Four reasons why Real-Partizan playoff series will be the best / News - Basketnews.com

From a coaching matchup between completely different tacticians to a fan experience every other basketball team in the world admires, the series between Partizan and Real Madrid will feature an offensive explosion that will have fans glued to their TV screens for the next two weeks.

Credit: Partizan Mozzart Bet/Dragana Stjepanovic Credit Partizan Mozzart Bet/Dragana Stjepanovic

With the EuroLeague playoffs just around the corner, probably the most anticipated series of the entire postseason comes to the TV screens of European basketball fans.

2-pointers this season

58%20,5Points made:20,5Accuracy:57,8%Place in standings:5Record max:31Record min:13Most made 2FGs:Walter TavaresTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

After an 8-year absence, Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade returned to the EuroLeague, and they returned with a bang, making the playoffs as a 6th seed, setting up a clash against Real Madrid.

Both teams made headlines in the offseason. Partizan signed several big-name players in hopes of competing at the highest stage of European basketball. On the other side, Real Madrid made deals with star players who arrived at an already-stacked squad.

Current Partizan head coach Zeljko Obradovic brought Real Madrid their first EuroLeague trophy almost 30 years ago. Partizan forward Tristan Vukcevic made his EuroLeague debut playing for Real Madrid. Real Madrid's guard Nigel Williams-Goss made his European debut with Partizan.

The two teams, although different, share the same goal of making it to the Final Four. Here are four reasons why this playoff series is the one to watch.

Legendary Obradovic vs. Rookie Mateo

European basketball fans don't need to remind them who Zeljko Obradovic is. He's the most decorated coach in European basketball history, with a record nine EuroLeague titles under his belt.

He has more EuroLeague titles (9) than any other team in basketball history, except one - Real Madrid (10).

The start of Obradovic's career is the one we most likely will never see in our lifetimes. Zoc, as he's called, won the EuroLeague the first year after retiring from playing and becoming a coach.

Two years later, he went to another team and won the EuroLeague in his very first season with the club. After the win, he changed the team again and won the EuroLeague in the very first season again.

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade / Schedule

Real Madrid Partizan Mozzart Bet BelgradeTue18:45 Real Madrid Partizan Mozzart Bet BelgradeThu18:45

Obradovic received a lifetime achievement award in Serbia after just 8 years of coaching, a nomination usually reserved for coaching legends who had done it for decades before receiving the award.

"I steal plays from him all the time, honestly. Coach Obradovic is somebody that I enjoy just watching the flow of his game and the way that the team just passes the ball and moves."

These are the words of NBA coaching legend, the winningest coach of all time, and now Hall of Famer, Gregg Popovich.

You can easily find concepts, or even the exact same plays, in the playbooks of current European coaching stars such asDimitris ItoudisorSarunas Jasikevicius.

Obradovic is a playoff legend. Since he started his coaching career way back in 1991, Obradovic has won 20 out of 21 playoff series he's been in with a record of 49-13. If we include two-game total-points series, the series number jumps to 28 and 1.

Real Madrid's head coach Chus Mateo, however, is a EuroLeague playoff rookie head coach.

Although he coached Unicaja Malaga in the EuroLeague before coming to the Spanish capital, his team never made it out of the Top 16 during the two seasons.

After Pablo Laso was let go, Mateo took over the job in the summer. Mario Hezonja and Dzanan Musa were added to an already-stacked roster, with Mateo having to guide it to the top.

With entirely different roster builds, the coaching matchup will be the one to watch in the middle of all the action on the court.

Notorious for his pre-game preparation, Obradovic will have his weapons ready against a tremendously deep Real Madrid roster.

Will Chus Mateo respond, proving he belongs in the EuroLeague, or will Real Madrid crumble under the pressure of a basketball legend on the other side of the court? The series will prove it sooner rather than later.

Edy Tavares vs. Mathias Lessort

The series features the two probably best centers of the season - Edy Tavares and Mathias Lessort. While Tavares is an established star and a winner of multiple EuroLeague awards, Lessort is one of this season's biggest surprises.

A perennial defensive player of the year candidate, Tavares is arguably the most consistently dominant big man of the last five years. He's the focal point of Real Madrid's offense, and his defensive prowess makes the entire offensive game plans crumble at times.

Tavares is elite on both sides of the court. Opposing coaches often say that their entire plan, both defensively and offensively, revolves around trying to outplay Tavares.

During the 2022-23 regular season, Tavares blocked 77 shots to become the first EuroLeague player to surpass 70 in the entire year. Tavares' average of 2.3 blocks per game this season is the third-highest in EuroLeague history.

Per BBalytics, his regular season's cumulative plus-minus of 178 leads the league among centers by quite a significant margin.

Second on the list? Mathias Lessort. If EuroLeague had a Most Improved Player of the Year award, he would probably be among the top candidates to win it.

Previously a role player in Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, Lessort fully opened up this season as the main center of Partizan, becoming one of the most consistent players in the entire tournament.

He leads the league in both offensive (3.1) and total rebounds (7.3) and is second in PIR (19.,5), only behind Sasha Vezenkov.

Additionally, Lessort is highly beloved among Partizan fans. The center even attended a wedding of one of them earlier this year as the best man.

He's often seen dancing with the fans or chanting after the games. He's seen sprinting after the final whistle toward to stand where Partizan ultras - Grobari - reside.

Lessort is the emotional drive on the court for Partizan, extremely effective on the glass and energetic on both sides of the court.

Tavares, meanwhile, poses a threat that all opposing coaches have to take into account. Their previous matchup featured a ferocious Lessort's dunk over Tavares. Will the Cabo Verdean take revenge? We will find out pretty soon.

Offensive Explosion

Even if you don't support any of the two teams involved in the series, the matchup is shaping up to be pretty pleasant to the eye.

Both Partizan and Real Madrid have Top 5 offenses in the league, with the Serbian club taking 1st place by a significant margin. Partizan are 2nd in 3-point percentage, 2nd in true shooting percentage, and 1st in fouls drawn per game.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, are 2nd in 2-point percentage, 4th in assists, and 4th in true shooting percentage.

The first matchup between the two teams in Madrid was marked by an offensive explosion. The first quarter ended with a result of 32-40, marking the highest-scoring first quarter in EuroLeague history and the second-highest total points number in any EuroLeague quarter ever.

Although Real Madrid have the second-highest defensive rating in the entire league, it seems to be irrelevant when they meet Partizan. In the two games in the regular season, Partizan averaged 100.5 points per game, Real Madrid did not fall behind very much with 97.5.

Partizan averaged 106 total PIR, Real upped the number to a staggering 112.5. Partizan made 12 three-pointers on average, while Real converted 10 - both would've been top 3 numbers if extrapolated throughout the entire regular season.

Out of the 15 top scorers among playoff teams, 5 of them belong to the Real Madrid-Partizan matchup.

Three Partizan players reached their career-best marks in the two games against the Spanish team this season - Kevin Punter and Zach LeDay set new bests for assists in a game, while James Nunnally tied his career high in rebounds.

Both teams like to score and to score a lot. Both teams have the offensive firepower to get to 90 points consistently. Both teams have made it rain in both previous matchups during the regular season. Even if you don't support any of the two teams, an offensive explosion is almost guaranteed in the series.

Partizan Fans

Partizan fans have been the story of the season. They set season attendance records game after game. Partizan's average attendance was higher than almost half of NBA teams. Their club anthem before the game and constant support during the game is a sight to behold.

Although Partizan finished the regular season with a 12-5 record at home, which didn't even crack the top 5, it is undeniable that the club's fans will put on a performance during the playoffs.

Partizan's president Ostoja Mijailovic even joked that they could hold the playoffs in a football stadium, which would still be full. During the season, the organization even began 'inventing seats', searching for ways to add to the capacity of the already-huge Stark Arena.

Partizan fans stormed the German cities when their favorite team played an away match there, forming a loud majority in both Munich and Berlin.

Interestingly, the undercover home-court advantage belongs to Real Madrid. Throughout all their previous matchups dating from all the way back to 1980, Partizan have never beaten the Spanish club in Spain.

Real Madrid won all 11 games at home. All three wins Partizan have versus Real Madrid came at home.

The entire Top 10 of the highest attendance in a single EuroLeague game belongs to Partizan fans. Over 300,000 fans visited the Serbian club's games in the Stark Arena.

We're bound to see 20,000+ fans in the venue once again. You can be sure they're going to be as loud as it was during the first-ever EuroLeague derby between Partizan and Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade back in December.

If you like basketball, you'll like what these fans are going to bring during the first week of May.

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