2025 Final Four: The case for… Fenerbahce

Geoff Gillingham explains the reasons why Saras Jasikevicius’s men can go all the way in Abu Dhabi

Eight years since last lifting the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague trophy, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul is ready to do it again in Abu Dhabi.

The Turkish giant suffered heartbreak in last year’s semifinal, losing to Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens, but it responded by putting together a very solid regular season campaign – securing the second seed – and then sweeping Paris Basketball in the playoffs. Now, it is out to exact revenge against the Greens at the Final Four – and it has bigger plans than just the semifinals.

One of the standout features of Fenerbahce this year has been its depth. All-EuroLeague forward Nigel Hayes-Davis earns a lot of the headlines, yet Fenerbahce can also call upon Marko Guduric, Errick McCollum, Wade Baldwin, Tarik Biberovic, Devon Hall and Bonzie Colson, among others. On any night, someone can go off.

That makes Fenerbahce a major threat in a single-elimination game. After falling last year to Panathinaikos with a backcourt of Nick Calathes and Scottie Wilbekin, Saras Jasikevicius brought in Baldwin and Hall last summer before picking up McCollum midseason. Together with Guduric, they help make Fenerbahce a more dangerous outfit on both ends of the floor against the Greens’ trio of Kendrick Nunn, Kostas Sloukas and Jerian Grant. The same applies in a potential championship game appearance against Olympiacos Piraeus or AS Monaco.

At forward, Hayes-Davis has enjoyed a career year on offense and will be circled on Panathinaikos’s scouting report in the semifinals… but that focus on him may allow Tarik Biberovic to shine. Biberovic really came into his own in the playoff series against Paris and he enters the Final Four full of confidence. As Coach Jasikevicius put it after the Paris series, the 24-year-old sharpshooter is no longer an X-factor – he is the real deal.

Fenerbahce has gone to three Final Fours (2018, 2019, 2024) since it became the first Turkish team to win the EuroLeague, but everything points to 2025 being a year to remember for the club’s supporters. Coach Jasikevicius, a four-time EuroLeague champion as a player, is chasing his first EuroLeague title as a head coach and he has a group of players who are starving for EuroLeague success, just like Panathinaikos last season. The Yellow Nation are ready – and so is this team.