This article is part of our EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge Picks series.
As has been said, "you can never guess who's going to win the Final Four."
As such, making predictions for the head coach section in the second-to-last iteration of the EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge is especially -- and I mean, especially -- difficult.
Each semifinal matchup comes with a unique storyline. Last season, Panathinaikos eliminated Fenerbahce on Friday and went on to win the championship. Plus Ergin Ataman holds a perfect 6–0 record in six matchups against Fenerbahce head man Sarunas Jasikevicius.
On the other side, Olympiacos and Monaco matched up twice in the postseason in recent years, first in the 2022 Playoffs and then again in the semifinals of the 2023 Final Four. Olympiacos emerged victorious both times, so the team from the principality will no doubt be motivated.
Based on past results an all-Greek final may appear likely, but both Fenerbahce and Monaco have a chance to reverse their fortunes and go down in history.
If you have any questions or comments about strategy or the picks below, feel free to drop those at the bottom of this article or reach out on X via @RotoWireEuro.
Good luck!
Guard
Mike James, AS Monaco (16.9 credits)
Despite his long and successful EuroLeague career, he has only appeared on this platform once before, in 2023—and that was also against Olympiacos who is their current opponent now. Of course, everyone remembers how that story ended: Monaco started the game strong, but Olympiacos made a legendary comeback to eliminate them and advance to the final. In the playoffs, they had a long five-game series against Barcelona and James was once again his team's standout performer except for Game 2—which Monaco won—he scored in double figures in the other four games and posted at least 19 PIR in each. If Monaco is to have any hope against Olympiacos this time, it will once again rest on the shoulders of James.
Kostas Sloukas, Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens (12.7 credits)
The prince of big games and a Final Four regular, Sloukas holds the record for the most Final Four appearances in the modern EuroLeague era with 12 (including this year's edition in Abu Dhabi). Out of those he has lifted the trophy four times. The pinnacle of his career came last year in Berlin, when he led Panathinaikos to the title and was named Final Four MVP. During that championship run, Panathinaikos faced Fenerbahce in the semifinals. Despite his team winning convincingly 73–57, Sloukas had a rather quiet game, posting just 4 PIR. However, he made up for it in the final against Real Madrid, delivering a standout performance with 31 PIR. The Greek guard who has repeatedly proven himself as a clutch player throughout his career is eager to show that he still has a few tricks left—especially against his former team.
Devon Hall, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (8.0 credits)
If there's an underdog player poised to write a breakout story at the Final Four, Hall is one of the top candidates. Both he and his team, Fenerbahce, had an excellent playoff series against Paris Basketball. In their 3–0 sweep, Hall averaged 14.0 PIR, reminding everyone just how valuable he is to the squad. On top of that, his relentless and high-level defense has not gone unnoticed—head coach Saras has been rewarding him with around 20 minutes per game. In the upcoming semifinal clash against Panathinaikos, Hall will likely be tested as a key defender on Kendrick Nunn.
Forward
Sasha Vezenkov, Olympiacos Piraeus (21.9 credits)
Although he finished the season as the PIR leader, he missed out on the Regular Season MVP award, which went to Nunn. Still staying focused on his ultimate goal—winning the championship—Vezenkov delivered a strong series against Real Madrid in the playoffs, earning the Playoffs MVP award. In their last two Final Four appearances, Olympiacos was left with a bittersweet taste, falling victim to game-winning shots—one by Vasilije Micic in the semifinals and the other by Sergio Llull in the final. Vezenkov returned from the NBA with the mission of redeeming those heartbreaks and this year, they have a real shot at it. The only thing left now is for Vezenkov to play like himself.
Nigel Hayes-Davis, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (17.4 credits)
For the star forward who has been selected to the All-EuroLeague First Team in back-to-back seasons, the most talked-about topic lately has been his potential move to the NBA—a possibility that was even confirmed by Fenerbahce GM Derya Yannier. While an eventual departure may be on the horizon, the perfect farewell would undoubtedly be crowned with a championship. At this point, the biggest challenge for Hayes-Davis and his team is getting past Panathinaikos, a team they had lost to twice during the regular season. To break it down further, in the game played in Athens, Hayes-Davis took an ill-advised early three-pointer at last seconds and then committed a foul on Nunn—effectively gifting the win to PAO. This upcoming matchup could be a turning point for him and if Fenerbahce is to have a real shot at victory, it will almost certainly require a true leader's performance from Hayes-Davis.
Alec Peters, Olympiacos Piraeus (9.8 credits)
While he is mostly been viewed as a backup player this season, it's important not to forget that this guy was a key player in last year's final-four journey. With Vezenkov rejoining the squad, Peters has been pushed to the background for now—but he's the kind of character who never let that become an issue. Whenever head coach Georgios Bartzokas has throw him to the pitch, he has stepped up and delivered what was expecting from him. From the game strategy perspective, his value becomes even clearer. In the second-half-of-the-season matchup played in Piraeus—despite Olympiacos losing the game—Peters posted an impressive 23 PIR, which could very well make him a viable option for this upcoming clash.
Center
Daniel Theis, AS Monaco (12.1 credits)
To be realistic, although he significantly elevated Monaco's level after joining the team, his performance in the playoff series against Barça raised some concerns. Apart from the first game, he was almost invisible in the remaining four matchups. Despite Theis' underwhelming performances, the standout displays by Mam Jaiteh in Game 2 and Georgios Papagiannis in Game 5 of that same series showed that if Monaco wants to win, they absolutely need contributions from the center position. For that reason, the most reliable option appears to be the German center who is likely to play around 20–25 minutes.
Head Coach
Georgios Bartzokas, Olympiacos Piraeus (8.1 credits)
As we mentioned in the entry above, predicting which team will win the Final Four is quite difficult. However, when evaluating squad quality and depth, Olympiacos can be considered a step ahead of the other three teams. Looking at their head-to-head matchups in the regular season, Olympiacos will likely try to respond to Monaco — a team that builds its system around giving freedom to its guards — by relying on its strongest area: the forward rotation.
Looking for more information about the EuroLeague Playoffs? Check out RotoWire's EuroLeague Lineups and EuroLeague Injury Report!
