Besiktas young Turkish players were amazing against Buyukcekmece
I am almost sure Besiktas has the youngest roster in Europe. The average age of the squad is exactly 20 years old, including many teenagers. Because of the economic crisis generated by Covid-19, the Turkish club had to readapt their strategy regarding the money invested. That’s why the signed only 3 young American players to help the team but the accent is put on local talents.
Yesterday, Besiktas started the game against Buyukcekmece only with home-grown players, while the host team had “good” foreigners. And in this young formula, Besiktas dominated the first quarter, having a 2 digit lead at the first break. Then, later in the game, 2 Americans were used for around 10 minutes each of them. In the end, the visitors won the game because Buyukcekmece was too weak and they played a chaotic basketball. Their foreigners were out of shape. To give you an example, Devin Oliver finished with 3/12 FG, while the Besiktas youngsters that nobody heard about scored with a decent percentage.
I was expecting another attitude from Buyukcekmece. They are the organizers of the friendly tournament, which includes also Ormanspor, but they are disappointing a lot at the discipline on the court. They were too relaxed during the first half thinking that Besiktas will be easy to smash in the second part of the encounter.
Never underestimate the opponents, that’s the first rule. What happened yesterday is the clear sign of the fact that we have to focus more – everywhere in Europe – to grow local talents. Instead of bringing in demotivated cheap Americans that will miss everything and when they score are considered heroes, we have to reorient our efforts to produce as many as possible home-grown players. They play with heart and brain, using very efficient every possession. This is the key to success in the long run.
Image: Basketball Champions League
