The Adidas Media Game is a tradition at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four. While the scribes who report on the games all season long revel in the chance to lace up their sneakers and compete at Zalgirio Arena on the same floor that will crown a continental crown the following day, the game is played before closed doors and their adoring fans are unable to follow.

Fortunately, we sent a scout to watch the game and share his thoughts on what became a one-sided game in which the Blue Team, coached by Sofoklis Schortsanitis, overpowered Coach Jonas Kazlauskas's White Team 27-42.

Dora Panteli is a beast on the boards and has excellent court vision, dishing a team-high 4 assists. She should not be underestimated.

Coach Schortsanitis's coaching methods may be unorthodox, but you cannot argue with the result. After leading the Blue Team to a convincing win, Big Sofo may be ready for a promotion.

Brian Bosche proved to everyone that there is still a place for underhand free throws in competitive basketball by going 2 for 2 from the line. He also missed 2 free throws later, but he looked good doing it.

David Rivers's defense has not improved with age, but he can still pass the ball.

Rupert Fabig is my choice for the Javier Gancedo MVP award for the game. He was outstanding with 15 points for the winners and made 1 of the game's 2 three-pointers.

Aleksander Lilov stood out for the Whites with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting in 6 minutes. He deserved more playing time.

Yann Ohnona has a fine jump shot and could have been more of a factor with a pure point guard alongside him. Keep an eye on this prospect.

Takeaways from the Adidas Media Game

In Real Madrid's 66-78 semifinal win over FC Barcelona on Friday, fans had a chance to witness one of the greatest performances by a player – and arguably the greatest performances by a center – in a Final Four history.

All-EuroLeague First Team center and Best Defender Trophy winner [Walter Tavares](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/walter-tavares/005791/) lived up to the billing, and then some.

Tavares finished his 33 minutes on the floor with a monster line of 20 points, 15 rebounds, 4 blocks and a performance index rating of 39. He made 7 of 9 two-point shots and 6 of 9 free throws that came from drawing 9 fouls. Hidden in those numbers are a few all-time Final Four marks.

Tavares's 15 boards matched the single-game record in Final Fours since 2002. His 39 PIR is tied for the second-highest ever, behind only Shane Larkin's 43 in Anadolu Efes Istanbul's semifinal win in 2019 against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul.

Tavares came up big with 4 blocks as well, all in the final 2 minutes and 17 seconds of the game, when he seemingly single-handedly stopped Barcelona's rally attempt.

"I thought about that: 'I did not get my block yet'," Tavares said with a smile after the win. "But if you think about it too much you will not get it. You have to stay in the game, tay consistent, stay active and then it is coming."

Tavares did get his blocks, all 4 of them that moved him up into a tie with Kyle Hines for the first place on the all-time Final Four list with 16 blocks.

More important than re-writing the Final Four record books, however, was Tavares's impact as the anchor of Real's defense, which just enhances the enormity of his performance.

Real held Barcelona to just 10-for-30 two-point shooting. Jan Vesely and Sertac Sanli shot a combined 2-for-8 inside, and Nikola Mirotic was held to 1-for-3 inside along with 0-for-7 from long range. Those three players, along with James Nnaji together pulled down 12 rebounds, 3 fewer than Tavares alone.

Walter Tavares (20 points) Highlights vs. Barcelona, 05/19/2023

Real's tower of power stood tallest in semis

Barcelona did make a Final Four record-tying 14 three-pointers on Friday, but on 39 attempts, which were the second-most in a Final Four game. But after the first quarter, when all of their points came from the three-point arc, Barcelona's shooters were often forced into taking unfavorable, contested looks because while Tavares patrolled the inside, his teammates could pressure the perimeter more. When thos outside shots stopped falling, Barcelona was held to 13 points in the third quarter and just 11 in the fourth.

Real has been undermanned inside Tavares does not have his fellow big man Vincent Poirier next to him in Kaunas due to injury. Anthony Randolph subbed Tavares for just under 7 minutes in the game and Real was -5 in those minutes. With Tavares on the floor, Real outscored Barcelona by 17 points.

"I have more responsibilities. I don't have Vince," Tavares said. "He is one of the best centers in Europe... Now I've got to take care of it and try to get his back when he is not here \[on the floor\]."

No one and nothing could slow down Tavares on Friday night, not unlike in the playoffs when he carried Real from 0-2 down in the series. He and Real Madrid now have one game left, and make no mistake, Real's chances in the championship game will heavily depend on Tavares's performance.

FC Barcelona v Real Madrid (2023-05-19T18:00:00.000Z)

Olympiacos Piraeus won back-to-back Turkish Airlines EuroLeague titles in 2012 and 2013, rallying from double-digit deficits to become European champion. That group of players called themselves "The Comeback Kids", and one member of that side, Kostas Papanikolaou, played a critical role in Friday's semifinal triumph over AS Monaco. Now, thanks to that triumph, Olympiacos has the chance to win its fourth EuroLeague crown. 

Papanikolaou leads Olympiacos's new "Comeback Kids" into the championship game

Olympiacos Piraeus won back-to-back Turkish Airlines EuroLeague titles in 2012 and 2013, rallying from double-digit deficits to become European champion. That group of players called themselves "The Comeback Kids", and one member of that side, [Kostas Papanikolaou](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/kostas-papanikolaou/001255/), played a critical role in Friday's semifinal triumph over AS Monaco. Now, thanks to that triumph, Olympiacos has the chance to win its fourth EuroLeague crown. 

Down 29-41 at halftime, Olympiacos needed a go-to guy to bring the Reds back into the game. Papanikolaou is in his first year as team captain, following Georgios Printezis's retirement last summer, and took lit the flame for this comeback with a three-point play, which was massively celebrated by the Olympiacos faithful, before draining a three-pointer. He got help from Sasha Vezenkov and Moustapha Fall to put the Reds ahead, 43-41, following a 14-0 run to begin the third quarter.

However, Olympiacos didn’t stop there. When Elie Okobo tied the game with a dunk, Papanikolaou answered with an off-balance basket, sparking a 13-0 run that put the game beyond doubt. Olympiacos outscored Monaco 27-2 in the third quarter, and those 2 points are tied for the lowest score by a team in any quarter in the EuroLeague. Ever. 

"I don't know what to tell you, man, emotions are still high," Papanikolaou said afterward. "Great comeback, great tenacity, great fighting spirit in the team. We showed character, that's what is important. Congratulations to everybody in the locker room. They did their best to win this game." 

It was not a new situation for Papanikolaou, who has been in this situation before over and over again. In the 2012 EuroLeague Championship Game, Olympiacos turned around a 19-point deficit in the final 13 minutes to beat CSKA Moscow 61-62 on an iconic last-second shot by Printezis. Papanikolaou, 20 at the time, led all scorers with 18 points. A year later, in the 2013 championship game, the Reds came back from a 17-point first-quarter deficit to top Real Madrid 100-88, which meant that it had successfully defended its crowd. In 2017, Olympiacos also rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat CSKA in the semifinals. 

Papanikolaou didn't talk about the specific things head coach Georgios Bartzokas said at halftime, but Olympiacos came out for the second half some minutes before Monaco and with a much-improved mentality. Clearly, the Reds' fans could remember what happened a decade ago. Papanikolaou, Kostas Sloukas and most of the coaching staff were there in 2012 and 2013, too. That faith turned into confidence and, once a team like Olympiacos feels good, the rest becomes a whole lot easier. 

"We didn't play our game in the first half. We were \[playing\] a lot outside our game, and the most important problem for us was defense: 41 points in the first half is a lot for our defense," Papanikolaou added. "We missed a lot of free throws and layups, and we knew that if we tightened up our defense, we would be able at least to fight for this game. And that is what we did in the third quarter: everybody fought as hell, gave their everything, switched the momentum, gained confidence and shots started dropping. Everything started to work for us." 

Papanikolaou is now ready to play his fourth EuroLeague Championship Game with Olympiacos, although he doesn't want to get ahead of himself and is keeping his feet on the ground. 

"I hope history repeats itself," Papanikolaou stated. "That's all I am going to say!"

Olympiacos Piraeus v AS Monaco (2023-05-19T15:00:00.000Z)

After watching his team claim a convincing 78-66 victory over archrival FC Barcelona to reach a second consecutive championship game thanks to a dominant second-half performance, Real Madrid coach Chus Mateo made a slightly surprising claim. 
"My job is easy," he said. 

Real Madrid made things 'easy' for Coach Mateo

After watching his team claim a convincing 78-66 victory over archrival FC Barcelona to reach a second consecutive championship game thanks to a dominant second-half performance, Real Madrid coach Chus Mateo made a slightly surprising claim. 

"My job is easy," he said. 

Easy? Well, it’s clearly not that, but Mateo was determined to deflect the praise to his players as he explained why his first season as a head coach has finished with an appearance in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Championship Game. 

"We’ve got very good players," he said. "I’ve got a team that is joined to fight together, and they are trying to touch another title. I would like to go with them for this title. Why not dream for one more night?"

Living the dream, of course, requires those very good players to be well-managed and Mateo did that to perfection on Friday night in Kaunas by overcoming a long list of absentees to get the very most out of the men at his disposal – including a surprise start for youngster Eli Ndiaye to set the early defensive tone against Barca star Nikola Mirotic, who was well contained by *Los Blancos* all night. 

If Mateo started the game with youth, however, he ended it with experience by again trusting in the trio of Sergio Rodriguez, Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernandez, who expertly guided their team over the finish line in the final quarter despite a combined age of 109. 

Game Videos

"At the end of the game we could control the rhythm with our veteran players,” a happy Mateo admitted. "They were fresh at the end of the game because they didn’t play much in the beginning.  

"They know how to close a game. They know European basketball, they know games like this when you have to fight to the end against a team like Barcelona, and they know how to control the rhythm at the end." 

And he repeated his claim about the supposedly undemanding nature of his job, adding: "Sometimes it’s easy for a coach to let them play. I don’t have to say too much. They know how to control the rhythm, who has got to play pick and roll with Tavares, who we are going to attack. So for me, It's very easy."

It didn’t look easy at halftime when Barcelona held a 42-36 lead after converting 9 of its 14 three-point attempts. But Mateo was happy to play the long game, explaining: "We started the game in the right way. Barcelona had success from the three-point line, and this would be a problem if they kept scoring from outside.  

"But in the locker room at halftime, we said that we are going to find a window and they are not going to score with the same percentages \[which proved to be correct, as Barca finished with 14 of 39 triples made\]. And we were able to come back defending, fighting for all the rebounds and without turnovers. And this was the key point: at the end of the game to have a chance to win. We needed to reach the end of the game with a chance. We found this window and we went through this window."

Through the window, and through to the title decider, where Mateo's 'easy' job will see his team face Olympiacos Piraeus in Sunday’s title decider. The easy dream is still alive. 

Game News

For the fifth time in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Semifinals, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona faced off at Zalgirio Arena in Kaunas, Lithuania. With the game on the line, Real put the ball in the hands of Sergio Rodriguez and 'El Chacho' did the rest. 

'Chachismo' comes to the Final Four

For the fifth time in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Semifinals, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona faced off at Zalgirio Arena in Kaunas, Lithuania. With the game on the line, Real put the ball in the hands of Sergio Rodriguez and 'El Chacho' did the rest.

 

Rodriguez is at his eighth Final Four, and he is the only Spanish player to have reached European basketball's showpiece event with three different teams: Real, CSKA Moscow and AX Armani Exchange Milan. In Friday night's semifinal, Barca's Nicolas Laprovittola buried a three-pointer that tied the game, 58-58, with under 9 minutes left. After almost three minutes in which both teams went scoreless, 'El Chacho' took matters into his own hands.

 

The 36-year-old drew an unsportsmanlike foul and hit both free-throw attempts to put Real ahead for good. Just 10 seconds after that, he hit a running floater in the lane. Rodriguez followed that with another floater off the glass and a three-pointer from the right wing, forcing Barca to call timeout at 60-67. In just 85 seconds, 'El Chacho' changed the whole course of the game with 9 points that gave Real a big boost and simultaneously caused doubts to appear in the minds of the Barca players.

 

"Results are important in sports, but momentum is even more important," stated Rodriguez after the game. "We are in a positive groove right now after an up-and-down year, playing well and winning games. The playoff series against Partizan gave us good momentum and we have to try to keep that going. We know it is very difficult, we have a short roster, many injuries and we just beat a great team like Barca. And now we play against the best team of the season, Olympiacos."

 

Rodriguez turned his season around late in the series against Partizan, getting 8 points, 7 assists and a PIR of 14 in Game 4, before following that with a 19-point, 6-assist effort in Game 5. Notably, in Game 5, he was instrumental in leading Los Blancos' second-half comeback.

Sergio Rodriguez had 12 points and 5 assists in 15 minutes. With the game on the line, he made the difference, scoring all points in a 2-9 run.

Rodriguez leads Real to the Championship Game!

Against Barca, Rodriguez had 12 points, 5 assists and 2 steals in over 15 minutes on the floor. His fans say that 'Chachismo' is a way of life, understanding basketball as a fun-to-watch sport in which fan entertainment is important. Asked about his great performances of late, 'El Chacho' believes that it is a result of steady work throughout the season.

 

"I worked well all season. Mentally, sometimes you are better or worse," Rodriguez explained. "I believe that the team, having a limited roster, found its adjustment and everyone was aware of the sense of urgency we had. It was important to get through the playoffs, and the way we did it gave us a lot of confidence. We knew we played against a really, really good team and it was going to be a tough game, but we understood that if we fought until the end, we would have a chance \[to win\]."

 

Real managed to flip the script with its three most experienced players together on the court. Rodriguez, Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernandez led the way in crunch time, earning another chance to win another EuroLeague title. Rudy and Llull are heading to their sixth EuroLeague Championship Game, while 'El Chacho' is going to his fifth. All three of them are hoping to come away from Kaunas with their third EuroLeague title.

 

"It's great. I think we have a lot of experience and, in certain situations, we can give the team a lot," Rodriguez noted. "We have been in many different situations together and winning is the most important thing, so we give everything we have in order to win. After so many years together, we had many wins and losses. We know how great a win can be and the memories it brings. This is what we are trying to do; \[we want\] to experience that feeling again."

 

Before heading back to the locker room, Rodriguez had one last bit of advice: going all the way in a championship game is a whole lot better than coming up short.

 

"Finals are beautiful when you win them. We have to give our best."

FC Barcelona did a solid job when it came to shooting from three-point range in the semifinals of the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four against Real Madrid, but that was not enough to cover up for its lack of inside production, as well as a rare off night from 2021 EuroLeague MVP Nikola Mirotic.

 

Barca went 14-of-39 on three-pointers for a respectable 35.9%, but Saras Jasikevicius's team fell 66-78 to Real, meaning that it has lost to its archrival in the semifinals in two successive seasons.

 

Those 14 three-pointers tied the single-game team record in Final Fours, but even that wasn't enough for Barca to withstand its archrival despite a six-point halftime lead.

 

"We tried to beat them only with three-pointers and the result is 66 points. We didn't manage to find depth," said Nikola Kalinic, who made both of his three-point attempts for 6 points. "Okay they have Edy \[Walter Tavares\], but we didn't find a way to get into the paint or run them off. And, in the end, you have 66 points and you cannot win a EuroLeague semifinal with 66 points."

 

The Blaugrana converted just 10-of-30 of their two-point shots and also went 4-of-11 from the free-throw line. Still, Barca was leading 42-36 at intermission.

 

"It worked out in the first half. What didn't work out was our plan," stated Alex Abrines, who drained 4 of 8 three-pointers for a team-high 16 points. "We didn't play the same offense and defense in the second half and we let Real Madrid play their game. And that way they beat you."

 

Mirotic came into the game averaging 15.9 points per game, but the Barcelona star totaled only 3 points on 1-of-10 shooting and 1-of-2 free throws. He did not score until 4:20 minutes left in the game. It was Mirotic's lowest postseason output since scoring 5 points in Game 3 of the 2014 EuroLeague Playoffs.

 

"He's a really amazing player, but it is what it is. Sometimes a player has a bad game and the others have to score and try to play defense and take responsibility for the game," added Abrines. "Today was a bad game for him, but the rest of us need to step up and win the game for him, because he won so many games for us."

Barcelona's outside shooting not enough to reach the championship game

Exactly one year ago, on May 19, 2022, Nigel Williams-Goss had to watch from the sidelines as Real Madrid edged FC Barcelona to advance to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Championship Game. He started the game, but was injured in the opening minute and would not play again for six months,

One year after injury, Williams-Goss 'grateful' for the win

Exactly one year ago, on May 19, 2022, Nigel Williams-Goss had to watch from the sidelines as Real Madrid edged FC Barcelona to advance to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Championship Game. He started the game, but was injured in the opening minute and would not play again for six months,

On Friday night, Williams-Goss got a do-over and came through with 10 points and 2 assists in 25 minutes of Los Blancos’ come-from-behind 66-78 victory over the same opponent.

"We were in this position last year where the team won and I didn’t get a chance to play in the championship game. So now having the opportunity to play in the final game is really special to me and I’m really looking forward to it," he said after the game.

As expected, the season was an inconsistent one for the 28-year-old guard, who did not play his first EuroLeague game until mid-November and was limited to less than 8 minutes in three of his first four appearances. But Coach Chus Mateo trusted Williams-Goss to make the fourth-most starts on the team this season. He was the only player to start all five playoff games against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade and shined with 22 points in Game 3 of that series.

Even so, Williams-Goss said that the injury has been on his mind recently, though he has been thoroughly focused on the task at hand: "Once the ball gets tipped up, you’re in the moment trying to get the victory," he said,

With an eye on Sunday's championship game against Olympiacos Piraeus, the team with which Williams-Goss made his EuroLeague debut in 2018, he is appreciative of the opportunity.

"I’ve been so blessed in my basketball career to play in so many big events, like the NCAA championship game and now here playing in the EuroLeague Final Four," he said. "I love the competition. This is what you work for when nobody is watching. All the hours that you put in behind closed doors is to perform under these lights and I keep saying that I am grateful for the opportunity because there are a lot of people who work and don’t get the opportunity to showcase their abilities. To be under the lights on this stage, I know I need to take advantage of the opportunity."

For the second year in succession, Real Madrid beat FC Barcelona in the semifinals of the EuroLeague Final Four to advance to the championship game, where it will face Olympiacos Piraeus in a repeat of the 2013 final. Real won 66-78 after once again finding an extra gear in the latter stages of the game to come out with the victory. Los Blancos had to do the same in Game 5 of the playoffs against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, and after doing so again, it now has the chance to win its 11th EuroLeague title on Sunday.

Real Madrid wins El Clásico, reaches EuroLeague Championship Game

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Real Madrid wins El Clásico, reaches championship game

Finding his team trailing by double digits, 29-41, at halftime of Friday’s semifinal after a strangely sloppy opening two quarters against a determined AS Monaco, you might have expected Olympiacos Piraeus coach Georgios Bartzokas to react by giving his players a rousing – perhaps even angry – halftime locker room speech. 

But the opposite actually happened. Instead of getting into the faces of his team with a display of old-school disciplinary motivation, Bartzokas showed exactly why he is the back-to-back winner of the Alexander Gomselsky Coach of the Year award by keeping his cool...and telling his players to do the same. 

During his on-court EuroLeague TV interview with Jiri Zidek moments before the third quarter began, Bartzokas gave a clear insight into how he had spent the previous few minutes with his roster, saying: “We need to calm down to play our game, be more patient in offense." 

Within seconds of the restart that new-found calmness and patience was in full view, as Thomas Walkup waited for the opening play of the third quarter to develop before dishing a pass to the cutting Sasha Vezenkov to score, setting the tone for a record-breaking 27-2 third-quarter run. 

And after the game, Bartzokas reiterated that staying cool under the pressure of the situation was key, confirming that his locker room speech was a very relaxed affair. 

"It was a completely calm discussion," he revealed. "I said: 'Listen guys, we have to calm down.' In the first half, we missed 9 free throws, 2 or 3 layups and a lot of open shots, So we had to calm down to play our game. This was the basic conversation."

That 'basic conversation' worked wonders as Olympiacos hit the ground running to grab a game-winning lead, and Bartzokas further explained how his team turned things around.

"It was very obvious what happened," he said. "We were really nervous in the first half. Sometimes we rushed and didn’t read situations as well as we should. On defense we allowed their ball handlers to touch the paint with dribbling, which is their main target, to attack the paint. Our defense was focused on this but we still made this mistake a lot of times."

Rather than tactical tweaks, though, the Reds’ boss emphasized that his team’s improvement was mental rather than technical, adding: "We discussed a bit, we changed a few things, but basically we showed some support to the players. We realized that we were nervous and we had to calm down. I told the players, ‘Let’s try to keep it a tight score in the third quarter and we’ll have a chance in the fourth’. But finally, it was a really dominating performance in the third quarter.  

“Our defense was solid, we didn’t allow anything easy for Monaco, and we took confidence from this – grabbing rebounds, hitting on transition, moving the ball and finding the open man. We made 2 or 3 three-pointers, and then the confidence was on our side and the pressure was on Monaco."

That phase of the game certainly changed the outcome, and Bartzokas was also eager to underline the importance of defense as he said: "If you are loose on defense, you cannot find rhythm on offense. You gain confidence from every possession. I really believe that at both ends you need to be really good."

In the third quarter on Friday, Olympiacos wasn’t just really good...it was pretty much perfect. 