In April 1989, Munich and its renowned Olympia Halle confirmed that this was the place and the court of great surprises. The reason? The first appearance in the Final Four of the top European team of the previous century, the fearsome "babies" of Jugoplastika. From April 4 to 6, the heart of European basketball beat in the capital of Bavaria, where the four best teams of Europe would fight for a chance to claim the champions’ crown.

Here is the 2nd piece of our Final Four Folklore thematic. Narrated by our Retro expert Antreas, lay back, relax and witness how the F4 story continued to unfold...

Among them was Aris, in the teams’ second consecutive attempt to sit the European throne. Led by the Greek champion Giannis Ioannidis and the mighty duo of Galis & Giannakis who terrorized the courts of the Old Continent, the Greek team went to Munich more experienced and better prepared. This time, just qualifying for the F4 was more difficult than in Ghent a year ago. Maccabi and Barcelona were very strong, finishing in the top two places of the eight-team group, followed by Jugoplastika and Aris, with the same record of 8 wins and 6 losses. The semi-final pairings were Maccabi vs Aris and Barcelona vs the Yugoslav champions, experience versus enthusiasm and youth. There was a rumour that Aris “chose’ their opponent in the semi-final, losing in the last group match to Scavolini in Pesaro, thus pitting them against Maccabi and not Barcelona. Unfortunately for the Greek "Emperor" -rumour or not- the team was punished on April 4, '89.

Among them was Aris, in the teams’ second consecutive attempt to sit the European throne. Led by the Greek champion Giannis Ioannidis and the mighty duo of Galis & Giannakis who terrorized the courts of the Old Continent, the Greek team went to Munich more experienced and better prepared. This time, just qualifying for the F4 was more difficult than in Ghent a year ago. Maccabi and Barcelona were very strong, finishing in the top two places of the eight-team group, followed by Jugoplastika and Aris, with the same record of 8 wins and 6 losses. The semi-final pairings were Maccabi vs Aris and Barcelona vs the Yugoslav champions, experience versus enthusiasm and youth. There was a rumour that Aris “chose’ their opponent in the semi-final, losing in the last group match to Scavolini in Pesaro, thus pitting them against Maccabi and not Barcelona. Unfortunately for the Greek "Emperor" -rumour or not- the team was punished on April 4, '89.

The match started relatively well for the Greek champions and around the 27th minute, the moment that even today many believe decided the outcome and tipped the scales in favour of the Israelis occurred; the "cockfight" between Panagiotis Giannakis and the late Kevin Magee. Personally, I consider this an incorrect take and here is why. Aris, who were leading 66-60 until then, arrived at the 34th minute mark still leading by 3, 79-76. At this point, after Monty Daniels’ tying three-pointer, Aris collapsed. Maccabi's big men were feasting inside the paint and Nick was blocked by Kenneth Barlow's tough defence. Giannakis was exhausted in the second half and after scoring 22 points already at halftime, he contributed just 2 in the second half, finishing the game with 25! Galis was cut off (for his standards) and scored just 21. Subotic may have scored 22 but was off target for most of the game, while the hardworking Wiltzer and Filippou were just unable to match the Israeli “beasts’ in the paint. So, another defeat for Aris in a semifinal and perhaps the biggest missed opportunity to reach the Champions Cup final

Awaiting in the Final, was the big surprise of Jugoplastika of Kukoc, Radja, Ivanovic end co, a creation of Bozidar Malkovic. When the "kindergarten" from Split arrived in Munich, almost everyone believed that the journey would end in the semifinal. Even after the fully deserved and convincing victory vs Barcelona, few gave Boza's "babies" a chance to overcome Maccabi in the biggest game of the year. But Malkovic believed in his team and what proved to be their unmatched talent. he knew very well that the combination of his own schemes and the dedication of his players would bring the results that they planned together with Nikolic.

On the court of the "Arena Gripe", in grinding, morning, closed to the public training sessions, the team that 35 years ago presented us with a futuristic 21st century basketball, was slowly built.

So back to 1989, in the stadium of great surprises, the Olympia Halle, the boys became men before our very eyes. Dino and Goran Sobin traded elbows with the Israeli big men in the paint. Tony who had Barlow trying to stop him, delivered an exquisite performance and the "Žuti" playing total basketball managed to upset all odds. When the Czechoslovak referee Ljubomir Kotleba blew his whistle for the end of the match, the scoreboard red 75-69 and the yellow armada was the young -with an average age of just 21 years!!! - European champion.

In Munich in April of 1989, Jugoplastika stirred up the waters of European basketball for good and began to write the first pages of the most beautiful fairy tale...