Hi everybody,

I hope you all enjoyed the Top 16 matches like we did! It was like a thrilling Hollywood production in the last week, when most of the teams booked their playoff places at the last minute. The last week of the Top 16 was a milestone for our club history as we qualified for the quarterfinals. Before the game against Tau Ceramica, my teammates and I were self-motivating ourselves for nearly a week. And as a result of this great motivation, we made a thunderous start and took an early lead, which we defended well enough until the end. After the game in the locker room, all we were talking about was the matchup with Montephaschi Siena in the quarterfinals. Everybody was saying hopeful things in the joy of the moment, but the main subject was how we can go through to the Final Four. And honestly, most of us were saying that it won't be a miracle if we move into the big four.

Neither do I think that it's a surprise for us to have advanced into the Quarterfinal Playoffs. We can only say that we were lucky at the time when the draw was held. We were lucky that we didn't face the great teams like Panathinaikos, who we had in the regular season, CSKA Moscow, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Olympiacos. We had a lucky draw, the rest is not a surprise for us.

When we first saw the results of the Top 16 draw, I thought we would qualify through to the quarterfinals if there...

Hello everyone! Greetings on a shiny, sunny day from Istanbul. It's really like summer here and makes me feel like I'm on my way to summer holiday instead of practice! But the reality is that we have to work harder than ever to complete our mission. Maybe you are wondering about our mission. So let me tell you a little bit about it. I told you in my first blog before the Top 16 starts that Tau Ceramica is the favorite team of our group for first place. The progress of the group has proven that. I also claimed that we would be digging for second place with Lietuvos Rytas. I'm not a fortune teller, but everything is happening the way I told you.

Of course, it was good to win against Lietuvos Rytas on our home court, but I'm still feeling uncomfortable because we missed the chance to win this game by a larger difference. We had a 15-point lead in this game but weren't able to save it until the end. But of course, winning is very important, too. It still seems like we are going to be in a battle for that second spot. But now, the advantage is on our side. It might not be so very important if we lose to Rytas on the road, if we then can beat Tau Ceramica in the last game in Istanbul. Anyway, it would be a great success for us if we reach to the quarterfinals. To become one of the top eight teams will be the biggest achievement we can imagine, because there are plenty of great clubs with big...

Hello everybody,

It's been a very busy day. I'm on the way to Thessaloniki for our first Top 16 game and as I write this. We are still on the bus because of the Greek airlines' strike. We went to Skopje instead of Athens for that reason, and we are now moving to Thessaloniki for the Aris TT Bank game by bus from Skopje. I don't know if we will miss the Wednesday evening practice, but I do know it will be a hard one for sure if we have it. One of the hardest things about being a player is the long trips. You know that as basketball players, we are all tall, and the regular seats of airplanes are not suitable enough for us. It's only good when you sit in an exit row. Flights with connections really hurt us. The bus trips - like this one - are ones we hate, too.

It's not going to be the first Top 16 game for me, but it is for my team, Fenerbahce Ulker. I was involved in Top 16 games very often when I was playing for Efes Pilsen and also for Ulker before. It's really very precious for all of us to be in the Top 16 as members of Fenerbahce Ulker basketball team, but it has another meaning, too. Including some American players like Willie Solomon, we are all addicted to the Fenerbahce Ulker team, not only as players, but as feverish fans. I feel the love for Fenerbahce deep inside my heart, as do many of my teammates, including Mirsad Turkcan, Damir Kaan, Solomon, Semih Erden, Hakan Demirel and Rasim...