BADALONA (Spain) - The Final Four of the Basketball Champions League Season X, powered by Ameresco SUNEL, has arrived, and the first Semi-Final between Rytas Vilnius and La Laguna Tenerife provides us with the perfect contrast, as the detail-obsessed order of Tenerife's system meets the perfect chaos of Rytas' full-speed offense.
This matchup could be the clearest example of the well-worn cliche that opposites attract. It also has elements of a BCL David vs. Goliath.
In the Txus Vidorreta era, Tenerife have made the Final Four their happy place. They just love to be there in May, and this year marks their seventh Semi-Finals in the ten seasons of this competition.
For Rytas, on the other hand, this is their first BCL Final Four, and also their first European Semi-Finals since they finished third in the 2012 EuroCup.
The juxtaposition doesn't end there either. Rytas average 90.8 points this season, which is the second-highest in BCL history heading into the Semi-Finals, after Unicaja recorded 94.4 in 2024-25.
Tenerife, on the other hand have allowed 90 points or more in both of their last two Semi-Finals appearances. Even before this game tips off, there is already the tension created by a tug of war between two opposite forces pulling on a rope that looks set to snap.
The record between these two clubs is less evenly matched. The Canary Islanders have won three of the last four and have almost total domination historically.
The only part of this equation in favor of the Lithuanians is that their solitary win also happens to be the last time these two clubs met, when Rytas claimed an 85-78 win in December 2022.
How did they get here?
The two clubs arrive in Badalona with almost identical records: Rytas won Group A in the Regular Season with a 4-2 record, whilst Tenerife were in Group D, but also finished with a 4-2 record to qualify first for the Round of 16.
Again, in the R16, both clubs had identical 4-2 records and earned homecourt advantage in the Quarter-Finals - even if they went about achieving those records in very different ways.
Txus Vidorreta's squad had Group L sewn up early and then lost their last two games once their Quarter-Final place was secured. For Rytas, they were staring down the barrel of elimination until an impressive home win over Le Mans, followed by an even more impressive road win over Galatasaray in Istanbul, helped them steal the top spot of Group I on the final R16 gameday.
Coach Zibenas' Rytas squad dispatched a spirited ERA Nymburk team 2-0 in their QF. The last game in Czechia was a nailbiter, with the Lithuanians surviving a Nymburk fightback to win 70-69 in front of their travelling fans.
Rytas' heroics in Istanbul on the final day of the R16 meant that Tenerife faced Galatasaray in their Quarter-Finals, and up until Game 3, we were treated to a Quarter-Finals to remember.
The series went with the home team in every game, but the first two games were decided by just 3 points between them.
It wasn't until the decisive third game that Tenerife were able to blow the doors open and collect a comfortable 99-59 win.
What will this look like?
Try running with Speedy and Rytas
Starting with Rytas, as we already mentioned, this is almost certainly the most potent offensive team thus far in the season. Not only do they score the most at 90.8 points, but they are also very efficient, scoring at a rate of 120.2 points per 100 possessions, which ranks third in the BCL.
The tempo they play at is a major driver of that offensive production. Rytas lead all teams in the Final Four for possessions per 40 minutes at 75.5, and they also lead for fastbreak points at 14.9.
As you see in the video above, the aptly named Speedy Smith will look to push the Rytas break at all times, and whenever they force a miss, you can expect to see the likes of Ignas Sargiunas, Jerrick Harding, and Simonas Lukosius looking to splash those transition three-balls that punish any defenders not willing to match the pace.
Rytas live and love to play in that full-court chaos. Their ability to force that tempo on their experienced opponents is certainly something to look out for in this game.
In the halfcourt, we can expect plenty of action to leverage those same shooters and off-ball playmakers. It's no secret that Harding and Sargiunas are their two biggest threats, but the structure that creates space for them to work is just as important as the undoubted skill of either player.
We can expect to see a high volume of spread pick-and-roll around the likes of Arturas Gudaitis, Martynas Echodas, and Gytis Masiulis as the lone big in most lineups. Zibenas is as good as they get when it comes to designing an offense to leverage movement around a single pivot.
Where things have changed for Rytas this season has been the mid-season arrival of Augustus Marciulionis. Everyone was familiar with the name, but few were familiar with the game.
The son of Sarunas has returned to his hometown, Vilnius, with large shoes to fill, but as you will see in the video below, he has added his own very unique rhythm to the proceedings.
More often operating as the point guard and leader in Zibenas' second line, Marciulionis runs the pick-and-roll at his own tempo, never rushed and always in control of the angles.
His arrival in this team has flown somewhat under the radar, but those four assists he has dished out every game have made Rytas deeper and more dangerous across the entire roster.
The more things change, the more they stay the same!
You don't need us to tell you what Tenerife basketball looks like anymore. This is one of the clearest brand identities in world basketball: precision engineering of player movement, ball screens, and elite passing to find the open man.
It sounds so simple, but like all masters, Txus Vidorreta's team are experts at making the complex look easy. As Johan Cruyff said it, playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.
Picture Marcelinho Huertas orchestrating the angle and timing of a pick-and-roll with Giorgi Shermadini to perfection, then finding the big Georgian with an inch-perfect, pocket pass to the short roll.
From there, Shermadini reads the defense before they themselves know where they are going, and picks out Aaron Doornekamp in the corner for an open three.
If the defense takes away the short roll, they just make the next read and punish the defensive rotations to find the exact same man open in the corner. You know what's coming, but it does you little good.
Those two clips above may not have Huertas or Doornakamp and Shermadini involved in both, but that's the brilliance of this roster construction. It doesn't matter who is on the court; everyone knows their role and executes it to perfection.
When it comes to what is different this time, we just need to repeat ourselves; the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Where we saw Kyle Guy in the second guard role in Belgrade, or where we saw Sasu Salin for years running off screens, now we find San Antonio Spurs and Boomers legend Patty Mills. Has there ever been a player more suited to Island life and Tenerife basketball?
Still, chemistry is easier said than achieved, and Txus Vidorreta still had to figure out how he was going to make the most of Mills.
Fortunately for Tenerife, he's Txus Vidorreta, of course, he knew how he was going to make the most of Patty Mills, and as you see in the clips below, it's working like clockwork already.
Whether it's setting deceptive back screens for Shermadini to leverage his gravity as a shooter, or running off pin downs to make plays in the two-man game with a big man, Mills has taken this Tenerife offense to a new level.
Tenerife now have the second-best offensive rating in the BCL at 121.2 points per possession, and the addition of Mills has breathed new verve into an already ruthless offensive system.
Lineups and Go-To-Guys
Rytas started both Quarter-Finals with a starting unit of Speedy Smith, Ignas Sargiunas, Martynas Paliukenas, Kay Bruhnke, and Arturas Gudaitis.
It's a well-balanced mix of Smith and Sargiunas being able to make plays and score the rock, with Paliukenas ability as a defensive stopper, Bruhnke's versatility, and Gudaitis firepower upfront.
With those five on the floor, Rytas boast a Net Rating of +44 points per 100 possessions (!), thanks mostly to an offensive rating of 129 and defensive rating of 85. They are by far the most efficient starting unit at this year's Final Four!
And that's before they bring their best offensive weapon off the bench in Jerrick Harding. Mix in Marciulionis, with the shooting of Lukosius, and it's not hard to see why they have the second-best bench production at the Final Four with 42 points.
The question marks for Zibenas will likely be the way he rotates the rest of his front court of Jordan Caroline, Gytis Masiulis, and Martynas Echodas.
Tenerife, like all ACB teams present huge challenges with their size and versatility up front. Zibenas' ability to find lineups to negate that will surely have an impact on the outcome of this game.
Txus Vidorreta's starting lineups have been much more fluid throughout the season. After the first game in their Quarter-Finals series against Galatasaray, Thomas Scrubb and Aaron Doornerkamp were inserted in the starting lineup, and Shermadini came in for Fran Guerra.
Marcelinho Huertas is really the only player we can say for sure must start the game. The health of Jaime Fernandez and Fran Guerra is a concern coming into Badalona, with Vidorreta using his post-game press conference against Andorra in the Liga Endesa to raise concerns about their ability to take part.
We have, however, heard this before from Tenerife's master of mind games, and it still wouldn't be a shock to see either start.
Tenerife's most efficient lineup this season has comfortably been Huertas, Fitipaldo, Sastre, Doornekamp, and Shermadini.
In fact, they have also comfortably been the most efficient lineup used by any team this season. With those five on the floor, they have an absurdly dominant Net Rating of 111 points per 100 possessions. Curiously, we haven't yet seen Vidorreta start with those five. Could this be the first time this season?
Undoubtedly, the matchup to watch will be the battle of the go-to-guys between Patty Mills and Jerrick Harding.
Like Harding, Mills is Tenerife's most potent offensive weapon and will likely assume the sixth man role off the bench. Also like Harding, Mills will start most possessions away from the ball and do most of his damage running off screens to receive it.
Mills is putting up 12 points in 18.5 minutes and has already racked up 14 points in the last 5 minutes of games with a score difference of less than 10 points. That 14 points may not sound like a lot, but he's only played 4 games, and one of those was a blowout.
Mills is shooting 66 percent in those clutch moments; there is almost no doubt the ball will be in his hands if it comes down to a last-possession situation.
With Harding, those numbers read 18.8 points in 25 minutes and 30 clutch points in the last 5 minutes of close games.
He's shooting 45.5 percent in the clutch as well, but on 22 attempts. The fact that those 22 attempts came from 11 games tells you exactly where Zibenas will place his trust if he needs to draw up a game-winner.
X-Factors
We've covered how they will play, how they might lineup, and how they match up but what about the individuals who we haven't mentioned?
The ones that their opponents may not have planned for, but still find a way to make a decisive impact!
For Rytas, that man may well be Martynas Paliukenas. After some injury troubles, Paliukenas returned to help Rytas close out their Quarter-Finals series with Nymburk, and his one-man full-court press is breathtaking to watch at times.
Will we see Zibenas send him to make Huertas or Mills life more difficult? If he can, Paliukenas is absolutely a player who can change games without a single play called for him.
Tenerife's X-Factor could be their own Lithuanian star, and former Rytas hero Rokas Giedraitis. This is another man who has been in and out of the starting lineup for Tenerife.
He's also another player who doesn't need to hear his number called to make an impact. Giedraitis is a player who can accumulate points in a hurry just from moving without the ball, spacing the floor, and hustling on the offensive glass.
In knockout basketball, sometimes those are the only plays you need. And we all know how cruel basketball can be sometimes. The magnetic pull of Rytas being knocked out of their first Final Four by an old champion is hard to ignore.
And finally...
There you have it, no doubt we have still missed something that will turn out to be the big story in this epic Semi-Final clash, but hopefully we have given you an insight into some of the big things to watch out for.
Rytas Vilnius vs. La Laguna Tenerife tips off at 18:00 CET on Thursday, May 7. Make sure you don't miss it!