Fiba Europe Cup title contenders: Bahcesehir
Fiba Europe Cup title contenders: Bahcesehir
With the last addition, the experienced center JaJuan Johnson, Bahcesehir Koleji is aiming more for the next season where they will compete both in the Turkish league and in Fiba Europe Cup. The club decided to strengthen their roster with 6 foreigners this time in order to have more weapons in the continental competition, even if in the domestic league there are only 5 foreigner players allowed each game.
Bahcesehir has stepped forward every season coming from low-level leagues and improving. Last year they were close to the Turkish playoffs, finishing at 9th the regular season. And now the club is ready to improve once again. In the summer they parted ways with all their foreigners (Chris Babb, Marcus Slaughter, Andrew Rautins, Quino Colom and D. J. White) and with the veteran local center Kerem Gonlum, to old to compete anymore.
The new legionaries are in better shape than the departed ones and can provide plenty of happiness for the fans. Besides JaJuan Johnson already mentioned, the Turkish squad has signed an excellent pair of guards in Dwight Hardy and Trae Golden, a strong big man, Mangok Mathiang and two experienced forwards, Cameron Clark and Sean Armand.
The only chapter where the club has to find solutions is that of the local team members, where they don’t have any big name, only a couple of average role players. With one or two addition of Turkish players, Bahcesehir can be a huge surprise this season. Even so, I trust the Turkish club to be a playoff presence in Fiba Europe Cup, where they have one of the most solid rosters. With a bit of luck, chemistry and focus this squad will be without a doubt a serious title contender in the European campaign, together with Pinar Karsiaka and “U” Banca Transilvania Cluj-Napoca.
Photo credit: championsleague.basketball
Gratian Cormos
