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Valencia Basket v Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (2023-10-13T18:30:00.000Z)

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Top 5 Plays | Final Four | 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

It's raining on Coach Ataman and MVP Micic!

Top 5 Blocks | Final Four | 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

The desire to get to the rim and score no matter what inspired some high-flying heroics from EuroLeague players. Here's a look at the 5 best dunks of the Final Four!

Top 5 Dunks | Final Four | 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

One team and EL 

Round 1 concluded with four thrillers that lived up to any preseason hype and put a "can't-miss" tag on all EuroLeague action going forward.

A thrilling first Friday proved we can believe the hype

Well, that didn't take long at all, did it?

With slam-dunk fierceness, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague first week briskly confirmed all the preceding anticipation and hype.

Electricity crackled across Europe as almost 100,000 fans packed arenas from Istanbul to Belgrade, Tel Aviv, Munich, Valencia and more.

If opening night on Thursday seemed destined to be dominated by home teams, Zalgiris Kaunas corrected that notion with not one, but two comebacks from 15-point deficits to leave Virtus Segafredo Bologna fans crushed.

That quickly, we were reminded that anything happen – and usually does – on EuroLeague game nights.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🇱🇹 Zalgiris Kaunas is the first team ever in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroLeague</a> history to come back from 15 point deficit twice in a game (from 2007):<br><br>Q2 02:34: 🇮🇹 40-25 🇱🇹<br>Q3 07:55: 🇮🇹 44-44 🇱🇹<br>Q3 02:21: 🇮🇹 63-48 🇱🇹<br>Q4 03:47: 🇮🇹 73-73 🇱🇹<br>Final score: 🇮🇹 79-82 🇱🇹</p>&mdash; Darius Garuolis (@DariusGaruolis) <a href="https://twitter.com/DariusGaruolis/status/1710287948120248776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 

Another Thursday highlight was two-time champ Pablo Laso returning to the bench with FC Bayern Munich to win the German derby by tying a EuroLeague record for the biggest difference on the boards, out-rebounding ALBA Berlin by 49 to 17!

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🇩🇪 Bayern rebounds: 49<br>🇩🇪 ALBA rebounds: 17<br><br>Difference of 32 is tied-highest in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroLeague</a> history:<br><br>2023-24 RS R01 🇩🇪 Bayern &amp; 🇩🇪 ALBA: 32 👈<br>2007-08 RS R13 🇷🇸 Partizan &amp; 🇩🇪 Brose: 32<br>2012-13 RS R10 🇮🇹 Montepaschi &amp; 🇵🇱 Asseco: 31</p>&mdash; Darius Garuolis (@DariusGaruolis) <a href="https://twitter.com/DariusGaruolis/status/1710035404127154506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 

But if Thursday lit the spark, the first Friday blew the roof off this new season. Total unpredictability, the essence of sports drama, was the order of the evening. Consider that:

• At one point, all four Friday games had second-half scoreboard gaps of 4 or fewer points simultaneously.

• Shots in the air over the fourth-quarter buzzer would have change the winners of three games had they fallen. Alas, all missed.

• Two of those three games went to overtime, the most in an opening round since 2000.

• The fourth game saw a Final Four team from last season suffer the season's first upset.

The first overtime came in Istanbul where former MVP Nikola Mirotic poured in a round-high 27 points for his new team, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, but couldn't prevent[ Fenerbahce Beko from winning 85-82 in OT](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2023-24/fenerbahce-beko-istanbul-ea7-emporio-armani-milan/E2023/6/) before its thankful fans. His three-point try to force a second-overtime missed.

The drama reached literary proportions as almost 18,000 Panathinaikos Athens fans held their collective breath for the final shot of regulation time, a potential game-winner from their new hero, Kostas Sloukas, who had the same shot to win the title last spring for their archrival and opponent on Friday, Olympiacos Piraeus. Neither shot fell, however, and in this case [Olympiacos ruled in overtime to win 78-88](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2023-24/panathinaikos-athens-olympiacos-piraeus/E2023/7/).

The beneficiary of Sloukas's miss last spring, current champion Real Madrid, battled its domestic nemesis Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz all night before stealing away with [a two-point road victory, 77-79,](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2023-24/baskonia-vitoria-gasteiz-real-madrid/E2023/8/) despite missing tower of power Walter Tavares for the opener. Markus Howard's good look on the buzzer did not drop, to the chagrin of 14,000-plus fans in Buesa Arena.

Fans lived every emotion on Friday of Round 1

And before Friday could finish, [Valencia Basket threw its hat in the ring by defeating AS Monaco 70-65](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2023-24/valencia-basket-as-monaco/E2023/9/) by relying on a cast of newcomers until Chris Jones took over in the fourth quarter to make sure.

Altogether on Friday, there were 29 ties and 40 lead changes over four games spanning less than four hours, and none of the eight teams team all night held more than a 10-point lead during regulation time.

You would say that the fans were on the edge of their seats but, of course, this is the EuroLeague. Most of them were on their feet for most of the night and you could hardly blame them. It was a thrilling start to a season that promises to reach new heights of basketball competitiveness. Believe the hype.

Round 1 concluded with four thrillers that lived up to any preseason hype and put a "can't-miss" tag on all EuroLeague action going forward. 

lt translation of A thrilling first Friday proved we can believe the hype

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One of the three players who returned to Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade this summer, along with Luka Mitrovic and Nikola Kalinic, is point guard Nate Wolters, back for a second stint with the Serbian powerhouse. Wolters played for Zvezda In the 2016-17 season, averaging 7.1 points and 2.2 assists in 27 games. It was his first EuroLeague campaign and Wolters mainly came off the bench. He helped Zvezda win three domestic titles – the Serbian League, Serbian Cup and Adriatic League. After three seasons away from the club, Wolters and Zvezda are crossing paths again.

"It was my second year overseas when I came here," Wolters recalls. "I just remember the fans being unbelievable, and something I'll never forget is just the atmosphere. And hopefully this year we can have full crowds again just to experience that again. And the coach was great, and a lot of the same teammates, even from five years ago, are here. I'm comfortable here. So it'll be a fun year and I'm really glad I'm back."

Wolters had to choose between two very popular sports growing up, as he was a dedicated tennis player, too. He lettered all four years in tennis at Technical Senior High School in St. Cloud, Minnesota, while earning all-conference honorable mentions twice in the sport.

While he played both sports for a long as he could, however, Wolters never doubted that basketball was his number one choice.

"Basketball is always my favorite sport, and I kind of did tennis just to do something different. I think it's good to play other sports other than your main sport, just to kind of change things up," Wolters admitted. "And kind of mentally, too, tennis is a sport that's more individual, so you've got to be mentally tough. I was not great, but it was a good thing to do other than basketball."

By playing both tennis and basketball, Wolters also learned some skills and intangibles that he has been able to use in his professional basketball career. "I think footwork, that kind of thing, just like quickness, like a little first step mentally," he said. "It is kind of a mental sport and I kind of use that for basketball."

When you think Zvezda and tennis, however, another name comes to mind. Novak Djokovic is arguably one of the best tennis players of all-time. He has won an all-time joint-record 20 Grand Slam men's singles titles, the same as Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer. Overall, he has won 85 ATP singles titles, including a record nine Australian Open crowns. He is the only tennis player to win all four Grand Slam titles – Roland Garros, Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open – at least twice. Born in Belgrade, Djokovic is a notorious Zvezda fan and attends its basketball games either at Stark Arena or Aleksandar Nikolic Hall whenever possible.

"I know he comes to some games. I know he follows the team, which is pretty cool. He's probably the greatest tennis player of all time," Wolters admits. "Hopefully, he can come to some games this year and obviously, I'm a big fan of his and I watch tennis quite a bit, especially the majors. He's a fun guy to watch."

Being a Zvezda fan, Djokovic might be open to playing against one of his favorite team's basketball players if both have time in their busy agendas.

Wolters, however, rules out the possibility. "I'm really not that good at all. I haven't played tennis for a while either. So yeah, I don't want to face him at all," he laughed.

Meeting Djokovic in person, however, would be another story.

"That'd be great," Wolters said. "He's a great athlete and a guy that everyone should look up to, and he takes care of his body, and works extremely hard, and is obviously super talented. So yeah, he would be a fun guy to meet."

Though not against Djokovic, expect Wolters to be back to the tennis courts once his basketball career has finished.

"I was always a lot better at basketball than tennis, so it was kind of just something to do on the side, and something you can do the rest of your life", he said. "So I don't play a lot of tennis now just because I'm focused on basketball, but I think when I'm retired from basketball, I will play a lot of tennis."

As he returns for a second stint with Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade, point guard Nate Wolters reminisces about playing tennis as a student and talks bout how much he admires Serbian legend Novak Djokovic, who happens to be a big Zvezda fan, too.

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Nate Wolters, Zvezda: "I'm a big fan of Djokovic"

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