By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The current atmosphere in the air of European basketball is filled with the scent of the Euroleague Final Four that will take place in Berlin from 13 to 15 of May. CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv Kuban, Fenerbahce and Laboral Kutxa will fight for the ultimate honor of being named European Champion.
While all basketball fans heavily debate on questions like which team will win the trophy and who are the players that will shine brighter than the rest in the tournament’s games, there are some people who also have some quite strong opinions on these matters. They are the players who participated in Euroleague this season and have gotten a first hand experience on the teams that will do battle in the Final Four as well as their peers that will have a chance to lift the trophy.
Eurohoops ran a survey among 10 Euroleague players and asked them to give their own predictions on what will happen in the Final Four. The questions that these players were called to answer, are the following:
A) Which phrase/word characterizes each of the Final Four teams?
B) Which teams will advance in the Final and which is going to be the Euroleague champion?
C) Pick a player from each team that will be Final Four MVP if his team becomes Euroleague champion.
Some quite interesting answers were in place… as you will find out.
Miro Bilan (Cedevita)
Which phrase/word characterizes each of the Final Four teams?
CSKA Moscow – Experience
Lokomotiv Kuban – Teamwork
Fenerbahce – Talent
Laboral Kutxa – Energy
Which teams will advance in the Final and which is going to be the Euroleague champion?
In my prediction, the Final will be played between CSKA Moscow and Fenerbahce. And Fenerbahce is going to win it. I think they have been playing really good throughout the whole season and showed a lot by how easily they defeated and swept last year’s champions, Real Madrid.
Pick a player from each team that will be Final Four MVP if his team becomes Euroleague champion
Nando De Colo from CSKA Moscow, Bogdan Bogdanovic from Fenerbahce, Malcolm Delaney from Lokomotiv Kuban and Giannis Bourousis from Laboral Kutxa.
Nihad Djedovic (Bayern Munich)
Which phrase/word characterizes each of the Final Four teams?
CSKA Moscow – Experience
Lokomotiv Kuban – Fighters
Fenerbahce – Smartness
Laboral Kutxa – Sensation
Which teams will advance in the Final and which is going to be the Euroleague champion?
I think that CSKA Moscow and Fenerbahce will play in the Final. As for the trophy, I would like to see that CSKA Moscow finally has the needed luck to win it. Why? It’s simple: they have been playing great basketball in the whole season.
Pick a player from each team that will be Final Four MVP if his team becomes Euroleague champion
Kyle Hines from CSKA Moscow, Ekpe Udoh from Fenerbahce, Giannis Bourousis from Laboral Kutxa and Malcolm Delaney from Lokomotiv Kuban.
Thomas Heurtel (Anadolu Efes)
Which phrase/word characterizes each of the Final Four teams?
CSKA Moscow: Best combination of two guards in Europe
Lokomotiv Kuban: Good chemistry in a team where everybody knows his role. And an excellent coach.
Fenerbahce: Big team with a big coach
Laboral Kutxa: The big surprise
Which teams will advance in the Final and which is going to be the Euroleague champion?
I think that Fenerbahce and CSKA Moscow will advance to the Final and that this is finally CSKA‘s year. But Lokomotiv Kuban also have some big chances.
Pick a player from each team that will be Final Four MVP if his team becomes Euroleague champion
Giannis Bourousis from Laboral Kutxa, Nando De Colo from CSKA Moscow, Malcolm Delaney from Lokomotiv Kuban and Luigi Datome from Fenerbahce.
Petteri Koponen (Khimki Moscow)
It is difficult to make any predictions but I will say this: Fenerbahce and CSKA Moscow will do battle in the Final, CSKA is going to win Euroleague and Nando De Colo will be the MVP.
Mindaugas Kuzminskas (Unicaja Malaga)
Which phrase/word characterizes each of the Final Four teams?
CSKA Moscow – Freedom. They have so much of it in their game which makes it really nice watching them play.
Lokomotiv Kuban – Passion. You can see that when they play they are really enjoying the game.
Fenerbahce – Discipline. That is what characterizes their game.
Laboral Kutxa – Surprise. For me they were a really pleasant surprise. They survived that difficult Top 16 Group and then made it to the Final Four.
Which teams will advance in the Final and which is going to be the Euroleague champion?
In my opinion CSKA Moscow and Fenerbahce are the two teams of the Final. They have more players with the experience of this kind of games, which is really important. But, it’s only one semifinal and one final for each team. Like we saw in the previous Final Four, anything can happen in one game and there can be many surprises.
Pick a player from each team that will be Final Four MVP if his team becomes Euroleague champion.
Bogdan Bogdanovic from Fenerbahce, Giannis Bourousis from Laboral Kutxa, Malcolm Delaney from Lokomotiv Kuban and Nando De Colo from CSKA Moscow.
Darius Miller (Brose Baskets)
Which phrase/word characterizes each of the Final Four teams?
CSKA Moscow – Talented.
Lokomotiv Kuban – Hungry.
Laboral Kutxa – Intense.
Fenerbahce – Athletic and disciplined.
Which teams will advance in the Final and which is going to be the Euroleague champion?
I think that we will see a very close game between CSKA Moscow and Fenerbahce in the Final. CSKA Moscow will win because they have the talent and depth in their roster.
Pick a player from each team that will be Final Four MVP if his team becomes Euroleague champion.
Nando De Colo from CSKA Moscow, Malcolm Delaney from Lokomotiv Kuban, Giannis Bourousis from Laboral Kutxa and Ekpe Udoh from Fenerbahce