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Thursday, February 14, 2008
Road warriors of the Top 16
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 Basak. That makes it easier for us than for any other team to unify and put up a challenge for the colors you all love. I hope that will help us a lot more in the Top 16. Unfortunately, we are missing one of those guys who is in love with Fenerbahce, Ibrahim Kutluay. He is one of the legendary players of our club and could have helped us a lot if he would have remained on the team.
We are trying to become a permanent fixture in the Top 16 and also in the Quarterfinal Playoffs. This is what we are targeting now. We all know that it's a hard task to move into the last eight, but we will push for it until the end. I can honestly say that we are in a better group when compared to our group in the first phase. But it doesn't mean that our opponents are easier than before. Lietuvos Rytas and Tau Ceramica are teams that are targeting the Final Four. Aris TT Bank proved that they are always dangerous for Turkish teams by beating Efes Pilsen this season and Fenerbahce twice last year. So we have to play twice as good as we did in the first round. But, of course, we have some doubts because of the injuries and sicknesses. Semih Erden is trying to get in form after a long injury. He is back in training, but still needs time to find his and our rhythm. Mirsad Turkcan has been sick and is not well yet.
One guy who can make a difference for us is Tarence Kinsey, a very nice guy who is adjusting European basketball as quickly as he can. He is very talented and I'm sure he will help us a lot and will be one of the best-known American players all around Europe, soon. I also want to share a funny thing about Tarence. It happened was when he was playing in his first or second game in the Turkish League. He fell down on the ground with the ball in his hands and two guys from the other team rolling on him, trying to steal the ball. When he saw the guys on him, Tarence immediately signaled to the referees for a timeout, which of course is permitted in American basketball - but not anywhere else. I still remember the smiles on the faces of the opposing coach and the players, but also on the faces of our team's players and staff, too.
I was born and grew up in Mersin, on the south coast of Turkey, and lived there until I was 15 years old. Because of my background, I love cities on the coast whenever I travel around Europe for games. I love Malaga very much because the weather is always fine there and I feel like I'm on a holiday. That's cool. I also like to go Tel Aviv, Barcelona, Thessaloniki and Athens. I always love to go to Italy, too. Whether with the Turkish national team or the club, it's always nice to make a trip to Italy. I love Italian food and I can only compare Turkish cuisine with Italian food.
I still cannot forget the game we played against Lottomatica Roma this season in the first phase. They beat Real Madrid and Panathinaikos before we got to Roma for the second game. It was one of our key matches that we had to win and we did win by over 20 points. I think that was the best game we played this season. And from their point of view, the worst one. It's important to win all of your home games in the Top 16 to move into the quarterfinals. And to make it real, you need perfect support from your fans. In a couple of the regular season games, our fans left us alone. But in some big games, they came and became the sixth man from the terraces of Abdi Ipekci arena. I believe that we have the best fans of the world. But we need to see all our fans in Abdi Ipekci in the Top 16 home matches to prove that. So I invite them now to come and join us as we turn Abdi Ipekci into heaven for Fenerbahce Ulker!
All the best,
POSTED BY
Ömer Onan, somewhere between Istanbul and Thessaloniki
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