The homegrown players – much better than the foreigners in Turk Telekom vs. Anadolu Efes
The league didn’t stop in Turkey providing interesting battles also during this weekend. One of the most important was that between Turk Telekom Ankara and Anadolu Efes. Without Shane Larkin, who expressed his opinions against the idea of continuing the championship because of the Coronavirus, Anadolu Efes looked exactly like they are: the Euroleague title contender.
The visitors dominated the entire game and when Turk Telekom seems to come back in the first minute of the 3rd quarter, the answer of Anadolu Efes was an impressive run which took the game at 20 points margin in a couple of minutes. Actually Efes won all the quarters, giving a lot of minutes to the Turkish players.
Very surprising was the motivation of the young local players of both teams who were the main characters of the encounter. In the list of the first 11 scorers of the game, 9 were homegrown players, including the best scorer: Enes Taskiran from the host team who finished with 20 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist in 25 minutes spent on the court. Other 6 players finished in double-digit for both teams. Sertac Sanli (Anadolu Efes) almost reached a double-double, with 17 points and 9 rebounds, while Metin Turen (Turk Telekom) did it: 14 points and 10 rebounds.
In this game was visible once again the appetite for playing basketball of the Turkish players who were the main scorers for both sides. While the American players are afraid of Coronavirus and made a poor game, the homegrown players showed great scoring skills. Not only in this game but as well in other encounters of the round in the Turkish league. This concrete situation proves once again why is so important to develop basketball academies in each European city and to grow your own players. They are the only solution for a sustainable basketball future.
Photo: Basketball Champions League
Gratian Cormos
