I'm a little disappointed not to be seeing a Final Four as a player, because we would have liked to take a shot at making it. We understand that we did a good job for a good part of the season, but the facts are that our campaign ended in the Top 16 and that wasn't where we were aiming for or feel we should have been. We had injuries of course, but it's still disappointing because every player wants to be part of a Final Four, so I'll just content myself with trying to analyze the series a bit and risk some predictions for you.

In the first semifinal, Montepaschi against Maccabi, looking at the way the season has unfolded and the form of each team lately, I have to go with Siena. They've shown a nice style of basketball, honestly, and they seem very deep, with all options covered. As good as Maccabi's history is – and obviously I hesitate to write them off because of their great history of success at this time of the seasons – my gut feeling is that Montepaschi is really on form so I have to take them. I saw them only sparingly this season, but the times I did, they really impressed me a lot. They knew how to handle themselves, and their results speak for themselves. What they have managed to accomplish convinces me that they will have a good shot at winning, but nobody can count out Maccabi, of course.

In the second semifinal, CSKA Moscow against Tau Ceramica, for me it's a sure... more

Hi everybody. You know it's been a very busy season for me as a member of the Turkish national team and Fenerbahce Ulker. It started with a busy summer getting ready for and playing at the European Championship in Spain. So it’s good to have a little rest before the start of the Turkish League playoffs, where we will face Antalya Buyuksehir Belediyesi this weekend.

I want to use this opportunity to send my condolences to Willie Solomon, whose grandmother passed away. Willie traveled to the USA for the funeral and I hope he returns in good mental spirits because we need him very much.

While we are preparing for our playoffs, we are also thinking about what's going to happen at the Euroleague Final Four in Madrid. My teammates and I are mostly in agreement about with out predictions. I expect CSKA Moscow and Montepaschi Siena to win the semifinal games. I see CSKA Moscow as the favorite against Tau Ceramica because of the lone time that those players have been together and their collective experience in these kinds of stressful games. CSKA has many players that have been together for a number of years like Theodoros Papaloukas, Matjaz Smodis, J.R. Holden and Trajan Langdon, under the coaching of a very experienced and skillful coach in Ettore Messina. Tau Ceramica is a good team of many extraordinary talents, but my favorite is absolutely CSKA in this match up.

In the other... more

As I go to Madrid for my first Final Four, I just say that I feel like we have two countries supporting CSKA. That's because many people in Greece are supporting us, too. Greece this year has no other representative for the Final Four, so I have heard that many of them, some in Madrid, will be cheering for CSKA. I would say that some of them will do so, of course, because I and Theo are on the team, and we are the only Greek players in the Final Four this year. But also I think that there are Greek fans of CSKA as a team, because they enjoy the way this club plays good basketball. There may be other Greek fans who want one of the other teams because they'd like to see a new team as champion or they want to be with the underdog. That is part of sports, too. But when ticket sales closed a few months ago, I heard there were a lot of Greeks that bought first, and I think that many will go now and be for me and Theo. First, it's easy to go because of the May 1 holiday, when nobody is working all around Europe. Second, Madrid is a beautiful city. And third, they will see high-quality basketball games, which is nice for true Greek fans even though their own teams aren't there. It might be even better, in a way, since they will go with no pressure or nervousness. It's a neutral place for them and there is going to be great basketball, no doubt!

We have played Tau Ceramica two times and beat them this season, but I... more