2024 EuroLeague Final Four opening press conference recap

The 2024 EuroLeague Final Four is here, and games are right around the corner. All four teams - Real Madrid, Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, and Fenerbahce — had markedly different paths to make it to where they are now. At today’s press conference, each team opened up and answered questions on their journeys here, as individuals and as a team, as well as what they are anticipating as they head into this weekend's games. 

The highlight of the press conference came from none other than Fenerbahce head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius, whose comedic instincts are arguably as good as his basketball instincts. Jasikevicius and Panathinaikos guard Kostas Sloukas were asked about what they remember from the 2009 Final Four in Berlin, and Sloukas reminded everyone that he was not selected in the final 12-man roster for Olympiacos at that Final Four. Jasikevicius told coach Ergin Ataman, sarcastically, that he should consider doing that again this year. 

Jokes aside though, Jasikevicius discussed Fenerbahce’s path to the Final Four, within the context of him taking the team over from previous head coach Dimitrios Itoudis in the middle of the season. 

“You cannot think any further than the next game, the next practice,” Jasikevicius said. “You can identify the number one, number two goals you wanna correct about your team. We started with something, slowly, slowly. We have a veteran team, these guys have seen all kinds of coaches and all kinds of systems. I don’t think that anything we presented was new. We didn’t invent anything and I was very lucky to have three guys with me that were coaching them before.” 

Panathinaikos are returning to the EuroLeague Final Four for the first time in 12 years thanks to an entirely new roster that they brought in over the summer as well as new head coach, Ergin Ataman. Going from the bottom of the league to the Final Four in just one season is a difficult task, but one coach Ataman has done twice in his career now. 

“This is not very difficult,” coach Ataman said. “If you choose good players with a good character and if you work well with your staff to have one new player or twelve new players it’s not a big difference for me. We were never scared to put in front of us, the big goal, and we  arrived at the Final Four, and of course when you arrive at the Final Four the biggest goal is to win the title and now that is our goal.”

Olympiacos head coach Georgios Bartzokas answered a question from FanSided directly on the challenges they faced from the summer and throughout the season to make their third straight EuroLeague Final Four. 

“We lost very important players from last year, but the club is still here,” coach Bartzokas said. “It’s not easy being the first time in the history of the club being three times in a row in the Final Four. The secret is that we have unselfish players, players with empathy, players that care for each other and they respect the jersey that they wear.”

Finally, Real Madrid came into the Final Four as defending champions, favorites, and the number one seed. Head coach Chus Mateo dispersed that notion and highlighted how now, everyone is feeling the pressure to perform and win. 

“We are not defending anything, now is a new tournament,” Coach Mateo said. “Now we’ve got just one game in front of us, the semifinal. We don’t think about anything else. Just the semifinal, respect our opponents and just try to beat them on the court. No more.” 

There is consistency in each team's mentality, and it’s reflective of the collective experience on display. Every coach has coached in a Final Four before, and every captain has played in one. They understand that storylines and narratives are nice for fans — “the term favorite is something only for fans and betting outlets,” Coach Mateo said - but the challenge of winning back-to-back do-or-die games to claim the EuroLeague championship trophy rejects all of that. 

When the ball goes up in the air tomorrow all that will matter is the next 40 minutes. Not the playoffs or 34 regular season games that came before it, not coaching changes, offseason transactions, none of it. You will either be the better team for the next 40 minutes or you won’t, and that’s both the beauty and downside of the EuroLeague Final Four. It all comes down to this.