Today Doncic will be on the biggest stage in Europe, final four. Madrid will play against Fenerbahçe, where ex Celtic Gigi Datome plays. Here is a pre-game summary from Euroleague official site:
The Sinan Erdem Dome is expected to be rocking when last season’s runner-up, Fenerbahce Istanbul, and nine-time EuroLeague champion Real Madrid clash in the second semifinal of the Final Four on Friday. Madrid arrives with a EuroLeague best 26-8 record, having scored the second-most points (86 ppg.) and led the league in assists (20.5 apg.), three-pointers made (9.8 per game) and performance index rating (101.6), but faces a team playing under the winningest head coach in EuroLeague history. The two teams split the season series, with Fenerbahce edging Madrid 78-77 at home in Round 10 and Madrid rallying to a 61-56 win in Round 29. That loss was Fenerbhace’s fourth loss in five games late in the regular season, but Coach Zeljko Obradovic, winner of eight EuroLeague titles and in his 16th Final Four as a head coach, had his team playing the best basketball of the season when needed most – in the playoffs. Fenerbahce got past Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens by becoming the first team to sweep a playoff series without home-court advantage and did so behind stellar performances from Bogdan Bogdanovic who posted 19.3 points on 60% three-point shooting, along with 7 rebounds, 4 assists and an average index rating of 26 in the playoffs. Big man Ekpe Udoh was worth 13.3 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 rebounds per game in that series, after shining for the majority of the season, too. Despite big production from those two players, Fenerbahce has a lot of great contributors. Bobby Dixon (11.3 ppg., 3.2 apg.), Kostas Sloukas (10.2 ppg., 4.5 apg.), and Jan Vesely (10.1 ppg., 4.5 rpg.) stand out among others, with winger Luigi Datome (9.6 ppg., 3.9 rpg.) also a big-name difference maker. Fenerbahce allowed the third-fewest points (73.9 ppg.) in the league this season, protected the paint with the second-most blocks (3.4 bpg.) and allowed the third-fewest offensive rebounds (9.8 per game). Madrid possess one of the most balanced offenses, with 10 different players contributing at least 5 points and more than five players averaging more than 1.5 assists. Sergio Llull is the motor of the team with 16.4 points and 5.9 assists, and big men Anthony Randolph (10.5 ppg., 5.3 rpg., 1.1 bpg.) and Gustavo Ayon (10 ppg., 5.2 rpg., 2.4 apg.) are forces in the front court. Ayon makes a historically high 71.4% of all his shots, and Randolph opens things up with this timely three-point shots. Teenage sensation Luka Doncic (8.1 ppg., 4.5 rpg., 4.3 apg.) has done a little bit of everything as does veteran swingman Rudy Fernandez. With the outside shooting of Jaycee Carroll, Jonas Maciulis (51.5% 3FG) and Trey Thompkins (47.4% 3FG), the toughness inside of Othello Hunter (7.6 ppg., 4.5 rpg.) and the unmatched experience of center Felipe Reyes and forward Andres Nocioni, Madrid is a team of very few flaws, looking the part, and ready for the challenge of facing the local team on the biggest basketball stage.
SEMIFINAL A
FENERBAHCE ISTANBUL-
REAL MADRID-
MAY 19 20:30 CET
SEMIFINAL B
CSKA MOSCOW-
OLYMPIACOS PIRAEUS-
MAY 19 17:30 CET
Top players to watch:
Fener:
Bogdanovic (leader of the team, Kings stash and all-Euroleague)
Udoh (heart of the team, ex-NBA, also all-Euroleague)
Dixon (5' 10" PG, never takes a step back, similar persona to IT)
Madrid:
Llull (leader, possible to move to NBA, also all-Euroleague)
Doncic (youngest ever Euroleague Rising Star)
Randolph (ex-NBA, you know the guy)