101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
European and intercontinental champ
Finally, the third time was the charm for Alvertis
and the Greens. At the 1996 Final Four in Paris, Panathinaikos
defeated CSKA Moscow in the semis 81-77
with 35 points by Dominique Wilkins and 13 by Alvertis.
Barcelona was waiting in the final. In dramatic fashion,
Panathinaikos won 67-66 in a game that is part of
the history books. Alvertis shined with 17 points and
almost perfect shooting: 6 of 8 two-pointers, 1 of 2
three-pointers plus 3 rebounds in only 23 minutes. He
became a European champion at 21 years old. Galis had
retired and Alvertis’s 1995-96 teammate Panagiotis Giannakis
would do so imminently. Greek basketball was
in need of a new face in its star system, and Alvertis
appeared at just the right moment.
In the big year of 1996, Panathinaikos completed
a great run by also winning the Intercontinental Cup in
September. The opponent was Olimpia BBC of Argentina,
the South American champ, and that year the cup
was played as a best-of-three playoff series. The first
game was played in Rosario, Argentina on September
4. Olimpia won 89-83 with an interesting team featuring
Lucas Victoriano, Jorge Racca and Andres Nocioni. Alvertis,
with 21 points, was the best man on Panathinaikos,
together with John Amaechi (23 points). In Athens on
September 10, Panathinaikos won by five, 83-78, with 30
points from Alvertis. In the third game, on September
12, Panathinaikos won 101-76 with Byron Dinkins as best
scorer, with 24 points, while Alvertis added 8.
The Obradovic era
In order to play in the Final Four again, Alvertis would
have to wait for the arrival of coach Zeljko Obradovic.
At the 2000 Final Four in Thessaloniki, Panathinaikos
got rid of Efes Pilsen in the semis by 71-81 with Dejan
Bodiroga (21), Zeljko Rebraca (15), Alvertis (11) and
Johnny Rogers (9) as scoring leaders. In the final, which
marked the start of a great rivalry at the turn of the 21st
century, Panathinaikos beat Maccabi Tel Aviv by 82-74.
Rebraca (20) and Oded Kattash (17) starred, but Obradovic
kept Alvertis on court for 35 minutes. His 4 points
and 3 rebounds seemed discreet, but Obradovic had
discovered a great defender in Alvertis. His long hands
and his speed contributed things that no stat sheet
could reflect.
The following year – in the season of “two EuroLeagues”
due to the ULEB-FIBA conflict – Panathinaikos
defeated Efes Pilsen 74-60 in their semifinal, but lost
to Maccabi 67-81 in the title game of the FIBA Supro-
League in Paris. The following year, with a re-united
competition, Panathinaikos again reached the Final
Four, in Bologna. First it defeated Maccabi 83-75 with
an outstanding Alvertis scoring 11 points while missing
only one shot. In the title game, the Greens shocked
host Kinder Bologna by 89-83 with Ibrahim Kutluay
(22), Bodiroga (21) and Alvertis (11) as protagonists.
In Moscow 2005, Panathinaikos suffered a rare
semifinal loss to Maccabi (82-91) and defeated CSKA
Moscow for third place (94-91). By 2007, however, the
team was back to the top, this time on its home floor in
Athens. Panathinaikos defeated Tau Ceramica 67-53 in
the semifinals and outlasted CSKA Moscow 93-91 in a
thrilling championship game. Alvertis lifted his fourth
title. His fifth and last EuroLeague trophy arrived two
years later in Berlin, even though he was semi-retired.
He played at the start of the season, enough to be considered
part of the roster of the champions despite not
appearing in the Final Four. By lifting his 25th trophy
overall, he retired as one of the all-time greats.
Zeljko Obradovic had big confidence in him, and
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