The Euroleague Final Four is a showcase for the star players but Abu Dhabi will also feature four great minds of the game. Emmet Ryan on the men that will make the big decisions from the sidelines. It’s time to meet the head coaches: Ergin Ataman (Panathinaikos), Georgios Bartzokas (Olympiacos), Sarunas Jasikevicius (Fenerbahce), and Vassilis Spanoulis (AS Monaco).
There’s a lot going on in Abu Dhabi this week. That’s the way the Euroleague Final Four tends to be. Still, four men will feel the pressure more than most. For Ergin Ataman, Georgios Bartzokas, Sarunas Jasivkevicius, and Vassilis Spanoulis, these are days that will shape how they are remembered in the decades to come.
Ergin Ataman – The Hunter of Legacies
The easy bit, you already know. Ergin Ataman is seeking to go back-to-back with Panathinaikos. In the process, he will have been the head coach for four of five straight title winners. That is a wild run but the hard bit is worth remembering.
For all of his success, Ergin Ataman had to wait to win the biggest one of all. The 59 year old got his first head coach gig all the way back in 1996. Yes there were titles along the way, including Eurochallenge, Eurocup, and the Saporta Cup. Still, it’s worth remembering that after making the Euroleague Final Four with Siena in 2003, he had to wait until 2019 to get back there.
The Covid stoppage denied him a likely first title in 2020. Having finally broken through in 2021, he is in no mood to stop now. This is a man who had to wait 25 years for his first Euroleague crown. That didn’t just end the wait. It sparked a new hunger. That fire burns hard with him and will be on full display in Abu Dhabi.
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Georgios Bartzokas – The man with the weight
While only a few months older than Ataman, and having started as a head coach just four years later, the path has been quite different for Bartzokas. He won Euroleague at the first attempt, coming out on top with Olympiacos at the Euroleague Final Four in London.
After departing the Reds, he quickly got back to the big weekend with Lokomotiv Kuban in 2016. Of course, getting to the big weekend has become the norm for Bartzokas. Now in his second stint with Olympiacos, he leads the side to their fourth straight Final Four in Abu Dhabi.
What’s missing is that second title. The one to not so much bookend matters as it is to cement a legacy. This crown would prove that he didn’t just strike fast in his first campaign. He’d have secured a legacy for long after his eventual retirement. It would also remove the nearly-men tag from this Olympiacos side.
Sarunas Jasikevicius – The Reinvented Genius
At Zalgiris Kaunas, Sarunas Jasikevicius pulled off a miracle to bring them to the Euroleague Final Four in 2018. At FC Barcelona, there was on-court success but his failure to win the Euroleague title in his three straight trips to the last weekend of the season felt like a failure.
At Fenerbahce, he feels like a man reborn. As a mid-season replacement last year, he rallied the side to a history-making road win in Game 5 of the playoffs over AS Monaco. That was followed by disappointment in Berlin but it gave him something to build on.
Now, he’s got a Fenerbahce side that is properly humming. Having made every Final Four since the pandemic-shortened season, Saras is aiming for that one thing missing from his career. A Euroleague championship as a coach would be a crowning achievement yet also a sign of things to come.
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Vassilis Spanoulis – The Final Four’s most personal debut
Kill Bill and the Euroleague Final Four go together like me and a pint. Yet this time it’s quite the new setting. Having been to so many as a player, mainly with Olympiacos, this is the first for Vassilis Spanoulis as a head coach. It’s also the first season he’s even coaching at this level.
We know one thing for certain. His tendency to make bold moves as a player has followed him into his coaching career. First, Spanoulis needed plenty of those to guide Peristeri to an unexpected Final Four run in the Basketball Champions League a year ago. Now, with AS Monaco, he has proven he can do the same when called upon.
Of course, it’s not just any debut for Spanoulis in Abu Dhabi. No, he’s going up against the club where he cemented his legend as a player. In Olympiacos, he faces a club he loves dearly. His duty on Friday is to cause it pain. That’s no easy ask but one he will relish nonetheless.
Legacies will be cemented
Will it be Ergin Ataman with Panathinaikos? Georgios Bartzokas finally getting his second with Olympiacos? Maybe Vassilis Spanoulis will match his mentor and succeed at his first attempt with AS Monaco? Of course, Sarunas Jasikevicius would be more than happy to bring a title back to Fenerbahce fans.
This is a weekend where, for my money, the most open Euroleague Final Four in living memory will be contested. It will be tense, dramatic, and unmissable. The four men on the sideline will help make sure of that.
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