Željko Obradović brought Fenerbahçe its first European Championship title in the club's history eight years ago, and the chance to win another one now belongs to one of the legendary coach's most successful students - Šarunas Jasikevičius.
Fenerbahce is the first Euroleague finalist after taking the championship crown from Panathinaikos - it was 82:76 for the Turkish team, which controlled the situation at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi for almost 40 minutes.
Fenerbahçe hit seven three-pointers in the first 13 minutes of the semi-final and had a 13-point lead (31:18), but the expected reaction from the "greens" arrived.
PAO approached the break at 38:33, and was down one in the third quarter, but Eric McCallum's run followed, which repelled Ergin Ataman's team rush and brought back a safe eight-point advantage.
There was drama in the finish, despite Fener leading 67:56 with less than five minutes left, but any hope the giants from Athens had of turning the game around was "killed" by McCallum with a three-pointer for 73:66 with 95 seconds left.
Devon Hall was the most efficient with 18 points, Tarik Biberović scored 15, and McCallum 13. For the defeated team, Dzedi Osman had 22, Kendrick Kahn 19, and Kostas Slukas failed, having two points and three assists in almost 16 minutes on the court...
Jasikevičius defeated Ataman for the first time in his career, and Fenerbahçe will play the winner of the Olympiacos-Monaco duel in Sunday's final, which starts at 20 p.m.
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