By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
The Turkish clubs in next season’s Euroleague will be considered among the favorites to go all the way after many years of failures despite high expectations. They will have many top players and for the first time many top coaches in their ranks.
Still, one of the major issues plaguing those teams in recent years was the quality of local players in their rosters. Fenerbahce/ Ulker of Zeljko Obradovic has signed two top American guards (Ricky Hickamn, Drew Goudelock) and the club is near Bogdan Bogdanovic, despite the push by CSKA Moscow in order to get the player. This is a transaction which will probably need 3 or 4 days in order to be finalized.
However the burning question remains: Who are the local players who are going to create the core of the team. Fenerbahce/ Ulker is working hard on this front and soon results are expected.
In the next hours, two Turkish players are expected to be announced, but that’s just the start because the plan of Fener is to have the most talented core of available Turkish talent in Europe and Eurohoops presents it.
The smart – last chance – of Semih Erden!
Fenerbahce works on a plan that includes former NBA center Semih Erden! This depends also from other variables – the decision of TBF about the status of Emir Preldzic in the league – and there are some very specific conditions in order for the deal to happen.
Semih Erden is past from Anadolu Efes‘ plans and it’s just a matter of time for him to be officially released. Fenerbahce/ Ulker is thinking about giving him one more chance, probably the last he will get, in order to play in one of the top clubs in Turkey.
After a very bad season at Efes, Erden remains a player with proven skills and experience which can’t be matched by any other Turkish center in Europe.
If he could understand that signing with Fenerbahce, getting support by an exceptional back court and playing under Obradovic will be the best possible way to relaunch his career in the highest level – something that it will be proven in the near future during the possible negotiations between him and the team – then he may get a contract for next season and the chance to shine again.
On the same time, Fenerbahce would complete a smart move, getting a player with great potential, despite the fact that he is constantly an underachiever since his return from the NBA.
If this intention transforms to an offer and Fener‘s plan comes to fruition, then it will be a calculated gamble from the club’s side – and the “calculation” part also has to do with the financial aspect of the deal, as Erden will not be paid the same money he was getting from Efes – and a win-win situation for both sides involved.
Erden would have to accept this new reality, keep his head down and let Obradovic help him. He would have to fight for his minutes on the court, he would have to be focused on basketball and build again his reputation. After all, he is not expected to be the starting center…
The “1” and “5′ positions are the most important in basketball, that’s why Fener wants to invest also in local point guards and centers. That’s why one more Turkish player is expected to stay with the team with a contract extension, a present to Fener’s fans, which is also expected to be announced in the next hours. He is, of course, Melih Mahmutoglu.