Tofas, with only 3 foreigners destroyed Bursaspor by 50 points margin
What happened yesterday in the Turkish league is unbelievable. In the derby of Bursa, the city that has 2 teams involved in the battle for the playoffs, Tofas hammered their rivals, Bursaspor, with 109-59. It is not only a huge margin but also a surprise, because a couple of months ago, in the first round of the Turkish league, Bursaspor beat the Tofas with 80-76.
Yesterday, Tofas took the revenge, even if they could count only on 3 foreigners, Devin Williams, Tarik Phillip and the newcomer Rion Brown, who came from the bench. Bursaspor had 5 foreigners, so many expected a balanced game, which was not at all the case. The host took the lead after a couple of minutes and from 13-13 they seal the victory already at the halftime with 57-25. In the second half, the margin grew even more, Tofas eventually winning the encounter with 50 points!
This was the best example for the whole Europe that homegrown players have huge importance and every country should make an effort to invest in growing local talents. Mercenaries are coming and going but the present and the future of basketball in each country is depending a lot on the level of homegrown players. The Turkish players of Tofas scored 60 points and the entire Bursaspor including 5 overrated and chaotic foreigners scored 59. And we speak about average Turkish players, who improved a lot during the last season, reaching an impressive level. This was possible because of the new rule put into practice starting with 2018-2019, which allows only 5 foreigners per team in the domestic league of Turkey. At that moment, many people thought that this will lower the level of Turkish basketball, but in fact, it was a brilliant decision that changed the future of the next generations of local players. They saw more minutes on the court and their progress is visible for entire Europe! Congratulations Turkey! This has to be a path for other countries, like Romania where they are bringing in too many foreigners every year, suffocating the development of the local talents.
Photo: Eurocup
Gratian Cormos
