Reigning champion Anadolu Efes is ready to defend the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague title as it makes a third straight and fifth overall Final Four appearance Thursday.

The Turkish basketball powerhouse had a below-par regular season, finishing only sixth in the league table, before bouncing back in the playoffs.

It saw off third-seeded Milano 3-1 in the playoffs to set up a date with Greek giant Olympiacos in Belgrade.

Olympiacos, who finished the regular season in the second place, was taken to the final game by French champion Monaco in a tightly contested playoffs series.

The Greek side has three players with previous Final Four experience, but they combine for 19 Final Four appearances among them.

Kostas Sloukas is at his eighth Final Four while Georgios Printezis is at his sixth and Kostas Papanikolaou played four Final Fours with Olympiacos and one with FC Barcelona.

All three players won back-to-back titles with Olympiacos in 2012 and 2013. Sloukas added his third EuroLeague crown with Fenerbahçe in 2017.

On the other hand, Istanbul-based Efes returns to the Final Four with 11 players and the head coach who won the competition last season.

Efes's 12th player from the 2021 championship game, Sertaç Şanlı, is now with Barcelona.

Turkish U.S. star player Larkin, who was named in the 2021-22 All-EuroLeague first-team squad, will be Efes' key player in their fight for the trophy.

The 29-year-old player has produced 14.6 points and 5.3 assists per game this season.

Serbian point guard Vasilije Micic, who won the 2021-2022 Top Scorer Trophy, will be another vital figure for the Turkish team.

Micic, 28, became the top scorer of the season with 18.2 points per game.

Efes and Olympiacos are tied at 22-22 in their EuroLeague games this century.

They last played in Round 26 when Sloukas hit a buzzer-beating corner 3-pointer to lift Olympiacos to an 87-85 overtime win. Sloukas had 23 points, six assists and five rebounds in that game.

Looking back

The club is a veteran European campaigner. Before securing its first EuroLeague title last season, Efes had come second in 2019 and third in 2000 and 2001.

In its first Final Four in the 1999-2000 season, Anadolu Efes lost to the Greek side Panathinaikos 81-71 in Thessaloniki before defeating Spanish team Barcelona 75-69 in the third-place game.

It had also competed in the 2001 FIBA SuproLeague Final Four, the most important FIBA organization.

On the first day of the Final Four, Anadolu Efes was defeated by Panathinaikos 74-66, then beat Russia's CSKA Moscow to take the third spot.

Anadolu Efes ended its 17-year EuroLeague Final Four drought in the 2018-2019 season when it qualified for the final after eliminating Turkish archrival Fenerbahçe Beko 92-73 in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.

But it lost to Russia's CSKA Moscow 91-83 in the final to secure the second spot.

It was also the first team to win a first European trophy in Turkish basketball history in 1996 when it won the European Radivoj Korac Cup.

Anadolu Efes was crowned the 2021 EuroLeague champion for the first time, defeating Spanish opponent Barcelona 86-81 in the final held in Cologne.

It could become the first Turkish team to win the championship for twice in a row.

The 2022 Final Four will be held in Belgrade's 15,500-capacity Stark Arena.

In the other Final Four clash, Barcelona will play against archrival Real Madrid.

After Thursday's semifinals, the third-place game is set for Friday and the final will be played on May 21.