The Final Four of the EuroLeague basketball season will begin on May 18 and play through until May 20. This is the culmination of the 2017/18 EuroLeague season which was the 61st of the famous continental basketball tournament.
The final four era started in 1988 and the matches this year will be contested in Belgrade, Serbia. The four contenders left in the running are CSKA Moscow, Real Madrid, Fenerbahce and Zalgiris. It is Turkish side Fenerbahce who are the reigning champions and they will be looking to get to the final for the third straight season.
Euroleague 2018 Winner Odds*
CSKA Moscow 6/4, Fenerbahce 6/4, Real Madrid 13/4, Zalgiris Kaunas 10/1* (Betting Odds taken at 7:26 p.m. on May 15th, 2018)
2017 Review
Fenerbahce powered their way to the title last year. They took an easy semi-final victory over Spanish challengers Real Madrid and in the Championship game they met Greek side Olympiacos. It was a pretty one-sided affair in the final as Fenerbahce recorded an 80-64 victory over the Greeks. Bogdan Bogdanovi? and Nikola Kalinic were joint top scorers with seventeen points each in that final.
2018 Preview
There doesn’t seem much to choose between Russian champions CSKA Moscow and the reigning champions Fenerbahce. They were the top two finishers in the league table this season with the Russians topping the pile. The top eight finishers went through to the Euro league play-offs which are a best-of-five series. CSKA Moscow picked up a comfortable 3-1 victory over fellow Russian side Khmiki to progress while Fenerbahce beat Spanish side Kirolbet Baskonia by the same scoreline. Both Real Madrid and Zalgiris also won their respective series by that scoreline. The draw for the semi finals at the EuroLeague final four keeps the big guns of CSKA Moscow and Fenerbahce apart.
CSKA Moscow versus Real Madrid
The Russians are favourites in this semi-final. During the regular season, CSKA Moscow took a 93-87 home victory over the Spaniards but they did suffer a heavy 82-69 reverse out in Spain. But overall across the course of the season, Real Madrid won five games fewer than the Russians did. However even with that said though, the Spaniards were the second highest points-scorers second only to CSKA Moscow during the EuroLeague regular season.
So this could be another good competitive game between the two of them. This is a repeat of last season’s third place game in which CSKA Moscow won 94-70. CSKA Moscow are 4/7 odds to win their semi-final duel with Spaniards leading Real Madrid as big underdogs at 31/20 odds* (Betting Odds taken at 7:26 p.m. on May 15th, 2018).
Fenerbahce versus Zalgiris Kaunas
Given that Fenerbahce are joint-favourites to win the tournament outright they naturally they are strong favourites to move through the semi-final tie. This is the easiest matchup that they could have received in the Final Four and the Turkish side will be keen to follow up on their success on home soil in Istanbul last year. This is the fourth consecutive Final Four appearance for them and because of the depth that they have, they always find a player to really step up to the plate when it matters most.
Fenerbahce are just so strong in the physical game and battling for rebounds and that was evident in their success in the final over Olympiacos last year. They are such a strong side that they will more likely than not power their way past Zalgiris in this semi-final scrap. Zalgiris have really exceeded all expectations to get this far and they did top out the EuroLeague regular season with the highest three-point conversion rate. So they aren’t afraid to go for the net from distance. It is the accurate shooting which is carried them this far. Zalgiris finished sixth in the regular season and lost only by one point on a visit to Fenerbahce while they lost by a seven-point margin on home soil against the Turkish side. Zalgiris are in the final four for the first time in 20 years but the last time they were here in 1999 they did actually win the tournament. Zalgiris are 23/10 underdogs for the semi-final with Fenerbahce at 5/14 odds* (Betting Odds taken at 7:26 p.m. on May 15th, 2018).
Predictions
You would have to roll with the two big guns in the field to both win their semi-final duels. This is where quality in and big-game experience will count. If there is a final between Fenerbahce and CSKA Moscow the question is, who goes all the way against the title?
There are two very strong and very evenly matched sides but perhaps tellingly throughout the course of the regular season, CSKA Moscow won both games against the Turkish side. So that hints of them having a slight edge at the moment and the Russians are more than capable of getting their hands back on the title.
