or may have not guessed from my previous post, oh faithful reader, the team I was supporting in the Euroleague final won.

Panathinaikos is the new Euroleague champion, for the fourth time in history. It's the first team in history that has managed such a feat, and its captain Fragiskos Alvertis is the only player who has managed to win the title four times in his career.

It's funny, this guy was just starting when I first started watching basketball, and seeing the amount of titles he has won in his 17-year career was a strange feeling. I guess you don't realize how important or even legendary some people are until they retire.

At any rate, the game itself was excellent. I'm kind of bummed I couldn't have a ticket for it, but on the other hand I'm also kind of glad. Every time Panathinaikos got a decent lead (up to 12 points at some point), CSKA kept coming back again. And again, and again. It made for a very tense game, and given that I get hilariously stressed when watching sports, I'd probably get an aneurysm or something.

But yes, it was a great game and a great final, worthy of the two (arguably) best teams in Europe at the moment. The final score of 93 to 91 is also one of the highest ever for a final. In the end, and in my ever-so-humble opinion, the better team won. Every single player from Panathinaikos did what they were supposed to do, while CSKA depended a bit too much on Papaloukas -who played unbelievable well, by the way. But sometimes one man can't make the difference, at least on his own. Sorry Stan Lee.

An interesting thing, Panathinaikos had offered to do a little tour in the States (sort of like the "NBA in Europe" yearly event, but reversed), and now that they've won the Euroleague, they are allegedly requested to go to Texas to play against the Rockets and the Spurs. The way I see it, after suffering several painful losses lately (former champion CSKA destroyed the Clippers 95-73 last fall), NBA teams are looking for an excuse to bitchslap the finest that Europe has to offer.

It should be interesting, and I hope that Panathinaikos manages to attend. I honestly believe we can defeat the Rockets if our key players are in a good day. It should be a dreadful match as far as beautiful plays and "showtime" basketball is concerned, since both teams are very defensive (unless JVG does leave), but it should still be an interesting and very technical match. When it comes to the Spurs, I don't think any European team can defeat them or any other high-level NBA team.

Yet.