Final 07/08 ACB Standings

Tau Ceramica are the kings of the ACB after they romped to the play-off championship by clean sweeping a hapless Barcelona 3-0 with embarrassing ease to tip-off one big all-night party in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Playing in front of a jubilant and packed home crowd at the Fernando Buesa Arena, Coach Spahija and his team cruised to a 76-61 victory and in a country where football can dominate, the trophy went to the one city where the fiercely proud Vitorians put basketball very much first.

Pete Mickeal was crowned MVP but that didn’t matter too much as the tickertape fell from the ceiling, this was a great way to seal a strong season for Baskonia - although one that might have been even better had they managed to win the Copa Del Rey also on home soil back in February.

It wasn’t to be and after getting to Madrid for Euroleague Final Four this was the perfect end to the season.

Perhaps the return of James Singleton not just to fitness but now to some form has given an already strong Tau team that extra boost and it is quite remarkable how they have dismantled Barca leaving everyone wondering how the Catalan club have managed to get this far.

Lets not kid ourselves here - Barca have been truly awful in the play-off finals. They have shown absolutely nothing ands have almost waved a white flag and went down without a fight and perhaps without even a whimper.

Although you have to excuse Turkish star Ersan Ilyasova out of that criticism and perhaps Roger Grimau, the former in particular who has been head and shoulders above anyone else.

Some people had tipped Barca to go to Vitoria and upset Tau by finally producing some kind of performance combined with the fact that they have a good recent record in the Basque Country but it didn’t materialise and in the end, this was perhaps the easiest of the trio of wins for Tau.

This victory ended a long six year wait for Baskonia and that is why the celebrations went long into the night. For a lot of fans it was also the case that the failure of the giants Real Madrid and of course Barca makes this success all the more sweet for Tau and their fanatical fans.

Not only that, but Tau have looked impregnable during the play-offs. They have looked dominant in all but a couple of games and their strength in depth has been their one aspect that has eased them to silverware.

Everyone has contributed to an aggressive style of defence that serves any good team well and with an array of confident and reliable performers, they are a team that is hard to beat. The inside play of Singleton and of course Splitter in particular has been a joy.

The intelligence and sting pulling of Pablo Prigioni, the man who cut down the net at the end of the game, the irrepressible Rakocevic, three-point threat of Teletovic and of course the power, athleticism and all-action displays of Pete Mickeal.

While everyone has contributed for Tau, these factors have been uppermost in their success - a long with a lot of hard work.

It will pain Barcelona fans to hear neutral observers suggest that Tau looked like they wanted it more. Perhaps that is not true but this is the way it come across. Quicker, seemingly more determined and certainly willing to stand up and be counted, could the same genuinely be said of Xavi Pascual and his players?

His big stars Illyasova aside let him down when he needed them most. Perhaps a tired and washed up DKV Joventut ending a long and successful season flattered Barca in the semi-finals. Whatever the reason you can only sit and scratch your head as to why the team that finished above Tau in the regular season could have put in such a miserable three games in a row.

Well maybe you don’t need to scratch your head at all. Compare the front court and back court. How effective have Trias, Vasquez and Kasun been inside? What value for money have they given?