Pinar Karsiyaka made a complete reconstruction
One of the best teams in Turkey and always a candidate in European competitions, Pinar Karsiyaka made a surprising move this summer. They changed completely the face of their roster. This is a very interesting thing and I don’t know any other team that did that. Not only that Pinar has finished the contracts with their foreigners after a disappointing season in the Basketball Champions League, but they also brought in new Turkish players.
Actually, the roster of the Turkish powerhouse s entirely new and it seems very competitive. Along with the veteran guard, Erick McCollum, a scoring machine, Pinar signed Jaylon Brown, Skyler Flatten, Vitto Brown and finally the center Angel Delgado. As always, Pinar added a lot of talented Turkish guys, starting with Kenan Sipahi, who worked already in the past with coach Ufuk Sarica at Besiktas. Then you have 2.21 m center Dusan Cantekin, Deniz Kilicli, Berkan Durmaz, Mert Celep and the Turkish-Belgian Thomas Akyazili.
I think this season Pinar will try to reach at least the BCL playoffs, erasing the memory of the last season, when even if they had good potential they stopped too early. Their best asset is a large rotation, which is the key for any strong squad and the experience of their coach Ufuk Sarica. He has a difficult mission this summer: to put together 11 new players in order to reach deep chemistry between them. If he will do so, Pinar can fight even for a spot in the BCL Final 4.
Image credit: Pinar Karsiyaka
The article was written by Gratian Cormos, a Romanian journalist, book writer, life coach and mentor currently living in Barcelona, Spain.
If you are interested in collaborating with his website brainbasketball.net, in order to publish articles, interviews or other features related to basketball, contact Gratian Cormos by Whatsapp or Telegram at this Spanish number: +34 612414486.
