Anadolu Efes 2014-15

[Efesdxb]

After a great win against Real Madrid, let's start a new thread.
Exciting to watch Cedi Osman, Furkan Korkmaz, Dario Saric and Emircan Kosut. Future of European Basketball...

[Joško Poljak Fan]

Osman with 16 points vs. Real... well, he wasn't U18 EC MVP for no reason obviously
Nice pack of young players there. Considering the rules in Turkish basketball, whichever team will manage to raise (and of course keep in the team) best Turkish players, will have an incredible advantage in both national championship and euroleague. Efes seems most promising in that aspect from what I've seen.

[freestyler34]

Efes will be fine as long as they play their youngters instead of paying lots of money to so called foreigner superstars

[Levenspiel]

Efes Pilsen is by far the most successful, the most respectable in Turkish bball history... No other team has ever even come close to what they've built... it was sad to see them losing their status over last decade, hope they're bouncing back again...

[mobettle]

Dario Saric

Hi everyone,

I am a fan of the Philadelphia 76ers, the NBA team that drafted Dario Saric last summer.

I was wondering if people could provide insight into how he is playing? It seems like his numbers are good.

Thanks!

[Cemalex]

Hi everyone,

I am a fan of the Philadelphia 76ers, the NBA team that drafted Dario Saric last summer.

I was wondering if people could provide insight into how he is playing? It seems like his numbers are good.

Thanks!

Hi , nice to see american fans here

I am from Turkey , a Fenerbahçe fan not Efes but trying to watch all games , I watched Saric in eurloague and domestic league.

He has potential to be a star player in europen standarts a decent rol player in NBA standarts .He has high basketball IQ with good ball handling and court vision for his position. He is not exactly a SF or PF i think he is 3,5. He looks like Hedo Turkoglu for his size and abilities. He could be as good as him. (Is it below or above your expectation i dont know ) His phsyics is good for his age (20 y.o) . He is not slow player like most of europens His consistency defence and shoots are issue right now but he is really young player and have enough time to deal with those.

He will not be NBA star but he will be a good beneficial roe player in my opinon.

[Joško Poljak Fan]

As Dario is one of those trully top european talents (don't listen to individuals praising every second european player like that) his sheer talent should mean he'll automaticaly develop into an NBA starter, weather he'll get to achieve more than that largely depends on the team he'll play, position (SF or PF, he afterall is a tweener by NBA standards, might turn that into his own +) and coaches philosophy. He has that unorthodox desire to win, which he translates into a great effort on court (I think Efes fans are yet to witness that) - with such mentality Philly might just get a steal there.

[INTEGRAL]

Hi everyone,

I am a fan of the Philadelphia 76ers, the NBA team that drafted Dario Saric last summer.

I was wondering if people could provide insight into how he is playing? It seems like his numbers are good.

Thanks!

= Hedo Türkoğlu

[Victorious]

I think that Efes´ success so far in the season is primarily due to Ivkovic´ presense at the helm of the team. Combined with the fact that Efes is in a fairly easy group and is playing with youngsters, meaning without pressure (unlike Fener). All this has led to Efes gaining some good momentum in regular season.

The height of their performance was the game against Real Madrid, but I noticed that Real wasn´t playing anything near their top potential. I think that Real has learned from the past two seasons, being the best team in Europe until the Euroleague final and ending up empty handed. So their players are cruising in the regular season so as to step up when it matters. Efes on the other hand is a team which is looking for recognition and is highly motivated. It is however a wild guess as to how they will perform in the top 16. I would say it would largely depend on the group they will end up.

Aside from the good prospect I see for Efes, it seems to me that there are also some long term obstacles. Firstly, Ivkovic is fairly old and is probably going to retire when his contract expires. So Efes does not have the coach to build a long term system as in the case of Obradovic (Pao), Messina (CSKA), Pascual (Barca) etc.
Although at the same time, I don´t think the young talent will be ready to reach the Final Four in Ivkovic´ term. The only indigenous player I see establishing himself in the EL so far is Osman, but it´s still very early. Saric may leave for the NBA. After Ivkivic retires Lasme and Krstic, Bjelica, Perperoglou, Daper will leave because of their age. Balbay is almost certainly not up for the task.

I would say a lot of Efes´success in the future depends on development on some of the Turkish players. It would have been better for them if they would have been trained by Ivkovic until they were 25 at least.

[mobettle]

Thank you everyone! Really appreciate it.

[Levenspiel]

I think that Efes´ success so far in the season is primarily due to Ivkovic´ presense at the helm of the team. Combined with the fact that Efes is in a fairly easy group and is playing with youngsters, meaning without pressure (unlike Fener). All this has led to Efes gaining some good momentum in regular season.

The height of their performance was the game against Real Madrid, but I noticed that Real wasn´t playing anything near their top potential. I think that Real has learned from the past two seasons, being the best team in Europe until the Euroleague final and ending up empty handed. So their players are cruising in the regular season so as to step up when it matters. Efes on the other hand is a team which is looking for recognition and is highly motivated. It is however a wild guess as to how they will perform in the top 16. I would say it would largely depend on the group they will end up.

Aside from the good prospect I see for Efes, it seems to me that there are also some long term obstacles. Firstly, Ivkovic is fairly old and is probably going to retire when his contract expires. So Efes does not have the coach to build a long term system as in the case of Obradovic (Pao), Messina (CSKA), Pascual (Barca) etc.
Although at the same time, I don´t think the young talent will be ready to reach the Final Four in Ivkovic´ term. The only indigenous player I see establishing himself in the EL so far is Osman, but it´s still very early. Saric may leave for the NBA. After Ivkivic retires Lasme and Krstic, Bjelica, Perperoglou, Daper will leave because of their age. Balbay is almost certainly not up for the task.

I would say a lot of Efes´success in the future depends on development on some of the Turkish players. It would have been better for them if they would have been trained by Ivkovic until they were 25 at least.

Actually as a Efes fan, I'm not excited because of the Real win, or the 4-1 record so far this year... you're definitely right, it may easily go south in top16... what makes us excited and hopeful is the emergence of youngsters, namely Cedi and Furkan... it has been such a long time since we had a local kid coming out and impacting any game in a convincing fashion... I think Mehmet Okur was the last one, who already retired many years ago... imagine the longevity of deprivation... so many prospects turning into mediocre players time after time... when I watch Furkan, and recently Cedi, I see the difference... they're nowhere proven yet of course, but I see the same glimmer of briliance as only exceptional players could reflect previously... hence the excitement...

[Picek]

= Hedo Türkoğlu

God forbid..

Dario Šarić is a winner.. wherever he goes..
he has a desire to compete and win like Dražen had..

[INTEGRAL]

God forbid..

Dario Šarić is a winner.. wherever he goes..
he has a desire to compete and win like Dražen had..

Did you watch Hedo before? Hedo was a great player.

[Efesdxb]

I think that Efes´ success so far in the season is primarily due to Ivkovic´ presense at the helm of the team. Combined with the fact that Efes is in a fairly easy group and is playing with youngsters, meaning without pressure (unlike Fener). All this has led to Efes gaining some good momentum in regular season.

The height of their performance was the game against Real Madrid, but I noticed that Real wasn´t playing anything near their top potential. I think that Real has learned from the past two seasons, being the best team in Europe until the Euroleague final and ending up empty handed. So their players are cruising in the regular season so as to step up when it matters. Efes on the other hand is a team which is looking for recognition and is highly motivated. It is however a wild guess as to how they will perform in the top 16. I would say it would largely depend on the group they will end up.

Aside from the good prospect I see for Efes, it seems to me that there are also some long term obstacles. Firstly, Ivkovic is fairly old and is probably going to retire when his contract expires. So Efes does not have the coach to build a long term system as in the case of Obradovic (Pao), Messina (CSKA), Pascual (Barca) etc.
Although at the same time, I don´t think the young talent will be ready to reach the Final Four in Ivkovic´ term. The only indigenous player I see establishing himself in the EL so far is Osman, but it´s still very early. Saric may leave for the NBA. After Ivkivic retires Lasme and Krstic, Bjelica, Perperoglou, Daper will leave because of their age. Balbay is almost certainly not up for the task.

I would say a lot of Efes´success in the future depends on development on some of the Turkish players. It would have been better for them if they would have been trained by Ivkovic until they were 25 at least.

The coach after Ivkovic is already with the team and he is learning the system. His name is Ahmet Caki. Ivkovic's contract is for 2 years and after that Ahmet Caki will replace him. He was head coach for many TBL teams (coaching for 10 years - despite his age only 38 years old) accepted this year to be 2nd assistant of Ivkovic (first one is Aggelou) and he will take over after him.

[Victorious]

Actually as a Efes fan, I'm not excited because of the Real win, or the 4-1 record so far this year... you're definitely right, it may easily go south in top16... what makes us excited and hopeful is the emergence of youngsters, namely Cedi and Furkan... it has been such a long time since we had a local kid coming out and impacting any game in a convincing fashion... I think Mehmet Okur was the last one, who already retired many years ago... imagine the longevity of deprivation... so many prospects turning into mediocre players time after time... when I watch Furkan, and recently Cedi, I see the difference... they're nowhere proven yet of course, but I see the same glimmer of briliance as only exceptional players could reflect previously... hence the excitement...

I can understand that. And even though the youngsters haven´t proven themselves yet, it´s better to have some potentials rather than no potentials. My point is that a lot depends on their progress. As such, the training they will have is essential.

The coach after Ivkovic is already with the team and he is learning the system. His name is Ahmet Caki. Ivkovic's contract is for 2 years and after that Ahmet Caki will replace him. He was head coach for many TBL teams (coaching for 10 years - despite his age only 38 years old) accepted this year to be 2nd assistant of Ivkovic (first one is Aggelou) and he will take over after him.

I am sure Ahmet Caki he will try to continue Ivkovic´system, but being an assistant coach for two years does not compensate for the experience and expertise Ivkovic has acquired throughout his career. Milan Tomic played and coached under Ivkovic for many years. Even won the Euroleague several times (as assistant coach as well as a player), but when Bartzogas left Olympiakos Tomic was not selected as the next coach. The truth is that neither Bartzogas nor Tomic, nor Sferopoulos (current coach), nor Aggelou or Caki are as good as Ivkovic. When Ivkovic retires, Osman and Korkmaz development will be in the hands of Caki (or someone else), which will be a minus for the players as well as for Efes.