Fenerbahce Istanbul vs. Anadolu Efes Istanbul
· This Istanbul derby has been dominated by Fenerbahce with a 10-2 record in their brief Turkish Airlines EuroLeague history together dating back to 2014. This season the two teams have played six times in all competitions and have three wins apiece.
· Efes won the clash between these teams in Round 4 of the regular season 89-83; Rodrigue Beaubois scored 17 points and Adrien Moerman collected 15 points plus 10 rebounds for the winners. In regular season Round 24, Fenerbahce topped Efes 84-66; Kostas Sloukas led the way with 17 points and Nikola Kalinic scored 15.
· Fenerbahce captured the Turkish Cup with an 80-70 victory over Efes in February. Gigi Datome starred with 22 points and 7 rebounds and Kostas Sloukas produced 19 points and 9 assists.
· The two teams have played each other three more times domestically this season; Efes lifted the Turkish President's Cup with a 65-62 win in October. Fenerbahce registered an 86-79 overtime win in the Turkish League in November. Efes edged Fenerbahce 67-65 in a Turkish League clash March.
· Fenerbahce guard Sinan Guler spent five seasons at Anadolu Efes from 2008 to 2013 and played a total of 67 EuroLeague games wearing the Efes jersey. He was a teammate of Efes captain Dogus Balbay.
· Guler and Efes big man Tibor Pleiss were teammates at Galatasaray Istanbul during the 2016-17 season.
· Fenerbahce guard Erick Green and Pleiss were teammates at Valencia Basket last season.
· Fenerbahce's Marko Guduric and Efes guard Vasilije Micic were teammates at Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade during the 2015-16 season. They helped the team reach the EuroLeague Playoffs and win Serbian and Adriatic League titles. The two also teamed up on the Serbian national team and won silver medals at EuroBasket 2017.
· Efes big man Bryant Dunston was a teammate of Fenerbahce point guard Kostas Sloukas at two different clubs for a total of three seasons. The two were first teammates at Aris Thessaloniki during the 2010-11 season and then from 2013 to 2015 at Olympiacos Piraeus.
· Fenerbahce forward Baris Hersek started his professional career and made his EuroLeague debut with Efes in 2006. He spent two seasons there.
· Fenerbahce big man Ahmet Duverioglu played for Efes during the 2015-16 season and was a teammate there of Balbay and Dunston.
· Efes forward James Metecan Birsen played in the juniors for Fenerbahce and made his EuroLeague debut with the club. He played under Coach Zeljko Obradovic during the 2013-14 season and was a teammate there of Melih Mahmutoglu. Birsen was the 2012 EB Next Generation Tournament Finals MVP playing for U18 Fenerbahce.
· Efes guard Krunoslav Simon came through the youth ranks at KK Zagreb and made his EuroLeague debut there in the 2011-12 season under current Fenerbahce assistant coach Vlado Androic.
· Guler, Mahmutoglu, Hersek and Ali Muhammed have been teammates of Balbay and Birsen on the Turkish national team. All but Birsen played under current Efes head coach Ergin Ataman.
· Guler played under Coach Ataman at Galatasaray Istanbul for four seasons, from 2013 to 2017, too. They won the 7DAYS EuroCup title together in 2016.
· Guler posted his career high in scoring with 20 points playing for Galatasaray against Efes in January 2017.
· Fenerbahce big man Jan Vesely set career-highs with a performance index rating of 36 plus 7 assists this season in the Round 4 loss against Efes.
· Fenerbahce guard Ali Muhammed posted his career high in defensive rebounds with 7 for Fenerbahce against Efes in March 2017.
· Nicolo Melli posted his career-high 6 offensive rebounds playing for AX Milan against Efes in October 2013.
· Adrien Moerman set his career-highs with 15 total rebounds, including 13 defensive rebounds, playing for SLUC Nancy against Fenerbahce in November 2011.
· Rodrigue Beaubois set his career high in total rebounds with 6 playing for Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz against Fenerbahce in April of last season.


FENERBAHCE BEKO ISTANBUL: DID YOU KNOW THAT…
...Fenerbahce will compete at the Final Four for the fifth time in club history? It is the first Turkish team to reach five Final Fours... and it's done so in consecutive years! Only CSKA Moscow has ever had a longer Final Four streak than Fenerbahce's current run.
...head coach Zeljko Obradovic is the winningest person, player or coach, in EuroLeague history? Obradovic has nine Euroleague titles (Partizan Belgrade 1992, Joventut Badalona 1994, Real Madrid 1995, Panathinaikos Athens 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2011, Fenerbahce 2017), which is more than any participant since the competition began in 1958.
...Obradovic will take part in his 18th Final Four – more than any other coach or player since the format was adopted in 1988? CSKA Moscow leads all European clubs in Final Four appearances with 18 – which is as many as Coach Obradovic.
...Obradovic has taken six different teams to the Final Four? He has been there with Partizan, Joventut, Real Madrid, Benetton Treviso, Panathinaikos and Fenerbahce. Boza Maljkovic (Split, FC Barcelona, Limoges, Panathinaikos and Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz) has coached five different teams to the Final Four.
...Obradovic took Panathinaikos to the Final Four eight times? No other coach has taken the same team as many times to the Final Four. Aito Garcia Reneses took Barcelona six times and Ettore Messina did the same with CSKA Moscow.
...Obradovic is looking for his 13th appearance in the championship game? He has reached the final with five different teams - Partizan, Joventut, Madrid, Panathinaikos and Fenerbahce - and won nine of the previous 12 times!
...two of the other Final Four coaches spent time under Coach Obradovic in the past? Dimitris Itoudis of CSKA was his assistant coach from 1999 to 2012 at Panathinaikos. Madrid coach Pablo Laso played for Obradovic in Madrid from 1995 to 1997.
...Kostas Sloukas has the chance to win his fourth Euroleague title? Sloukas won titles with Olympiacos in 2012 and 2013 and lifted the trophy again with Fenerbahce in 2017.
...Sloukas can become the third player to ever win multiple EuroLeague titles with different teams? Only Dino Meneghin (five titles with Varese, two with Milan) and Fausto Bargna (two with Cantu, two with Milan) have done so since the competition was founded in 1958. Kyle Hines (Olympiacos 2012, 2013, CSKA 2016) also has the chance to do so this season.
...Sloukas has never lost a EuroLeague semifinal? Six games... five wins! (Olympiacos 2012, 2013, 2015; Fenerbahce 2016, 2017, 2018). He is looking for his fifth consecutive EuroLeague Championship Game appearance.
...if he makes it to the Championship Game, Sloukas will tie Matjaz Smodis for the most finals appearances this century? Smodis played in seven EuroLeague finals: two with Virtus Bologna (2001, 2002) one with Fortitudo Bologna (2004) and four with CSKA (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009).
...Jan Vesely is one of three Czech players to have won the EuroLeague title? Jiri Zidek (Zalgiris, 1999) and Lubos Barton (Barcelona, 2010) were the first two to lift the EuroLeague trophy.
...Ali Muhammed ranked third in three-point shooting this season? He made 65 of 128 shots from beyond the arc (50.8%). Marko Guduric (50 of 100, 50%) ranked fourth overall.
...Sloukas ranked fourth in free throw shooting this season? He hit 82 of 87 free throws, 94.3%. Luigi Datome ranked eighth (44 of 48, 91.7%).
...Fenerbahce led the 2018-19 EuroLeague in three-point shooting (43.4%)? It is the second-best mark in competition history; Partizan Belgrade hit 45.4% of its shots from downtown in the 2001-02 season.
...Fenerbahce also led the league in two-point shooting percentage this season (58.86%)? It is the third-best mark ever; Real Madrid hit 59.2% of its two-point shots in the 2001-02 season and Olympiacos downed 58.93% of its shots inside the arc in the 2009-10 season.
...other than Coach Obradovic, three Fenerbahce players played for Belgrade teams in the past? Guduric and Nikola Kalinic played for Crvena Zvezda and Vesely for Partizan.
...nine Fenerbahce players – Baris Hersek, Melih Mahmutoglou, Sloukas, Egehan Arna, Vesely, Kalinic, Muhammed, Ahmet Duverioglu and Datome – won the title with the team in the 2016-17 season?
...Sinan Guler can become the first Turkish player to win the EuroLeague and the 7DAYS EuroCup titles? Guler lifted the EuroCup trophy with Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul in 2016.
...Mahmutoglou and Vesely are in their fifth consecutive Final Four with Fenerbahce? Mahmutoglou leads all Turkish players in Final Four appearances. Vesely also played another Final Four with Partizan in 2010.

ANADOLU EFES ISTANBUL: DID YOU KNOW THAT...
...Efes has advanced to its first EuroLeague Final Four in 19 years? Efes played the EuroLeague Final Four in 2000 and the SuproLeague Final Four in 2001.
...Tibor Pleiss needed to play 186 EuroLeague games to reach his first Final Four? Kerem Gonlum has the record of most EuroLeague games without a Final Four appearance (242). Ender Arslan played 243 games, but was on the bench in the 2001 SuproLeague Final Four. James Gist (221) leads all active players in this category.
...head coach Ergin Ataman is back to the Final Four for the first time since 2003? He took Efes to the Final Four in 2000 and guided Montepaschi Siena to the Final Four in 2003.
...Ataman can become the third coach to win both the EuroLeague and EuroCup titles? Dusan Ivkovic (Olympiacos 1997, 2012; Dynamo Moscow 2006) and David Blatt (Maccabi Tel Aviv 2014, Darussafaka Istanbul 2018) are the only coaches to have won both titles. Ataman led Galatasaray Istanbul to the EuroCup title in 2016.
...Ataman has won three different European competitions in the past? Ataman won the 2002 Saporta Cup with Montepaschi, took the 2012 FIBA EuroChallenge with Besiktas Istanbul and lifted the 2016 EuroCup trophy with Galatasaray in 2016.
...only two Efes players have previous Final Four experience? Vasilije Micic played in the Final Four with Zalgiris Kaunas last season and Bryant Dunston reached it with Olympiacos Piraeus in 2015. Dunston is the only player who has played in the EuroLeague Championship Game.
...Brock Motum can become the fourth Australian player to win the Euroleague? Joe Ingles (Maccabi 2014), Aleks Maric (Panathinaikos 2011) and David Andersen (Kinder Bologna 2001, CSKA 2006, 2008) are the only Australians to have won the EuroLeague before.
...Dunston ranks third in blocks in the EuroLeague this season with 1.21 blocks per game? Walter Tavares of Real Madrid leads the standings at 1.66 per night. Dunston has blocked 229 shots during his EuroLeague career, which ranks second all-time behind only Fran Vazquez (249 blocks).
...Moerman ranks third in defensive rebounds this season (4.86 drpg.)? He trails only Will Clyburn of CSKA Moscow (5.2 drpg.) and Johnny O'Bryant of Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv (1.87 drpg.). Moerman ranks sixth in total rebounds (6.17 rpg.).
...Micic ranks third in assists this season at 5.7 per game? Nick Calathes of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens (8.7 apg.) and Mike James of AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan (6.4 apg.) are ahead of him.
...Tibor Pleiss ranks fifth in two-point shooting percentage? Pleiss has made 117 of 170 two-point shots (68.8%). Walter Tavares leads the charts at 78.7% (100 of 127).
...Pleiss is fifth in PIR per 40 minutes with an average of 27.9? He is also the fourth-best per-minute scorer in the competition with an average of 23.72 points prorated over 40 minutes.
…Efes set the all-time single-season record with 360 triples made this season? Its average of 10.29 per game is second-best this season and the third best ever. Real Madrid led the league with 10.36 threes per game this season.
Efes shattered the playoff single-series record with 63 triples made and 158 attempted?
…Shane Larkin set a record for most three-pointers made in a EuroLeague Playoffs series with 18? He bested the record of 17 set by Vassilis Spanoulis of Olympiacos Piraeus in 2017.
...Efes enters the Final Four with a team PIR of 100.4, which is 11th-best in competition history? It shatters the club's previous record of 93.5 in the 2015-16 season.
...Efes ranks second in the league in assists this season (19.6 apg.) and third in blocks (3.03 bpg.)?
...Efes is second in two-point (58.7%) and three-point (40.6%) shooting percentage? Fenerbahce ranks first in both categories (58.9% 2FG, 43.4% 3FG).
...Efes has the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the competition with 1.72 assists per turnover? It is a club record and the third-best mark in competition history. Real Madrid owns the first (2.25, 2014-15) and second-best (1.74, 2013-14) marks.