By Niki Bakouli/ bakouli@eurohoops.net
It seems like Fenerbahce Ulker is determined to find the best possible coach and to give him whatever he needs to have the team which will regain the Turkish league and find the way to the top of Europe.
The day they announced the end of their contract with Neven Spahija, they also announced that Aydin Ors will no longer be their GM –he was with them, from 2004. They hired Kemal Dinçer to be Ors’ successor and then they gather to decide which would be their first move. The unanimous decision was to find first of all their new coach and after they made clear that money is not an object, they set the highest goal: to bring to Istanbul one of the top coaches in Europe.
They end up to four candidates and to make sure all of them will understand how serious they are when they are saying they want to build the strongest possible team, Kemal Dinçer undertook the obligation to meet them all. His first destination was Bologna, where he met Ettore Messina and after the Italian coach listened to everything Dinçer had to say, he replied he need time to decide what he will do, since after all he has an offer from Charlotte Bobcats to be their head coach!
From Bologna, Dinçer reportedly went to Siena, where he met Simone Pianigiani, together with Bo McCalebb and because Serie A is not over yet, they agreed to talk again after the end of the finals. From Italy, Dinçer went back to Turkey, to report his bosses everything he did in Bologna and Siena and to decide where he would go next.
Then, he booked a flight for Belgrade, where he wants to meet with Dusan Ivkovic –something that according to Turkish media is going to happen this week – and after Serbia, Dinçer will be in Athens to meet with Zeljko Obradovic, who at the moment is at Dubai for a coaching clinic and then we will travel for Thessaloniki, for… another clinic. He is expected to be in Athens on Monday, when he will meet again with Panathinaikos to clarify the future of their relationship.