Basketball Champions League Final 4: schedule, teams, and semifinals preview / News - Basketnews.com

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Basketball Champions League Final 4 begins this Friday and BasketNews provides everything you need to know before the most important and long-awaited stage of the tournament.

Free throws this season

75%14,2Points made:14,2Accuracy:75,2%Place in standings:12Record max:29Record min:7Most made FTs:Chris JohnsonTeamBCLStatisticsSchedule

BasketNews staff writers Orazio Cauchi and Giorgos Kyriakidis present all teams which will participate in the Basketball Champions League Final 4, examining their road to the Final 4, evaluating the matchups in the semifinal pairings.

But before that, let's take a look at the schedule.

Schedule

SF 1: Hapoel U-Net Holon vs Lenovo Tenerife, May 6, Friday at 6 pm CET. SF 2: MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg vs BAXI Manresa, May 6, Friday at 9 pm CET. 3rd place game: Loser SF 1 vs Loser SF 2, May 8, Sunday 5 pm CET. Final: Winner SF 1 vs Winner SF 2, May 8, Sunday, 8 pm CET.

BAXI Manresa

Having survived a very tough group featuring pre-season favorites Pinar Karsiyaka and Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem, BAXI Manresa showed what they're capable of right from the start.

Different players have carried the team coached by Pedro Martinez into the Final Four. Sylvain Francisco, Joe Thomasson, Ismael Bako, Chima Moneke, and Luke Maye are the ones who have contributed the most until now. Still, it wouldn't be surprising if Manresa produced another heroic in the season's final stretch. Following a comfortable 5-1 track in the group phase, the Spanish club was tested against Tofas Bursa in the Round of 16, dropping the first game in Turkey. However, they have never looked back since then.

Powered by two wins over Treviso and another one at the expense of Darussafaka, Manresa managed to comfortably place themselves in the quarter-finals, where Unicaja Malaga proved no match for them.

Thanks to a commanding 29-4 start in the first game and Joe Thomasson's game-winner off the dribble in the second, the 1998 Spanish champs celebrated their first-ever BCL Final Four berth. Not bad at all for a club that had fallen from grace, competing in the LEB Gold (Spain's second division) as recently as 2018. Manresa has shown great potential this season, having racked up road wins against no other than FC Barcelona and Real Madrid in the ACB League.

Judged on the basis of their modest budget, which amounts to 2.7 million euros overall and only 1.5 million for players' salaries, they lay claim to being the No.1 value-for-money team all over Europe in the 2021-22 campaign.

On offense, Manresa is a team that wants to play uptempo as much as possible and maintain spacing and ball movement, with cutters and shooters relentlessly putting themselves in scoring positions.

They rely more on 3-point shots than any other Final Four team. Their offensive flow leads to an astonishing 21.8 assists per game, which indicates how easy this team can score when everything is running smoothly. It is also compelling that almost three out of their four made field goals come off assists. Defensively, Manresa likes to put their athleticism and speed to good use by pressing the ball, even full-court. It will be interesting to see how they will fare against Ludwigsburg, a squad that's used to the same defensive hustle style.

An important detail is that despite their undersized frontcourt, they are adept at neutralizing pick&rolls, getting back in transition, and dealing with isolation plays.

MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg

Coming off a very tough series against Romanian surprise team U-BT Cluj, the 'Giants' are expected to have their hands full in their second Final Four participation. In contrast to 2018, when almost no one expected them to reach the semifinals, over time, Ludwisgburg has built a reputation for being a hard-nosed rival that can go all the way. Their group included Dinamo Sassari, Prometey, and Tenerife. Their first loss came at the road game against Sassari, but they bounced straight back with a dominant 99-83 win over Tenerife in the Santiago Martin.

In the Round of 16, Riesen suffered at the hands of fellow BCL contender, Hapoel Holon, scoring a season-low 51 points in Israel. In order to go through and as a result of getting swept by Holon, John Patrick's squad needed another big road showing against Galatasaray.

Justin Simon, who had started the season with Ratiopharm Ulm, made sure that his new team would make the quarter-finals.U-BT Cluj, registering the best European season of any Romanian club, had huge crowds for BCL standards (10.000 fans) in their gym in an effort to make the best of their home-court advantage.

However, Ludwigsburg's experience and depth came up big when it mattered the most. The same goes for former Olympiacos' big man Ethan Happ and guard Jordan Hulls, who made the difference for John Patrick's side.

In Games 2 and 3, the Germans forced their opponents to 46 turnovers, whilst pinning them down to 75 and 73 points, respectively. Apart from Simon and Happ, Ludwigsburg has several other points of reference. In any case, Jonah Radebaugh is the player-revelation, maybe in the same way Thomas Walkup had been back in 2018.

The 24-year-old American-Montenegrin guard introduced himself to the European stage, scoring at least 15 points in five of his last BCL showings, including all three games vs. Cluj. The Northern Colorado product averaged 14.3 points per game, heading to the Final Four, contributing on both ends. In terms of how they play, the MHP Riesen are an open book. John Patrick's defensive-minded strategy has been consistent throughout his entire ten-year stint on the team's bench.

Full-court press, strength on the offensive glass, traps, helps, and fast tempo with the ball is what the American coach has always stood for.

Ludwigsburg has the best defense in the BCL, conceding just 99 points per 100 possessions while getting 14.6 points per game off second chances (offensive rebounds).

Mainly thanks to the output of guys like Polas Bartolo or Ethan Happ, Ludwigsburg scores 34.2 points per contest in the paint, projecting an image of physical dominance all over the court.

Hapoel U-NET Holon

After getting rid of SIG Strasbourg in the quarterfinals, Israeli side Hapoel Holon headed to Bilbao for the BCL Final Four with confidence. Offensively speaking, this is a dangerous team. There's a lot of talent with the likes of Joe Ragland, Chris Johnson, Adam Smith, Tyrus McGee, and Steven Gray.

Throughout the season, Hapoel Holon had six different players averaging 10 or more points per game, another proof that this team can light it up offensively on a good night. That's also kind of the issue with this team, though.

However, with the Israeli side, you never know what kind of team will show up. They've often been inconsistent during the regular season, alternating impressive performances and really disappointing efforts. But Hapoel Holon also showed a certain level of resilience, often coming back from big deficits and winning those games in the end.

After the decision to fire coach Maurizio Buscaglia and replace him with Guy Goodes, the team was able to bounce back from a difficult start of the season and won the play-in series against Besiktas.

The biggest issue in the semifinal against Tenerife could be the lack of muscles and power close to the basket.

Holon is not a particularly big team by definition, they were only 16th in rebounds per game during the season. With the absence of the only real center of the team, Steve Zack, that issue could be even more amplified against Tenerife.

Adam Smith could be the real game-changer of the situation for Hapoel Holon. The American guard proved multiple times during this season that he can save the team in times of need with his scoring abilities.

Smith has always been the type of player who's not going to stop shooting and providing scoring unless someone forces him out of the court, and if Holon has a chance of winning the BCL, a lot will depend on Smith's performance.

The rest will rely on the savvy shoulders of Joe Ragland, one of the team's veterans and the real creator in coach Goodes' system.

If Holon ended the regular season as the fifth-best team in assists per game, with an average of 19.8, most of the credit goes to Ragland, who's averaging 8.0 assists per game in the BCL, and he's proving, once again, how much of a floor general he is.

Lenovo Tenerife

After finishing the group phase with a record of 4 wins and 2 losses, Tenerife had to go through the play-in series to advance to the Round of 16. In the play-in, they overcame Pinar Karsiyaka after three very intense games, winning the decisive game at home with the final score of 74-71.

In the Round of 16, coach Vidorreta's side completely dominated the Group L, finishing with a perfect 6-0 record. Tenerife faced Tofas Bursa in the quarter-finals series and won 2-0, but both games against the Turkish side were extremely close and tough.

Now coach Vidorreta will have the opportunity to try to win the Basketball Champions League in his hometown Bilbao. The Spanish side is a really solid one, they're currently the second-best team in field goal percentage (49.2%), and they're also the third-best in assists per game, with an average of 19.5.

Not only do they score effectively, but they're also the second-best defensive team in the competition, allowing only 72.6 points per game. It's not surprising to see these types of numbers.

Tenerife is filled with savvy, experienced players who, despite their age, are still extremely effective players and are leading the Spanish side on their path to the title.

At 38, Brazilian point guard Marcelinho Huertas is averaging 10.0 points and 6.8 assists per game. He's the second-best in assists in the competition and a true leader on the court for his team.

His matchup against Joe Ragland, who has the biggest assists average in the Basketball Champions League, will be one of the most interesting to watch in the Final Four. The top scorer of the team is another proven veteran player, Georgian big man Giorgi Shermadini.

The former Olympiacos center, 33, is averaging 13.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game, becoming essential for the team.

The Spanish side shouldn't have many issues in adapting to Bilbao's environment during the Final Four.

Five players on the roster (Marcelino Huertas, Dejan Todorovic, Emir Sulejmanovic, Tobias Borg, and Sergio Rodriguez) have played for Bilbao during their careers. Furthermore, coach Vidorreta has coached the Basque side for several years.

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