Bold predictions for EuroLeague Rounds 3-4

Check out four bold predictions from EuroLeague.net staff members for Round 3 and 4 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

Edwards will bounce back

by Javier Gancedo

FC Bayern Munich combo guard Carsen Edwards had an underwhelming start of the season. He struglled in Bayern's season-opening win against ALBA Berlin, getting 5 points on 2-of-10 shooting, 3 turnovers and a PIR of -7. Edwards went on to get a PIR of -11 in Round 2 against Panathinaikos Athens, going scoreless after misisng 7 shots, picking 3 turnovers and committing 4 fouls. That's a combined PIR of -18 so far this season. Edwards already had a solid performance in the German League this weekend, getting 20 points and a PIR of 17 against Oldenburg. He arrived to Munich ready to play a leading role and a slow start of the season should not slow him down. Expect Edwards to showcase his scoring skills right away, as Bayern faces back-to-back road games against Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and FC Barcelona.

Real will be the only 4-0 team after Friday

by Frank Lawlor

With all its horses healthy for its first two EuroLeague home games, defending champion Real Madrid is looking as formidable as a team can look this early. Even without pillars Walter Tavares and Gabriel Deck on form much yet, Real has shown overwhelming confidence. Still-unbeaten Zalgiris Kaunas and dangerous EA7 Emporio Armani Milan will certainly test the champs, but I expect them to defend WiZink Center thanks to a bench full of take-over players like Round 2 MVP Guerschon Yabusele and wizardly Facundo Campazzo. The other 2-0 teams besides Real and Zalgiris will have it tougher. FC Barcelona must travel 3,500 kilometers from Gran Canaria on Sunday night to play Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade's home opener before 18,000 fans on Tuesday, and then make a longer trip home than its Friday opponent, FC Bayern. Valencia has to get past 1-0 Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv at home on Wednesday before traveling to face Anadolu Efes Istanbul, a team due to bust out soon. No EuroLeague win is a given, of course, but the way Real has come out of the gates without being at full strength – and walloping Efes in Istanbul less than 48 hours after beating the NBA's Dallas Mavericks – argues against the champs losing at home now.

Virtus will put together a winning streak

by Igor Petrinovic

Virtus Segafredo Bologna had quite an up-and-down couple of weeks to start the new season. In the season opener, Virtus squandered two 15-point leads in its home loss against Zalgiris Kaunas, then learned it has lost Achille Polonara for foreseeable future due to a testicular tumor. But Virtus did not let all that keep it down and bounced back like a champ, going on the road and hitting 16 triples in thumping AS Monaco 59-83, inflicting Monaco with its worst-ever EuroLeague home loss. Now, in the first double-round week of the season, the team will host two home games, first on Wednesday against winless ALBA Berlin and then on Friday against Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade with Milos Teodosic coming back to town. Luca Banchi men will grasp this opportunity and continue a positive trend with two home wins to improve to 3-1 on the season.

Larkin, Clyburn to get Efes back on track

by Geoff Gillingham

The start to this season has not gone to plan for Anadolu Efes Istanbul and new head coach Erdem Can, who has seen his side go 0-2. After falling 91-74 at FC Barcelona, Efes was dominated by Real Madrid in its home opener, 80-103. Against Real, the team’s two star performers – Shane Larkin and Will Clyburn – scored just 9 points between them, while Clyburn could only muster 7 points in the loss to Barca. Nevertheless, I expect both players to get back on track in the double-round week, as Efes takes on both LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne and Valencia Basket in Istanbul. If Larkin and Clyburn can light it up on the offensive end, Efes should find itself with a 2-2 record come next weekend.