Euroleague.net's team of experts have each come up with one valiant forecast ahead of the opening round of the 2024-25 season
Bold predictions, Round 1: Road winners are the theme
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Ladies and gentlemen, the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season is upon us! Some 130 days after Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens was last seen lifting the EuroLeague trophy in Berlin, Germany, we are back for the start of a new campaign.
All 18 teams – which includes one newcomer, Paris Basketball – have everything to play for at this point, and even though it is just Round 1, you can bet your bottom dollar that the Every Game Matters mantra is truer now more than ever.
Ahead of the opening set of games, the Euroleague.net experts have each selected one bold prediction that they believe will come true.
Milan upsets Monaco on the road
By Javier Gancedo
I really like the way Milan improved its roster this season, adding Josh Nebo to play way above the rim and Neno Dimtrijevic, whose development was one of the best kept secrets in European basketball. Milan has won the Italian Super Cup, Shavon Shields and Nikola Mirotic are healthy, and the team should take off right away, starting with a road win at Salle Gaston Medecin. Even if Mike James plays, it will be his first game of the season after not featuring domestically following surgery. Milan already won in Monaco last season with six players scoring in double digits. Nebo gives Milan a physical advantage in the paint against most teams, being a terrific offensive rebounder. The way I see it, Milan gets its first win right away.
Partizan among a bunch of road winners
by Frankie Sachs
Is there such thing as a bold prediction in Round 1? Do any of us know anything yet? I can make a case for both teams in almost any game this week. That said, one I believe in that might be going against the grain is that Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade opens the season with a road win. The Partizan lineup is stacked and head coach Zeljko Obradovic knows how to get the most out of talent. Whether they will hit the ground running against a strong Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz team is the only question, and I believe the answer is yes. I would bet that more than half of Round 1 games are won by the road teams, with Partizan standing proudly atop that list.
Fenerbahce to down Olympiacos in a thriller
by Geoff Gillingham
The standout game in Round 1, at least from my perspective, is when Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul hosts Olympiacos Piraeus – two teams seem like locks to make the Final Four next May – on Friday night. Both teams have done an impressive job at improving their rosters this past summer, but I think new Fenerbahce signings Wade Baldwin, Bonzie Colson and Nicolo Melli will all have telling impacts en route to a opening-round triumph. That is not to say that I think it will be easy; I expect it to go down to the final minutes, then Fenerbahce pulls it out right at the end.
With or without Larkin, Efes will beat Virtus
by Igor Petrinovic
Will Clyburn, Anadolu Efes Istanbul's second-best scorer (13.3 ppg.) and top rebounder (4.6 rpg.) last season moved from the Turkish side to Virtus Segafredo Bologna over the summer, creating an ideal storyline entering this Round 1 bout. Back in mid-April, Virtus downed Efes on the road in their exciting first-round matchup in the Play-In Showdown. With Clyburn as its new star, Virtus now awaits Efes in the season opener on its home floor at Unipol Arena. So, a bit of addition and subtraction suggests that Virtus, with Clyburn, will have an upper hand on Efes, now without Clyburn, who played more than 28 minute per game a season ago. In addition, Efes might not have Shane Larkin, who missed all of Efes's preseason games, including the Turkish Super Cup on Sunday. But with or without Larkin, I say the Tomislav Mijatovic-led Efes will emerge victorious from Bologna.