Bold predictions for Rounds 18 and 19

Check out some bold predictions from EuroLeague.net staff members for Rounds 18 and 19 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

Trinchieri gets off to the perfect start with Zalgiris

by Geoff Gillingham

The 5-12 Zalgiris Kaunas became the latest EuroLeague club to change its head coach this week, with Andrea Trinchieri coming in to replace Kazys Maksvytis. During his introductory press conference, the new Zalgiris boss stated that “10th place (the final play-in spot) is not on Mars. It is on Saturn.” Well, with Zalgiris currently four games behind Valencia Basket, currently in 10th, I expect Trinchieri’s charges to make up some ground by securing a win at home to ALBA Berlin and then again on the road at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in this double-round week. It won’t be enough to rise up to 10th just yet, but it will mark the ideal start for Coach Trinchieri and give the Zalgiris players hope in this second half of the EuroLeague Regular Season.

Fenerbahce will suffer its first loss of the Saras era

by Frankie Sachs

It had to come sometime. And that time is this week. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul is 4-0 with Sarunas Jasikevicus at the helm, with victories over AS Monaco and Zalgiris Kaunas at home, in Berlin against ALBA and across town against Anadolu Efes in the Istanbul derby. It has averaged 86.5 points in those games. It will need to score in bunches as both of its opponents this week average over 80 points per game; Round 19 opponent Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv is second in the league with 86.5 points per game.

After what shapes up as a tricky Round 18 home game against Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade on Tuesday, Fenerbahce must travel to Kalnapilio Arena in Panevezys, Lithuania, to meet Maccabi on Thursday. The last six games between these teams have been won by the home team, but Fenerbahce won't have too much of a home-court advantage in this game. Meanwhile, many of Maccabi's key players have been absent from domestic competition and should have relatively fresh legs for this second game in a double round. Even if Fenerbahce rolls by Zvezda, the winning streak should come to an end in Lithuania.

Monaco is this week's road warrior

by Javier Gancedo

AS Monaco faces a pivotal week with two games on the road. I liked what I saw against FC Barcelona, not just because of the 20-point win against a EuroLeague contender, but the attitude the team had on the court: always wanting more, being focused and also enjoying the moment. Mike James was all smiles in the second half and you can tell he was enjoying himself. When a player of his caliber is happy, anything good can happen.

This is way I predict that Monaco should get two road wins this week, against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv and Olympiacos Piraeus. I know Maccabi is on a roll lately and Olympiacos has finally taken off once getting some players back from injury. But like I said, Monaco seems to be in a very sweet moment right now. When James is full of confidence, he is arguably the best playmaker in the league. All players who were with Monaco the last two seasons have plenty of pending issues against Olympiacos, after losing to the Reds in the 2022 playoffs and the 2023 semifinals. Kemba Walker is playing better and Petr Cornelie has given Monaco plenty of versatility at the 'five' position. Expect Monaco to keep rolling and be this week's road warrior, beating Maccabi in Belgrade and Olympiacos at Peace and Friendship Stadium.

Bayern will come home with a win from Italy

by Igor Petrinovic

FC Bayern Munich starts 2024 with a road trip to Italy where it will first visit Virtus Segafredo Bologna on Wednesday then travel to play EA7 Emporio Armani Milan on Friday. In the first part of the regular season, Bayern downed both of these opponents on its home floor in back-to-back rounds. Head coach Pablo Laso's men first beat Virtus 90-76 in Round 11 behind Serge Ibaka's MVP-of-the-Round performance, then improbably edged out Milan 91-84 in Round 12 after Ibaka beat the buzzer with a triple at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime. Both Virtus and Milan have a good momentum, but so does Bayern, and I believe it will not come home from Italy empty-handed. Bayern will beat at least one, if not both, of its Italian opponents this week.

Panathinaikos will win in Spain

by Frank Lawlor

Among the teams feeling very confident these days is Panathinaikos, which has not won in Spain for more than six years against any team but has road dates at Baskonia and Valencia this week. The Greens will take home at least one victory from Spain for the first time since beating Baskonia there on March 23, 2017. A lot has come together for Panathinaikos during its current four-game winning streak, during which time both Baskonia and Valencia have struggled. And as visiting head coach Ergin Ataman has made clear, he's not part of that negative streak, having won often in Spain when he was with Anadolu Efes Istanbul. With a healthy Mathias Lessort at center, defensive ace Jerian Grant shutting down opposing scorers, Marius Grigonis filling in blanks, Kendrick Nunn scoring in bunches and Kostas Sloukas stirring the mix with more and more confidence, the Greens have won three in a row on the road, too. Expect that to continue with at least one more road win this week.