The institution of the Final Fours was not something new for European basketball and the institution of the Cup of Champions (as the EuroLeague was called at the time) in 1988, when Borislav Stanković decided to change the way, the final stage was organized. In 1966 and 1967, the European champion was determined through the Final Four process, but after that, the idea was abandoned, and the format changed to a 6-team group stage, with the top two teams playing in the final. This all changed in 1986, when Stanković found himself in the USA for the NCAA Final Four. Observing its popularity and considering it a fairer system (while already having decided to expand the number of teams participating in the Cup of Champions), he recommended bringing back the Final Four format starting from the 1987-88 season.

Eight competitors were thrown into the arena, eying the final prize of being present at the conference center of "Flanders Expo" in the Belgian city of Ghent. Among them the Greek champions, Aris, led by coach Giannis Ioannidis, with his "nuclear weapon" Nikos Galis at the peak of his career, accompanied by Panagiotis Giannakis and a supporting cast featuring Slobodan Subotić and Canadian center Greg Wiltjer. Aris fully exploited their home court, "Alexandrio," losing only once at home to Barcelona. However, three victories in Barcelona, Cologne, and Den Bosch, combined with six wins in Thessaloniki, led Aris to second place in their group with a 9-5 record, behind only Partizan and ahead of Maccabi and Tracer Milano, who also booked their tickets to Belgium.

So in Ghent, during the period of April 5-7, 1988 and amid Orthodox Easter, the semifinal matchups were Aris vs. Tracer and Partizan vs. Maccabi. In the Aris camp, there was optimism not only in reaching the final but also about winning the trophy, given the 7,000 fans behind them and strong results in the group stage. However, was the optimism justified?

     Unfortunately, the history of the "Miracolo di Palatrussardi" a year and a half earlier hadn’t taught the Thessaloniki team anything as it turned out. Franco Casalini, who had succeeded Dan Peterson as head coach of the Italians, quickly went to his mentor for advice. The experienced Peterson advised Casalini to calm his team and to label Aris as the favorite. Peterson knew well that the shoulders of Ioannidis's players couldn’t hold the weight—they lacked the experience of big games, which Tracer in the other hand had in abundance. Their players were seasoned in championship-level competition, even if the combined age of their starting five approached two centuries. Although their legs may have been slower and heavy, Tracer, touted as the "24th NBA team," held the European champions' crown, had forged a winner's mentality that proved indestructible. The semifinal played out just as McAdoo, the American superstar for Tracer, had "predicted." McAdoo tore apart Aris’s basket with 39 points (thanks to the tall Italian lineup, and with Subotić defending him), while his fellow American Ricky Brown scored 28 points. Even the veteran Dino Meneghin contributed 7 incredibly valuable points. Tracer 's big men scored a total of 74 out of their 87 points, dominating in the air with 29 rebounds overall, while Galis stayed quiet - by his standards, scoring 28 points. The reliable 1-3-1 zone, known as "Aquila" (Eagle), again proved effective in dealing with the greatest threat in European basketball. Aris couldn't push the pace or exploit fast breaks, and as the game transitioned into the paint, Tracer’s superiority was evident. Subotić, who took 21 shot attempts, was inaccurate, but he was not to blame for the 87-82 loss, even though Ioannidis expressed his frustration by saying, "I can't fucking adjust your shot, damn it."

For the superstitious, the infamous black cat depicted on the coat of arms of the isolated "Auberge du Pecheur" hotel -where Aris was stationed- could not be held responsible for the team's failure to reach the final either. It was purely a matter of experience -or lack thereof- and the wrong mentality from Aris, who arrived in Ghent full of confidence but faced the most battle-hardened team in Europe. Meneghin alone had 11 European Cup finals under his belt.... Tracer was simply too strong for Aris and the other two contenders of the throne.

In the other semifinal, everything was decided by Partizan's coach Duško Vujošević's "trick" to have Vlade Divac chase Israeli guard Willy Sims all over the court. As expected, the American guard just dribbled by the 2.16-meter-tall Divac easily through the game, inflicting heavy damage in the paint, where Kevin Magee and Ken Barlow also took advantage of Divac's absence, scoring 34 and 12 points, respectively, in Maccabi’s 87-82 victory. In the final, however, Bob McAdoo was unstoppable. The American superstar of Tracer scored 25 points, Ricky Brown added 17, and Mike D'Antoni contributed 17 points, while beautifully organizing the game. Magee, who had scored 34 points in the semifinal, took a beating from Meneghin and Brown, staying at just 13 points, while only Barlow and the inaccurate Doron Jamchi tried –unsuccessfully- to salvage the situation. The final score, 90-84, meant that Tracer was the European champion for the second consecutive year.

In the consolation third-place game, Partizan showed more energy and enthusiasm. Big men Divac and Pečarski took their opportunities for some spectacular dunks, while for Aris, Galis caught fire with 41 points in a game that celebrated offense, ending 105-93 in favor of the Yugoslavians.

In the end, the Ghent Final Four, despite several organizational problems, was considered a success, and this format remains the final stage of the top European competition to this day. As for Aris? Well their first great opportunity was missed in Belgium. Two more would follow, with the same outcome. The "Resurrection" of Greek basketball would not take place in Ghent, and the "charter flights of joy" returned to Greece in gloom, but with hope for another chance the following year in Munich...

"If we manage to keep Galis under 30 points, we’ll win. On the other hand, if Aris manages to keep me, Ricky Brown, and Dino Meneghin under 60 points, then the winner will be Aris...". These were the words of the great Bob McAdoo in an interview a few days before the semifinal between the (let's not forget) reigning European champions Tracer, Milano and Aris..

Welcome to a very special chapter of European Basketball memorabilia, that of the Final Four Folklore. We trust that you will enjoy the stories as narrated by our Retro expert Antreas. There is more to come so ... enjoy !!!