Bold predictions: Panathinaikos vs. Fenerbahce

As they've done all season, EuroLeague.net staff offers these bold predictions for the first semifinal on Friday between Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul

The Ataman effect is real

by Geoff Gillingham

Ergin Ataman is renowned for dreaming big, but he certainly knew that something special was possible at Panathinaikos, one of Europe's storied clubs. The Greens ended up having a tricky playoff series against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv before eventually coming out on top in Game 5 at a sold-out OAKA, but that matchup was the perfect preparation for his team. One could make a good argument that the highest quality of basketball in the EuroLeague Playoffs was seen in that Panathinaikos-Maccabi series, and I think Ataman's group will be ready to swat Saras Jasikevicius's Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul aside in the semifinals. My pick: Panathinaikos.

Fenerbahce will rain threes into the title game

by Igor Petrinovic

This huge clash of two teams whose fan bases have waited long for a Final Four return will get only one of them to the championship game again. Panathinaikos is a favorite in the eyes of many, as the team with a second-best record this season. But Fenerbahce has a 17-9 record since Sarunas Jasikevicius took over as a coach. The team is averaging 86.8 points, making 12.2 triples on 41.1% three-point accuracy since his arrival in December, and along the way the has set a new single-season mark with 449 triples made. One might suggest that three-point shooting is not what a team wants to rely on at the Final Four, but Fenerbahce made 13.4 triples per game in a high-stakes and highly-physical five-game playoff series, and I think that can get a job done for Jasikevicius's troops in Berlin. My pick: Fenerbahce

Talented Greens take another step

by Frankie Sachs

There is a reason these teams made it to the Final Four. All four teams can win, which makes predicting the winner of any of these games very difficult. Panathinaikos and Fenerbahce have few advantages over one another. Even by the numbers, they are quite similar. My gut tells me to pick Fenerbahce, which honestly does seem to be a bit more determined thus far in the interactions I have experienced with the players and the media. The Panathinaikos players seem looser. Can they ramp it up just in time for tip-off? Maybe. Will Fenerbahce burn itself out? It's possible. But my head thinks the Greens are the more talented team. And for that reason… My prediction: Panathinaikos.

Fenerbahce will meet the moment

by Frank Lawlor

In my opinion, if one team in Berlin still has some margin to improve upon what we've seen so far, it's Fenerbahce. Indeed, Sarunas Jasikevicius's charges will need to be better even than they were during the five-game playoffs with AS Monaco to counter a prime-time Panathinaikos team on Friday. But since Saras arrived back in December, this team has been on the upswing, and his players seem to feel they have more to show here. I would have misgivings about which Fenerbahce big man will step up and how they will manage against Mathias Lessort, especially, but having seen Jasikevicius engineer playoff road wins with small-ball lineups, I am sure he has plenty up his sleeve for this semi. I expect Nigel Hayes-Davis, Marko Guduric and Nick Calathes – who shut down Mike James in the playoffs – to be deciding factors in a result that I would not consider an upset after the tightly-packed season we've had. My pick: Fenerbahce.

Panathinaikos holds the cards

by Javier Gancedo

It is one of the hardest games to predict all season. Fenerbahce has arrived to the Final Four with great momentum. Better ball circulation led to several three-point shooting records and even when some may think that is a double-sided weapon, modern basketball is all about three-pointers and head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius knows it. On the other hand, I believe we have not seen the best version of Panathinaikos just yet. Some players like Luca Vildoza and Juancho Hernangomez, who earned EuroBasket final MVP honors in Berlin, usually play better in important games. Kostas Sloukas and Kendrick Nunn have been a one-two punch for head coach Ergin Ataman, and Mathias Lessort is posting career-best numbers. I believe that if the Greens are able to contest shots and get Lessort and Dinos Mitoglou involved around the basket, they should make it to the championship game. My pick: Panathinaikos.