Final Four news: Anadolu Efes Istanbul

Final Four news: FC Barcelona

Final Four news: Real Madrid

Final Four news: Olympiacos Piraeus

The Top 10 photos of the week: Adrien Moerman of Anadolu Efes Istanbul sticks his tongue out as he dunks against Milan.

The Top 10 photos of the week: Vladimir Lucic of FC Bayern Munich drives past Barcelona's Rokas Jokubaitis. 

The Top 10 photos of the week: Guerschon Yabusele of Real Madrid dunks in Tel Aviv. 

The Top 10 photos of the week: Paris Lee of AS Monaco keeps the ball away from Olympiacos's Thomas Walkup.

The Top 10 photos of the week: Ognjen Jaramaz of FC Bayern Munich tries to shoot under pressure from Barcelona's Dante Exum and Brandon Davies.

The Top 10 photos of the week: Vincent Poirier helps Real Madrid complete a sweep of Maccabi with this Game 3 dunk.

The Top 10 photos of the week: Shane Larkin of Anadolu Efes Istanbul splits the defense against Milan.

The Top 10 photos of the week: Will Thomas of AS Monaco emotes after dunking against Olympiacos. 

The Top 10 photos of the week: Tyler Dorsey of Olympiacos Piraeus drives to the basket in Monaco.

The Top 10 photos of the week: Nigel Hayes-Davis of FC Barcelona defends against Bayern's Ognjen Jaramaz. 

AWARDS

ANGT Finals news

### MVP Mirotic calls out Calathes in speech

The highlight of the annual EuroLeague awards ceremony is always the naming of the MVP. This season, one of the winner’s teammates saw it coming and worked his way into the speech. After Nikola Mirotic received the MVP trophy from coaching legend Zeljko Obradovic, he grabbed the microphone to share his thoughts.

“A couple of weeks ago, my dear fiend Nick Calathes said in case you win, please remember me in your speech, so I said to him I will,” Mirotic revealed to the smiles of all on hand, including their coach, Sarunas Jasikevicius. Mirotic got a little more serious before adding: “I also want to thank Nick because he makes my life way easier on the court and he’s been an amazing teammate and friend.”

Mirotic’s full comments can be read [here](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/news/2021-22-turkish-airlines-euroleague-mvp-nikola-mirotic-fc-barcelona/).

### ANGT Finals underway!

If the semifinals and the championship game at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four are the main course, the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Finals are a tasty appetizer. The ANGT Finals are underway with U18 Mega Mozzart Belgrade and U18 PFYM INSEP Paris in action in the first game at Hala Sportova Ranko Zeravica. The tournament will feature 12 games through Friday and the winners of each group will square of on Saturday in the championship game. For more information on the games, check out [www.euroleaguebasketball.net/ngt](http://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/ngt).

### Barcelona’s arrival completes the foursome

We can now turn the page from Final Four anticipation to the count down for the tip-off. With the arrival of FC Barcelona, all the teams have checked in! Interestingly, the first Barca man into the hotel was Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius, who looked like a general leading his troops. Last in was Euroleague Legend Juan Carlos Navarro, who now serves as the director of Barcelona’s basketball section. In between, the roster filled in and a few of them had some interesting thoughts.

The experience was an unusual one for Sertac Sanli, who lifted the crown last season as an Anadolu Efes Istanbul player and saw many old friends as he entered the hotel. "I am really excited! I didn't know how I would react after I see them," he said. “It is going to be fun! I am trying to enjoy being in the Final Four, being in Belgrade. It is going to be different for me.”

One of the few Final Four newcomers on the Barcelona squad is Nigel Hayes-Davies, who had the following to say: “Some of the guys have been here before, some of the guys have won before. For a couple of us, it’s the first one. It's an exciting time. It is an honor and privilege to be here. In basketball, you work throughout your career to win championships, and to be here and have an opportunity to do that is something that you cherish because the championships and winning is not guaranteed in our sport... So all we can focus on is playing Barcelona basketball and if we do that for 40 minutes, we'll see what happens.”

Of course, there is still much more to happen until the first game on Thursday. Wednesday will bring about the awards ceremony, where this season’s MVP will be crowned; the opening press conference; team practices at Stark Arena and more. Check back on these pages for more updates as they happen.

Nick Calathes - FC Barcelona - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Alex Abrines - FC Barcelona - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Sarunas Jasikevicius - FC Barcelona - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Nigel Hayes-Davis - FC Barcelona - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Sertac Sanli - FC Barcelona - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Rokas Jokubaitis - FC Barcelona - Final Four Belgrade 2022

### Los Blancos strut into Belgrade

The award for the best-dressed arrivals goes to Real Madrid, hands down. Los Blancos checked into the Final Four wearing identical sleek black suits and ties with sharp white shirts. Although they could have passed for members of the Men in Black, the Madrid men are not concerned about protecting earth from extraterrestrial life, but rather protecting the paint from their opponents.

"Having experience in this event helps. When you are a first-timer, you have more anxiety in the before the games and experience helps you feel better on the court - hopefully better than in my first time," Real forward Gabriel Deck said. "As a team, we try to face each game in the same way, with the same intensity and character, but this is a Final Four game. It is a do-or-die game and the pressure is on but that goes the same for all four teams in Belgrade. All of them are here with the same goal: making it to the final and lifting the trophy."

"It's really exciting \[to be here\]. We are really enjoying the moment, but we are here to win, so we don't have to enjoy it too much, as the main reason we are here is to compete," Vincent Poirier added. "We feel good, we are doing great. I think we are playing the best basketball of this season. We are confident and we are ready."

Jeffery Taylor - Real Madrid - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Pablo Laso - Real Madrid - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Guerschon Yabusele - Real Madrid - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Alberto Abalde - Real Madrid - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Adam Hanga - Real Madrid - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Rudy Fernandez - Real Madrid - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Vincent Poirier - Real Madrid - Final Four Belgrade 2022

### The champs roll into town

Half of the participating teams at the 2022 Final Four are checked in with the arrival of defending champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul. The team’s arrival was slightly delayed when the skies opened up and poured down as Efes was landing in Belgrade. Nonetheless, the players and staff were all smiles as they encountered all those waiting for them in the lobby of the headquarters hotel.

Despite the presence of Efes’s star-studded roster, it was an 8-year-old boy who stole the show. Filip, a Partizan NIS Belgrade fan who has quickly adopted Efes as his favorite in the EuroLeague, was decked out in a No. 44 Krunoslav Simon jersey, which he patiently waited and asked Efes players to sign and to pose for photos with him. Soon, all of the assembled media saw Filip and turned their attention to his exploits.

“It is always nice to see kids wearing your jersey because sports is all about that, to see them interested in the sport and this is the best thing about the sport,” Simon said. “I am glad he is an Efes fan. This is a big club. We might not have as many fans as some clubs that have soccer teams, but I think it is good to have all kinds of fans of our club from all over.”

Bryant Dunston, after seeing Filip and some other Efes supporters there to welcome his team, spoke about the return of fans to the Final Four: "It was weird playing the last game of last season with no fans there - winning, celebrating, jumping up and down, and then looking around and there was nobody there... Hopefully, we are going to have that same result but with the fans there."

Adrien Moerman - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Shane Larkin - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Ergin  Ataman - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Krunoslav Simon - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Chris Singleton - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Final Four Belgrade 2022

### Olympiacos arrival signifies start of Final Four!

The arrival of Olympiacos Piraeus to the headquarters hotel in Belgrade symbolized the lighting of the torch for the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four. The other three teams will join them shortly, but the Reds had the honor of opening the proceedings. Select members of the media were allowed to pepper players with questions about their arrival.

One Olympiacos player looked a bit trimmer than before. Big man Livio Jean-Charles trimmed his beard: "Yes! It was just a choice of haircut, but definitely, I shaved the beard!" he said. "I am excited, for sure. There are a lot of talented players who have never made it to the Final Four in their careers, so I am pretty glad to be here."

Kostas Papanikolaou, who is among the Reds’ most-experienced players, added: “It does not matter how many \[Final Fours\] you had before, each one coming is new, it's beautiful and you want to take the best out of it… The most important thing that I said to the guys is to enjoy it. You never know if you are going to be able to have an experience like this in your life.”

Hassan Martin and Shaquielle McKissic - Olympiacos Piraeus - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Thomas Walkup - Olympiacos Piraeus - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Kostas Papanikolaou - Olympiacos Piraeus - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Sotirios Oikonomopoulos - Olympiacos Piraeus - Final Four Belgrade 2022

Welcome to the Final Four blog! The EuroLeague staff will be on the ground covering all of the big events in Belgrade and sharing what’s going on behind the scenes all week long.

Final Four live blog: MVP Mirotic calls out Calathes in speech

Hassan Martin and Shaquielle McKissic - Olympiacos Piraeus - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Thomas Walkup - Olympiacos Piraeus - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Kostas Papanikolaou - Olympiacos Piraeus - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Sotirios Oikonomopoulos - Olympiacos Piraeus - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Thomas Walkup 2- Olympiacos Piraeus - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Adrien Moerman - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Shane Larkin - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Ergin  Ataman - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Krunoslav Simon - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Shane Larkin 2- Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Chris Singleton - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Jeffery Taylor - Real Madrid - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Pablo Laso - Real Madrid - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Guerschon Yabusele - Real Madrid - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Alberto Abalde - Real Madrid - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Adam Hanga - Real Madrid - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Rudy Fernandez - Real Madrid - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Vincent Poirier - Real Madrid - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Alex Abrines - FC Barcelona - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Nick Calathes - FC Barcelona - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Sarunas Jasikevicius - FC Barcelona - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Nigel Hayes-Davis - FC Barcelona - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Sertac Sanli - FC Barcelona - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Rokas Jokubaitis - FC Barcelona - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

The leader of the team that rode atop the standings for most of the season, forward Nikola Mirotic of FC Barcelona has been chosen by fans, media, head coaches and team captains as the 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague MVP.

2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague MVP: Nikola Mirotic, FC Barcelona

Mirotic, 31, was awarded his highest honor yet in a career full of accolades during the 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Awards Ceremony in Belgrade, Serbia, on Wednesday, the eve of the 2022 Final Four. The ceremony was held at Stark Arena, where Barcelona will take on Real Madrid in the second semifinal on Thursday, right after Olympiacos Piraeus and Anadolu Efes Istanbul face off in the other.

Mirotic had another stellar season, ranking first among all EuroLeague players with an average performance index rating of 19.4 and second in scoring with 16.6 points per game. In both categories, he was the league leader on a per-minute basis, with a 32.1 PIR and 24.5 points prorated over 40 minutes. Mirotic shot the ball this season with historic efficiency, becoming just the second player in EuroLeague history to post 65-45-85 shooting percentages; he made 65.6% of his two-point shots, 45.5% of his three-pointers and 87.5% of his free throws.

Mirotic was chosen as the MVP of the Month in both October and December, which gave him a record seven such awards. He was MVP of the Round three times, too, tied for the most by any player this season. His early-season dominance led Barca to a 6-0 start and a season-long place among the top two teams in the standings. His December MVP award included the last five wins in a nine-game winning streak that propelled Barca to the best record of the regular season, 21-7.

Mirotic also was recognized on Wednesday for his second consecutive selection to the All-EuroLeague First Team. He began winning EuroLeague awards more than a decade ago when he was the back-to-back Rising Star Trophy winner in 2010-11 and 2011-12 and was selected to the All-EuroLeague Second Team in the next two seasons. Only two other active players have more All-EuroLeague selections than Mirotic, who spent five seasons in the NBA before returning to Europe to sign with Barca in 2019.

2021-22 MVP of the Season: Nikola Mirotic, FC Barcelona

Mirotic was the first choice of the head coaches, the team captains and the media in this season's MVP voting. Mike James of AS Monaco finished second in the overall voting and Sasha Vezenkov of Olympiacos Piraeus third. He is the second Barca player to be celebrated as the full-season MVP, following Juan Carlos Navarro in the 2008-09 season.

“I would like to say that it’s a big pleasure for me to receive this award from our greatest coach Zeljko Obradovic and I would like to thank my team FC Barcelona, the whole organization, coaching staff, all the players, because at the end this is a team job. A couple of weeks ago, my dear friend Nick Calathes said in case you win, please remember me in your speech, so I said to him I will. So I also want to thank Nick because he makes my life way easier on the court and he’s been an amazing teammate and friend. At the end, I want to say a couple of words to a special person here with us, my personal coach, Jadran Vujacic. He was my first coach since I started basketball and he really pushed me very hard to get to this point, all the summers working together hard. He is the person who really believed in me more than I ever believed in myself, so this trophy also goes to him.

“It feels great to have this award in my hands, but I know that the job I came here for is not done. I know why I came. Last season Micic did an incredible job and he demonstrated in the Final Four why he was the MVP. It was well deserved, hopefully, this year I can do my job.”

Born in Podgorica, Montenegro, Mirotic was a late-comer to basketball, introduced to the sport at age 13 by his grandfather. Within two years, after time spent at the Joker School in his hometown, Mirotic had signed his first contract with Real Madrid, joining its youth program. By 2008, he was on Real's senior roster and made his EuroLeague debut shortly after turning 18 in a road game against Barcelona. He would help Real make its Final Four return after 15 years in 2011. In two more Final Four appearances with Real, in 2013 and 2014, they finished as the runner-up.

Mirotic went on to play in the NBA before joining Barca at age 28, right in the prime of his career, and after the 2019-20 season was discontinued, led his new team last year to its first Final Four in seven years. They lost the championship game to Efes, but Barcelona comes into this weekend in Belgrade with the best overall record of all EuroLeague teams, 24-9, and now with the MVP of the season leading a quest to take one step further to the title.

Cory Higgins is at his sixth Final Four and is a two-time winner with CSKA Moscow (2016, 2019). Barcelona features two more EuroLeague champions; Nick Calathes lifted the trophy with Panathinaikos Athens in 2011 and Sertac Sanli did so with Anadolu Efes Istanbul last season. Nikola Mirotic is at his fifth Final Four and has a chance to reach his fourth championship game. Alex Abrines and Calathes are in their fourth Final Fours and Brandon Davies has made it to this stage for the third time. Most Barca players were with the team last season when it reached the championship game - all the players mentioned plus Rolands Smits, Pierre Oriola and Kyle Kuric. 

Previous experience: Barca vs. Real 

FC Barcelona v Real Madrid (2022-05-19T19:00:00.000Z)

cory-higgins-fc-barcelona-final-four-cologne-2021-eb20.jpg

Experts agree that experience can be a very important factor in Final Four games. Olympiacos Piraeus and Anadolu Efes Istanbul players have been through many Final Four clashes. 

Previous experience: Olympiacos vs. Efes 

Olympiacos only has three players with previous Final Four experience, but they combine for 19 Final Four appearances among them. Kostas Sloukas is at his eighth Final Four; only Sergio Llull of Real Madrid has been to that many among this year's teams. Sloukas has a chance to make it to his seventh championship game, which would tie him with Matjaz Smodis and Derrick Sharp for the most in the Final Four era. Georgios Printezis is at his sixth Final Four, all of which have come with the Reds. Kostas Papanikolaou played four Final Fours with Olympiacos and one with FC Barcelona. All three players won back-to-back titles with Olympiacos in 2012 and 2013. Sloukas added his third EuroLeague crown with Fenerbahce Istanbul in 2017. 

Efes returns to the Final Four as the reigning champion and is back with 11 players and the head coach who won the competition last season. Efes's 12th player from the 2021 championship game, Sertac Sanli, is now with FC Barcelona. Vasilije Micic, Bryant Dunston, Rodrigue Beaubois, Dogus Balbay, Adrien Moerman, Tibor Pleiss, James Anderson, Krunoslav Simon and Coach Ergin Ataman have been to the last three Final Fours with Efes. Chris Singleton is at his third Final Four, too; his first appearance came with Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar in 2016. Micic and Dunston are in their fourth Final Fours. Micic made his Final Four debut with Zalgiris Kaunas in 2018 and Dunston with Olympiacos in 2015.

Olympiacos Piraeus v Anadolu Efes Istanbul (2022-05-19T16:00:00.000Z)

The first finalist at the 2022 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four will come from the clash between Olympiacos Piraeus and Anadolu Efes Istanbul. Here’s a look at how these teams match up.

Semifinals matchups: Olympiacos vs. Efes

### Backcourt

Olympiacos and Efes rely very heavily on their guards, though the teams’ perimeter attacks are quite different. Defensive ace Thomas Walkup and Tyler Dorsey are the Reds’ starters, while veteran and three-time champ Kostas Sloukas can be counted on to lead the team down the stretch. The Efes tandem of All-EuroLeague guards Shane Larkin and Vasilije Micic is among the best in the league and Rodrigue Beaubois is another offensive dynamo. 

### Frontcourt

Sasha Vezenkov has enjoyed his finest season to date leading to an All-EuroLeague First Team selection. The power forward is complimented nicely by 2.18-meter force Moustapha Fall at center. Adrien Moerman and Chris Singleton have the inside-outside skills to match up with Vezenkov, while Tibor Pleiss and Bryant Dunston power the champs in the paint. 

### Bench

In addition to Sloukas, energetic swingman Shaquielle McKissic and the imposing big man Hassan Martin are game-changers off the bench for Olympiacos. Twelve different players have started for Efes so far this season; Elijah Bryant and James Anderson on the perimeter and Dunston and Singleton inside are players to keep an eye on for Efes. 

### Coaches

The two head coaches both boast experience, winning spirit and the respect of their players. Olympiacos’s Georgios Printezis led the Reds to EuroLeague glory in 2013 and was awarded the Aleksander Gomelskiy Coach of the Year Trophy that season. Coach Ergin Ataman of Efes won that same trophy last season after guiding Efes to its maiden continental championship. These two master tacticians will have plenty to say about how this game goes down.

Georgios Printezis - Olympiacos Piraeus - EB21-RS26

The second finalist at the 2022 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four will be decided in a new edition of "El Clasico", as regular season champs FC Barcelona will face archrivals Real Madrid. Here's a look at how both teams match up.

Semifinals matchups: FC Barcelona vs. Real Madrid

### Backcourt

FC Barcelona counts on one of the most dangerous backcourt pair of the continent with complementary skills. Nick Calathes runs the offense with his classy pass-first mentality, while Nicolas Laprovittola is an offensive dagger both from long range and driving to the basket. Real Madrid used several baccourt configurations this season, even with no "pure" point guards such as Alberto Abalde and Adamn Hanga to use size and deffensive skills to build from it.  

### Frontcourt

Only a few can doubt Real Madrid's power inside the paint. It's noy only that the duo of Walter Tavares and Vincent Poireir combine size, physicality and top-notch intimidation, but Yabusele also adds versatility and outside shot to a remarkably strong body frame. Barcelona will count on Sanli's size to match Real's strength at the center, plus adding mobility, speed and scoring skills with Nikola Mirotic and Brandon Davies. 

### Bench

Veterans like Sergio Llull or Rudy Fernandez can become a big asset for Real, since they have been through a challenge like this several times in the past, achieving  two Euroleague titles each, but many other players can take over for Real coming from the bench as only Walter Tavares has started in all games he played.  Rokas Jokubaitis and Dante Exum are usually used by Barcelona as game-changing tools thanks to their explosiveness and intensity, which they both will have to prove useful in their first experience in a Final Four.

### Coaches

Nobody other than Sarunas Jasikevicius and Pablo Laso knows how to face a game like that, as both have been involved both as a player and as a coach. Pablo Laso has won the Euroleague title twice (2015 and 2018), and knows how it feels to do in Belgrade. Jasikevicius is looking for his first title as a coach, after being crowned champion 3 times as a player (2004, 2005 and 2009). Both are quite passionate head coaches that will bring their energy to the court through their players.

Archrivals FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have played six times already this season. Here’s how their last two EuroLeague games went down.

Earlier this season: Barcelona vs. Real 

In Round 14, Barca claimed a 93-80 victory at Palau Blaugrana. Nikola Mirotic led the winners with 31 points and 10 rebounds for a PIR of 39, which was a new personal best. He was the first Barcelona player to score 30 points in a EuroLeague game since Juan Carlos Navarro in 2006. Brandon Davies and Nicolas Laprovittola added 16 each while Rokas Jokubaitis had 12 for Barca. Fabien Causeur and Thomas Heurtel paced Real with 11 points apiece. 

Barca bested Real 68-86 at WiZink Center in Round 26. Laprovittola led the winners with 20 points on 5-for-5 three-point shooting. Dante Exum added 13 points, Davies 11 and Kyle Kuric and Nick Calathes 10 each for Barcelona. Walter Tavares scored 25 points on 10-of-10 two-point shooting for Real. Barca also won their two Spanish League regular-season games and the Copa del Rey final. Mirotic scored 19 to lead his team to a 59-64 triumph in the latter. Real defeated Barca in the preseason Spanish SuperCup final, 83-88, thanks to 21 points from Sergio Llull.

Pierre Oriola and Sergio Llull - Teams Captains photo session - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Olympiacos Piraeus and Anadolu Efes Istanbul faced each other twice during the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season. 

Earlier this season: Olympiacos vs. Efes

Their first meeting was in Round 10 in which Efes defeated Olympiacos 88-69 at Sinan Erdem Sports Hall, limiting the Reds to just 3 fourth-quarter points. Rodrigue Beaubois led the winners with a career-high 29 points on 7-of-10 three-point shooting. Vasiljie Micic added 19 points and Shane Larkin posted 10 points and 6 assists. Sasha Vezenkov led the way for the Reds with 17 points and 8 rebounds for a PIR of 26 and Moustapha Fall finished with 15 points.

Things were different at Peace and Friendship Stadium. Their Round 26 showdown was among the most spectacular games of the season. Olympiacos edged Efes 87-85 in overtime on a game-winning, buzzer-beating three-point shot by Kostas Sloukas. Sloukas led the winners with 24 points and 6 assists. Tyler Dorsey added 19 points, Vezenkov 16 and Fall 10. Tibor Pleiss scored 14 for Efes, which forced overtime with a late fourth-quarter reverse layup by Micic, who finished with 12 points. 

Georgios Printezis and Dogus Balbay - Teams Captains photo session - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21

Here are some interesting notes about the Final Four semifinal game between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Game Notes, Semifinal, Barcelona vs. Madrid

· The semifinals clash at the 2022 Final Four is the 31st Clasico in the EuroLeague this century. Barcelona leads Real 16-14 and has won their last four EuroLeague matches. 

· Barcelona and Real have met six times already this season. After Real bested Barcelona in the preseason Spanish SuperCup, Barcelona defeated Real five straight times: twice in the EuroLeague, twice in the Spanish League and once in the Spanish Cup final. 

· In Round 26 in Madrid, Barcelona raced to a 68-86 win behind 20 points on 5-for-5 three-point shooting from Nicolas Laprovittola.

· In Round 14, Barcelona beat Real 93-80 behind an outstanding game from Nikola Mirotic who scored a career-high 31 points, tied a club record with 14 made free throws, grabbed 10 rebounds and had a career-high PIR of 39 in earning MVP of the Round honors.

· Barcelona and Real have met in the EuroLeague Final Four Semifinals on three occasions. The first was in 1996 when Barcelona won 76-66 in Paris behind 24 points from Arturas Karnisovas. Real was victorious 67-74 in London in 2013 thanks to 17 points from Felipe Reyes. The following season, Real routed Barcelona 62-100 in Milan, where Sergio Rodriguez starred with 21 points.

· Real Madrid grabbed a club record 24 offensive rebounds against Barcelona in March 2005, a mark it has matched twice since.

· Barcelona matched its club record with 9 blocks against Real Madrid in April 2006.

· In addition to Mirotic this season, Juan Carlos Navarro also made a club record 14 free throws against Real Madrid, in March 2005.

· Barcelona's single-game record for steals is 6; Pepe Sanchez tied it against Real Madrid in January 2008.

· Real's single-game record for two-pointers made by a player is 11, which Ante Tomic set against FC Barcelona in March 2010.

· Mirotic spent five seasons with Real Madrid; he was a two-time EuroLeague Rising Star Trophy winner (2011 and 2012) and a two-time All-EuroLeague selection (2013 and 2014). He helped Real reach the championship game in both 2013 and 2014. Mirotic played under Coach Pablo Laso and was a teammate of current Real players Rudy Fernandez and Sergio Llull.

· Real forward Adam Hanga spent the last four seasons with Barcelona; he helped the team win one domestic league title and three Spanish Cups.

· Real playmaker Thomas Heurtel spent more than three seasons with Barcelona, joining the team ahead of the 2017-18 season and splitting with the team halfway through last season.

· Barcelona playmaker Nicolas Laprovittola arrived this summer from Real Madrid where he spent the last two seasons.

· Real's Gabriel Deck and Laprovittola have been teammates on the Argentine national team.

· Real Madrid center Walter Tavares and Barcelona sharpshooter Kyle Kuric were teammates at Herbalife Gran Canaria during the 2014-15 season. Together they reached the EuroCup Finals.

· Kuric set a career-high with 4 steals in an 86-76 victory for Real in November 2019.

· Barcelona point guard Nick Calathes dished 16 assists to break the EuroLeague Playoffs record playing for Panathinaikos OPAP Athens against Real in Game 1 of the 2018 playoffs.

· Barcelona forward Sergi Martinez grabbed a career-high 9 rebounds in a win against Real in October 2020.

· Real swingman Rudy Fernandez posted his career-high in index rating with 38 for Real Madrid against FC Barcelona in February 2015. It earned him the last of his seven MVP of the Round honors.

· Real guard Sergio Llull posted his career-best performance index rating of 32 in an 85-69 win against Barcelona in March 2017. He earned MVP of Round 27 honors for that performance.

· Real big man Anthony Randolph matched his career-best with 28 points playing for Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar against Barcelona in Game 4 of the 2016 EuroLeague Playoffs. Randolph accumulated a performance index rating of 28 in that game and earned MVP of the Round honors.

· Real Madrid big man Trey Thompkins set a career-high with 4 steals in an 87-75 victory over Barcelona in December 2017.

· Nicolas Laprovittola posted his career-high with 7 rebounds in Round 26 win against Real earlier this season.

· Barcelona center Brandon Davies blocked a career-high 4 shots in a home win against Real in October 2020.

· Davies posted his career-high in scoring with 27 points playing for Zalgiris Kaunas against Real in April 2019.

· Barcelona center Sertac Sanli tied his career-high with 8 rebounds playing for Anadolu Efes Istanbul in Game 1 of the playoffs against Real Madrid last season.

· Barcelona big man Nigel Hayes-Davis collected a career-high 3 steals for Zalgiris Kaunas against Real in February 2021.

Here are some interesting notes about the Final Four semifinal game between Olympiacos Piraeus and Anadolu Efes Istanbul.

Game Notes, Semifinal, Olympiacos vs. Efes

· Efes and Olympiacos are tied at 22-22 in their EuroLeague games this century. 

· They last played in Round 26 when Kostas Sloukas hit a buzzer-beating corner three-pointer to lift Olympiacos to an 87-85 overtime win. Sloukas had 23 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds in that game.

· Before the Round 26 overtime loss, Efes had won five straight games against Efes, including an 88-69 triumph in Round 10 in which Rodrigue Beaubois netted a career-high 29 points on a career-best 7 three-point shots made.

· When the two teams met in Istanbul in March 2020, Shane Larkin earned his record-tying sixth MVP of the Round honor in a single season. In a 91-79 win, Larkin scored 40 points, becoming the first player this century with two 40-point games to his name, while also tying the EuroLeague single-game mark by downing 10 of 15 attempts from long distance. He also collected 5 assists, 3 steals and 3 rebounds, accumulating a performance index rating of 44.

· These teams contested a thrilling playoff series in the 2016-17 season. Efes took a 2-1 lead, but Olympiacos bounced back to win 3-2 and advance to the Final Four. The decisive fifth game saw Vassilis Spanoulis score 22 points in an 87-78 victory.

· Olympiacos and Efes battled for a Final Four spot in the 2013 playoffs, too. Efes had a 15-point lead in do-or-die Game 5, but Olympiacos came back, won the series and went on to lift the trophy.

· The Efes single-game record for blocks is 6, which Marcus Haislip set against Olympiacos Piraeus on January 17, 2007.

· The Efes single-game record for three-pointers made is 10, which Shane Larkin tied against Olympiacos Piraeus on March 6, 2020.

· Last season in Istanbul, Shane Larkin had 21 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds for a PIR 32, which earned him MVP of the Round honors in a 76-53 win over Olympiacos.

· Efes forward Adrien Moerman and Olympiacos forward Sasha Vezenkov were teammates at FC Barcelona during the 2017-18 season.

· Efes big man Bryant Dunston played two seasons at Olympiacos, from 2013 to 2015, and in both seasons was chosen the EuroLeague Best Defender. He was a teammate of current Olympiacos players Georgios Printezis and Kostas Sloukas and played under head coach Georgios Bartzokas.

· Dunston was a teammate of Sloukas also at Aris Thessaloniki during the 2010-11 season.

· Efes forward James Anderson played under Olympiacos head coach Georgios Bartzokas at Khimki Moscow Region during the 2017-18 season.

· Olympiacos guard Tyler Dorsey and Efes's Elijah Bryant were teammates at Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv for two seasons, from 2019 to 2021.

· Efes guard Vasilije Micic dished a career-high 13 assists in an overtime loss against Olympiacos in Round 26 this season.

· Efes guard Elijah Bryant collected a career-high 3 steals in a Round 26 loss against Olympiacos.

· Olympiacos big man Livio Jean-Charles twice tied his career-high with 3 blocks playing for LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne against Efes, first in November 2019, and again in October 2020.

· Olympiacos guard Giannoulis Larentzakis delivered a career-high with 8 assists in a road loss against Efes last February.

· Olympiacos big man Hassan Martin had a career-best 3 blocks in a loss against Efes in October 2020.

· Dunston tied his career-high in offensive rebounds with 8 in Game 4 of the 2017 EuroLeague Playoffs, which Olympiacos won in Istanbul 62-74.

· Krunoslav Simon of Efes had a career-high 4 steals against Olympiacos in December of last season.

· Efes center Tibor Pleiss matched his career-best with 4 blocks playing for Valencia Basket against Olympiacos in November 2017.

Euroleague Basketball partner VRM, which helped bring the EuroLeague Land metaverse to the world, has designed a unique NFT collection to pay tribute to the 2022 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion. After the crowning of this season's winner on Saturday, May 21 at Stark Arena in Belgrade, fans and memorabilia collectors will have the opportunity to acquire one-of-a-kind NFTs from the new Trophy & Rings collection.

Euroleague Basketball, VRM to celebrate champion with Trophy & Rings NFT collection

The Trophy & Rings NFT collection is the latest step in Euroleague Basketball's diversified strategy. Said strategy aims to tap the possibilities available to global sports properties in the Web3 space in a safe and enjoyable way for fans to enable them to own a piece of the content produced by the league, clubs and players they love.

"NFTs are the rage among sports fans and collectors of all kinds and we knew that partnering with VRM to release the Trophy & Rings collection would offer our fans a perfect way to celebrate the 2022 champion,” Roser Queralto, Chief Business Officer of Euroleague Basketball, said. "Having already worked with VRM on the EuroLeague Land metaverse, we knew we had a world-class partner we could trust whose values and goals line up with ours."

The Trophy & Rings collection of NFTs will be released at the end of the season, at [ChampionsNFT.euroleague.net](http://ChampionsNFT.euroleague.net). Euroleague Basketball and VRM plan to continue the development of such collectible objects in the future and retroactively so fans across the EuroLeague can create their own collections.

“We can’t be more proud of extending our partnership with the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague," VRM CEO Juan Marí-Guillot said. "It is an amazing property to work with and together we have endless potential to develop amazing digital assets and unique experiences around the competition. We’ve just created a new experiential NFTs category and much more is to come."

The 2022 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four will take place in the Serbian capital on May 19-21. Olympiacos Piraeus and Anadolu Efes Istanbul will meet in the first semifinal followed by a duel between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in the second.

After leading a storied club back to the Final Four for the first time in five years, Georgios Bartzokas of Olympiacos Piraeus has been voted the Aleksander Gomelskiy Coach of the Year by his peers on the benches of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.

Coach of the Year: Georgios Bartzokas, Olympiacos Piraeus

In his second stint with Olympiacos, Bartzokas steered the Reds to a second-place finish in the regular season with a 19-9 record. He then led Olympiacos back to its first Final Four since 2017 with a thrilling 3-2 victory in its playoff series against AS Monaco, which made him the first coach in EuroLeague history to win three Game 5s.

Coach Bartzokas becomes the fourth person to win the Coach of the Year honor at least twice. He had previously been voted for the award in 2012-13, in his first season on the Olympiacos bench, when he helped the Reds defend their EuroLeague title with a resounding pair of victories at the Final Four in London.

“It’s really an emotional moment for me also because it’s a big honor. There are great coaches in the EuroLeague. The best coaches are here. It’s a big honor." Bartzokas said, upon receiving the award. "I would like to thank the Olympiacos organization, my coaching staff. All my players who helped me to win this award. I feel really honored. Thank you very much.

“This is special. It’s one more credit for me. I would like to thank [my fellow coaches]. It’s an honor for me.”

After finishing 12th last season, Olympiacos used a run of six home wins early in this one to anchor itself near the top of the standings. Its dominance at Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus continued for nine consecutive victories there, lasting through the 2021 portion of the season. The Reds, who would finish the season with a league-best 13-1 mark at home, fell out of the top four places in the standings only following a rough patch of four consecutive defeats ending on February 2. Four victories in a row followed – including a classic overtime thriller against their Final Four semifinals opponent, Anadolu Efes Istanbul – and soon they clinched home-court advantage in the playoffs.

Their best-of-five playoff against Monaco was one to remember, as neither team could win two games in a row. After dropping Game 2 at home, the Reds immediately regained home-court advantage with a Game 3 win in Monaco. It all came down to a Game 5 thriller in which they came from behind in the fourth quarter to win 94-88 and make their long-awaited Final Four return. 

It is no exaggeration to say that Bartzokas steered his team's success with a steady hand and a clear establishment of roles on his roster. Five of his players – Sasha Vezenkov, Tyler Dorsey, Moustapha Fall, Kostas Papanikolaou and Thomas Walkup – started every single game they played this season, which was every single game except one each for three of them. The Reds ranked second in the EuroLeague in performance index rating (93.2) per game while holding opponents to the fourth-lowest such average (80.3). They were also the most accurate team shooting two-pointers, at 58.1%, and fifth in scoring with 80.4 points per game.

Due to knee injuries, Bartzokas retire from playing at age 27 and began coaching smaller clubs Pefki, Eraklio, Vrilissia and Kifissia before assisting Greek legend Panagiotis Giannakis and coaching Vassilis Spanoulis at Maroussi. Larissa made him a first-time head coach in the Greek League for three seasons before he returned to head Maroussi's bench, making his EuroLeague debut in 2009-10 by taking the team from a qualification round to the Top 16. After a stop at Panionios BC, Olympiacos tapped him to replace the late Dusan Ivkovic in the summer after the team won the 2012 EuroLeague title. Bartzokas and the Reds defended the trophy at the 2013 Final Four in London, making Olympiacos the only back-to-back champion of the last 16 years. 

From Olympiacos, Bartzokas went to Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar and turned the team into a surprise 2016 Final Four participant. He coached the team they beat in the playoffs, FC Barcelona, the following year before taking Khimki Moscow Region to its first and only playoff appearance in 2017-18. He returned to Olympiacos mid-way through the 2019-20 season and has steadily built the Reds back into the contender they are today, making their first playoff appearance in four seasons and first Final Four in five this spring.

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Coach of the Year: Georgios Bartzokas, Olympiacos Piraeus

Awards

Final Four live blog: MVP Mirotic calls out Calathes in speech

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2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague MVP: Nikola Mirotic, FC Barcelona

Awards

Previous experience: Barca vs. Real

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Previous experience: Olympiacos vs. Efes

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Semifinals matchups: Olympiacos vs. Efes

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Semifinals matchups: FC Barcelona vs. Real Madrid

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Earlier this season: Barcelona vs. Real

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Earlier this season: Olympiacos vs. Efes

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Game Notes, Semifinal, Barcelona vs. Madrid

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Game Notes, Semifinal, Olympiacos vs. Efes

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Euroleague Basketball, VRM to celebrate champion with Trophy & Rings NFT collection

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