With the EuroLeague season coming to an end, the two All-EuroLeague teams were announced last week, creating some buzz as usual.

While for the players involved in the selection, it's always a good recognition for what they did during the season, most of the talks are often dedicated to the ones left out of the two teams. 

With Mike James, Shane Larkin, Sasha Vezenkov, Nikola Mirotic, and Walter Tavares forming the All-EuroLeague first team, the All-EuroLeague second team was composed of Vasilije Micic, Kostas Sloukas, Shavon Shields, Vladimir Lucic, and Georgios Papagiannis. 

So now it's time to switch the conversation to the names of other players who might have been involved in the selection but, for various reasons, were left out. 

Who are the biggest All-EuroLeague teams snubs? Let’s try to find out some candidates. 

Scottie Wilbekin (PG, Maccabi Tel Aviv)

After a disappointing first part of the season that led to the decision to part ways with coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos, Maccabi Tel Aviv bounced back with coach Avi Even on the bench, winning 8 of the last 10 games played in the regular season and gaining a spot in the EuroLeague playoffs.

Scottie Wilbekin was hands down one of the main factors for that great final part of the season. Once again, the American point guard took most of the team's offensive load on his shoulders and delivered in the most important moments.

On November 5, following Olympiacos Piraeus' home win over AS Monaco (86-65), coach Giorgos Bartzokas provided a comment on his team's latest addition.

"We would have signed Quincy Acy, even if he was point guard," the Greek tactician emphasized.

Well, in hindsight, Bartzokas might just as well have said that the Reds would have picked Acy even if he was going to play only in the Greek League. 

Because that's what really happened. Seven months after the NBA veteran first set his foot in Piraeus, he has only appeared in four EuroLeague regular-season games.

Over a total playing time of roughly 10 minutes, Acy made only one 3-point shot, which ironically came in the only one Olympiacos home loss against Crvena Zvezda.

In the Greek League, the 31-year-old forward has played 14 games, with an average of 10 minutes per contest. That's still three minutes less than guard Michalis Lountzis, the 12th man on the Reds' roster. Somewhat surprisingly, Acy has gone over 50% from distance in domestic competition, boasting an astounding team-best 15/29 shooting beyond the arc.

The forward from Texas came to Olympiacos to bolster their defensive prowess, carrying 337 NBA games with seven different teams (Raptors, Kings, Knicks, Mavericks, Nets, Suns) under his belt.

But more importantly, a very promising EuroLeague rookie season with Maccabi Tel Aviv (2019-20), which was cut short by COVID in March 2020.

Despite measuring only 2.01 m. Quincy Acy's ability to support the switch-all defense that Giorgos Bartzokas like to play made him even more attractive. 

Being a second-round pick in the 2012 NBA Draft (No. 37), Acy quickly realized that he would need to do whatever it takes for his team to get the win without paying any attention to his individual stats.

With him on the court, Maccabi conceded only 0.79 points per possession when Acy guarded his personal opponent one-on-one; 0.86 points per possession in post-up situations, and 1.0 points when he went to the perimeter.

His 2019-20 campaign generated 4.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per outing over 27 appearances, including 19 starts, in Europe's premier club competition.

Fans don't play basketball, but they're still the ones who can push their team to play better when they're losing, cheer them up when they're down, and celebrate with them after a happy ending.

On certain occasions, a strong and noisy fanbase has become an essential element in a team's success. During a EuroLeague Final Four held on neutral ground, like the upcoming one in Belgrade, Olympiacos Piraeus' fans will certainly make the difference, even if their team doesn't win the trophy.

Olympiacos will be present in a Final Four for the eleventh time overall and seventh over the last 14 years (since 2009 in Berlin), aiming to reach the top for the fourth time. The Reds knocked down AS Monaco in the playoffs and are now preparing to do battle with reigning champs Anadolu Efes Istanbul. 

On March 4, EuroLeague announced that its main event will move from Berlin to Belgrade. That was great news for Olympiacos' fans. Belgrade is a city separated by only 1.200 kilometers from Athens, accessible by all means of transport, including cars and buses. Serbs and Greeks have long-term ties and Olympiacos' die-hard fans have formed a special bond with their Crvena Zvezda counterparts. 

With the exclusion of Russian teams, Olympiacos progressively consolidated their place among the Top 4 teams in the regular season and when their Final Four spot was secured, 1,000 tickets were purchased by Reds' fans in less than 24 hours, resulting in a sold-out. 

Some days ago, the club's GM, Nikos Lepeniotis, referred extensively to the issue and explained the situation.

"I don't know how many fans there will be in Belgrade, but I think we may see numbers similar to those of the (2010) Paris Final Four, where there were more than 6,000 Olympiacos' fans present," Lepeniotis told Greek outlet sport24.gr.

The number given by Lepeniotis is the largest ever recorded in terms of their fans' presence in a Final Four. 

Kostas Sloukas returned to Olympiacos Piraeus in the summer of 2020 with one thing in mind - how to restore the team to its former glory. 

The guard from Thessaloniki had been an important piece in the puzzle for the late coaching legend Dusan Ivkovic and his successors, Giorgos Bartzokas and Giannis Sfairopoulos. But no matter how crucial Sloukas' contribution was back then, the Reds' leading figure was no other than Vassilis Spanoulis.

Luckily for both Olympiacos and the 32-year-old Greek international, in the first season following Spanoulis' retirement, Olympiacos made their first EuroLeague Final Four in five years. That's what Sloukas had signed up for in the first place. 

In the summer of 2015, when Olympiacos lost the EuroLeague title to Real in Madrid, Sloukas decided to take Fenerbahce Istanbul's offer and leave the team in which he had taken his first professional steps.

Five years and two continental finals later (having won the first of the two, against his former team, in 2017), one of Europe's top combo guards took the opposite route. 

Despite not making the playoffs in 2021, success was just around the corner. With Sasha Vezenkov as the MVP, a testament to his consistency, and Sloukas as the man.

The three-time (2012, 2013, 2017) EuroLeague champion will enter Belgrade's Stark Arena as the most decorated player among all four contending squads. Now in his ninth Final Four, Sloukas wants to help Olympiacos write another bright chapter in an already successful campaign. 

According to the Greek guard, the playoff series against Monaco was the best, or the most difficult Olympiacos could have played.

"It was way harder than facing AX Armani Exchange Milan or Real Madrid, in my opinion. The fact that we were proven capable of eliminating such a capable opponent shows that we have solid chances to reach the final," he told gazzetta.gr a few days ago.

Roughly 70 minutes before the decisive Olympiacos Piraeus - AS Monaco Game 5 tipped off, fans at the Peace and Friendship Stadium had already started to pack the stands. Kevin Durant and Emma Stone were still on their way to the stadium, but neither of the two playoff contenders paid attention to what was going on outside the court. 

In front of the guest team's bench, Monaco's General Manager Oleksiy Yefimov was discussing the details of the upcoming game with his associates. One of the issues to be resolved was making sure that all delegation members had been allocated their respective seats. 

As Monaco players exited the locker room for their last pre-game warmup, Yefimov didn't look nervous at all. 

"I'm proud of those guys, of the organization and the Principality of Monaco," the Ukrainian executive told BasketNews.

"The fact that we reached the playoffs was something outstanding, especially taking into consideration that our four victories against Russian clubs didn't count. We also secured our future in the EuroLeague."

As one of the cornerstones in Monaco's front office since 2014, Oleksiy Yefimov has propelled the Roca Team to unprecedented heights. At only 36, he's by far the youngest GM on any EuroLeague team. It would be unthinkable to rank Monaco among Europe's top teams five years ago. 

"I will remind you one thing," Yefimov continued. "On September 22, 2021, we still didn't have permission to host games in Monaco."

That was the first reminder that EuroLeague isn't anywhere close to the EuroCup, despite the huge leaps forward that Monaco have made over the past two seasons.

Yefimov says the biggest differences between the two competitions are in the schedule and in the way the available budget should be spent.

"In EuroLeague, the schedule is tighter and the level of physicality higher. When you play against those teams, they will capitalize on any mistake that you make," Yefimov said.

"Logistically, the most important decision we made was to spend less money on players in order to travel with a charter," he continued. "In the end, our investment paid off. Especially taking into consideration the location of French teams, it would have been impossible to maintain this rhythm without a charter."

If Game 5 in Piraeus was a final in its own right, Monaco had already played not one but three finals. The first one was lost in 2018 when AEK Athens beat them in the BCL Final Four. The next two were victorious, as Monaco swept the EuroCup final series against UNICS Kazan to win their first-ever trophy. 

Yefimov admits that it's hard for him to work out a logical explanation. 

"It's only eight years since we turned into a professional team, coming from the second division. The main reason is the passionate people who backed the project and learned from their mistakes. That's how experience works.

We had huge support from the local community, the government, and Prince Albert II himself. He likes basketball, and he used to attend basketball games with his father."

As basketball's popularity continues to grow in the Principality and their European journey gained considerable momentum, financial resources are necessary to keep the project alive and kicking.

In 2014, the Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Sergey Dyadechko became the President of Monaco Basket.

Almost eight years later, in January 2022, the torch was passed from Dyadechko to Aleksej Fedoricsev. With a firm handshake, the former president and his successor sealed the agreement, which ratified the acquisition of 46.4% of the club's shares by Fedoricsev, making him its majority shareholder. 

Fedoricsev, 66, is the founder of Fedcom, the world leader in grain and fertilizers, with an estimated personal fortune of $1 billion. His company had been the shirt sponsor for AS Monaco football club for more than 25 years.

Born in Russia but now holding only the Hungarian citizenship, the financial tycoon previously owned Dynamo Moscow and FC Rostov football clubs. 

In any case, Dyadechko has made clear that he'll keep investing in the team as a minor shareholder, despite the fact that the last word belongs to Mr. Fedoricsev.

Yefimov, a graduate of the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute, made one of the greatest connections of his career back in 2007. Having worked as the press officer and then the marketing director at BC Kyiv, the giants of Ukrainian basketball at the time, he was offered a job as their manager. That's where he met Monaco's current coach, Sasa Obradovic.

When the Serbian tactician moved to Donetsk the following year, he proposed Yefimov to Dyadechko as a GM. 

"Mr. Dyadechko opened a new chapter in the history of AS Monaco. When the team was in the third division, he started investing in it. Then, he became the president and brought the club to the EuroCup title," Yefimov summed up.

On the other hand, Fedoriscev was the title sponsor of AS Monaco football team for 26 consecutive years, which is the second-longest sponsorship period in European football's history.

"He's also someone who has contributed to the Principality for a long period of time," Yefimov stressed. "I'm glad that even though he played football professionally, he grew to love basketball so much that he's 100% focused on the Roca Team."

Monaco GM is positive that Fedoricsev will stick around for a long time.

"He has always had a long-term vision. I hope that he'll stay at least for as many years as the ones he spent with the football team."

Despite not having one of EuroLeague's biggest budgets, Monaco almost doubled their expenses during their maiden season at the highest level.

The club started the 2021-22 campaign with a 14-million euro budget, which is expected to increase next year. How much? That's still to be determined, Yefimov maintains.

"We will try our best to increase it, taking into consideration that the Financial Fair Play rule will change next year. This means that only half of the budget can be contributed by the shareholders, so we need to earn the other half.

For playoffs, we could allow a sponsorship with a crypto-currency platform. We're trying to explore new digital markets."

The Ukrainian says Monaco only rank 13th-14th among EuroLeague clubs in terms of budget.

"From what I've learned from open sources, only ALBA Berlin, Panathinaikos, and Crvena Zvezda are beneath us. In past summers, we were having a headache because we couldn't keep our players after successful seasons," he said.

But this season is no different. It can even be much worse, considering how great season players like Mike James, Dwayne Bacon, and Donta Hall are having. Yefimov thinks that the most important thing is that all of them are super happy being in Monaco as a place, a city, and an organization.

"I believe that they will first listen to us before they make any decisions."

It would've made the headlines all day long, and it would have been the biggest underdog story of EuroCup ever.

But yet, it was an objective that could not even be imagined at the beginning of the season. Frutti Extra Bursaspor's cinderella story finished at the hands of the mighty Virtus Bologna, led by the final MVP Milos Teodosic and co.

The power of the opponent was self-evident, and playing against so much talent and experience, it was almost mission impossible from the very beginning. But yet, Bursaspor fought bravely by repeatedly making runs to cut the double-digit leads.

"I would like to make one point very clear," said Dusan Alimpijevic, the coach of Frutti Extra Bursaspor.  

"I am not disappointed at all," said Alimpijevic. "I am very proud, and I am very happy. There is no need for sadness. I am glad to work with players like this. We played well. We fought well, not only today but through the entire season. Not only with players but also the president, the sponsors like every single person in the organization."

The coach is right by all means. But still, one cannot help thinking about "What ifs" in so many instances during the game, when a legendary road for the European title seemed not that far away. 

What Ifs 

What if John "The Pitbull" Holland and Andrew Andrews-the nightmare of Virtus Bologna with 37 points in their matchup in the regular season- made some more shots to get better than 3/14 FG combined?

"Once again, it is a good indication of the importance of Andrews for us," Alimpijevic commented.

"He had an injury picked up from the Andorra game, and he did not practice until the last day before the final. That was a factor as well. He was guarded well. All eyes were on him."