Darussafaka, back in Eurocup with a new roster
Darussafaka, back in Eurocup with a new roster
The 2018-2019 season is one to forget for Darussafaka Dogus. They not only finished last in Euroleague, with a 5-25 record but also failed to catch the Turkish League playoffs, a huge disappointment for their fans. They had some very good players, but lack of chemistry and desire to win didn`t help at all.
Because of those poor results, Darussafaka took the decision to change all the foreign players. The players and their destinations are: Michael Eric – Baskonia (ESP), Zanis Peiners – Partizan (SRB), Jon Diebler – Free Agent, Markel Brown – Free Agent, Jeremy Evans – Khimki (RUS), Stanton Kidd – Utah Jazz (NBA) and Ray McCallum jr. – Agua Caliente Clippers (G-League). Regarding the national players, Muhammed Baygul – Turk Telekom (TUR), Ulubay Okben –FMP (SRB), Oguz Savas – Free Agent and Furkan Aldemir left.
In exchange, Darussafaka added six new foreign players. Doron Lamb (27 years-old, 1.93m, G) is coming from Lavrio, Greece, where he averaged 14.2 points and 2.5 assists. He also has some NBA games under his belt, for Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic. Next player is big man Johnny Hamilton (25 years-old, 2.13m, C). He played last season in G-League for Gran Rapids and in 29 games he averaged 11.2 points and 8.7 rebounds. He is native from Trinidad and Tobago. A big addition is Joe Ragland (29 years-old, 1.82m, PG) from Crvena Zvezda. Last season in Eurocup he averaged 14.8 points and 6.0 assists, second-best in the competition. He has a lot of European Basketball experience, playing for Armani Milano, Lokomotiv Kuban, Pinar Karsiyaka, Murcia or Avellino.
Another big man added was Jarrod Jones (29 years-old, 2.07m, F/C). He came from Monaco, where last season he averaged 8.6 points and 5.4 rebounds in 16 EuroCup games. Bonzie Colson jr. (23 years-old, 1.96m, F) is another addition from G-League. He played for Wisconsin and put good numbers there, averaging 14.5 points and 5.8 rebounds. The last foreign player added was Mahir Agva (23 years-old, 2.06m, C). Last season he averaged 8.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in 34 games for Giessen 46ers.
Three national players were brought in. Erkan Veyseloglu (36 years-old, 2.00m, F), a very experienced player is the biggest name between them. Darussafaka will be the 8th Turkish team from his resume. Last season he averaged 6.2 points and 2.6 rebounds for Besiktas. Troy Sav (21 years-old, 2.04m, F/C) and Doruk Dora (20 years-old, 1.92m, G) are two young Turkish prospects that Darussafaka wants to grow, alongside other young players that are currently in the squad.
A new year, a new chance to shine for Darussafaka. They added some interesting players and alongside young and hungry national players, the results might be better than last season. I can`t see how they will be worse than the 2018-2019 season but will see if they manage to build chemistry and to make their fans happy again.
Photo credit: championsleague.basketball
Bogdan Vasile Tirc
