By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Every player has his uniqueness – just like any person – and it’s not always necessary for them to be contrasted, especially when we consider how much basketball has changed, even when we’re talking about two back-to-back decades. Today we’ll place side-by-side players that peaked in the 2000s with players who we would classify as belonging to the 2010s.
In these matchups we are going to be looking at stars, good players and even role players and athletes of every sort. Because the magic in looking for the player from yesteryear who comes to mind from all those currently playing never gets old! You have every right to agree or disagree with our choices. When you disagree, we are interested in hearing your version of matching up one player with another. Have fun!
This time, we put Felipe Reyes and Mirsad Turkcan in the simulator. These two players share and are characterized by a few identical features: a tremendous talent for rebounding and being extremely useful for every team they played for throughout their careers! Plus, both are extremely successful!
Felipe Reyes (1980, 2.04 meters, Forward-Center)
He’s still going strong in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague as the top rebounder in competition history. Reyes is in the 14th season of his career, which after his rookie season with CB Estudiantes, have all been with Real Madrid. He has already appeared in 295 EuroLeague games, which is second on the all-time list behind only fellow countryman Juan Carlos Navarro. For his career, Reyes is averaging 9.0 points on 48.8% two-point shooting, 32.1% three-point shooting and 74% on free throws plus 5.5 rebounds per game.
Reyes always finds ways to be valuable for his team, which he has done many times and in very crucial games. Reyes won the EuroLeague in 2015 with Madrid and the EuroCup in 2007. In fact, in Los Blancos’ golden season he was named to the All-EuroLeague First Team. At the club level, he has celebrated five championships and six cups in Spain. At the international level, he’s been an integral part of the amazing generation of the Furias Rojas with 10 medals under his belt: three golds, two silvers and a bronze in the EuroBasket, a gold in the World Cup and three medals in the Olympics – two silvers and the bronze from the recent Games in Rio.
Mirsad Turkcan (1976, 2.06 meters, Forward-Center)
He dominated at the peak of his career in the 2000s and even though he has fewer appearances than Reyes in the EuroLeague, he still had enough time to create some major records and emerge as one of the most important big men of the era. This is the reason he became a Euroleague Basketball Legend in May 2017. Turkcan played in the EuroLeague for 10 seasons with CSKA Moscow (over two separate stints), Montepaschi Siena and of course Fenerbahce Istanbul, where he spent the best part of his career in the top league with great success. It’s no coincidence that the club retired his No. 6 jersey in his honor in 2012!
Stats? He completed his career with 11.8 points per game on 52.8% two-point shooting, 34.5% three-point shooting and 72.6% in free throws. Turkcan also tallied 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals, but was above all known for collecting almost 10 rebounds per game. The best season of his career was, without a doubt, the 2001-2 season, when he had 17.6 points and 13.9 rebounds on average in the colors of CSKA and he deservedly won the title of MVP of the Regular Season. He was a three-time All-EuroLeague selection. Turkcan won seven league championships and four cups in Turkey with Anadolu Efes Istanbul and Fenerbahce as well as one championship in Russia with CSKA. At the international level with Turkey, he won the silver medal at EuroBasket 2001.
Their similarities and differences
In the basic elements of their game, Reyes and Turkcan have several common features. Aside from the obvious – that they are two of the most-gifted rebounders of all time – they could comfortably perform with great efficiency in both frontline positions. Tough players with a winning mentality who have remarkable range defensively and many attacking virtues. They dominate in the post on both ends of the court and on offense can both be effective posting up as well as facing the basket, with the ability to shoot from mid- and long-range. Turkcan and Reyes usually performed at their best in crucial games. These are big men with amazing combativeness to make multidimensional and lasting contributions to their teams. Essentially, they are cut from the same competitive and mental cloth. Of course, no two players are alike and we can also locate some differences between these two protagonists.
Reyes might be the top rebounder in EuroLeague history, but Turkcan is by far the most-capable in this area to ever appear in the competition. The numbers prove it. Reyes has 1,612 career rebounds in 295 games (5.5 per game) and Turkcan had 1,287 in 129 games in the competition for an amazing average of 9.98 rebounds per game! He registered a double-double in 50 of his 129 games and emerged as the top rebounder in five of his 10 seasons in the league. Overall, Turkcan scored more than Reyes and was more comfortable from the three-point line, from where he attempted to score much more often than the Madrid player.
On the other hand, Reyes always took fewer attempts in offense compared to Turkcan and in most of his seasons with Madrid he was – and is – surrounded by great players. As a consequence, he had a lower profile than Turkcan on the teams he played for. Reyes did not need as important a role, as many minutes or as many shots as Turkcan and has always found ways to offer Madrid his services and to play a very important part on the team. This is definitely among Reyes’s advantages as he combines a unique way of playing and contributing as a soldier and as a king, all at the same time.
Both have made their mark
In basketball, any differences between players who have made their own history in the sport get erased with the passing of time and only their value and their contributions remain forever. The same goes for Turkcan, a player who was a model for younger generations of big men inside and outside of Turkey, but for the indefatigable Reyes as well. Born in 1980, he’s the oldest player in the EuroLeague this season and remains a key player for Madrid, who has been called on to respond with big minutes following the injuries to centers Ognjen Kuzmic and Gustavo Ayon.
At 37 years of age, Reyes has won everything, he has dozens of distinctions on his record of achievements at the club and international level, and yet he still finds ways to keep his motivation high. You know that once he steps on the court, he will fight for every offensive rebound, he will dive for every ball and his eyes will have the spark of combativeness, as though he was just starting his career like teammate Luka Doncic.
The truth, then, is that Reyes and Turkcan have managed to make their mark on the EuroLeague, each in his own time, as two of the most successful big men in competition history and definitely as rebounding kings!