GRE - Tau face Panathinaikos in glitzy Euroleague Final Four clash

ATHENS (Euroleague Final Four) - Panathinaikos are at home and boast one of the most talented teams in its history but Euroleague Final Four opponents Tau Ceramica are a major road-block in their bid for glory.

Tau knocked the Greek giants out of last year’s Euroleague, beating Zeljko Obradovic’s team in a decisive game three in the quarter-final stage here in Athens before falling to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the semi-finals.

And the Basque team’s Brazilian international center Tiago Splitter has warned this Tau side is even stronger.

"I think it’s totally different this year," he said. "We have a lot more confidence in our game. Everyone, I think, is calm and you will see that tomorrow (Friday)."

Tau had high hopes in 2006, having reached the Euroleague Final the year before in Moscow when they also lost to Maccabi.

Velimir Perasovic’s team were blown out in their semi-final last year in Prague, though, run over by an Anthony Parker- and Maceo Baston-led Tel Aviv.

"It was a different game last year, with a different team," Splitter said. "We’ve improved a lot since then. I think it’s going to be a tough game.

"They play tough defense. All the plays will be 24 seconds. We have to work the ball and find the shots."

The leader of this Panathinaikos side is Greek international Dimitrios Diamantidis, a man who just won his second consecutive Euroleague Defender of the Year award.

Diamantidis has been outstanding for club, and country. He will be forever remembered as the Greece player who beat France with a three-pointer in the closing seconds of their EuroBasket 2005 semi-final.

Playing at home means Panathinaikos will have the majority of the 18,000 spectators backing them, but it also creates a pressurised environment as their defeat in the last eight to Tau in 2006 showed.

"If we want to get to the trophy, we have to win first the game against Tau," Diamantidis said. "The semi-final will give us the opportunity to compete for what we want – the Euroleague title.

"Tau is a great team and the game will be tough."

One major factor in this showdown will be the men on the sidelines.

Panathinaikos coach Zeljko Obradovic and Tau boss Bozidar Maljkovic, who replaced an unwell Perasovic in mid-season, have combined for nine Euroleague titles in their famous careers.

In their seven career Euroleague meetings, Obradovic’s teams have beaten those coached by Maljkovic six times.

In the other semi-final, defending champions CSKA Moscow go into semi-final against Unicaja Malaga as prohibitive favourites.

Unicaja are playing without center Daniel Santiago, although his absence did not prevent the Malaga side from beating Winterthur Barcelona in the quarter-finals.

The strength of this Sergio Scariolo-coached Malaga team is the guard play.

Pepe Sanchez, a gold medal winner with Argentina at the 2004 Olympics here in Athens, anchors the backcourt along with Carlos Cabezas, a key member of the Spanish side that won the FIBA World Championship title last year in Japan.

Santiago is out, center Inaki De Miguel lost his two front in training this week and Marko Tusek has a badly sprained ankle and is doubtful.

But Marcus Brown has got several games under his belt after returning from an injury that forced him to miss most of the season, and Malaga also have Spain gold medal winners in Bernie Rodriguez and Carlos Jimenez, and a terrific outside shooter in Czech international Jiri Welsch.

"Everybody said that the first semi-final is finished and CSKA is in the final, but that’s a big trap and we don’t want to fall in it," said CSKA’s Greek star Theo Papaloukas.

"We know that Malaga has come with a lot of players injured and this is the psychological advantage they have, because they don’t have anything to lose.

"If they lose, they lost to CSKA - the former champions and they have injuries so they have an excuse. But if they win, they are the big heroes."

Jeff Taylor, Athens
FIBA