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Llull, Sloukas among players nearing major Final Four milestones

Llull, Sloukas among players nearing major Final Four milestones

Final Four

17 May 20234 Mins read

Igor Petrinovic

Llull, Sloukas among players nearing major Final Four milestones

When Olympiacos point guard Kostas Sloukas and Real Madrid playmaker Sergio Llull enter their respective games this weekend at Zalgirio Arena, each will appear in his ninth EuroLeague Final Four. That will tie them for second-most all-time with Theo Papaloukas, Kyle Hines and Andrey Vorontsevich, behind only Victor Khryapa, who is the all-time leader having played at 12 Final Fours.

Sloukas, a three-time EuroLeague champion, and Llull, who has two continental crowns to his name, enter this Final Four with 16 appearances apiece, which is tied for fourth all-time. If they play in two games this weekend, they will move into a tie with Hines and Papaloukas for second place, with Khryapa safely in first place having played in 23 Final Four games.

The more time Llull and Sloukas spend on the floor, the better chances they will have to move up the all-time Final Four charts.

Llull currently sits at 191 points at the Final Four and with 3 more he will catch J.R. Holden who scored 194, the most in Final Fours since 2002. Real Madrid's former EuroLeague MVP has an outside shot to even catch Nikos Galis, who sits in first place in scoring in the Final Four era with 231 points.

Llull is already the all-time Final Four leader in assists with 62, a category where Sloukas ranks fourth (51). Lull is also tied with his teammate Sergio Rodriguez as well as Milos Teodosic for third in three-pointers made with 26. Only Juan Carlos Navarro (31) and J.R. Holden (30) have made more triples in Final Four history.

Rodriguez, who shined in Games 4 and 5 of the playoffs when he totaled 13 assists, is in third place in Final Fours all-time with 56 helpers and needs 4 more to pass second-placed Papaloukas (59). Rodriguez also has 163 career points in the Final Four and 10 more in Kaunas will get him behind only Galis, Llull and Holden on the all-time list.

That's not the end of the list of Real Madrid players who have a chance to shoot up the Final Four rankings.

Another Los Blancos veteran, Rudy Fernandez, is in third place in Final Fours all-time with 21 steals, which is 1 behind Victor Khryapa and 3 behind the all-time leader J.R. Holden (24).

All-EuroLeague First Team center and this season's EuroLeague Best Defender Walter Tavares enters the Final Four tied with Sasha Kaun for fourth place all-time with 12 blocks; Maceo Baston and Ekpe Udoh are tied for second with 15, while Kyle Hines is the all-time leader with 16. It gives Tavares, who averaged 2.2 blocks this season, a clear shot to become the all-time Final Four shot-blocking leader.

FC Barcelona center Jan Vesely, who will play his first Final Four in four years, ranks fourth in Finals Fours since 2002 in two-point shots made (48), and with 9 more would tie David Andersen's mark of 57. When it comes to the entire Final Four era, it would leave him behind only Galis and his record 87 two-pointers made.

Former EuroLeague MVPs Vesely and his teammate Nikola Mirotic are closing in on the top five all-time in rebounds, with Mirotic ranking sixth (56) and Vesely seventh (54), just behind fifth-placed Mike Batiste (58). Vesely is also tied with Batiste for seventh place with 20 offensive rebounds, with Gustavo Ayon and David Andersen tied for fifth with 21 apiece. Victor Khryapa and Luis Scola are tied for second (25) in this category; Kyle Hines is the runaway all-time leader with 39 offensive rebounds.