ATHENS (Greece) - As the curtains are about to rise for the showpiece of Basketball Champions League Season 9 here in Athens, let's take a look at what to watch when the teams take to the floor.
La Laguna Tenerife
We start with the two-time champs and currently undefeated Tenerife. There are no secrets to uncover about the brand of basketball that Txus Vidorreta's team will put out on the floor, but that doesn't make them any less exhilarating to watch when they are in full flow.
Marcelinho Huertas and the gang really are the masters of team basketball. It doesn't seem to matter what kind of defense they face, they always seem to have an answer waiting and what's more they seem to find the answers without even thinking.
Every lineup that Vidorreta puts out on the floor has a specific type of basketball in mind and every player has a clearly defined role.
We start with the most obvious, but also the most fundamental axis of Tenerife Basketball: Marcelinho Huertas and Giorgi Shermadini playing pick-and-roll in the middle of the floor.
They are the hardest one-two punch to defend in the BCL because there is no coverage that Huertas hasn't seen and there isn't a better interior finisher than the big Georgian.
The first clip in the video above we see Huertas start the play giving up the ball and then immediately using a Zipper screen to come back and get the ball in the middle of the floor.
The first ball screen is well defended and when the re-screen arrives, watch how the defense hedges to stop Huertas turning the corner, but the angle that Huertas takes on the dribble opens space for him to find the pass to Shermadini rolling deep into the paint.
If he catches the ball that deep - good luck!
The second clip we see an Angle ball screen from Shermadini with his back to the corner. This time the defense are in a drop coverage designed to give Shermadini's man enough time to slow down Huertas and also recover back to defend the roll.
Huertas instantly recognizes that this is his cue to take his favorite mid-range pull up. He fakes the pass to the roller to buy some extra space and knocks it down. There are games when he will play 30 minutes and not miss one of these.
The next thing to watch with Tenerife also revolves around Shermadini in the pick-and-roll, but now we are focused on what happens when the defense is forced to send another defender into the lane to defend him rolling to the rim.
The gravitational pull caused by Shermadini catching the ball is often the catalyst that enables everyone else on this roster to get going from great looks.
Shermadini is a much better passer than his assist numbers suggest, mainly because his decision to kick the ball back out to the perimeter usually triggers the next domino to fall and it will be one of his teammates getting the assist as Tenerife punish the scrambling defensive rotations.
And finally, this last thing to watch may have an asterisk next to it due to David Kramer being doubtful to play due to a right knee injury. But if the German does play, he gives this entire team a completely different dimension.
Yes, he may be a direct replacement for the role previously occupied by Sasu Salin and considering Kramer is shooting 52 percent from deep on six attempts from three-point range, he may even be an upgrade as a shooter.
But what makes Kramer such a gamebreaker for Tenerife is the different type of scoring threats he brings.
As you see in the video above, Kramer not only gives Tenerife a weapon that they can space in the corners, but also one with the ability to put the ball on the floor an create his own, or push the ball in transition and play the running game with his ability to hit transition three-balls.
Galatasaray
We know this is Galatasaray's first Final Four and they don't have the experience of this kind of event to call on when they step on the hardwood against Tenerife, but they absolutely will be able to find some advantages within their roster.
Make no mistakes, this is a dangerous team that is loaded with ammunition.
One of the biggest deciding factors in any knockout game is always the free throw line. If a team has the ability to draw fouls and get to the line it has the double impact of the opponent getting into foul trouble and also creating very high expected points value shots at the stripe.
With 24.2 free throw attempts per game, Gala have been better than any other team in the BCL at putting pressure on the rim and getting to the line.
One of their biggest advantages against any team this year has been the athleticism and and rim running of their bigs.
Angel Delgado and Ebuka Izundu cause defenses nightmares with their athleticism and foot speed and even at the "four," Michael Young and Roberts Blumbergs will be able to roll to the rim or put the ball on the floor and attack closeouts.
As you see in the video above, one of the staples in coach Sekizkok's offense is Ram screens, where they use another player to screen for the big before they go to set the pick-and-roll.
This allows the ball-screener to arrive alone with their defender out of position to defend the action.
When Gala ended Unicaja's 18-game unbeaten run in Istanbul, they shot 27 free throws, with Angel Delgado shooting nine of them.
Izundu wasn't even available for that game. We can almost certainly expect to see a good volume of ram screens for Delgado and Izundu in this game with Gala looking to capitalize on their ability to put pressure on the rim.
Now, obviously, we can't talk about what to watch for with Gala, without mentioning Will Cummings and James Palmer Jr.
When Otis Livingston went down with a season-ending injury both players ended up with the ball in their hands even more and with Rob Gray missing in Athens, we know that the playmaking responsibility will only increase for both men.
Palmer Jr in particular will need to not only create for himself but also his teammates.
As you can see in the video above, Palmer Jr has the height at 1.96m/6'5'' to see over the defense and especially against the size and depth of Tenerife's defense, his ability to collapse the floor but also find the skip pass or short roller will be vital for Gala to create offense.
Cummings is undoubtedly one of the best point guards in the BCL this season, but this might be a game where he is on the finishing end of more assists from Palmer as opposed to the usual vice-versa.
The last factor to watch for Gala will be the interior defense and rim protection from their bigs, and in particular Ebuka Izundu.
Fran Guerra missing as the second big for Tenerife may be one of the few chinks in their armour and with Shermadini's minutes possibly being being managed, Izundu may have the opportunity to cause some chaos on the interior defensively when he's on the floor.
In the first clip above we see Izundu defending Spain pick-and-roll action, where the offense sends a second player to screen the man defender the player setting the ball screen.
Watch how Izundu is able to use his athleticism to defend the ball handler and still recover back over the screen to disrupt the lob pass. He essentially performed two roles in one possession.
The second clip we again see Izundu stunt out on the shooter, but then recover to his man in the post and protect the rim.
Gala will need him to be every bit as active to deal with the array of screening actions that Tenerife will throw at them.