Analysis of Fenerbahce Beko’s changes
A lot of things has changed in Fenerbahce this summer. Many people left the team that formed a dynasty in European basketball. Zeljko Obradovic, Datome, Sloukas, Kalinic are some of them. Fenerbahçe chose the coach for Igor Kokoskov, the first European head coach in Nba history. On the player basis, they turned to hard names such as Lorenzo Brown, Deshawn Pierre, Danilo Barthel, Ulanovas, Jarell Eddie, Hamilton. So what kind of game will Fenerbahçe Basketball play this year?
First, let’s share Fenerbahçe’s squad:
Lorenzo Brown-Bobby Dixon-Kenan Sipahi
Nando De Colo-Leo Westermann Melih Mahmutoğlu
Ulanovas-Jarell Eddie-Tarık Biberovic
Danilo Barthel-Deshawn Pierre-Berkay Candan
Vesely-Hamilton-Ahmet Duverioglu
Fenerbahce seems to have formed a team led by Nando de Colo and Jan Vesely. We see a budget reduction of about 9 million. With the exception of Vesely and De Colo, low-cost players were used instead of star players. Lorenzo Brown, who had a good season in Crvena Zvezda last year, will be the third man of Fenerbahce. First of all, Fenerbahce’s choices instead of names with defensive weaknesses such as Lauvergne, Derrick Williams and Datome will increase the hardness of the team. In addition, tall players according to their positions such as Lorenzo Brown, Hamilton, Danilo Barthel, Eddie will reduce the team’s rebound problem.
However, there will be a serious creativity issue in the team. Players such as Jarell Eddie, Westermann, Ulanovas, Barthel, Pierre, Hamilton will be a problem for Fenerbahçe on offense. Fenerbahçe will try to solve this problem under the leadership of De Colo and Vesely. However, it should not be forgotten that De Colo is 33 years old and Vesely returned from injury. De Colo did not play exhibition games. And Vesely did not perform well. The answer to the question of whether Vesely and Nando will be in their old days throughout the year will be decisive for Fenerbahçe.
In addition, another solution of Fenerbahçe will be 3-point shots in transition offenses. Igor Kokoskov from the NBA school will prefer transition attacks. Shooters like Jarell Eddie, Melih Mahmutoğlu, Bobby Dixon and Nando De Colo will be effective in these offenses. Kokoskov also wants to implement the 2018 Houston Rockets model at Fenerbahçe. 4 short players (strong according to their positions) and 1 tall player system will be preferred frequently:
Chris Paul – Lorenzo Brown
James Harden – Nando De Colo
Gerald Green – Jarell Eddie
Pj Tucker – Deshawn Pierre
Clint Capela – Jan Vesely
However, the biggest deficiency in this system is that Fenerbahçe does not have a scorer like Eric Gordon that can bring from the bench. Leo Westermann would be ineffective in this role. It is also unclear what players like Eddie, Pierre and Hamilton will do in their first Euroleague experience.
According to this information, we can summarize Fenerbahçe’s weaknesses and strengths as follows:
Strengths:
-Defense
-Transition 3 point shots
-Energy
Weaknesses:
-Set offenses
-Unexperienced players
As a result of these situations, I think Fenerbahçe will complete the Euroleague season in the 7th or 8th place. However, I do not think that they will be able to make F4 in this year when there is a change in game-plan, players, coach and budget decreased. Also, matches without spectators will negatively affect to Fenerbahce. In the Turkish league, I think they will lose against Anadolu Efes in finals with 4-2.
Image: Euroleague
Onat Orhan Selvi
