Haris Papadopoulos has very lofty goals for Proteas EKA AEL.

He is, quite possibly, the most ambitious club supremo in the entire EuroCup.

"The aim is to go to the Final Four, and if we have the chance, to organize it," Papadopoulos says to FIBA Europe.

If the Limassol team can enjoyed a meteoric rise from the FIBA Europe Regional Challenge Cup in 2003 to

Milutin Aleksic has been a big part of Proteas' success.

having home court advantage in the EuroCup quarter-final round, no targets should be too difficult to hit for Papadopoulos and Proteas.

But there are the more mundane issues that need to be resolved, and quickly!

Proteas need to submit their application to host the event, and before Papadopoulos can do that, he requires assurances by the government that it will provide financial support to help host the prestigious event.

Proteas EKA AEL is already the unofficial home of the EuroCup All Star Game, which is to be staged in Limassol again next month for the third year running.

On that evidence, a EuroCup Final Four would seem realistic.

How does it work in Cyprus?

"If you play in Europe, you get so much money per game," he says. "But they don't specify criteria if you go to a final four, or organise it. Several years ago, no one considered that a team from Cyprus could make it that far, so we would need an answer from them really soon to see if we can organise the final four. "

Proteas also need to know the level of additional financial support they can get from the government, one of the main sponsors, because it could determine if they will be able to afford a new player with February 14 the last day to add players.  

The Fan Element

One thing Papadopoulos and his players are certain of is the level of support they will get from fans each time they run onto the floor for a EuroCup home game.

Few teams travel to the island to play Proteas and come away with a victory and that bodes well for the forthcoming eighth-finals showdown with Khimik since the first and third game (if necessary) will be in Limassol.

"They are special," says captain Milutin Aleksic of the fans.

"And this is a very hard place to play. Just look at the good teams we haven't lost to here.  (Virtus) Bologna, Estudiantes, Azovmash, (Asvel) Villeurbanne - a lot came last year and lost. That means we have very big home advantage."

For the neutral observer, there is nothing quite like watching a game involving Proteas.

Consider their last two EuroCup contests against Spartak St Petersburg.

The Russians opened up big leads in each, only for Proteas to mount incredible comebacks to win and finish first in their group.

"It was interesting," Aleksic says. "Both games we were losing by 15 points, but we showed we can recover from these difficult moments.

"I think we made trouble for ourselves, we didn't start well. It's a habit, but I think we're going to fix it now in the quarter-finals.

"Maybe we have to have more concentration, or be up for it more like in the second half. "

It seemed Proteas' players were lacking self-belief when they ran onto the floor in St Petersburg, but somehow hit back to record an 81-77 triumph.

So why the slow start at home the following week?

"Here, we are more relaxed and knew they could not advance," Aleksic says.

“	This is a very hard place to play. Just look at the good teams we haven't lost to here. (Virtus) Bologna, Estudiantes, Azovmash, (Asvel) Villeurbanne - a lot came last year and lost. That means we have very big home advantage.	„
Milutin Aleksic Proteas EKA AEL

Papadopoulos  knows only one thing saved them in the finale.

"The fans," he says.

" For sure it concerns us," Papadopoulos adds. "We came back against St Petersburg, they were out of the competition anyway and had nothing to win. If you are down and you have nothing else to win, you stay down.

"You don't try to climb up. If we get down against Khimik, well, whoever shows they are the boss at the beginning (of that opening game) will qualify. "

Much of the credit should go to coach Charles Barton, who came in when the team wasn't playing well and helped stabilize things.

"Charles, for me, was a big surprise," Aleksic says. "I never had a chance to work with an American coach. It was a strange philosophy how he talks to players, and I was wondering what it would be like.

"Now I know his philosophy and style. I think he helped all of us achieve targets for this season but I also liked our former coach Igors Miglinieks. He was good, too."

The Big Picture

When it's all said and done, the most important thing for Proteas is to be able to say they took steps in a positive direction this season, just as they have in the years immediately preceding the 2007-08 campaign.

"We are getting stronger and stronger," Papadopoulos says. "If you go back to 2003 when we were in the Challenge Cup, we had just two foreigners.

"Year by year, we increase the number of foreigners. Cypriots are very limited at European level.

"To do well in Europe, we had to sign foreigners, we invested in sponsors, the image of the team.

"We moved into the new arena, have executive leather seats courtside, VIP rooms, it all increases the level of the budget."

One way to tell the size and importance of a club is to look at the number of staff it employs.

" It used to be volunteers at the club," Papadopoulos says. "Now we have 10 full-time employees at the club. All this makes a difference. Of course it helped us, the Challenge Cup and the first year of FIBA Europe League.

"We saw what other teams did, the music, the team managers, so we kind of borrowed ideas here and there, and have an increased the budget. And there aren't many clubs that have 10 full-time employees. "