NEWCASTLE (Paul Nilsen's Women's Basketball Worldwide) - It's time to reflect on the latest edition of EuroLeague Women Final Four, with an A to Z of how things went down in Istanbul.

A is for always remember that while people will understandably talk about Nadezhda coming so close to winning a first title, they beat a high quality team like Fenerbahce on their own floor so impressively in the Semi-Finals!

B is for brilliant Third-Place Game and the best you could ever hope to see. It was like the Final that never was and came close to upstaging it. It was a truly great encounter, fiercely competitive and brutally physical, with the emotion of each set of players showing these game can actually matter.

C is for coach driver of Fenerbahce's team bus who really did get his players as close to the locker rooms as possible!

D is for DeWanna Bonner who had been heralded by Roberto Iniguez as the best player in the competition and did the utmost to prove it with another brilliant contribution.

E is for enjoy and I could not have enjoyed those two Sunday games any more.

F is for fairytale and while we didn't continue this recent trend of surprise first time winners off the back of Galatasaray and ZVVZ USK Prague, we could barely have come closer.

G is for go and watch one of the best sequences of play you could ever see as the Final witnessed a fantastic five successive triples and some of them were nearly taken from the VIP section they were so deep.

H is for hosts Fenerbahce who did an incredible job and sincere thanks to all involved with the Turkish giants.

I is for Istanbul and a great backdrop to any basketball or sporting tournament. Thanks for welcoming us as warmly as ever!

J is for jeopardy and until the last 90 seconds of the Final, I am assuming that is what the positions of UMMC head coach Olaf Lange and General Manager Maxim Ryabkov were in!

K is for Kayla McBride who I enjoyed watching very much and she was up there with Bonner in terms of influence. Her first season in the tournament has been a good one after moving to Nadezhda and stepping up from EuroCup Women in Sopron last summer.

L is for love watching basketball in Turkey as the passion for the clubs and the country is all-consuming.

M is for MVP Diana Taurasi who claimed her sixth title and told me she will be gunning for a seventh next season.

N is for Nadezhda who were absolutely magnificent. Never before have I heard so many people talk about the runners-up more than the winners. It was a stunning achievement to come within touching distance of a third slice of history and almost take the title.

O is for Olaf Lange who is always honest and actually confessed he didn't know how his UMMC side actually won the game.

P is for Plan B and Fenerbahce didn’t have one in the second Semi-Final when Nadezhda slowed and locked down their point guard, Birsel Vardarli Demirmen.

Q is for [Allie] Quigley who really is a class act on and off the court, and Fenerbahce are lucky to have her.

R is for Roberto Iniguez who has made the Final in every single of the four seasons he has coached in the competition and now with three different clubs. It is an astonishing feat by the Spanish play-caller who has such a terrific rapport with the Nadezhda players.

S is for Sancho Lyttle who was unfairly overshadowed by Taurasi and came up with a superb double-double which was the display that truly under-performed UMMC's success.

T is for teamwork and one of the things I loved about Nadezhda's efforts as they always had six or seven scorers and five players in double-digits in the Semi-Finals!

U is for Ulker Sports Arena and it really is a truly magnificent venue.

V is for victory and even when you are not playing well. All credit to UMMC because they were mediocre and yet still rode to their third title.

W is for when Roberto Iniguez told one of his players at the start of the season in a practice that Nadezhda could reach Final Four and even win the title. He wouldn’t say who it was, but it reflected the belief, trust and skills of the coach who just loves this competition and I can only imagine the reaction of the player – they must have thought he was crazy!

X is for 'X-Factor' and this season had it with the dual race to reach Final Four and try to make a splash in EuroCup Women as Tango Bourges did.

Y is for yes, that's another EuroLeague Women in the books - it has flown by as usual!

Z is for ZVVZ USK Prague who always seem to play close exciting games and were worthy champions during their reign. Head coach Natalia Hejkova hit the nail on the head when she said overall her team played well and can be proud, but nobody came up with the truly special performance.

Paul Nilsen

FIBA

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