Current and former EuroLeague stars share their playoffs predictions / News - Basketnews.com

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With EuroLeague playoffs starting on Tuesday, BasketNews invited well-known former and current players to share their predictions.

Mike Batiste, Jonas Maciulis, Jayson Granger, Joffrey Lauvergne, and Errick McCollum shared their thoughts about the upcoming EuroLeague playoffs and predicted which team will win it all.

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"EuroLeague playoffs are always difficult, regardless of whether you are a top seed or not. However, I do see Barcelona advancing to the next round," Batiste said.

"They had championship aspirations from the beginning, and they sustained it at a very high level," Batiste continued.

The former EuroLeague champion also predicted that Barcelona will beat Olympiacos in the championship game.

"This game is definitely going to be tough. A lot of nervousness, tension, anxiety. We will see a close game, but I expect Sarunas (Jasikevicius) to prevail and win," Batiste concluded.

Full Batiste's predictions

Quarterfinals

FC Barcelona 3-1 FC Bayern Munich Real Madrid 3-2 Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv AX Armani Exchange 3-2 Anadolu Efes Istanbul Olympiacos Piraeus 3-1 AS Monaco

Semifinals

Barcelona to beat Real Madrid Olympiacos to beat Armani Exchange

3rd place game

"I really don’t care who wins 3rd place game," Batiste said.

Championship game

Barcelona to beat Olympiacos

However, another former player, Jonas Maciulis, had other thoughts.

"After all these scandals in Madrid, I think the players who stayed respect and trust Laso. It’s going to be a really interesting series because Real and Maccabi play open court basketball. Many fastbreaks, and it will be high-scoring games, but I predict that Real will win 3-2," Maciulis said.

Maciulis played for Real from 2014 to 2018 and became the EuroLeague champion in 2015. The Lithuanian believes that the glory will return to the Spanish capital despite the shaky season.

"In my opinion, in one game, anything can happen. I think this season Barcelona won every game against Madrid, but because my heart is in Real, I hope and predict that Real will play in the final,” Maciulis said with a smile on his face.

"This is going to be hard to predict, but because of Real Madrid, I hope they will become champions," Maciulis said on the final outcome between Real and Olympiacos.

Full Maciulis' predictions

Quarterfinals

FC Barcelona 3-1 FC Bayern Munich Real Madrid 3-2 Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv AX Armani Exchange 2-3 Anadolu Efes Istanbul Olympiacos Piraeus 3-1 AS Monaco

Semifinals

Real Madrid to beat Barcelona Olympiacos to beat Anadolu Efes

3rd place game

Barcelona to beat Anadolu Efes

Championship game

Real Madrid to beat Olympiacos

Zalgiris Kaunas forward Joffrey Lauvergne went for another final matchup, predicting that we will see a repeat of last season when Barcelona faced Anadolu Efes.

However, the Frenchman thinks that the Spanish giant will take its revenge this time.

"They had a good season; they are well prepared and in one game (anything can happen). They will get revenge for last year. So, the final will be Barcelona versus Efes, and Barcelona will win," predicted Lauvergne.

Full Lauvergne's predictions

Quarterfinals

FC Barcelona 3-1 FC Bayern Munich Real Madrid 2-3 Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv AX Armani Exchange 2-3 Anadolu Efes Istanbul Olympiacos Piraeus 3-2 AS Monaco

Semifinals

Barcelona to beat Maccabi Anadolu Efes to beat Olympiacos

3rd place game

Maccabi to beat Olympiacos

Championship game

Barcelona to beat Anadolu Efes

Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz’s guard Jayson Granger agreed with Lauvergne and picked Barcelona. However, the Uruguayan has another final pair in his mind with Olympiacos advancing to the championship game.

"Anything can happen. It’s one game, 40 minutes, but as I said at the beginning, Barca are the favorites. We’ll see what’s going to happen, but I think it’s Barcelona’s time," said Granger.

Full Granger's predictions

Quarterfinals

FC Barcelona 3-0 FC Bayern Munich Real Madrid 3-1 Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv AX Armani Exchange 2-3 Anadolu Efes Istanbul Olympiacos Piraeus 3-1 AS Monaco

Semifinals

Barcelona to beat Real Madrid Olympiacos to beat Anadolu Efes

3rd place game

Didn’t make a prediction

Championship game

Barcelona to beat Olympiacos

Errick McCollum was the only one who predicted that Monaco will reach the Final Four in their debut season.

"In every Final Four, there’s a team which slides in that you didn’t expect," McCollum said. "This is the series I’m going to pick Mike James-led team. Monaco are a great team, and I think it’s a dangerous series for Olympiacos."

"They will have issues trying to contain Mike James. They have a good defender in Thomas Walkup, but aside from that, other guards are not defensively orientated. I think Mike James will have his way and lead the team to the Final Four," he added.

However, when the time came to pick the winner, McCollum went with the popular choice, naming that Barcelona will beat Armani Exchange.

"It's going to be a great matchup. Except for Kyle Hines, I don’t think there’s anyone on the Milan team, who could guard Mirotic on the inside. But you want to keep him on pick-n-roll actions on Brandon Davies, so Messina will have decisions to make.

Ultimately, I think it’s Barcelona’s time. They were so close last year. Great roster, great players, great coach. As long as they can stay healthy, and continue following the coach’s plan, they will be the champions," McCollum concluded.

Full McCollum's predictions

Quarterfinals

FC Barcelona 3-1 FC Bayern Munich Real Madrid 3-2 Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv AX Armani Exchange 3-2 Anadolu Efes Istanbul Olympiacos Piraeus 2-3 AS Monaco

Semifinals

Barcelona to beat Real Madrid Armani Exchange to beat Monaco

3rd place game

Monaco to beat Real Madrid

Championship game

Barcelona to beat Armani Exchange

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