Turkish Basketball League (BSL) - 2020/21 News

[TurkfromGermany]

As I predicted the next big prospect Ahmet Safa Yilmaz got a contract from Bahcesehir. He is 2001 born and 207 cm tall and had a great season in the Turkish U19 league with Galatasaray, performed 18 points and 12 rebounds. Ahmet really popped out from nowhere. Never played in a youth tournament for Turkey. He showed a high IQ, good footwork and rim protection and is fairly unknown in Turkey but it will change soon.

I wrote this 10 times, it´s not easy to be 207, 210, 205 etc. with 220 wingspan etc. Probably you took this false info from the article but nevertheless he even has no chance with shoes to be 207, probably he is 202-3 without shoes. Berkan Durmaz is 202(with 208 wingspan, solid arms but no shoulders), Metecan Birsen is 203,5(wingspan 208), Ege Arar is 205,5(wingspan 218-9), Egemen Güven is 208 with 220 wingspan(same as Nikola Jokic).......for example all are official measuremants from Adidas Eurocamp 2017 and without shoes. Ilkan Karaman is 204 with 215 from 2011, all official measuremants and no joke numbers from Fiba, journalists or other trash rumors. On Twitter etc. turks write that Adem Bona is 208, Furkan Haltali is 207 and Alperen Sengün is 206.......are you kidding me, Bona is bigger as Furkan & Alperen. If we talk about heigt with shoes then Furkan is most likely like 209, Alperen 207 and Bona 205-6. https://twitter.com/Kuzeykg this kid wrote some weeks ago that Yigit Hamza Mestoglu is 6´8, this week he wrote he is 6´9. Last month he wrote Berke Büyüktuncel is 6´6.............i´m pretty sure most people think those are correct numbers.

If we talk about bigs, then height is very important for potential therefore we must follow the kids closer and look after official measuremants and how big they look on the court.

[Toruko]

A lost son obviously came back. Former U16 top performer and Fenerbahce guy Ahmet Can Duran was signed by Büyükcekmece. Now all Turkish teams have at least 1 Turkish center in the rotation and this not just for show (except Fenerbahce)

[Toruko]

OK its time for a power ranking of the BSL teams.

Bandirmas situation is unclear but in case they participate and play with the BJK given players it will probably be the weakest team in BSL.

letting Bandirma out of consideration Büyükcekmece has the weakest roster with many question marks and questionable chemistry.

Followed by Afyon, Antep and Ormanspor which are from Antep all teams are clearly ranked above Afyon, Bandirma and Büyükcekmece.


So:

1. Efes
---------
2. Bahcesehir
3. Fenerbahce
4. TT Ankara
5. Tofas Bursa
6. Pinar Karsiyaka
7. Galatasaray
8. Dacka
-------------------
9 Bursaspor
10 BJK
11. Gaziantep
12. Petkimspor
13. Ormanspor
---------------------
14. Afyon
15. Büyükcekmece
16. Bandirma.

[Jazz]

Cenk Akyol retired.

[Toruko]

Sad news for the Turkish basketball. Bandirma doesnt exist anymore. But if there is something good in this then its BJK took over the whole structure of Bandirma. Not only the first team player and youth also the youth coaches and stuff. Ahmet Gürgen will work for BJK youth in the future.

[Jazz]

Sad news for the Turkish basketball. Bandirma doesnt exist anymore. But if there is something good in this then its BJK took over the whole structure of Bandirma. Not only the first team player and youth also the youth coaches and stuff. Ahmet Gürgen will work for BJK youth in the future.

I heard this earlier, that's a real shame. I always remember Banvit fans being terrific in Eurocup games.

Will they cease to exist completely or could they compete in the lower leagues? And who are their fans going to follow now?

It seems that the last few summers quite a few teams have dropped out of the BSL. Have too many of them tried to overreach financially or is there some other reason for this?

[Roy M]

Zac Heniks has just left Gala, with no clear reason

[Toruko]

Will they cease to exist completely or could they compete in the lower leagues?

They are going to exist but where its not clear yet.

It seems that the last few summers quite a few teams have dropped out of the BSL. Have too many of them tried to overreach financially or is there some other reason for this?

Turkish teams start the season spending more money they have in the pocket and try to find sources during the season. Bandirmas problem is that they had dues because of its school. Just the money for groceries were more than a half million dollar in a year. Bandirmas second team where young prospects were used devoured big money too. After Banvit left them they were struggling severely and couldnt find the money.

The 3-4 good prospects they had had didnt bring any money. Berke Atar left the club with a fight, a very interesting prospect Yigit Hamza Mestoglu left the club without saying anything to Murcia so they decided to give away all their young guns to a club which is BJK for one million Euros.

[Toruko]

The draw is over and very tough games in the first week.

Galatasaray receives Efes in the first week
Bahcesehir vs. Tofas
TT Ankara vs. Dacka

Since the league is gonna start soon I wanna point out some names from those i am expecting a big leap.

BJK: Alperen Sengün (everything less than 15 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block) is a disappointment. Will take a major role alongside Sehmus Hazer

Sehmus Hazer as I said will be the other guy with a leading role. He must strengthen his play making abilities more and evolve from a scoring guard to a true combo guard. A 15, 5, 5 average would be great.

Another big shop up expecting from Erxhan Osmani. A very mobile and talented big. Turkish/Albanian can play as PF/Center positions and I expect him to take attraction from a couple of Euroleague teams after this season.

Not sure about the seasons of Emir Kabaca and Furkan Haltali.

Anadolu Efes:

The most promising prospect is Yigitcan Saybir. His position in the Turkish league is safe but a bench role in Euroleague is also possible. He can take Moermans role especially when his shots fall. Its time to show up.

Fenerbahce Istanbul: Not a fan of this team but there is one talented guy who must show his worth this season. Tarik Biberovic will need some time to get used to the higher level but I expect a huge step this season. A bench role in the second half of the EL season is also probable when he develops as expected.

Bahcesehr:

Ahmet Safa Yilmaz will pop up for sure but i am not sure if it will be this season or not since Bahcesehir has a strong roster but this guy is a very interesting big. Keep an eye on him.

Dacka:

I have almost no hope anymore but he got a last chance this season... Emircan Kosuts problem was always his skinniness and he seems to have bulked up. 120 KG with 2,15cm sounds promising. I wouldnt bet on him but he might make a leap.

Bursaspor:

Finally we can watch Omercan Ilyasoglu (the magician) with a decent role. There is no doubt about his play making abilities and also his shot improved significantly but his major point that he needs to work on is his defense. As one of the 3 play maker I really hope he develops and gives the Turkish NT a solid play maker.

Galatasaray:

If no center is signed, Berke Atar will be the starting big for Galatasaray. His mental issues and emotional habits prevented him so far to stay in the game for a long time. A really talented guy offensively but with huge question marks defensively. I dont expect much but i hope he can surprise me.

Karsiyaka: A 2003 born prodigy who was not ready so far but a safe first round pick in the 2022 drafts may surprise us with a big leap. I dont trust Sarica though. Hopefully bum Semih Erden gets injured and he is forced to use him.

Tofas:

Here are many guys who i expect them to take over. First of all Berkan Durmaz needs to be mentioned. Expect a huge leap and leading from him. Its mentioned he bulked up in the off season. Everything else than a double double average is a huge disappointment.

Alihan Demir, a NCAA power 5 player, should show his worth. Not the fastest but with very solid fundamentals and versatility.

Honorable mentions to Berk Ugurlu, Muhsin Yasar and Batin Tuna

TT Ankara:

Last but not least Göktug Bas. Is a very solid small forward with solid size and wingspan who is willing to do every dirty work on the court for his team. Can do everything to a decent level except putting the ball on the court. Has the work ethic to be a very good role piece.

[TurkfromGermany]

You are writing the second time that Göktug Bas is a SF, of course he is PF, not SF.

Mert Konuk(SG) is one of the best prospects in the league, in some years we could see him in EL.

Burak Gözeneli(00, SG/PG) is one of the most talented turkish players but he has 2 big problems, too thin and just about 190 and he is unknown, in Turkey you must have lobby. Not only i saw his talent. https://trendbasket.net/tb-ozel-2000...i-20-oyuncu/4/ the second last comment is from me, Burak cok özel bir yetenek ve önü Türk coachlar tarafindan kesilmezse Türk basketboluna damga vurabilecek kalibrede bir yetenek. But of course "önü Türk coachlar tarafindan kesilecektir"......
the last commentator also sees Burak as the best talent bana göre burada en potansiyelii oyuncu Burak Gözeneli dir

[Toruko]

In the first week second game of BSL Besiktas lost to Bursaspor 73:89.

Top scorer for BJK were Sehmus Hazer with 18 and Alperen Sengün with 17,6 and one block with 70% fgp. The team struggled a lot to create some space which lead to a horrible outside shot percentage. Also Sadik Emir Kabaca and Furkan Haltali contributed well but no contribution of the other guys at all.

As good as the bigs scored the more they need to learn to defend pick and roll games. Alperens slow legs revealed his biggest weakness by Kenny Kadji.

[Toruko]

After the first week some who hit the expectations and some disappointments...

Many teams seemed to be not ready. Too few prep games, corona cases etc. The biggest disappointments were Muhsin Yasar and Berkan Durmaz. Really bad games of both.

Biggest contributions came from Metecan Birsen who seemingly worked very hard had 17 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists (3/3 from the three) looked very jumpy and full of energy.

Alperen Sengün and Sehmus Hazer also showed that they are ready to take over this season. These 3 guys are my candidates for Euroleague next season

[Toruko]

Tofas releases Nuni Omoth and signs former NBA player Akoon-Purcell

[Toruko]

Great game of Metecan Birsen again who helped his team Karsiyaka to come back against Gaziantep. He had some great cuts and pull up jumper off the dribble and created some shots for himself. Looks in great shape grabbed 11 rebounds and had 3 assists in total. If he keeps like that some EL teams will be more interested than last season. 16 points (3/5 three pointer)

[Toruko]

In a very entertaining game Bahcesehir defeated Dacka in the last minutes thanks to Green and Perez but the star of the game was Dogus Özdemiroglu of Dacka who couldnt miss today. 5/10 three pointer 12/19 from the field and 34 points. Özdemiroglu is one of the best defender in BSL. If he keeps developing offensively, he is one serious target for the national team.