FINAL EIGHT 2009: Hemofarm Stada
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 Hemofarm Stada arrives in Turin with a hungry, young squad out to stun better-known teams and bring home the Eurocup trophy yet to Vrsac, Serbia. Despite having one of the youngest rosters in the Eurocup this season, head coach Stevan Karadzic's charges rose to every challenge in order to advance to the Final Eight. Just to make it to the Last 16, Hemofarm had rallied from 14 points down on the road to win a do-or-die showdown in its regular season finale. And that came despite the club losing its top scorer and arguably its most seasoned player, Vlada Vukosavljevic, to a broken foot midway through the regular season. Then, to reach Turin, Hemofarm needed to go undefeated at home and hold off fellow-Final Eight qualifier Pamesa on the final date of the Last 16. Through it all, the club has turned to rising stars like Milan Macvan and Stefan Markovic, while relying for steady leadership from the roster’s few veterans, like Miljan Pavkovic, Nebojsa Joksimovic and Bojan Krstovic, who has played more games in Europe's second competition than anyone this decade. The mix has paid off handsomely enough to land Hemofarm in the biggest showcase in its history. Although the club was founded in 1946, it had mainly a regional presence until Hemofarm became the main sponsor in 1992. Soon, the road to national success was begun, and by 1998, Hemofarm had won promotion to the Yugoslav first division. Once there, the club needed just two more seasons to qualify for European competition and make an international name for itself by reaching the 2001 Korac Cup final, although it lost there to Unicaja of Spain. Domestic success followed with playoff semifinals appearances in 2001 and 2002 before Hemofarm found the way to its first domestic finals, both the Serbia and Montenegro League playoffs and national cup, in 2004. The clubs first-ever trophy arrived a season later in the powerful Adriatic League. Hemofarm won the regular season and knocked off Bosna, FMP and Partizan in a final eight tournament to seize the title. Hemofarm also reached the ULEB Cup semifinals that season and the next, but fell short of the title game in heartbreaking losses to Greek teams Makedonikos and Aris, the latter on a last-second shot. In 2005-06, Hemofarm also reached the Adriatic League semifinals and the Serbia and Montenegro Cup final, just as in 2006-07, it played both the Adriatic and Serbian League semis. Last year, Hemofarm outdid itself by playing in three finals – the Adriatic League, Serbian Cup and Serbian League – though it lost them all to the same opponent, Partizan. Hemofarm returned, too, to the ULEB Cup elimination rounds, but couldn't make the Final Eight, a discrepancy that the club quickly corrected this season. Now in the big time, without doubt, Hemofarm will aim as high as any other team in Turin while trying to make the Eurocup its first continental trophy.
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Eurocupbasketball.com
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