By Niki Bakouli/ bakouli@eurohoops.net
After the end of the Euroleague Final Four there was a rumor all over Istanbul about Fenerbahche/Ulker having reached a verbal agreement with Italian Ettore Messina, currently a special consultant on the Lakers coaching stuff, in order to sign him as the coach of the team.
“Fener” just build a new arena in Istanbul, has tones of money, but mediocre results. The team did not qualify to the Euroleague play offs and lost the quarterfinals play offs series in Turkey’s domestic league. That means that the contract of Croatian Neven Spahija will not be renewed and the team is searching for a coach.
Their main target, thought, is not Messina, but Zeljko Obradovic. As you have read there’s still a mystery surrounding his future on Panathinaikos and Fenerbahce/Ulker, as multiple Turkish sources confirmed to Eurohoops.net, offered him – unofficially – the best alternative choice, based on the economic standpoint. Maybe that’s the reason behind the leak of the rumor about Messina…