By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Surprising results? No. Stunningly good performances? Plenty of those in the Turkish Basketball Super League, both by individual players or by an overall team output.
A mind blowing double-double of 26 points and 20 rebounds by Adrien Moerman allowed Banvit (13-8) to easily win Usak Sportif (10-11) on the road. The French power forward has made a history in finishing games with double digits in two statistical categories, but what he did in Usak was unbelievable. Meanwhile Gaziantep (11-10) transformed into the… Golden State Warriors, dropping 20 (!) buckets from downtown to bring down Pinar Karsiyaka (12-9). Coach Dedas’ team is making a strong statement of its sheer will to enter the playoffs through its increasingly good performances.
No change occurred in the first place of the standings. During the closing match of the week, Anadolu Efes (17-4) faced many difficulties against Besiktas (10-11), but in the end managed to get the victory that keeps them above all other teams. The guests had a dynamic entrance that took aback their opponents, but coach Ivkovic’s players responded to balance the game a bit before halftime and then built a lead of nine, 59 – 50, at the end of the third quarter.
Cenk Akyol and Lamont Hamilton led the charge for a 2-11 partial score, showing that they mean trouble. Besiktas was ahead 69 – 70 with less than four minutes to go, but then Derrick Brown showed his quality by scoring 6 quick points that put Efes into a safety zone until the end of the game.
The post-game comments of Zeljko Obradovic about Omer Yurtseven were more interesting than the game of Fenerbahce (16-5) versus Buyukcekmece (10-11). With great shooting, especially from behind the arc (9/18) Fener took a comfortable “revenge” by its opponents for the upset of the first round.
Galatasaray (15-6) learned that value of consistency against Ted Ankara on the road, without paying any cost. The team from Istanbul allowed 29 points during the third quarter, which ended 66-65 for the hosts, but only 12 in the last period thus preventing falling victim of a surprise and remaining at the third place of the standings.
Basketball Super League 2015/2016 – Day 21
Usak Sportif – Banvit (Adrien Moerman 26 p. 20 r.): 64 – 80
Istanbul B.S.B. (Malcolm Armstead 20 p.) – Yesilgiresun: 91 – 70
Gaziantep (Jure Balazic 28 p.) – Pinar Karsiyaka: 97 – 81
Trabzonspor (John Edward Prince) – Turk Telekom: 76 – 65
Ted Ankara – Galatasaray (Chuck Davis 18 p. 13 r.): 78 – 88
Fenerbahce (Bogdan Bogdanovic 25 p. 8 r.) – Buyukcekmece: 86 – 64
Darussafaka Dogus (Luke Haragondy 15 p.) – Konyaspor: 90 – 63
Anadolu Efes (Derrick Brown 20 p.) – Besiktas: 79 – 72