Throughout the upcoming Euroleague season, The Sports Rabbi will ask 5 questions to a journalist ahead of Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv’s games concerning an upcoming opponent. This week, we ask veteran Turkish journalist Ferhat Yeşiltaş about Anadolu EFES who will tipoff with the yellow-and-blue on Tuesday and the reds on Friday with both games being played in Podgorica, Montenegro.
1) Did EFES do a good job with the changes in personnel on the squad?
It seems that there is more depth which will benefit Larkin. – Looking at the overall picture, the roster appears to have a wide range of options, and in that respect, they’ve done a good job. However, due to EuroBasket, injuries and some players joining late, they not played with full roster this preseason. How good a team spirit a team with such a roster can have is still a big question mark.
Igor Kokoskov – Photo Credit: Euroleague.net
2) What is the general consensus with the hiring of Igor Kokoskov?
In my opinion, Igor Kokoskov is a very well-equipped and competent basketball coach. However, he does not have a very good profile in the eyes of Turkish fans because when he worked at Fenerbahçe Beko in the 2020-21 season, both the basketball played and the results did not satisfy the fans at all. Therefore, especially as far as I witnessed on social media, I can say that the negative reaction rate of his coming to Efes was higher.
3) How odd will it be when EFES faces Hapoel Tel Aviv and sees Micic, Oturu and Bryant on the other side of the court?
This will feel truly strange, because all three of these players were both talented and beloved by the fans. Micic played a key role alongside Larkin in Efes’ historic seasons. Bryant was a man who fought on the court every game. Oturu is one of the most talented centers to play for Efes in recent years. I’m sure these players will feel very different emotions playing against their former teammates and good friends.
Tomer Ginat and new teammate Elijah Bryant – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman
4) Which new player will have the biggest impact with EFES?
Frankly, I’m curious to see what kind of impact Kai Jones will make. If he can adapt to European basketball, he could achieve great success. Jordan Loyd, who joined to team after a very good EuroBasket, could also make a significant impact. But the real question is how well he’ll fit in with Larkin. Micic and Darius Thompson are two clear and distinct examples about these issues.
5) How far can EFES go this season? Is the Final 4 a possibility?
It’s perhaps a little early to predict this, as I said we’ve never been able to watch them as a full squad. But Final Four, would be a major achievement for this squad. The initial impression given by this roster is that it will experience numerous ups and downs throughout the season. In other words, they could easily defeat an in-form opponent and then fall so low that they lose a match where they are clearly the favorite. I still see Fenerbahçe ahead of them in terms of their chances of making the Final Four.
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