By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
The Euroleague GMs voted for second season in a row for the favorites to get to the Final Four, the best teams, the best coaches, the best arena, the beloved city, the most fun to watch team and more. Will they be right?
Euroleague asked many questions to the GMs of the clubs and this time the situation was better than last season when some answers were really awkward.
The “winner” in this survey is without any doubt CSKA Moscow and Dimitris Itoudis in his rookie season as head coach in the Euroleague. Let’s watch the answers one by one.
Which four teams will make it to the Euroleague Final Four?
The absolute favorite to reach the Final Four is CSKA, as 23 of the 24 GMs voted the Russians as one of the four teams that will travel to Madrid. Barcelona and Real Madrid got 22 votes, Fenerbahce and Olympiacos received 13 and one GM voted Panathinaikos, one Efes and one Maccabi.
Who is the most uncomfortable opponent?
This question shows more or less the predictions of the Euroleague GMs about the favorite to win the title. And again CSKA is first with 8 votes, Barcelona and Real are the most uncomfortable opponent according to 4 GMs, Olympiacos and Maccabi received 2 votes, Zalgiris, Panathinaikos, Milan and Crvena Zvezda one.
Which team is the most fun to watch?
We have a small upset here, because CSKA is not on the top. Barcelona is the most fun to watch team as 7 GMs said. Real follows with 6 votes, CSKA with 3, Crvena Zvezda 2, Maccabi 2 and Fenerbahce, Alba, Unicaja and Efes one.
Who is the best head coach in the Euroleague?
This question is maybe the most interesting in the survey. The GM is in most of the teams the one who hires the coach. So, he should know better than anyone else this “market”. And the majority of the GMs voted Dimitris Itoudis as the best coach in the competition this season. This is the rookie season for the Greek coach in this position, while he was for many years assistant of Obradovic in Panathinaikos and last season he was head coach of Banvit. After him, Xavi Pascual follows with 5 votes and Dusan Ivkovic with 4. The fourth best coach according to GMs opinion is Zeljko Obradovic who gathered 3 votes. Two GMs voted Joan Plaza as the best coach in the Euroleague and one Bagatskis and Sasa Obradovic.
Which team has the best Arena?
The O2 Arena in Berlin hosts Alba’s games and is the best arena in the Euroleague as the GMs said. Zalgirio Arena in Kaunas and Kombank Arena in Belgrade follow.
Which city do you most like to visit when playing a Euroleague game?
This question hasn’t to do much with basketball but with tourism. Barcelona and Madrid lead..
On May, we will “check” GMs’ predictions…