Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul: 2023-24 games to watch

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul managed to return to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague playoffs and was one win away from reaching the Final Four. That should make Fenerbahce and its diehard fans hungrier than ever to try to see their team play at Mercedes-Benz Arena, home of the 2024 Final Four, in late May 2024. As Coach Dimitris Itoudis always says, the EuroLeague Regular Season is a marathon. Here are some key games to be played along the way.

Fenerbahce's full regular-season schedule

Playoff rematch

Round 6: Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul vs. Olympiacos Piraeus

Last season, Olympiacos and Fenerbahce delivered one of the most intense playoffs series in competition history. Both teams won at home and on the road to take the series to Game 5, in which Olympiacos prevailed. Game 3 was the pivotal one, as Kostas Sloukas won the game for Olympiacos on a wild buzzer-beating three-pointer. It will both teams' first showdown since that playoffs series, and what happened in 2023 will be at the back of everyone's minds. Additionally, Fenerbahce won its only EuroLeague title in 2017, downing Olympiacos in the Championship Game, which also adds extra spice to what is already a highly anticipated basketball battle.

Familiar faces make a visit

Round 21: Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul vs. FC Bayern Munich

Bayern has a lot of reasons to bring its best version at Ulker Sport and Event Hall. Two of its players, combo guard Carsen Edwards and big man Devin Booker, played for Fenerbahce last season. Edwards should be ready for a big scoring battle against Scottie Wilbekin, who had one of his best-ever games in a BKT EuroCup semifinal showdown against Bayern (41 points, 10-of-15 three-pointers). Meanwhile, Booker should be ready for a physical test against Johnathan Motley and Georgios Papagiannis. While coaching Real Madrid, Bayern boss Pablo Laso won the 2018 EuroLeague Championship Game against Fenerbahce, and also played two semifinals against it in 2015 and 2017.

Big man returns

Round 26: Panathinaikos Athens vs. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul

It should be a very special game for Papagiannis, who plays a EuroLeague games against Panathinaikos at OAKA Altion for the first time in his career, after six seasons with the team. Papagiannis was named to the 2021-22 All-EuroLeague Second Team while being with the Greens and of course, is not the only one at Fenerbahce with great memories in that building. Coach Itoudis worked for the Greens alongside head coach Zeljko Obradovic for 13 years, winning 5 EuroLeague titles. Last season's game at OAKA was awesome, too: Fenerbahce needed overtime to beat Panathinaikos 88-94 behind Marko Guduric and Nigel Hayes-Davis's late heroics.

Late-season Turkish derby

Round 33: Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul vs. Anadolu Efes Istanbul

A Turkish derby late in the regular season means always extra pressure for those teams who have not sealed their playoffs spot yet. Both teams already faced each other in that exact situation in Round 33 last season. Fenerbahce topped Efes 103-86, eliminating its rival from playoff contention and making sure a new EuroLeague champion would be crowned at the end of the season. Hayes Davis produced a stellar performance with a career-high 26 points, playing the entire 40 minutes. Looking back, both teams met in the 2019 semifinals: Fenerbahce and Efes never faced each other this close to the continental crown. Efes prevailed 73-92 behind 30 points from Shane Larkin.