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

When he first left his native Hungary for Spain in 2011, Adam Hanga was very much a complete unknown, certainly for fans. More than a decade later, his career lacks only a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague title to seal his status as one of the signature players of the competition since his debut in 2013.

Adam Hanga, Real: 'The third time is the charm, right?' 

Hanga arrives in Belgrade this week for his third Final Four with three different teams: Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, FC Barcelona and, now, Real Madrid.

In his very first Final Four game, an overtime semifinal loss to Fenerbahce Istanbul in 2016, Hanga was on the court for almost 42 minutes, more than any player in a Final Four game since 2010 and the third-most ever.

"I can recall that game minute-by-minute, to be honest," Hanga says. "I remember the gym was full of yellow because they were all Fenerbahce fans, and the experience was amazing. Obviously, I was a little bit nervous at the beginning, but I think that was the year in my career when I established myself as a player. So, for me, it was a really important year, and obviously to get to the Final Four with that team... If you look back now at the roster, you understand why we made it to the Final Four. But at that moment, no one was expecting us to be there." 

"This year, with the fans and everything back in the arena, I think it's going to be amazing."

Hanga was a tad older than Tornike Shengelia and Mike James, among others, as they went on that magic carpet ride to Berlin with Baskonia. The next season, EuroLeague head coaches recognized Hanga with the Best Defender Trophy. Then, he moved to Barcelona for four years, culminating in the team's runner-up finish at last season's Final Four in Cologne, Germany. In contrast to his first Final Four experience, however, Hanga was barely used in last season's championship game, which Barcelona lost to Anadolu Efes Istanbul.

Final Four Interview: Adam Hanga, Real Madrid

"If you talk about possibilities of winning the Final Four, winning the title, last year I was pretty close to it," Hanga recounts. "Obviously, it was really unfortunate that I couldn't play that many minutes. But you know, I've always been a team player and I always try to be a good teammate. And my goal was always to win as a team. Last year, I was at a moment of the season when I was not one of the most important players in Barcelona, so I accepted it. It was obviously tough; everybody has character and, obviously, I wanted to play. But I accepted it and I was the one going crazy on the bench for 40 minutes in the final."

When his contract with Barcelona ended, Hanga was snapped up by Real to bring his proven defensive pedigree to the backcourt. Hanga plugged right into head coach Pablo Laso's rotation and has started 24 of the 29 games he has played this season.

"The adjustment was easy because I played against Madrid so many times in the past 10 years that I kind of knew everybody. I kind of knew the system. I kind of knew what they want to do," Hanga explains. "So, for me, it was like the easiest transition to come from Barcelona to Real Madrid."

"El Clasico in the semifinals, I think it's huge. I think it's huge for EuroLeague, it's huge for basketball, it's huge for us."

His old and new teams jockeyed for the top two spots in the EuroLeague standings until Real struggled down the home stretch of the regular season and tumbled to fourth place. That presumed a tougher playoffs matchup with fifth-place Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, which was as hot as Real was cold late in the season. Nonetheless, Real found its mojo and registered the only playoffs sweep of any series as Hanga's averages soared to 9.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists and 1.0 steals. In just 21:49 minutes per game, roughly 3 more than until the playoffs, he more than doubled his performance index rating to 13.0.

"Throughout that bad period, already we were saying to ourselves that we knew we were going to get through it. Obviously, this happens sometimes for teams; the only thing was that for us, it was pretty long. It's like we looked pretty desperate to get out of that hole. But the confidence, we had it from the very beginning," Hanga said. 

Spalding Dunk of the Night: Hanga hammer!

"Nobody sees inside our locker room. Nobody sees what's going on. People might see what's going on on the court, or what we tell to the press. But nobody sees what's going on in the locker room. And in the locker room, I think we were always confident.

"And I think we came back at the best moment, to be honest. Right before the playoffs, we got together one last time. We had a barbecue at Rudy \[Fernandez\]'s house. We talked about it again, and we came through. So, that's all that matters." 

Another part of Real's story this season has been losing to Barcelona, its semifinal opponent on Friday in Belgrade in what will be just the third such El Clásico in Final Four history. 

"It's no secret that they've had the upper hand in the last five games they beat us, including the Spanish League and Spanish Cup final," Hanga says. "So obviously, they have found a way in which they could beat us. And we have to find the way that we can beat them. As we all know, it's one game, so defense is going to be key. Apart from that: physicality, concentration. Obviously, the team that's going to make less mistakes is going to make it to the final." 

It is safe to say that Hanga is unlikely to be cheerleading for much of the semifinal on Friday. But neither is he distracted by the idea of showing his old team what they are missing. Rather, he is keen to keep his eyes on the only major prize that has eluded him in his rise from relative anonymity to EuroLeague standard-bearer. 

"This year, to be honest, I was not thinking about revenge or anything like this. I was focusing on the task ahead of us, which for us at Real Madrid was making it to the Final Four. This was the only thing on my mind," Hanga says. "Even now that I know we are going to play against Barcelona, and all of my friends and a lot of people are asking me, 'Do you feel like revenge?', I say, 'No, to be honest, I don't really feel anything like this.' The only thing I feel is that I want to win because I want to lift the title. But it has nothing to do with Barcelona. If we have to go through Barcelona, so be it."

Swingman James Anderson represents all that’s special about the defending champs as a one-time elite scorer who has embraced a much-different supporting role during his four seasons with Anadolu Efes Istanbul.

James Anderson, Efes: 'Whatever it takes for me to impact the team'

Those who are first seeing Anderson play today may not know what a talented scorer he can be. The 33-year-old small forward led his conference in scoring in college, was a double-digit scorer during one of his seasons in the NBA and was among the top 10 scorers in the EuroLeague in his first season in the competition, in 2014-15 with Zalgiris Kaunas. 

“In the past, I would go into the game thinking about how to score, I'm pretty sure the same way that Shane [Larkin] and Vasa [Micic], knowing that they’re going in trying to figure out how to beat the trap or where they're going to get their shots or where they're going to come from,” Anderson explained. “Now I feel like my approach is just trying to affect the game defensively and look to score when I have a chance and when I can be aggressive and it’s definitely a different approach.”

Members of the Efes coaching staff and his teammates credit Anderson for being a team-first guy on and off the court. What makes the transition in role even more impressive is that Anderson himself didn’t see it coming. 

“I was still in the mindset of scoring the ball and just being aggressive in that manner,” Anderson said of his thinking when he signed with Efes in the summer of 2018. “Coming here with so many guys made it impossible to play the same way that I was playing. So I just took the time to help develop the role of whatever it takes for me to impact the team…

“We mostly call on our guards to score and they get most of the balls, so I had to find another way to impact the game. Once I'm called on to score and I see the opportunity, that's when I try and take the opportunity. But I really don't try to force and go after a bucket like I normally used to do. So I just started trying to figure out other ways to impact the game and be on the court.” 

"It's a great group of guys. We have no issues off the court. Everyone gets along. Everybody puts their egos to the side... It's definitely a recipe to make it to the championship."

How dramatic was the change in Anderson’s game? At his peak as a scorer, he was among the best in the game. Anderson scored a career-high 37 points in college at Oklahoma St. University, notched 36 in the NBA with Philadelphia and netted 27 in his first EuroLeague season with Zalgiris. This season, Anderson had seven games in which he attempted just 1 field goal and five in which he did not attempt any. In Game 3 of the playoffs against AX Armani Exchange Milan, Anderson played 24:15 and impacted the game through defense with 3 steals, but did not attempt a single field goal!

Of course, that scoring touch does come in handy when needed. Anderson scored 11 points in 7 minutes off the bench in Round 27 to help his team to a rout of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv and with Micic sidelined in the regular-season finale, Anderson stepped up with 12 points on excellent shooting. He set a career-best in three-point shooting accuracy this season by making 47.6% of his attempts from deep. 

“I feel like there's certain times where I feel like I can be aggressive. There’s times where after the game I go back and look at the game where I take on myself because I feel like I wasn't aggressive enough. That's usually most of the cases, not being aggressive enough,” Anderson explained before adding that his teammates often want him to shoot more. “They are definitely encouraging me and telling me to be more aggressive. It's mostly on me to know when and not to wait on it to come and go out and actually search for a shot or be aggressive attacking the basket.”

Final Four Interview: James Anderson, Anadolu Efes Istanbul

Anderson deflects credit for his role in making Efes one of the league’s top teams over his tenure there. However, he is quick to praise his teammates, coaches and club management. 

“We have a great group of high-character guys who, like I said, even from the top with Shane and Vasa, no one has an ego. We all hold each other accountable to play our role and do what we have to do to win,” Anderson said. “It can literally be anybody who beats you from one all the way through. We have such an amazing group of guys who do so many different things and everybody on the team can shoot the ball and can score in bunches. It's just a matter of how the game is played and whose night it is.

“[Coach Ataman] and the GM get a lot of credit. It's a great group of guys. We have no issues off the court. Everyone gets along. Everybody puts their egos to the side. So anytime you can do that and build the chemistry that we have, it's definitely a recipe to make it to the championship.”

There is one more piece to the puzzle that Anderson said Efes needs to complete their historic run by winning back-to-back EuroLeague championships: the support of the Efes fans at the Final Four in Belgrade. 

“Last year we had no fans and there was a different atmosphere and this year it will be different. We have a different team to face against so it'll be different approach. We got to put last year in the past and try to get this one this year,” he said. “We definitely need all our fans to come out and support us because Olympiacos will have a lot of fans.”

James Anderson - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - EB21

Felipe Reyes retired last summer after 17 consecutive seasons with Real Madrid as one of the most decorated big men in basketball history and the embodiment of the character that marked a new generation of success at the world-renowned club.

Legend: Felipe Reyes, Real Madrid 

Reyes started his career with Estudiantes Madrid before moving across the Spanish capital in 2004 and becoming team captain during Real's resurgence in continental club basketball. 

Reyes first helped Real get back to the Euroleague by taking the EuroCup title in 2007. He was a major protagonist as Real reached the 2011 Final Four, the club's first appearance in the EuroLeague's signature event in 15 years. And he remained one of the team's pillars under head coach Pablo Laso during Real's streak of three consecutive EuroLeague Championship Games between 2013 to 2015. 

 After losses in the title game against Olympiacos Piraeus in 2013 and Maccabi Tel Aviv after overtime in 2014, Reyes memorably lifted the EuroLeague trophy as team captain in 2015 before Real's home fans in the Spanish capital. Its first continental crown in 20 years remains one of the most iconic moments in club history. It was also one of the best seasons ever for Reyes, who was voted to the 2014-15 All-EuroLeague First Team.

Reyes would be a key part of Real's run of three more Final Fours from 2017 to 2019, culminating in another EuroLeague title in 2018, when he raised the trophy again on the court at Stark Arena in Belgrade. He would finish his career in 2021 as the EuroLeague's all-time leader in offensive rebounds (705) and the second-best in total boards (1,799). He still ranks among the top 10 players all-time in games played (357), points (3,029) and performance index rating (3,775), as well. 

In addition to their EuroLeague success together, Reyes helped Real win eight Spanish League and six Spanish Cup titles. He was also a regular on Spanish national teams that claimed gold medals at the World Cup and three EuroBaskets, plus two silvers and one bronze each at the Olympic Games and EuroBasket.

A model of hustle and commitment, Felipe Reyes left everything on the court to earn the eternal gratitude of Real Madrid fans.

One of the most beloved FC Barcelona players ever, Juan Carlos Navarro, is among the biggest stars in the history of European basketball, as well.

Legend: Juan Carlos Navarro, FC Barcelona

From the outskirts of Barcelona where he grew up, Navarro rose to become one of the continent's most prolific scorers ever and to lift his hometown club to its greatest heights during two stints – each a decade-long – wearing the Blaugrana jersey. 
 
Navarro left a mark on basketball with his trademark "la bomba" shot, while the countless baskets he scored and victories his teams achieved made him a winner like few others in the sport.
 
Navarro is the only player to lift both of Barcelona's EuroLeague trophies to date. He did it for the first time as a 22-year-old in 2003 before a home crowd that had been waiting a long time for that very moment. The club's second EuroLeague title came in Paris in 2010, when Navarro was voted the Final Four MVP, one after he had been chosen the 2008-09 EuroLeague MVP, as well.
 
From 2000 until 2018, while leading Barcelona to eight Final Fours, Navarro achieved milestones that few players in EuroLeague history can imagine. At the time of his retirement, he was the EuroLeague's all-time leading scorer, with 4,152 points, ranking first as well in performance index rating (3,890) and games played (341). To this day, he remains the EuroLeague's career leader in three-pointers made (623).
 
Navarro was an All-EuroLeague First Team selection a record five times and the only player named to both EuroLeague All-Decade Teams this century. He also has a pair of All-EuroLeague Second Team selections and three MVP of the Month awards to his name.
 
Navarro was successful wherever he played, leading Barca to 20 domestic titles in Spain and helping the team win the 1999 Korac Cup. He was also an instrumental part of the Spanish national teams that won the 2006 World Cup, three Olympic medals – silvers at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, bronze at Rio 2016 – and seven EuroBasket medals, including three golds.
 
Shortly after he retired, Navarro was honored as a EuroLeague Basketball Legend. He soon saw his number 11 retired by Barcelona and raised to the rafters at Palau Blaugrana. A legend in his city and beyond, Navarro today continues his special relationship with Barcelona as its general director.

The late Dusan Ivkovic, one of the best and most successful coaches in European basketball history, led Olympiacos Piraeus to the first two of its three EuroLeague titles to date. 

Legend: Dusan Ivkovic, Olympiacos Piraeus 

Ivkovic, who passed away in September of 2021, coached at 12 pro clubs in five different decades, from his native Serbia to Croatia, Greece, Russia and Turkey. He also led the Yugoslav and Serbian national teams in three different decades. His first international club title came with Partizan Belgrade, the 1979 Korac Cup. But by the time "Duda" first joined Olympiacos in 1996, he had already coached Yugoslavia to the 1990 World Cup and 1989 and 1991 EuroBasket gold medals, as well as winning silver at the 1988 Olympic Games. 

In his first season with Olympiacos, Ivkovic guided the Reds to a triple crown of the EuroLeague, Greek League and Greek Cup titles. Olympiacos defeated FC Barcelona 73-58 in the 1997 EuroLeague Championship Game for the club's first continental crown after having come up short in the 1994 and 1995 finals.

Between then and his second stint with Olympiacos, starting in 2010, Ivkovic would add the Saporta Cup title with AEK Athens in 2000, lead CSKA Moscow to three EuroLeague Final Four appearances between 2003 and 2005, and take the 2006 EuroCup crown with Dynamo Moscow, making him the first head coach to win as many as four different European trophies.

Ivkovic was 68 years old when he inspired the Reds to their second EuroLeague crown in 2012, exactly 15 years after their first such title together. Ivkovic was the mastermind behind Olympiacos's comeback win in the 2012 EuroLeague Championship Game against CSKA Moscow in Istanbul. The Reds rallied from a 19-point deficit in 11 minutes to capture the title, 61-62, on a last-second shot by Georgios Printezis in what instantly became one of the most iconic moments in European basketball history.

A dean of the coaching profession, Ivkovic was a beloved teacher to his players and one of the most respected tacticians in European basketball. His place as a cherished father figure in the legacy of Olympiacos Piraeus basketball is assured forever.

Aydin Ors was the head coach who put Anadolu Efes Istanbul on the European basketball map in the 1990s. 

Legend: Aydin Ors, Anadolu Efes Istanbul 

Ors joined Efes in 1981 as a youth coach and a decade later, in 1992, took over the bench of the senior team. Before Ors became head coach, Efes had won just three Turkish League titles and had never advanced beyond the quarterfinals group stage in any European competition.
 
Ors immediately led Efes to a Turkish League championship and reached the 1993 Saporta Cup final. They lost 50-48 against Aris Thessaloniki that night, but the fuse of ambition to go far in European competition had been lit at Efes.
 
Coach Ors guided Efes to an undefeated 1992-93 season in the Turkish League and was on the bench when Efes made its EuroLeague debut in the 1993-94 season, coming within a single win of reaching the Final Four. Ors would guide Efes to Turkish League and Turkish Cup doubles in 1994, 1996 and 1997 and to another Turkish Cup in 1998, by which time the club was already making Turkish basketball history at an international level.
 
The club's most memorable achievement of that era came during the 1995-96 season when Efes lifted the Korac Cup, Europe's second-tier competition at the time. In doing so, Efes became the first Turkish club in any major team sport to win a European title. With Petar Naumoski, Conrad McRae, Ufuk Sarica and a young Mirsad Turkcan as his key players, Efes beat Olimpija Milan in the two-game, total-points finals on an aggregate score of 146-145 to change Turkish basketball forever.
 
Ors would go on to lead Efe to three more playoff appearances in the EuroLeague before he left the club early in the 1999-2000 season. He was replaced by Ergin Ataman, who took the team to the 2000 EuroLeague Final Four, another first for a Turkish club, later the same season. Ors soon led the Turkish national team to a historic silver medal at EuroBasket 2001 and eventually coached Fenerbahce Istanbul, as well.
 
Ataman and Oktay Mahmuti, another of his former assistants, have coached Efes for the better part of the last two decades, showing that the legacy of success that he brought to the club can still be felt today thanks to the inspirational influence of the great Aydin Ors. 

It’s fair to say that Dante Exum’s season has worked out much better than he initially feared might be the case.

Dante Exum, Barcelona: 'I think I adjusted well' 

The Australian guard was cut by Houston Rockets in mid-October and he spent the next few weeks not knowing where or when his next destination would be. The answer came in early December when FC Barcelona had been hit by injuries to backcourt stars Nick Calathes and Cory Higgins and needed an experienced player who could immediately contribute. The name they identified was Dante Exum.

Recalling that time, Exum said: “I was just working out, staying patient and being ready, trying to not stress out too much. My agent was talking to clubs. We were looking at NBA clubs and seeing what the options were but I didn’t want to end up on a team where I wouldn’t have the opportunity to play. 

“So we started looking at Europe and Barcelona had a few injuries then so they were looking for a player and it worked out. As soon as the possibility arose I jumped on it. I was excited to get out here and start playing.”

"The fans are just unbelievable... Until you’re actually playing in it, you don’t fully understand it.”

Before committing himself to that move, though, Exum was able to receive advice from a compatriot who had experience playing for the Blaugrana. 

“I’ve talked to a few people over the years about playing in Europe, like Brock Motum when we’ve played together for Australia,” he revealed. “But the person I talked to the most was Joe Ingles, because obviously he played in Barcelona, won the EuroLeague, and played with Saras. So he was good to talk to and see his opinions. It was very interesting.”

Once he got Ingles’s blessing and landed in Spain to sign his new contract, Exum was not given the luxury of time to acclimate himself. Due to the team’s injury problems, he was put straight into the firing line and, within a couple of days of arriving, made his EuroLeague debut with a solid 13 minutes in a home win against a rather significant opponent.

“My first game was El Clasico!” he laughed. “I was jet-lagged, I wasn’t sleeping. I was in a hotel, I did not know anybody…I had no clue, I was just thrown into the deep end. It was the whole nine yards!

“But I just wanted to be myself. They knew what kind of player I am, what kind of player they had signed. So I wasn’t going to try to come here and do anything crazy. It’s always hard coming into a new team mid-season – seeing where you fit, where you gel, learning new plays, a new style. Not only getting to know my teammates but everybody around you, the whole club and a different league. So it was definitely an adjustment, but I think I adjusted well.”

Final Four Interview: Dante Exum, FC Barcelona

Exum very quickly realized that the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague is unlike any other basketball competition he had ever experienced. In fact, he was given prior notice about what to expect from his new coach.

“Saras said this to me when I spoke to him on the phone right before I came over,” he reveals. “He said that my Olympics bronze medal game \[which he won with Australia in the 2020 Olympics\], every night in the EuroLeague is going to be like that! And it’s been the most truthful statement I’ve ever heard! You travel to all these cities, everyone’s excited, the fans are excited, and every game there’s immense pressure, immense crowd. I love the crowd, I love hearing the chants and everything.

“Obviously, being in the NBA you travel from state to state. But then I came over here and my first trip was to Red Star and then we went to Panathinaikos. And I’m sitting on the bench trying to talk to one of my teammates and they can’t hear me because the crowd is just going crazy. And this is a Tuesday game during the regular season! So it was just amazing to experience different cultures, how they play basketball, and the fans are just unbelievable. In a way, I expected it because you can watch videos and see it online. But until you’re actually playing in it, you don’t fully understand it.”

Exum’s initial contract with Barca only lasted until the end of February, but he made such a strong impact during those initial weeks that it became obvious the club would want to keep him beyond that date. And so it transpired with the all-action Australian agreeing to extend his contract until the end of the season.

He was delighted to stay, saying: “Signing until February, I knew all the players would be back, but they asked me if I wanted to stay so I was like ‘Yep, let’s keep going!’ With the potential of the team and where we’re going, I wanted to be a part of it. And it was nice that they wanted me to stay here.”

"With the potential of the team and where we’re going, I wanted to be a part of it."

That decision was definitely well received by Barca fans, who quickly appreciated Exum’s dynamic playing style and adopted him as one of their own. 

“The fans have shown me the most amount of love,” he smiled. “They chant my name during games and it’s an unbelievable feeling. Obviously there are ups and downs in a season, but fans want to see that you’re trying and that you care. I’ve been through a lot of injuries so I’ve sat on the sidelines a lot, and one thing I always try to pride myself on is trying 100%, showing the passion and that I want to win.”

In particular, Exum’s ability to unleash spectacular individual plays – such as his dunk of the season contender during Game 1 of the playoffs series against FC Bayern Munich – is always likely to make him a big fan favorite. And he admitted that he enjoys executing those plays just as much as the fans enjoy watching them, saying: “It’s an amazing feeling. I can’t even explain it! When you make a big play and the crowd is going wild, you just want to pump up the crowd, throw your hands up, do everything to interact with the crowd. And they love that, they love it when the players get into it.

“Obviously I also have a job to do, and have to stay as focussed as possible and try to move onto the next play. But I think those plays help the team as well. When you make a big play, everybody gets motivated.”

Now that he is heading to the Final Four, Exum admitted that becoming EuroLeague champion would rival anything he has achieved in his career – especially after learning what it would mean to his teammates after they finished as runners-up last season.

“This would be up there, right there with the bronze medal,” he said. “Obviously that meant a lot for Australian basketball, their first-ever Olympics medal. But coming over here, I’ve learned a lot, I’ve watched a lot of past EuroLeague games and I understand what European basketball means. I love the uniqueness of the Final Four – just two more games and then you’re the champion. Some people say, ‘Oh, just two games, that’s so much easier \[than a series\],’ but no! Every game is decided with one or two possessions, and you need to make sure that over two games, that’s you. 

“I have talked to a lot of the guys about last year and I see in their eyes how much they want it, how much it means to them. So it’s definitely something I want to be a part of.”

Even though Olympiacos Piraeus center Moustapha Fall did not pick up basketball until late in his teenage years, he has developed into a European force.

Moustapha Fall, Olympiacos: 'It was a perfect timing for me'

Like most of the Olympiacos roster, Fall will compete at his first Final Four as the Reds return to the main stage for the first time since 2017. However, perhaps more than most, Fall is determined to enjoy every minute there. 

"I am lucky enough to be part of the team that just qualified for the Final Four,", Fall said. "I am 30 years old, I know the time it took to get here. So I am going to enjoy this one."

Fall has been in basketball heaven the past couple of years, during which he first made his long-awaited EuroLeague debut and then won a silver medal with France at the 2021 Summer Olympics, before being an instrumental part in Olympiacos reaching the Final Four.

"It is really exciting. This does not happen to everybody," he commented.

"I think the fact that I came to the EuroLeague at this age is more easier, because I have more maturity." 

But don't expect the down-to-Earth center to get carried away, despite all the excitement. Because it took a lot of patience to get to this point.

His basketball journey started at age 17 when a friend took him along to a practice at a local club in Fall's hometown of Paris. About 2.02 meters at the time, the coach told him he should stay. A little over a year later, he was playing for Poitiers Basket's youth teams and he made his pro debut in the top level of the French Basketball couple of months after turning 20. 

"My second year in Poitiers, I remember I started playing in the preseason with the pros", Fall said. "And I was feeling pretty comfortable, way better than a year before. So, I was practicing a lot with them and I started to feel confident."

He bounced between the French second division, where he also played for AS Monaco – the team he helped beat in the best-of-five EuroLeague Playoffs series earlier this month - and the top flight where he also played for Antibes and Chalon. 

Fall grew into a 2.18-meter frame, using his frame to become one of the top rebounders and shot-blockers in France. At the age of 25, he decided to seek opportunities abroad. It turned into a journey longer than he expected.

Final Four Interview: Moustapha Fall, Olympiacos Piraeus

He started at Turkish side Sakarya, where Fall had a pretty good season, but was injured late. The next season he joined Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar and made his 7DAYS EuroCup debut, but was sidelined part of the year with a hernia. Finally, a great campaign at Turk Telekom Ankara during the COVID-19 shortened 2019-20 season allowed him to take another step up and finally be able to join a EuroLeague team, LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne.

"I had to come back to France to prove myself again and show I belong to EuroLeague," Fall explained. 

He proved it quickly, posting 9.8 points on 70.1% shooting, with 5.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.2 blocks. It earned him a spot on the French national team at the Olympic Games and a gig with Olympiacos. The long journey finally paid dividends. And it is that journey that Fall said he thinks helped him take in stride everything that playing at a EuroLeague level threw at him.

"I think the fact that I came to the EuroLeague at this age is more easier, because I have more maturity. I don't have too many problems in my mind, thinking about some problems young guys can think of every time. So I am mature enough to understand the situation," Fall said. 

"And I think I came to a good team. Last year they were not so good, did not make the playoffs. I grew up at the same time with the team. Now, there are good expectations. We are going to the Final Four. There is a lot of motivation. I think it was perfect timing for me."

So perfect that he already signed a three-year contract extension in February, which will keep him in Piraeus until 2025.

"My family feels good here, so that is important", Fall explained. "Before I was by myself, so I did not care to move alone. I just found a good team. I never played for a such big team. Now you have a big team that is really satisfied with what you do. We are winning, it is a nice city, you have a nice contract. I feel comfortable here, I like it, there was no reason to wait."

Fall has recorded 8.4 points on 70.2% shooting, 5.1 rebounds and 1.0 block per game this season. Just like in his debut campaign, Fall did not waste much, if any, time for adjusting. Over two seasons, he has come off the bench in just three of his 66 career appearances in the competition, averaging just below 23 minutes per game so far.

Fall said his year at ASVEL helped a great deal: "It gave me experience. It was my first year in the EuroLeague, I needed to adjust to understand how it works. And to just show and prove myself and feel comfortable to play against big names. In EuroLeague, you have the big names, guys here 10 years, guys who made the Final Four six or seven times. You need to see if you can compete with those guys. And when you see you can, you feel more comfortable."

"I know nothing is guaranteed. You can have an injury, you need some luck, too. You just need one coach to trust you to reach this level."

He came such a long way that even Monaco coach Sasa Obradovic ahead of the deciding Game 5 of their playoff series stressed his team's need to solve the problem of Moustapha Fall. 

"It always feels good when you see the respect of other coaches, especially Obradovic," Fall said. "I played for him when I was in Russia so I know him really well. He knows my ability, he knows what I can do obviously. That's really a good feeling to have some big coaches like him say you are a problem for him. That means a lot to me."

Fall scored 4 points in that playoff series decider, but found a way to impact the game with 4 assists and now he heads with Olympiacos to Belgrade to compete for the EuroLeague crown. 

"I still want to win the EuroLeague, so I don't consider it an accomplishment yet," he said. 

However, don't mistake his ambition to do more with awareness of where he is and what he is done. The big man takes nothing for granted.

"I know nothing is guaranteed. You can have an injury, you need some luck, too. You just need one coach to trust you to reach this level... For me to be playing with one of the top four teams in Europe, it is a big thing knowing where I am from and the journey I had. That is a big accomplishment for me."

In Belgrade, there is one thing he expects.

"Crazy atmosphere, we know we are going to have a lot of fans", Fall said. "We got nothing to lose. Obviously, we want to win but with what people were thinking at the beginning of the season, we already overachieved. We don't need to put extra pressure. We just have to go and play as good as we can. We showed we compete with anybody all season long."

Olympiacos faces Anadolu Efes Istanbul in the first semifinals, before FC Barcelona and Real Madrid square off in the second semi.

"Efes is the reigning champion, Barcelona and Real Madrid might have the biggest budgets. We need to compete with big teams, but we have our chance. We will compete and we will see."

Moustapha Fall - Olympiacos Piraeus - EB21-PO1

The 2022 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Belgrade will be like none before, with new levels of innovation serving the fans thanks to Turkish Airlines. 

Turkish Airlines introduces a new level of innovation to the Final Four

Turkish Airlines is collaborating with Hawk-Eye Innovations, which also runs the competition's instant-replay system, to calculate the flight time of players at the Final Four during the most impressive plays. When players rise for show-stopping dunks or a thunder-stealing blocks, fans will be able to learn just how long each was in the air.

Already, during the playoffs, fans have been able to enjoy flight time highlight clips on EuroLeague social media. Now, thanks to Turkish Airlines, those calculations will be made and shared during the game, and fans will be able to enjoy them live during the broadcasts.

Virtual Reality made its Final Four debut last season in Cologne, Germany, where for the first time in European basketball history, VR tickets were sold and fans could follow the action as though they were sitting at courtside. In Belgrade, there will be two 180-degree cameras on each of the backstops and another 360-degree camera from which fans can take control of their view with an Oculus Headset, Andorid or iOS app, or through the dedicated Final Four website.

Flightime for Hunter!

After the success of last season's first Final Four VR broadcast, this year Turkish Airlines is enabling the technology from YBVR to bring fans to Stark Arena directly from their homes. To access the YBVR experience, fans need to purchase the Euroleague TV Final Four pass.

What's more, in collaboration with VRM and Turkish Airlines, Euroleague Basketball is launching its metaverse; a virtual world where fans will have the opportunity to participate in Final Four activities from anywhere in the world.

Simply log in to [Euroleagueland.net](http://Euroleagueland.net) with any mobile device or personal computer to create your own avatar and hang out with other fans, play engaging games and earn coins that unlock special features and experiences that money can't buy. These are only for the truest of EuroLeague fans!

Fans participating in Turkish Airlines' Miles and Smiles program can link their metaverse account and collect miles through achievements in the metaverse.

The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague FanZone will land at Belgrade's Savski Square to offer visitors to the Final Four, to be held from May 19 to 21 in the Serbian capital, the same fun activities they have been accustomed to as well as new and exciting components. 

Belgrade's Savski Square to host the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague FanZone!

[Savski Square](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Savski+Trg,+Beograd,+Serbia/@44.8083711,20.4548436,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x475a7aaa2b6588f1:0x6392abb6ad880ff!8m2!3d44.8083711!4d20.4570323?shorturl=1) will have all the basketball action that fans have come to love at the FanZone. There will be a full-size basketball court and another 3x3-sized court where fans can shoot around when they are not being used for tournament play. The main court will have a jumbo screen where the Final Four games will be shown live. And there will be a DJ booth with local talent blasting beats to keep the visitors in good spirits all day long.

Several Euroleague Basketball partners will host can't-miss pavilions at the FanZone, too.

• Turkish Airlines will be centrally located with a game to measure your flight time – or hang time.

• 7DAYS will have baskets where you can challenge your friends to a shootout, take a picture of the EuroLeague trophy, or record a video with some EuroLeague stars.

• BKT will challenge fans to prove their skills and EuroLeague knowledge with a series of tests.

• Adidas promises a special guest from overseas in its area, where you can attempt to make the craziest basketball shots.

The FanZone will be open all day from Thursday, May 19, through Saturday, May 21. Friday will be the busiest day, with a One Team Session schedule featuring Final Four Ambassadors and Euroleague Basketball Legends, plus the annual slam dunk contest with top players from the ANGT.

Savski Square, along the trendy Belgrade waterfront, was reopened in early 2021 and is the largest such square in the country. It can be easily identified by the 23-meter-tall statue of Stefan Nemanja, the founder of the Serbian state.

Real Madrid: Did you know...?

...Real Madrid has the chance to win its 11th EuroLeague title? It leads the all-time standings with 10 titles, but only three of them have come in the last 35 years. Real has won the competition in 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1995, 2015 and 2018.

...Real is making its 11th Final Four appearance since the format was adopted in 1988? Real previously reached the Final Four in 1993, 1995, 1996, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

...Real looks for its 19th EuroLeague Championship Game appearance? It leads the all-time list with 18 championship games. Maccabi Tel Aviv has been to 14 EuroLeague and one SuproLeague title game. CSKA Moscow has reached the EuroLeague Championship Game 14 times.

...Real has the chance to lift its 17th continental trophy? In addition to its 10 EuroLeague titles, *Los Blancos* have won four Saporta Cups, 1 Korac Cup and 1 ULEB Cup – now known as the 7DAYS EuroCup.

...Rudy Fernandez belongs to a select group of players to have won both the EuroLeague and the EuroCup? Fernandez won the EuroCup with DKV Joventut Badalona in 2008 and EuroLeague crowns with Real in 2015 and 2018. The list includes two other Spanish players: Felipe Reyes and Ricky Rubio, and also features stars Nando De Colo, Nick Calathes and Romain Sato.

...Fernandez and Sergio Llull belong to a group of 23 players who have won the EuroLeague, EuroBasket and Basketball World Cup titles? Llull and Fernandez are two of the four players on the list not hailing from the former Soviet Union or former Yugoslavia; Felipe Reyes and Juan Carlos Navarro are the others. The list includes all-time greats such as Arvydas Sabonis, Drazen Petrovic and Toni Kukoc.

...Fernandez headlines the shortlist of players to have won a Basketball World Cup, EuroBasket, EuroLeague and EuroCup? He is joined only by Dejan Tomasevic and Reyes.

...Coach Pablo Laso has previous Final Four experience as a player? He played at the 1995-96 EuroLeague Final Four with his current team, Real Madrid, coached by Zeljko Obradovic. He is entering his seventh Final Four as a head coach.

...Llull is at his eighth Final Four? He was previously there with Real in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Victor Khryapa leads the list with 12 Final Four appearances. Only one other Spanish player has made it to eight Final Fours: Juan Carlos Navarro.

...Fernandez is at his seventh Final Four? He already played the Final Four with Real in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

...Llull is one of two EuroLeague MVPs present at the Final Four? Llull earned that honor in 2017. Vasilije Micic was the 2020-21 EuroLeague MVP.

...Llull is the fifth-best scorer in EuroLeague history? He has amassed 3,489 points in 343 EuroLeague career games. Llull ranks seventh in assists (1,251), too.

...Thomas Heurtel ranks fourth all-time in assists (1,340)? Nick Calathes leads the standings with 1,689 assists, followed by Vassilis Spanoulis (1,607) and Sergio Rodriguez (1,561).

...Fernandez ranks seventh all-time in steals? He has collected 327 in 303 games. Dimitris Diamantidis leads the standings with 434 steals.

...Fernandez is one of only four players with more than 2,000 points, 800 rebounds and 700 assists in EuroLeague history? Krunoslav Simon, Dimitris Diamantidis and Nick Calathes are the others.

...Walter Tavares ranks third all-time in blocks? He has 280 blocked shots in 160 games. Bryant Dunston is first with 307 blocks, followed by Kyle Hines (286).

...Fabien Causeur is the only French player to play in the Final Four with two different foreign teams? Causeur appeared in the Final Four with Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz in 2016 and with Real in 2018 and 2019.

...Fernandez, Llull and Coach Laso won the EuroLeague title with Real in 2015 and are still with the team? Real has seven of its players who won the 2018 EuroLeague title, too.

...Adam Hanga and Tavares are two of the three former EuroLeague Best Defenders at the 2022 Final Four? Hanga won the trophy in 2017 and Tavares did it in 2019 and 2021. Bryant Dunston of Efes (2014, 2015) has also won the award in the past.

...Hanga can become the first Hungarian player to win the EuroLeague? Kornel David came closest when he reached the championship game with Tau Ceramica in 2005.

...Hanga is the first player to make it to the Final Four with three different Spanish teams? Hanga played the 2016 Final Four with Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and returned with FC Barcelona in 2021.

...Llull ranks sixth on the Final Four's career scoring list? Llull has 167 points and could climb a few spots in Belgrade. Nikos Galis leads the list with 231 points followed by J.R. Holden (194), Nando De Colo (179) and Trajan Langdon (172).

...Llull has a good chance to climb into first place on the Final Four's career assists list? He already ranks third with 53 assists. Theo Papaloukas leads the all-time charts with 59 assists at Final Four action.

...Fernandez is tied for third place in steals in Final Four history? He has collected 18, just like Dimitris Diamantidis. Holden ranks first (24), followed by Victor Khryapa (22).

...Fernandez and Llull can win their third EuroLeague title? The last Spanish players to win three EuroLeague titles were Rafael Rullan, Juan Antonio Corbalan and Luis Maria Prada with Real in 1974, 1978 and 1980.

...Tavares, the only player from Cape Verde to have won the EuroLeague, ranks second in the EuroLeague in blocks at 1.7 per night this season? Georgios Papagiannis of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens is first with 1.72 per game, so Tavares could take over first place at the Final Four!

...Tavares ranks seventh in the EuroLeague in two-point shooting percentage this season (69.5%, 146 of 210) and is also ranked second all-time (578 of 833, 69.4%)?

...Jeffery Taylor is the only Swedish player to have won the EuroLeague?

...Alberto Abalde can join an exclusive list of Adidas Next Generation Tournament MVPs who also won the EuroLeague title? Abalde was the ANGT MVP in 2013 with Joventut Badalona. Luka Doncic is the only player to get both; he was the ANGT MVP in 2015 and won the EuroLeague in 2018 with Real.

...Gabriel Deck can join an impressive list of Argentines that won the EuroLeague title? The list features Hugo Sconochini (Virtus 1998, 2001), Facu Campazzo (Real 2015, 2018), Manu Ginobili (Virtus 2001), Pepe Sanchez (Panathinaikos 2002) and Andres Nocioni (Real 2015). Nicolas Laprovittola of FC Barcelona can also join this list in 2022.

Real Madrid: Did you know that...?

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

The math worked this season, sending the quartet of teams that proved most efficient until now all the way to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Belgrade. Here's what to watch out for when they match up in the semis.

Stats Review: Sizing up the semis

### Final Four Reset

FC Barcelona and Olympiacos Piraeus both earned hard-fought wins in the decisive fifth games of their respective quarterfinal series to join Real Madrid and Anadolu Efes Istanbul in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four. 

Those four teams had the league's highest efficiency differentials, making this season an instance where the numbers matched reality. However, if history is any indicator, what happens from here is more complicated. Just two of the last five teams to raise the trophy have held the league's highest efficiency differential. 

### Semifinal B: Efes vs. Olympiacos

The reigning champions have looked the part after a sluggish start to the season and defended better than expected in their quarterfinal victory of AX Armani Exchange Milan. While they split their regular season series with Olympiacos, they averaged 1.10 points per possession in those matchups thanks in large part to a stellar shooting effort from Rodrigue Beaubois in their Round 10 victory. 

Olympiacos is looking to make its first championship game appearance since a stretch where they went 2-2 in finals across six seasons starting back in 2011. As usual, the Reds were dominant at home this season, but fought through considerable adversity to beat Monaco who handed them one of their bigger home losses in recent memory in the quarterfinals. The rise of Sasha Vezenkov has been a bright spot among many in a bounce-back year for the historic franchise, but it was Kostas Sloukas and Tyler Dorsey who delivered in their win over Efes in Round 26.

Led by Round 9 MVP Vasilije Micić, Efes try to build on an impressive triumph at Berlin versus Olympiacos, who look to address a run of four straight away losses.

Anadolu Efes Istanbul v Olympiacos Piraeus - Round 10 - Highlights

### What to watch: Ball Screens

Olympiacos and Efes ranked first and second in the EuroLeague by creating 48% and 45% of their half-court possessions, respectively, out of pick-and-rolls this season. They also ranked in the top four in efficiency in both ball-screen and overall efficiency. In regular season matchups with Olympiacos, Efes aggressively looked to Vasilije Micic and Shane Larkin to attack individual matchups on the perimeter, so guard play figures to be at a premium in this matchup. Which team's shooters deliver and which big men step up when guarding the two-man game will also factor heavily into how this season's two most prolific pick-and-roll offenses fare.

### Semifinal A: Barcelona vs. Real

Barca has beaten Real five straight times this season after dropping their first matchup in the preseason Supercup nearly nine months ago. Barca will need to extend that streak to six to earn a chance to redeem their finals loss a year ago. In their two EuroLeague wins, Barcelona pivoted from playing through the post to a more pick-and-roll-centric attack. Nikola Mirotic and Nicolas Laprovittola were the heroes in those wins. Laprovittola was also critical to Barcelona's Game 5 win over FC Bayern Munich in what was a grueling quarterfinal series for this year's top seed.

Real, in contrast, made quick work of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, winning all three of their quarterfinal games by double-digits with Sergio Llull catching fire. They have hung their hat on the defensive end all season but will need someone to step up on the offensive end to reverse their fortunes against Barcelona. Llull struggled against Barcelona in the regular season, making his recent resurgence a point of interest in the Final Four. Walter Tavares's foul situation is also something to monitor as he was a bright spot in Real's pair of losses to Barca amid foul trouble.

The first Euroleague El Clásico of 21-22 sees pace-setters Barça tipping-off against second-placed Madrid with the fierce-rivals colliding via identical records and with top-spot up for grabs.

FC Barcelona v Real Madrid - Round 14 - Highlights

### What to Watch: Catch-and-Shoot Jumpers

No teams made catch and shoot jump shots more consistently than Barca and Real, who ranked first and second in the EuroLeague, shooting eFG%s of 58% and 59%, respectively.  Real only attempted 9.5 catch-and-shoot jumpers per game within their set offense in their two EuroLeague losses to Barca – well below their 18.1 per-game season standard. How steadily they can create clean looks on the perimeter figures to be their x-factor in this game.

News

Stats Review: Sizing up the semis

Stats

Adam Hanga, Real: 'The third time is the charm, right?'

Interviews

James Anderson, Efes: 'Whatever it takes for me to impact the team'

Interviews

Legend: Felipe Reyes, Real Madrid

Final Four

Legend: Juan Carlos Navarro, FC Barcelona

Final Four

Legend: Dusan Ivkovic, Olympiacos Piraeus

Final Four

Legend: Aydin Ors, Anadolu Efes Istanbul

Final Four

Dante Exum, Barcelona: 'I think I adjusted well'

Interviews

Moustapha Fall, Olympiacos: 'It was a perfect timing for me'

Interviews

Turkish Airlines introduces a new level of innovation to the Final Four

News

Belgrade's Savski Square to host the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague FanZone!

News

Real Madrid: Did you know that...?

News