How does the Final 8 affect the finalists?

Βy Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net

This weekend was full of Cup action. Some of the top Euroleague teams played three games in just a few days trying to win the Final Eight in their countries. So how much does this affect their Euroleague games?

The Final Eight is an exhausting procedure with so much tense for the players who fight for the first title of the season really early. Usually the teams who reach the final, play against three competitive opponents and that means great effort physically and mentally.

Eurohoops researched the recent history of the Final Eights in Spain, Turkey and Italy in order to find out if the finalists (who played three do-or-die games in three or four days) are affected in their next Top 16 Euroleague battle. In most other European countries this weekend league games or cup games were also held but not in that format, so we focused on these three countries which have also every season at least one team in the Top 16.

The conclusion in every country is totally different. For example, the Spanish teams which qualify to the final, were never affected by their games in Copa del Rey. Barcelona and Real are perfect after their cup Final Eight (9/9 wins)!

The Spanish finalists in their next Euroleague game

Season	Winner	Euroleague	Finalist	Euroleague
2013-14	Real	W (Kuban 78-74)	Barcelona	W (Milan 80-70)
2012-13	Barcelona	W (Maccabi 82-77	Valencia	–
2011-12	Real	W (Unicaja 89-65)	Barcelona	W (Cantu 63-62)
2010-11	Barcelona	W (Roma (74-65)	Real	W (Efes 77-60)
2009-10	Barcelona	W (Pao 70-67)	Real	W (Siena 77-69)

On the other hand, the Turkish teams have a very bad tradition after participating in the Cup’s final. Their only victory during the last five years was Fenerbahce‘s against Besiktas in 2013, also a Turkish club. The most “weird” fact is that the finalists in the Turkish Final Eight weren’t usually Euroleague Top 16 teams.

The Turkish finalists in their next Euroleague game

Season	Winner	Euroleague	Finalist	Euroleague
2013-14	Karsiyaka	–	Efes	L (Olympiacos 60-78)
2012-13	Fenerbahce	W (Besiktas 78-72)	Galatasaray	–
2011-12	Besiktas	–	Banvit	–
2010-11	Fenerbahce	L (Zalgiris 84-85)	Besiktas	–
2009-10	Fenerbahce	–	Mersin	–

In Italy, Milano reached the final for the first time after 19 years, so our “samples” are Siena four times and Cantu once. Τhey won two out of five Euroleague games after a final in Copa Italia.

The Italian finalists in their next Euroleague game

Season	Winner	Euroleague	Finalist	Euroleague
2013-14	Sassari	–	Siena	–
2012-13	Siena	W (Laboral 85-74)	Varese	–
2011-12	Siena	L (Bilbao 59-60)	Cantu	L (Barcelona 62-63)
2010-11	Siena	W (Partizan 77-74)	Virtus Bol.	–
2009-10	Siena	L (Real 69-77)	Virtus Bol.	–

This week in Euroleague, the Spanish teams have in theory easy games (Barcelona hosts Alba and Real hosts Crvena Zvezda). Efes faces Laboral Kutxa in Istanbul and Fenerbahce travels to Moscow to fight against CSKA. Milano plays against Nizhny. Moreover, Zalgiris comes also from the Lithuanian Final Eight and hosts Galatasaray, while Serbian Cup winner Crvena Zvezda will play against Real Madrid.