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Breakdown: Olympiacos Piraeus vs. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul

Breakdown: Olympiacos Piraeus vs. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul

Makale

5 Dk okuma

Javier Gancedo

Senior Manager, Editorial

Breakdown: Olympiacos Piraeus vs. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul

EuroLeague powers Olympiacos Piraeus and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul will battle in the playoffs for one Final Four spot. Olympiacos finished the regular season with a league-best 24-10 record after holding first place almost all the way. Fenerbahce used a 9-1 regular season start to stay in the upper part of the standings all season long.

Olympiacos: on to a second chance

Olympiacos made it to the Final Four last season and has most of the players who made it happen back as well as Georgios Bartzokas, the 2021-22 Alexander Gomelskiy EuroLeague Coach of the Year. In addition to 2021-22 All-EuroLeague selections Sasha Vezenkov and Kostas Sloukas, the Reds retained Thomas Walkup, Michalis Lountzis, Giannoulis Larentzakis, Shaquielle McKissic, Kostas Papanikolaou and Moustapha Fall. That means eight players who won a tough playoff series against AS Monaco together will suit up in this phase again. And there's more.

The Reds did not make many off-season additions, but made sure those who arrived had the experience required at this level. Joel Bolomboy and Alec Peters won a EuroLeague title with CSKA Moscow in 2019. Bolomboy played another Final Four with CSKA in 2021. Tarik Black also played in the EuroLeague Playoffs with Zenit St Petersburg in the 2020-21 campaign. Isaiah Canaan helped UNICS Kazan reach the 2021 7DAYS EuroCup Finals. Most Olympiacos players have been there and know exactly what to do.

Fenerbahce: experience meets opportunity

Fenerbahce has a nice mix of players who have plenty of EuroLeague Playoffs experience, along with some who have been looking for this opportunity for a long time. Melih Mahmutoglu won the EuroLeague with Fenerbahce in 2017, Nick Calathes lifted the trophy with Panathinaikos Athens in 2011. Marko Guduric (2018, 2019), Tarik Biberovic (2019) and Nemanja Bjelica (2015) have been to the Final Four with Fenerbahce. Tyler Dorsey reached it with Olympiacos last season, just like Nigel Hayes-Davis did with FC Barcelona. DyShawn Pierre has been to the playoffs with Fenerbahce in 2021 and Scottie Wilbekin played in the playoffs with both Darussafaka Istanbul and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

On the other hand, Johnathan Motley and Carsen Edwards have the opportunity to play in the playoffs in their first season in the competition. Tonye Jekiri and Devin Booker have played over 100 EuroLeague regular season games but are set to make their playoff debuts. That combination of experience and willingness to do well right away is an interesting one for Fenerbahce.

Sloukas: shooting for Final Four royalty

Sloukas is a key player in this series. He played for Fenerbahce for five seasons and won the EuroLeague with it in 2017. He is the only player in this year's playoffs with three EuroLeague titles. Sloukas previously helped Olympiacos claim back-to-back continental crowns in 2012 and 2013. Only 12 players have won at least four EuroLeague rings since European competitions started in 1958. Only one of them, Kyle Hines (Olympiacos 2012, 2013; CSKA 2016, 2019) is still an active player. Dino Meneghin leads the all-time standings with seven titles: Varese 1970, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, Milan 1987, 1988.

Sloukas has a chance to make it to his ninth Final Four. He's been there four times each with Fenerbahce and Olympiacos. If Sloukas returns to the Final Four, he will tie Hines, Theo Papaloukas and Andrey Vorontsevich for the second-most Final Four appearances, behind all-time leader Victor Khryapa (12). He has a chance to reach his seventh EuroLeague championship game. Only Derrick Sharp and Matjaz Smodis have achieved that since 2000.

Decorated Greek coaches

Only two Greek coaches have won the EuroLeague title, and both of them are in this series. Coach Bartzokas helped Olympiacos win the EuroLeague in 2013 and seeks a second crown exactly a decade later. Bartzokas was twice chosen as the EuroLeague Coach of the Year, in 2013 and 2022, and also helped Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar reach the Final Four in 2016, in just the club's second season in the competition. Bartzokas has a 12-12 playoff record with Olympiacos, Lokomotiv and Khimki Moscow Region.

Just like Bartzokas, Itoudis has been chosen as the EuroLeague Coach of the Year twice, in 2016 and 2019, when he led CSKA to respective EuroLeague titles. Itoudis was also part of the coaching staff that helped Panathinaikos win five EuroLeague titles from 2000 to 2011. As head coach, his playoff record is almost spotless: six series won with CSKA in as many appearances and an 18-3 record. That's an outstanding 85.7% winning rate in the playoffs!