Fenerbahce is back to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four for the first time since 2019. Here are some of the Final Four facts about the team.
Final Four team facts: Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
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- Fenerbahce will compete at the Final Four for the sixth time in club history. It reached five consecutive Final Fours from 2015 to 2019! Only CSKA Moscow has ever had a longer Final Four streak than Fenerbahce's.
- Sarunas Jasikevicius has a chance to become the fourth person to win the EuroLeague as a player and coach. Jasikevicius won four EuroLeague championships as a player. Armenak Alachachan, Lolo Sainz and Svetislav Pesic are the only three members of this exclusive club.
- Coach Jasikevicius is still the only player to win the EuroLeague with three different teams. Jasikevicius lifted the trophy with FC Barcelona in 2003, Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2004 and 2005, and Panathinaikos Athens in 2009. Kostas Sloukas can join him if Panathinaikos wins.
- Coach Jasikevicius has made it to the Final Four as a head coach with three different teams: Zalgiris Kaunas, Barcelona and now Fenerbahce. Zeljko Obradovic, Bozidar Maljkovic, Dusan Ivkovic, Ettore Messina and Ioannis Ioannidis did so in the past and Ergin Ataman (Efes, Siena, Panathinaikos) joined the list this season.
- Coach Jasikevicius has made it to his fourth consecutive Final Four. Only three other coaches in EuroLeague history achieved that: Obradovic, Messina and Dimitris Itoudis.
- Fenerbahce won the EuroLeague in 2017. It became the first Turkish team to lift the trophy. Melih Mahmutoglu is the only current Fenerbahce player who was with that winning squad.
- Mahmutoglu has advanced to his sixth Final Four with Fenerbahce. Mahmutoglu leads all Turkish players in Final Four appearances.
- Nick Calathes is one of 20 players to win the EuroLeague and the EuroCup. He won the EuroLeague with Panathinaikos in 2011 and the EuroCup with Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar in 2013. Alberto Abalde (Real Madrid 2023; Valencia Basket 2019) was the last player to join this club. Scottie Wilbekin is one of three players who can join this club in 2024, along with Olek Balcerowski and Mathias Lessort of Panathinaikos. Wilbekin won the 2017-18 EuroCup with Darussafaka Istanbul.
- Wilbekin is a former EuroCup MVP. He earned full season MVP and Finals MVP honors in 2018. Only three EuroCup MVPs are also EuroLeague champions: Calathes, Tyrese Rice and Alexey Shved.
- Calathes can join the group of Greek players to win the EuroLeague with a foreign club. That list includes Nestoras Kommatos (Maccabi 2005), Theo Papaloukas (CSKA 2006, 2008), Nikos Zisis (CSKA 2008), Ioannis Bourousis (Real 2015) and Sloukas (Fenerbahce 2017).
- Calathes leads the EuroLeague’s all-time assists table with 2,077. He is also the only player in competition history with more than 1,000 career rebounds (1,319) and 1,000 career assists.
- Calathes is also the career leader in steals (446) and games started (309). He ranks 15th in scoring (3,228 points) and sixth in PIR (4,221).
- Calathes holds the record for most assists at a single Final Four. He dished 22 assists at the 2022 Final Four for FC Barcelona.
- Yam Madar is one of three former EuroLeague Rising Stars at this Final Four. Madar was chosen as the 2022-33 EuroLeague Rising Star. He is joined by Kostas Papanikolaou of Olympiacos (2012-13) and Rudy Fernandez of Real Madrid (2006-07).
- Nigel Hayes-Davis set the EuroLeague’s single-game scoring record this season. He scored 50 points in a 103-68 home win against ALBA Berlin in Round 32.
- Hayes-Davis and Coach Jasikevicius have been together on three different teams: Zalgiris, Barcelona and Fenerbahce.
- Tarik Biberovic leads the 2023-24 EuroLeague in three-point shooting. He has buried 43 of 79 attempts (54.4% 3FG). Tyler Dorsey ranks ninth (58 of 125, 46.4% 3FG).
- Sertac Sanli has qualified for each of the last five Final Fours. He went to the Final Four with Anadolu Efes Istanbul in 2019 and 2021, FC Barcelona in 2022 and 2023, and is now back with Fenerbahce. Sanli won the EuroLeague with Efes in 2021.
- Georgios Papagiannis ranks seventh all-time in blocked shots. He has 213 blocks in 189 games. Walter Tavares leads the list with 420 blocked shots.
- Fenerbahce now holds the record for most three-point shots made in a EuroLeague season with 449 and counting. Efes had the previous record with 418 three-pointers in the 2020-21 season.
- Fenerbahce also set the all-time single-game record for most three-pointers by hitting 24 shots from downtown in a 118-88 victory against Valencia Basket in Round 29.
- Fenerbahce is the only Final Four team that has beaten each of the other Final Four teams in the EuroLeague this season. It downed Real Madrid, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos at home.