r/Euroleague

For some reason the sound is not available. Just imagine fur elise playing while watching it

Per Butasport.rs

https://x.com/i/status/2056319844811694445

https://x.com/i/status/2057173292440576399

The Final Four officially started yesterday, and honestly, I’m more hyped than I expected to be, especially considering Panathinaikos didn’t even qualify. From everything I’ve seen so far, EuroLeague seems to have done a genuinely good job organizing the event outside the four lines.

All four teams arrived at the same hotel yesterday, everything went smoothly. No fans screaming at coaches in the lobby, no airport drama, no mysterious beverages causing gastroenteritis, and unfortunately no “Where is the EuroLeague?”either.

That alone already feels like progress.

Every year I watch the Final Four press conference while fighting the urge to mute the stream because of the painfully awkward questions. To be fair, though, the quality has somewhat improved over the years. This time, a couple of things stood out to me.

First of all the kid in the photo above,MK. Don’t ask me for his full name because I genuinely have no idea. He’s some kind of basketball content creator who makes short-form videos playing street basketball that looks like a mix between one-on-one basketball and UFC.

And somehow, EuroLeague absolutely loves him.

For the last few months, he’s been everywhere. Social media, events, interviews — and now he’s asking questions at the biggest basketball event in Europe.

Maybe I’m just getting old, but I honestly don’t understand the direction. I get that EuroLeague wants to attract younger audiences and become more social-media friendly, but there’s a difference between modernizing your product and making everything feel unserious. The overly laid-back attitude, the body language, the whole presentation — to me it just doesn’t match the image EuroLeague should want for its biggest stage.

The second thing was the lack of live translation from Spanish to English during the broadcast.

How is there still no proper live translation?

We all know Spanish teams usually prefer answering in Spanish even when they speak English perfectly well, and honestly, that’s their right.But there is also such a thing as respecting the audience and the setting. This isn’t a local Spanish league press conference — it’s EuroLeague Final Four media day.

Last but not least, I want more from the coaches. And when I say more, I mean something different from the generic answers that sometimes don’t address the questions at all. For instance, I love Saras, but all his answers can basically be summed up as: “It doesn’t matter what I say now. Everything will be forgotten, and only winning matters.”

Maybe he’s not wrong, but then why are we even having the press conference in the first place?

Anyway that's just my thoughts. What do you think?

A press conference was held ahead of the 2026 EuroLeague Final Four, which is set to take place in Athens, the capital of Greece, from 22 to 24 May.

The event, attended by the head coaches and one player from each competing team, attracted significant interest from the media.

At the press conference, our Head Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius and our player Nando De Colo first assessed the Final Four and then answered questions.

Head Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius said, “I think our defence has been really important for us throughout the season. Especially when we’re struggling to score, we need to rely on our defence and prioritise it. Defence forms the foundation of what we’re trying to build. I also believe we’ve made significant progress in our attack this season and have added some key players to our squad. We hope to reflect that chemistry we’ve built together on the court.”

Player Nando De Colo added, “This will be my final season of my career. When the opportunity to join Fenerbahçe Beko came my way, it was a truly amazing chance. I’ve discussed this a lot with my wife, and we both thought the same thing: ‘Let’s go.’ We have big goals we want to achieve with Fenerbahçe Beko. So, it’s been a huge motivation for me too. Being here, being in this Final Four, feels incredible. As I’ve told everyone, it’s really important to enjoy the experience right up to the very end. I’ll be trying to enjoy it too. “I’m Nando De Colo. Even though I’m still serious about everything I do, and even though I’m still continuing my career as a professional player, I’m going to enjoy this Final Four and make the most of it. I’ll do my very best,”

Later, Head Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius and Nando De Colo gave the following answers to questions from the press:

Head Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius:

“There were other coaches in that arena too. I think if you look at the sidelines, it’s more or less the same everywhere, but being at OAKA is a great pleasure. We’ll feel a bit different, of course. We need to focus on the match. We have to complete the task successfully. After that, we’ll be thinking about the final.

Let’s have a good 40-minute battle. Our aim, of course, is to win the match. Everything else will be forgotten. All the talk, the gossip, the comments – it will all be over.

Of course, there’s a lot being said here, but in the semi-finals we’ll play a single knockout match. There are a lot of details. My sole focus is on doing what’s best for the team’s success. We’re taking a simpler approach to this; the next training session, the next match… If we were to win back-to-back titles, that would truly be amazing. This is a closed discussion; of course, there’s a story there. Winning, achieving that, is really very difficult. We’re thinking about how we can achieve it.”

Nando De Colo:

“(Would you take the final shot in the final or pass it?) Making the right decision is important. You have to be able to see very clearly who is in the best position at that moment to achieve the objective. I’ll do whatever the situation demands.

I don’t feel nervous. There isn’t a huge amount of pressure on me. You have to manage the pressure well. This all comes down to the preparations we’ve made, and we’ve carried out those preparations throughout the entire season. We’re now in the Final Four. We don’t have much time to think. We’ll act as a team and try to give our very best. I must say there isn’t any extra pressure. We’re excited to be here. We’ll fight and battle to win the trophy.

French names are very long. It’s so that everyone in my family can be happy. My full name is Nando Bruno Alfred André de Colo. Bruno Alfredo is my father and grandfather, but I never use it. It only appears on official documents. That’s my full name. But as you know, I’m Nando De Colo. My name is long, but I’m Nando De Colo.”

https://x.com/i/status/2054206579591786534

https://x.com/i/status/2057058302890999971

The accident happened today, on Highway 90, in the north of Israel, as he was on his way to a shared dinner with his club's teammates.

Raz was a part of the Israeli U20 team in 2018,2019, when Israel won the U20 EuroBasket back to back.

May his memory be a blessing 💔