...Efes is in its fourth Final Four? Efes previously reached the EuroLeague Final Four in 2000 and 2019, as well as the SuproLeague final four in 2001.

Anadolu Efes Istanbul's Final Four facts

...Efes has reached the Final Four for the fourth time? Efes previously reached the EuroLeague Final Four in 2000 and 2019 as well as the SuproLeague Final Four in 2001.

...Efes can become the second Turkish team to win the EuroLeague? Fenerbahce Istanbul was the first to do so in 2017.

...Efes became the first Turkish team in any sport to win a European competition? It lifted the Korac Cup in 1996 and now looks for its first EuroLeague crown 25 years later.

...Efes returns to the Final Four with 11 players and the coach who reached the 2019 EuroLeague Championship Game? Brock Motum is the only player that is not with the team two years later. He was replaced by Chris Singleton.

...Bryant Dunston and Vasilije Micic head to their third Final Fours? Dunston played at his first Final Four with Olympiacos in 2015 and Micic at the 2018 Final Four with Zalgiris. They both went to the 2019 Final Four with Efes.

Coach Ergin Ataman

...Ergin Ataman can win his fourth different continental title? He won the Saporta Cup with Montepaschi Siena in 2002, the EuroChallenge with Besiktas Istanbul in 2012, and the 7DAYS EuroCup with Galatasaray Istanbul in 2015. Only two coaches have won four different European competitions: Dusan Ivkovic (EuroLeague, EuroCup, Saporta, Korac) and Aito Garcia Reneses (EuroCup, Saporta, Korac, EuroChallenge).

...Coach Ataman can become the third coach to win European competitions with four different teams? He won titles with Siena, Besiktas and Galatasaray. Zeljko Obradovic has won European titles with six different teams: Partizan Belgrade, Joventut Badalona, Benetton Treviso, Real Madrid, Panathinaikos Athens, and Fenerbahce. Ivkovic (Partizan, AEK Athens, Olympiacos Piraeus, Dynamo Moscow) and Bozidar Maljkovic (Split, Limoges, Panathinaikos, Unicaja Malaga) have won with four teams apiece.

The Efes guards

...Shane Larkin owns the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Championship Game scoring record in the Final Four era? Larkin scored 29 points in the 2019 championship game for Efes in a losing effort against CSKA.

...Larkin ranks sixth all-time in points scored at a single Final Four? He had 59 points in the 2019 Final Four - the most by any player in 25 years. Nikos Galis had 69 points in the 1990 Final Four and also scored 67 in 1988 and 61 in 1989, all with Aris. Bob McAdoo, who had 64 points in the 1988 Final Four with Milan, and Alexander Volkov, who got 61 with Panathinaikos in 1994, are also ahead of him.

...Larkin is the shortest player at this season's Final Four at 1.82 meters?

...Vasilije Micic has scored 618 points this season - the second most of a player in EuroLeague history? Alexey Shved scored 740 points for Khimki Moscow Region in the 2017-18 campaign.

...Micic also leads the 2020-21 EuroLeague in fouls drawn (180), free throws made (132) and attempted (153)?

...Krunoslav Simon is one of only four players with more than 2,000 points, 700 rebounds and 600 assists in EuroLeague history? Rudy Fernandez, Dimitris Diamantidis and Nick Calathes are the others.

Krunoslav Simon - Anadolu Efes Istanbul Media Day 2020 - EB20
...Rodrigue Beaubois ranks seventh in three-point shooting percentage this season? He has made 68 of 139 attempts until now - 48.9%. Beaubois is also ninth in free throw shooting percentage (92.5%).

With the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four right around the corner, The Crossover with Joe Arlauckas welcomed one of the players who could have a lasting impact on the event. FC Barcelona center Brandon Davies joined Arlauckas to discuss his childhood in Utah, what he learned from facing adversity in college, the start of his professional career, and the success he found at Zalgiris Kaunas and Barcelona.

Davies came to basketball late. He played multiple sports as a boy and settled on soccer. At first, he was faster than everyone and found success, but when his growth spurt hit, everything changed. He found himself playing goalkeeper, thought it was boring, and decided it was time to move on from soccer.

[07:30] "I didn't really start getting into basketball until you know, like sixth or seventh grade. I played there with, it was called Junior Jazz, but I wasn't very good. I only played a little bit of minutes because I was paying to be on the team," he explained. "Then, as my skills developed, I started growing into my body. I started, you know, figuring things out. It was kind of a Michael Jordan-type story. I was got cut from the seventh-grade team, made the B team. All my best friends were on the A team, so I really put in the work that summer."

And the rest, as they say, is history. Davies starred in high school and settled on nearby Brigham Young University, where he was a teammate of former Panathinaikos Athens guard Jimmer Fredette. Together, they had the team ranked No. 3 in the NCAA when Davies was suspended from the team for breaking a school rule.

[13:40] "That was the hardest part, you know, of my life... You're talking about a kid who, all I knew was basketball and that was, you know, kind of taken away from me for my actions," Davies said. "But the main part for me was just the growing up factor. I knew I was a big part of the team, but my teammates were nothing but encouraging to help me do what I needed to do to get back or to make things right."

Davies more than righted the ship. He decided during his junior year of college that his goal was to play basketball professionally. He played two seasons in the NBA and then spent time in France and Italy before the opportunity came to compete in the EuroLeague with Zalgiris Kaunas under head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius. Together, they helped the club make history by reaching the 2018 Final Four.

[29:06] "It's an unbelievable place to play," Davies said. "The fans there are incredible. It feels like basketball's all they've got and they pour their heart and soul into you, if you're a player. It's an unforgettable experience to be a part of that and especially to be rolling how we were rolling and playing in front of sellout crowds every game. And a lot of our fans were traveling to our road games, so we had support everywhere and it was just nice to see you know when you're in a hostile environment you look up and you see all the green shirts right there with you."

After playing two seasons with Zalgiris, Davies joined Barcelona in the summer of 2019, but not before discussing the matter with Jasikevicius. A year later, they were reunited when Saras arrived as Barcelona's head coach.

[00:36:12] "I have a lot of respect for him. We have a really good relationship on and off the court, I can honestly say. He was a big part of helping me get to this point in my career," Davies said.

[38:00] "He's a winner and yeah, it's not that it's gonna be easy, but you know with his with his basketball mind and everything, if bringing him here is gonna get us that championship, then let's go, let's get it."

And that's where things stand now. Davies helped Barcelona achieve the best record in the EuroLeague Regular Season, and after a tough playoff series against Zenit St Petersburg, they are heading to Cologne for the Final Four. However, Davies said that the five games against Zenit will make Barcelona a better team when the semifinals begin.

[38:45] "Being hit in the mouth like that is something that I think is gonna help us get to where we need to get," Davies explained. "Our coaches, they tried to prepare us for this type of battle, and at the time we weren't ready. We learned a lot about ourselves from that series, individually and as a team."

With a one-hour format of exclusive one-on-one interviews, The Crossover with Joe Arlauckas goes well beyond the playing court with each podcast to delve into the life experiences that have made his guests protagonists and legends of the EuroLeague. The Crossover debuted in 2018 and has featured such current stars as Toko Shengelia, Shane Larkin and Kyle Hines, coaching greats such as Ettore Messina, Pablo Laso and Zeljko Obradovic, and legends like Theo Papaloukas, Nikola Vujcic and Mike Batiste, among others. The first guests in Season 3 were FC Bayern Munich Coach Andrea Trinchieri, Zalgiris Kaunas star Marius Grigonis, Kostas Papanikolaou of Olympiacos Piraeus and CSKA Moscow assistant coach Darryl Middleton, Kevin Pangos of Zenit St Petersburg and Norris Cole of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, former champion Sofoklis Schortsanitis and two special episodes with general managers Maurizio Gherardini of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, Christos Stavropoulos of AX Armani Exchange Milan and Paulius Motiejunas of Zalgiris.

The Crossover with Joe Arlauckas is available on Youtube, [iTunes](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-crossover-with-joe-arlauckas/id1440034922), [Audioboom](https://audioboom.com/channel/the-crossover-with-joe-arlauckas), [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/6T1SYvGSpzyrYZpG9z2wjR), [Deezer](https://www.deezer.com/fr/show/65962), [RadioPublic](https://radiopublic.com/the-crossover-with-joe-arlauckas-6NkdjJ), [Google Podcasts](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdWRpb2Jvb20uY29tL2NoYW5uZWxzLzQ4ODM3OTkucnNz?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwiYzr_b78XtAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ), [TuneIn](https://tunein.com/podcasts/Sports--Recreation-Podcasts/The-Crossover-with-Joe-Arlauckas-p1174586/), [Stitcher](https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-crossover-with-joe-arlauckas), [CastBox](https://castbox.fm/channel/The-Crossover-with-Joe-Arlauckas-id1467328?country=gb), [iVoox](https://www.ivoox.com/podcast-the-crossover-with-joe-arlauckas_sq_f1629856_1.html) and other platforms.

Final Four-bound Barcelona big man chats with Joe Arlauckas

Brandon Davies visits the Crossover

eb-20-21-crossover-ep12-davies-static-16x9.png

Kaya Peker is one of the greats of Turkish basketball and the big man was a major force for Anadolu Efes Istanbul during a long run of success for the team.

Final Four club legend: Kaya Peker, Efes

Kaya Peker is one of the greats of Turkish basketball and the big man was a major force for Anadolu Efes Istanbul during a long run of success for the team. Not only did he lead the club - then known as Efes Pilsen - to five Turkish League crowns as well as four Turkish Cups but he also helped Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul to titles and even played a major role in Tau Ceramica Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz reaching the 2006-07 EuroLeague Final Four.

The Ankara native began his career with Pinar Karsiyaka, where he debuted in the Turkish League in 1996 as a 16-year-old. He joined Efes in 2000 and following his first season there, Peker played for Turkey at EuroBasket 2001, where he captured a silver medal. That was just the start of his hardware collection. With Peker anchoring the paint, Efes claimed four straight Turkish League titles (2001-02 to 2004-05) to go along with the 2001, 2002 and 2006 cup trophies. After five seasons of playing in the EuroLeague – including twice reaching the quarterfinals, Peker left his homeland for Spain in 2006 and joined Baskonia. The team also reached the EuroLeague Final Four for a third straight season and also finished first in the Spanish regular season. However, Baskonia lost in the semifinals in both competitions.

Peker returned to Turkey after just one season when he signed with Besiktas Istanbul. He marked his return to his beloved Efes in 2008. Reunited with its big man, Efes claimed the Turkish League and Cup double in 2009. The club was league runner-up in 2010 after which he moved onto Fenerbahce, with which Peker would win another League and Cup double in 2011 as well as a sixth Turkish Cup in 2013.

After three campaigns with Fenerbahce, Peker - then 33 years of age - moved onto Trabzonspor for one year then two seasons with Tofas Bursa - helping the club get back to the Turkish League after being relegated. In 2017, Peker joined Turk Telekom Ankara in his hometown and helped the club earn promotion back to the Turkish League and then played one final season of European basketball in the EuroCup in 2018-19 before retiring from the game after that season.

There have not been many players in the history of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four history to arrive at the pinnacle event of the basketball season in a situation similar to Iffe Lundberg's. Rest assured, there is nothing unusual about the 26-year old guard being one of the key cogs in the CSKA Moscow machine other than the fact that he has only 13 career EuroLeague games under his belt.

Having made his competition debut in late February after starring with Polish club Zielona Gora during the first part of the season, Lundberg has been instrumental in CSKA's late-season success and the nine-game winning streak it brings to Cologne. Such a jump between competitions can be overwhelming, but not for Lundberg who averaged 12.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals in CSKA's playoff sweep of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul. 

"I want to inspire the next couple of generations to really strive to be the best versions of themselves." 

"It's been very fun so far," Lundberg said of his first EuroLeague experiences. He is only the fourth Danish-born player to play in the competition this century, but has become the first to reach the Final Four.

Lundberg grew up in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, a country that has had plenty of success in team sports, such as soccer and handball, though not much in basketball. He started playing because his oldest brother used to take him to practice or to the gym to shoot around.

"Through that route, I just developed a certain love and passion for basketball and I still have it till this day as much as I did when I was 10 or 15 years old," Lundberg said.

Interestingly, Lundberg might be the first Danish-born player in the Final Four, but he is one of two Danes competing for the EuroLeague crown along with AX Armani Exchange Milan forward Shavon Shields, whose mother is Danish. The two have been among the big reasons the popularity of basketball in Denmark is on the rise. The sport has gotten more attention with Lundberg's success at the club level, but also with the national team, which he helped lead to wins over Lithuania and the Czech Republic before narrowly missing qualification for EuroBasket 2022.

"In Denmark, the talk about basketball grew significantly", Lundberg pointed out. "And that's one of the things that I want to do. I want to inspire the next couple of generations to really strive to be the best versions of themselves because if you just work hard and you have your passion, I believe you can do and reach any goal you might set."

The goals he has achieved this season he could not have even dreamed about achieving when the season was starting. He had a sub-par 2019-20 season with Spanish side Tenerife and was persuaded to join Zielona Gora by the team's head coach, a former three-time EuroLeague champion Zan Tabak. 

"I've always kind of been good at adapting quite fast to the situation regardless of the level." 

"He told me 'I'm going to help you with a thing or two, and you're going to be able to bounce back. I'm not gonna teach you anything. I'm just gonna unleash you.' He just gave me confidence," Lundberg recalled.

Lundberg averaged 20.4 points in the VTB United League and had a stellar performance in a win over CSKA, with 26 points and 6 assists in early February. By that time, he already heard rumors about CSKA having interest in him, but was assured those were not true. So, when his agent called him to tell him he had an offer from CSKA, Lundberg was surprised, to say the least. He was also delighted.

"CSKA is one of the best teams in Europe, if not the best team. A historical franchise, a historical organization, with a really good coach, really good players. When a club like that wants to buy you out of your contract, it speaks for itself," Lundberg said. "Not many players are fortunate enough to ever make that jump to play with CSKA and my first EuroLeague experience is playing with CSKA. That was mind-blowing. And as a person, you've got to appreciate those things."

Nevertheless, it was a bit strange for him to join a team he just defeated. Also, it was the first time in his career he had changed clubs in the middle of the season. That, however, did not stop him from shining with CSKA from the start.

"I've always kind of been good at adapting quite fast to the situation regardless of the level," he said. "If you trust yourself, if you trust your work ethic and you trust and believe in your own talent, then that's not going to be a problem."

In his first game, he logged in 26 minutes for 13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals in a 1-point road win at Olympiacos Piraeus. And while the basketball world was looking at it as the feel-good story of the season, Lundberg was not all that surprised. He added that he also had some really good talks with Coach Dimitris Itoudis.

"They did a really good job of implementing me in the concepts and also making sure that everything clicked with the teammates", Lundberg explained. "Gaining teammates’ confidence, their trust, it was easy just to go out there and play basketball."

He gave CSKA energy and served as another creator, someone able to create opportunities for himself or his teammates. And the teammates embraced that. 

"Gaining teammates’ confidence, their trust, it was easy just to go out there and play basketball." 

"Since I came here, obviously it's not only been all ups. Everyone experiences ups and downs. That's life", Lundberg said. "You just have to be a professional. You got to stick with it. I believe in my capabilities and if you just work hard on your game, and if you just stick with the flow and be patient, it's going to come." 

Patience, he said, might have been the toughest adjustment for Lundberg since he joined CSKA: "I've always been patient, but just understanding that sometimes you're not going get everything you want at one time. And whenever your time and your situation occurs, be ready to go out there and take it because nothing is given. You got to earn it."

He has taken his success in stride. Lundberg went from facing CSKA as a highlight of his season to joining the team and then getting ready for the EuroLeague Playoffs and now the Final Four.

"It's kind of surrealistic to play in the Polish League and then a couple of months after that you are facing the best players in Europe. It's something you can't really imagine," added Lundberg. "Everything happened so fast, so you've just got to be able to take it in, be able to adapt and go out there and enjoy it. That's the most important thing. Go out there, enjoy it, and be true to yourself."

Iffe Lundberg is about to become the first Danish-born player to compete in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four after a whirlwind season that saw him start in the Polish League before joining CSKA Moscow in February and becoming a key piece for the title contenders.

Iffe Lundberg, CSKA: 'I believe in my capabilities'

As a result of voting that included fans, media and, for the first time in EuroLeague history, head coaches and team captains, Nikola Mirotic of FC Barcelona was selected for the 2020-21 All-EuroLeague First Team!

Mirotic was a dominant force throughout the season, ranking second among all EuroLeague players in performance index rating (19.6 PIR), fourth in rebounds (5.8), eighth in points (15.5) and 15th in steals (1.2). He did all that while shooting the ball extremely well (60.2% 2FG, 42.2% 3FG, 86.8% FT). Just six more players reached all three of those thresholds, but among them, only Mirotic took 100 shots or more of each type.

Mirotic's first-ranked 30.6 PIR per 40 minutes made him more prolific than any EuroLeague player while he was on the court. Most important of all, Mirotic led Barcelona to a first-place finish in the regular season. With its well-earned home-court advantage, the team passed a tough playoffs test to reach its first Final Four since 2014.

He was co-MVP of the Week in late October thanks to a PIR of 27 in his only game off the bench this season, leading Barcelona to 71-72 road victory at TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. Mirotic became the EuroLeague MVP for March after leading the competition in PIR with 26.8 per game while helping Barcelona to five victories. Mirotic averaged 20.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals in that month. By the end of the regular season, he had a PIR average of 21.9, this campaign's highest and the sixth-best mark since the introduction of the current format for the 2016-17 season.

This marks the first time that Mirotic has been named to the All-EuroLeague First Team. He was a member of the 2012-13 and 2013-14 All-EuroLeague Second Teams while playing for Real Madrid. Mirotic was also chosen as the EuroLeague Rising Star in both the 2010-11 and the 2011-12 campaigns. In between his Madrid and Barcelona stints, Mirotic spent five seasons in the NBA with Chicago, New Orleans and Milwaukee.

Barcelona's Mirotic selected for All-EuroLeague First Team!

regular-season-awards-mirotic-1920x1080-v2.png

...Milan is in its first Final Four since 1992? No other team had to wait longer, 29 years, to return to the event. Zalgiris Kaunas had the previous record with 19 years in...

AX Armani Exchange Milan's Final Four facts

...Milan will compete in its first Final Four since 1992? No team has gone longer than Milan's 29 years between Final Four appearances. Zalgiris Kaunas had the previous record with 19 years in between its Final Four appearances in 1999 and 2018.

...Milan can win its fourth EuroLeague title? It previously lifted the trophy in 1966, 1987 and 1988.

Coach Ettore Messina

...Ettore Messina can win his fifth EuroLeague title? He lifted the trophy with Virtus Bologna in 1998 and 2001 and with CSKA in 2006 and 2008. He is currently tied with Alexander Gomelsky, Pedro Ferrandiz and Bozidar Maljkovic for the second-most EuroLeague titles as a head coach. Zeljko Obradovic leads the charts with nine.

Ettore Messina - Kinder Bologna - Final Four Bologna 2002 - EC01
...Coach Messina can win his first EuroLeague title in 13 years? Only one coach has ever won titles with a longer gap between them. That was Dusan Ivkovic, who lifted the trophy with Olympiacos in 1997 and 2012.

...Coach Messina heads to his 12th Final Four? He ranks second in the all-time standings behind only Coach Obradovic, who has coached in 18 Final Fours.


Kyle Hines

...Kyle Hines can win his fifth EuroLeague title? Hines would be the fifth player to win five continental crowns, joining Dino Meneghin (7), Clifford Luyk (6), Aldo Ossola and Fragiskos Alvertis (5 each).

Bob McAdoo and Dino Meneghin - Tracer Olimpia Milano - EuroLeague archive
...Hines can become the first player to win five EuroLeague titles in the 21st century? He won the competition with Olympiacos Piraeus in 2012 and 2013 and with CSKA Moscow in 2016 and 2018.

...Hines is one of just three players to win multiple EuroLeague titles with different teams? Only Hines, Dino Meneghin (five titles with Varese, two with Milan) and Fausto Bargna (two with Cantu, two with Milan) have done so.

...Hines heads to his record ninth consecutive Final Four? Theo Papaloukas and J.R. Holden held the previous record with eight consecutive Final Four appearances, from 2003 to 2010. ...Hines ranks second all-time in rebounds (76) at the Final Four? His former teammate Victor Khryapa is the all-time leader with 107.

...Hines ranks 11th in scoring (2,744 points), fifth in rebounds (1,456), second in blocks (259) and ninth in PIR (3,468) in EuroLeague history?


Sergio Rodriguez

...Sergio Rodriguez is the only Spanish-born player to win the EuroLeague with a non-Spanish team (CSKA, 2019)? And he can do it again with Milan in Cologne!

...Rodriguez is the only former EuroLeague MVP at this event? He was chosen as the EuroLeague MVP for the 2013-14 season.

...Rodriguez ranks third in assists (48) in Final Four history? Theo Papaloukas leads the standings with 59 Final Four assists and Sergio Llull is second with 53.

...Rodriguez ranks seventh in scoring (3,126), third in assists (1,401), fourth in three-point shots made (492) and 11th in PIR (3,349) in EuroLeague history?

Hines and Rodriguez!

...Hines and Sergio can become the second and third players to win the EuroLeague with three different teams? Hines won with Olympiacos and CSKA. Rodriguez lifted the trophy with Real Madrid and CSKA. Sarunas Jasikevicius (FC Barcelona 2003, Maccabi Tel Aviv 2004, 2005, Panathinaikos 2009) is the only player to have won the EuroLeague with three different teams.



When AX Armani Exchange Milan reloaded its roster ahead of the 2020-21 season, most of the headlines surrounded the signings of veterans such as Luigi Datome, Malcolm Delaney and Kyle Hines were the biggest. However, the addition of 26-year-old Shavon Shields has been as important as any.

The forward was one of Milan's top performers all season long and shined with one of the greatest Game 5 performances in EuroLeague Playoffs history to lift his team past FC Bayern Munich and into the Final Four in Cologne, Germany – less than 200 kilometers from where Shields started his professional career with Frankfurt Skyliners in 2016. Playing for the title is exactly what Shields had in mind when he left TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz last summer to join Milan.

"Talking to Coach Messina this summer about his vision for this club and for the team, part of it was making a Final Four and being one of the premier clubs in Europe, so it feels great," Shields said recently. 

"If you walk around our facilities, you see the great players and great history the club has." 

Shields had an idea of what he was getting into when he signed for Milan. He finished his rookie season with Dolomiti Energia Trento and helped it reach the 2018 Italian League finals, where they lost in six games to Milan. So even though the COVID-19 pandemic has kept Shields from performing live in front of the Milan faithful, he understands the power of the team's fan base.

"I know how passionate they are, how much they love their team and they love the game," Shields said. "As far as the history, you see if you walk around our facilities, you see the great players and great history the club has and I think of all of us here are just happy to be part of it."

Shields grew up in a sports house. His father, Will Shields, played 14 seasons of professional football for the Kansas City Chiefs and was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2015. Though Shavon chose a different sport, watching his father taught Shavon many lessons that have helped him become the player he is today.

"Being professional, being prepared, come into work every day to improve and, at the end of the day, all you can control is how you approach it mentally with your attitude, so just try to do it that way," Shields said in summing up those lessons.

He needed all of that to help Milan edge out Bayern to reach the Final Four. Shields dominated the do-or-die Game 5 with a career-high 34 points. He made 5 of 6 three-pointers and 11 of 12 free throws to get a career-best PIR of 41. Shields led Milan in the playoffs with 16.4 points per game.

"The full range of emotions, we are up 2-0 and Bayern really, really fought back, they’re a great club and a great team and I think we’re just happy at the end to come out with a win," Shields reflected on the series. "I think all of us as a team, our mindset was to just win and that's what we came to the game to do and we got it done... I think it was a special night for all of us."

Looking ahead, Shields is now focused on Milan's opponent in the semifinals, FC Barcelona, which had the best record in the EuroLeague regular season. 

"We have got to make adjustments and try to do our best to win the game."

"We need to prepare the right way. I think the coaches and everybody is going to put together a great game plan and we are going to try to put our best forward and we have to be better that night," he said. "We have got to make adjustments and try to do our best to win the game."

Although this will be Shields's first time under the bright lights of the Final Four, he knows that he can rely on Milan's many veterans, including a few former champions, to provide the necessary leadership for these moments.

"We have had a lot of guys who have been there, have the experience," Shields explained. "So, them being able to be the pillars of the team and us going to go into it, it’s going to be an emotional week and they are going to be the voices of reason and the guys that we are going to lean on a lot to kinda guide us through the whole process to hopefully end that weekend with two wins."

That is exactly what Messina had in mind when he brought Shields into his veteran mix and what the Milan faithful are hoping for.


Shavon Shields was the star of AX Armani Exchange Milan's Game 5 win to reach the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four and now he hopes to leave Cologne with two more victories.

Shavon Shields, Milan: 'Our mindset was to win' 

Juan Carlos Navarro's ability to score at any moment with an array of weapons turned him into a legend with FC Barcelona as well as a two-time EuroLeague champion.

Final Four club legend: Juan Carlos Navarro, FC Barcelona

Juan Carlos Navarro's physique may not have struck fear in his opponents, but his ability to score at any moment with an array of weapons - including his trademarked shot – "La Bomba" - turned him into a legend with FC Barcelona as well as a two-time EuroLeague champion.

A native of the Catalonian town Sant Feliu de Llobregat, just a few kilometers due west of Barcelona, Navarro made his professional debut in 1997 at 17 years of age. Before really making his mark at Barcelona, he helped Spain win the FIBA U18 European Championship in 1998 and the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup the following year alongside Pau Gasol. The latter came after Navarro captured his first of eight Spanish League titles in 1999 as well as the 1999 Korac Cup. The first of his seven Spanish Cups came in 2001. And then came the magical 2002-03 season in which Barcelona won the triple: the Spanish League and Spanish Cup titles as well as the club’s first-ever EuroLeague trophy.

After being named to the All-EuroLeague First Team in 2006 and 2007, Navarro left for the United States and the NBA to join his close friend Gasol at the Memphis Grizzlies. He returned after a single season overseas to his beloved Barcelona in 2008 at age 28 was at his best. Navarro was the EuroLeague MVP in 2009 and then added a second EuroLeague crown in 2010 as the Final Four MVP. He was named to the All-EuroLeague First Team for the fifth time in 2011. In total, Navarro played at eight EuroLeague Final Fours. He also had great success with the Spanish national team, with which he won silver medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games as well as the gold medal at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2006. Among his six medals at the EuroBasket are gold medals from 2009 and 2011.

Navarro finished his career as the EuroLeague's career leading scorer, though he has since been passed by Vassilis Spanoulis. He remains the EuroLeague leader in three-pointers made and ranks fourth in games played and accumulated index rating. Navarro retired in 2018 and remains active at the club with Barcelona's youth teams. Navarro is one of only two players named to the EuroLeague All-Decade Teams for 2000-2010 and 2010-2020 and remains a Barcelona legend who will never be forgotten.

juan-carlos-navarro-mvp-regal-fc-barcelona-champ-euroleague-2010-final-four-paris-2010-eb09.jpg

As a result of voting that included fans, media and, for the first time, head coaches and team captains, Vasilije Micic of Final Four-bound Anadolu Efes Istanbul has been honored with a place on the 2020-21 All-EuroLeague First Team.

In the finest of his seven Turkish Airlines EuroLeague seasons to date, Micic established career highs in scoring (16.3 ppg.) and performance index rating (17.0). The 27-year-old guard made a team-high 34 starts for Efes and ranked sixth in the league with 29:42 minutes played per game. He also finished fourth in scoring, ninth in assists (4.8 apg.) and 10th in PIR. Micic was one of just three players in the top 10 in both scoring and assists.

Micic's three MVP of the Week honors this season were the most in the competition. He captured the first after netting 26 points in a road win at FC Barcelona. He earned the second with 37 points – tied for the second-most points scored by any player this season – in a Round 26 triumph over crosstown rival Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul. And his third weekly MVP honor came as Micic put up 21 points and 7 assists in a Round 31 victory against Panathinaikos OPAP Athens.

Micic remained dominant in Efes's playoff series against Real Madrid, during which he averaged 17.2 points on 53.1% three-point shooting plus 4.0 assists and 1.2 steals over five games. Micic's production was tied directly to Efes's success all season; the team was 8-1 when he scored more than 20 points and 9-1 when he delivered more than 5 assists.

This is Micic's second such honor after he was a 2018-19 All-EuroLeague Second Team selection. Micic made his EuroLeague debut at age 20 in 2014 for FC Bayern Munich but played just six games that season due to injury. Midway through the 2015-16 season, he transferred from Bayern to Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade in his native Serbia, and the season after that landed in Lithuania with Zalgiris Kaunas, with whom he made his first Final Four appearance while helping the club return to the event for the first time since 1999. Since the summer of 2018, Micic has called Istanbul home, becoming a EuroLeague finalist in his first season at Efes. They return at the next opportunity to fight for the title at the Final Four in Cologne, Germany starting on Friday, May 28.

Efes's Micic reaches All-EuroLeague First Team!

regular-season-awards-first-team-micic-1920x1080.png