By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Fenerbahce/ Ulker had a rocky start in the season, has made the right pick with Andrew Goudelock, but in many games there was an obvious issue in the point guard position. Coach Obradovic doesn’t want to repeat last year’s mistakes in Top16 and he is searching the market for the past few weeks in order to fing the right player for his team’s needs.
The key characteristics of any candidate will be to have more than average size for his position and be able to create for his teammates. He should be crafty in playing the pick and roll, he should work for the team and that’s the way to fit on the side of a gifted scorer like Goudelock.
Despite reports about the opposite, Fenerbahce had its own reason to never enter the race to get Thomas Heurtel, they made a question about Diot – it’s well known that Strasbourg is not eager to sell key members of its team, like it happened with Ajinca and Olympiacos and also with coach Collet – without getting a positive result and then they examined the rest of the European market and some cases from NBADL.
No player was found who could make a differense, the team is constantly improving – having six straight wins in Euroleague – and also Ricky Hickman, who have already proven last season what he can do, is playing better and he has more confidence, something that certainly helps him perform better. According to Eurohoops sources, unless something dramatic happens in the 11th hour, Fenerbahce will not add any player in its roster for the time being and only if it’s really needed the team will think about it again before the second round of Top16, which is the last chance in Euroleague to make a transfer until the end of the season.
UPDATE: As coach Obradovic confirmed in an interview to Fenerbahce TV no move from Fenerbahce/ Ulker is expected in the time being: “I will not just add a player just because it’s in fashion. I trust my team and my players. If we find what we need, then we will make additions”.