Predict the F4 teams...

[Calvin]

Tau, Pak, CSKA and probabily Dynamo. I'm not convinced about Dynamo but Maccabi, Efes, Olympia and Barcelona are talented enough to surprise me.

[Arkadios]

CSKA, TAU, PAO, EFES by this order

[CG]

I can't choose between Pao,Oly,Tau,CSSKA and Barca.They all seem very strong to me.


Ssssssssssss,don't say that because this thread will fill with Pao fans declaring every transfer Oly has made worthless .That's what has hapenned at least twice ,when someone(not Greek) says something positive about Oly,in the signings threads.

except that you are an ---- and try to bring argues in this forum with your ironic words and sayings i would choose:

CSKA,PAO,TAU,OLY.Barca is not going to the F4.It wont be a surprise for me no to qualify to top 8

[T.W.Is.M.]

I can't make a prediction 'cause I will definitely fail.I just believe that one of the 3 top favorites won't make it(and I don't think that will b CSKA) and also that ULEB will try to prevent the presence of 2 greek teams to the f4!
As 4 the others, Barcelona sucks, but they r dangerous, Dynamo imo will b in the qf but not in the f4 and Efes is a good outsider if Granger plays from now on.

[Buducnost PG]

-Partizan will have 2-12 score

106-60.

[SK rulez]

CSKA and PAO are definitely the best teams in Europe, so they will be in.
Barça and Oly are imho the best of the remaining teams, but they have many problems, and they must resolve it quickly.
TAU is very strong and if they arrive 1st in their Top 16 group, they will be in.
Possible surprises EFES and Treviso (EFES is very solid and Treviso has a good Palaverde factor in the important matches, and is a good team with a fantastic coach). I don't think that Dynamo is so good, maybe they will not make also the E8 (they have a good starting-5, but not good bench, no home court factor, no players with great intangibles).

[elaj]

106-60.

At least we are not 2-12.

I wouldn't be surprised if they would actualy fullfill their potential. The coach Vujosevic said that their goal is TOP16 of EL. I also think that with some luck they can make it. They have the team with great prospects like Bogdanovic, Tepic, Tripkovic, Perovic, Pekovic... and so on. With a combination of young and some experianced players like Kecman, Cummings and a foreign PF they could actually make it.

As for other my predictions like everybody said, the main candidats for F4 are known - Panathinaikos, Olympiakos, Maccabi (the fans are doubting, but they will be on top like always), CSKA, TAU Ceramica, Barcelona, Unicaja. I wouldn't be surprised if teams like Zalgiris Kaunas (have a decent team), Fenerbahçe Ulker Sport (will need to invest little bit more, but they have lots of money I heard), Virtus Roma (same), Dynamo Moscow (strong team) make it to the F4.

Guess what Matiz, I was right, Partizan is on a good way to get into TOP16 of Euroleague.

[Buducnost PG]

At least we are not 2-12.

Right. But that is a think which is not interesting me. I see Matiz was totaly wrong about his prediction of Partizan for this season. He still thinks that Perovic is not able to become a good pro. But he has a Index from 16 this season in the EL so far. And at least Olimpija lost all four games against Partizan this season. The problem by Partizan in the last years was, that the whole game was build around Milojevic. And before 3 years the Squad was very weak and too young. Then the Frontcourt was Milojevic, Erden, Samardizski and Perovic and plus Milojevic get injured after 6 games and so the team was totaly lost. And last year the team had no PG in the EL. Cummings arrived at the last game vs CSKA. I know that Olimpija had also some injury problems this season, but the advantage of them is that the game is not only build on one player.

[Joško Poljak Fan]

do you really believe I'd write down the same thing after they signed Drobnjak? without him, in that period things really didn't look bright for them imho... especially since I didn't expect Unicaja, Olimpija and Maccabi would be that underperforming.
no biggie, i'm glad they're finally showcasing their talent and if you remember some older posts I was always saying Partizan succeding in european competitions is just a matter of time, eventhough to me Tripkovič and Bogdanovič are still dissapointing so they've at least got reserves fo the next seasons as well.

glad to be wrong here...

[turkishpower]

CSKA, PAO and TAU for sure. The other one will be one of these: Barca, Maccabi, Dynamo, Efes.
I don't think Oly can really make it to F4.

[jaka13]

I think the three are Panathinaikos, Tau, CSKA. After them I think Olympiakos has many possibilities, Efes and -do never forget them- maccabi also.

[T.W.Is.M.]

I just wanna remind a couple of things because I read 3 teams in every post:CSKA, PAO, Tau.Results from the regular season don't count now.Positions from the regular season just determine your possible opponents, they don't give any other advantage(unfair, but that's how it goes).
A few facts from last year(they don't mean anything, yet they can mean a lot...)
CSKA,last year's champion, lost twice in the regular season to PAO.
The top seeded teams at the top 16 were Tau, Maccabi, Unicaja and PAO.Only 2 of them made it to the f4 and only 1 of them(Maccabi-the most unconvincing between them in the regular season) took the 1st place in its top 16 group.
Barcelona had a 7-7 record at the regular season(this year they may have 8-6 if they lose to Aris).They were the last team to lose a match at the top 16(together with CSKA).
Zalgiris had a 9-5 record in the regular season and went winless in the top 16.
Cibona advanced as the best 6th seeded and was leading its group until the last matchday.
A big victory in the 1st matchday of the top 16 can elevate an underdog(e.g.Olympiacos-Unicaja 87-84) while a surprising defeat can cause many problems to a favorite and put their qualification in jeopardy(e.g. Cibona-Panathinaikos 72-70).After all the top 16 is just a 6 match group...

[Ilya]

It seems to me that the only sure candidate would have to be CSKA. No changes in the roster, always very strong and with the mentality of a winner.

In the beginning of the season I would bet my money on PAO as well, but my team doesn't seem as convincing any more.There are definitely problems, but since I haven't yet seen anything extraordinary from the rest of the teams, I guess it has to be the second most likely team.

TAU has great chances as well, but they still have their ups and downs as well...

Oly- well,I don't know,I expected more from that one. I guess there must be a reason PG is considered such a great coach, but I haven't seen him show he understands his roster or the Greek League or the Greek mentality (yes, I know that's a really tough one).

Barca doesn't seem all that strong right now, but I guess they could always speed up. Maccabi? Hmm, Vuicic is unbelievable, but what of the rest of the team? What if (knock on wood!) he got injured? Unicaja, I don't see it. Then again, if they play against PAO a couple of times, anything could happen!

[MikeMaccabiFan]

CSKA and TAU seem as sure bet - CSKA because they have same roster + Anderson back, Tau is very talented. Pao few weeks ago also seemed like sure candidate, but we"ll see - but they do have roster for F4. As for other teams - there are so many "if"s.

Maccabi can finally start playing defense (like they most times do in Top16) , Burstein will get in form, Jeretin will bring energy in defense and some order in offense, Felix suddenly will show why he was one of the best players in D-league, Bynum will stop making so much mistakes, Maccabi will start playing combinations for Jasaitis and Shasson, Arnold and Eliyahu will start play defense, Halperin will get some chutzpa... And Niko is always there with amazing season.

Oly can get back Machas, Shchortzi will lose weight, Acker will be consistent...

Joventud can get Rubio all the time, Rudi Fernandez will be healthy all the time...

Barca can start being Barca...

etc. etc. etc.

[final countdown]

PAO, OLY, CSKA, Barca, Tau, Unicaja- if some other club will reach F4, it will be a surprise IMO.

good guess