Turkish League, Playoffs, Semifinals, Game 1: May 16-17, 2008
|
Defending champion Fenerbahce Ulker took a 2-0 lead against rival Efes Pilsen in the best-of-five Turkish League semifinals, while Besiktas ColaTurka beat Turk Telekom to even that series at 1-1. Both Fener and Telekom started their respective series with 1-0 leads after sweeping their opponents in the regular season. Fener, which swept Efes in last season’s finals as well, extended its dominance with a 65-76 win. James White finished with 15 points and 8 rebounds to lead Fener and Tarence Kinsey added 14 points. Meanwhile Besiktas turned up the heat on both ends in the fourth quarter to beat Telekom for the first time this season 87-77. Preston Shumpert scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half to lead the winners and Sandro Nicevic and Brian Chase had 16 points apiece.
Defending champion Fenerbahce Ulker increased its the lead in the semifinals to 2-0 by beating city rival Efes Pilsen 65-76 in the first game of the series in Abdi Ipekci. James White and Willie Solomon three-pointers and the effective game of Oguz Savas and Semih Erden inside gave Fener a 22-25 lead after one period. Efes tried to break the resistance of Fener inside through Kerem Gonlum and Ermal Kuqo, but Fener keep on scoring outside with Tarence Kinsey, Omer Onan and Emir Preldzic all hitting en route to a 31-40 lead at halftime. Kenny Gregory’s individual efforts to bring Efes back helped his team reduce the difference to 49-53 at the end of the third period, but the big men made the difference in the last period for Fener. Asik and Erden’s blocks in the last period fired up Fener as Kinsey, White and Solomon extended the lead to 15 points in the last minute as Fener won the game. White finished with 15 points and 8 rebounds to lead Fener, Kinsey scored 14, Erden 11 and Solomon had 10 points and 5 assists. Gregory had 22 points and Kuqo 14 for Efes in defeat. The second game will be on Tuesday evening again at Abdi Ipekci.
Besiktas Cola Turka beat Turk Telekom of Ankara 87-77 for the first time this season and tied the semifinal series at 1-1. The Istanbul side, which started the series down 0-1 because it lost both games to Telekom in the regular season, had pulled away in the fourth quarter to win Game 2. Predrag Drobnjak and Onur Aydin points kept Besiktas ahead 22-20 at the end of the first quarter, but Telekom responded with an 0-11 charge in the second quarter led by Haluk Yildirim, Chris Williams and Adem Oren to go ahead 29-38. A Tutku Acik three-pointer increased the lead to double digits, but Besiktas responded to get within 40-43 by halftime. A tense third period followed as Besiktas increased its defensive pressure, but Telekom stayed resistant through Acik’s free throws to move into the last period leading 58-59. Sandro Nicevic, Brian Chase and Preston Shumpert changed the destiny of the game for Besiktas in the last period as the home team took control of the game with good defense and triples from Shumpert and Chase to build a 67-79 lead with 2:30 to go. Khalid El Amin’s individual efforts and Telekom’s tactical fouls in the remaining minutes didn’t change anything as Besiktas won the game by 10. Shumpert scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half to lead the winners, Nicevic and Chase had 16 points each and Drobnjak scored 11 for Besiktas. Williams had 18 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists for Telekom, El Amin finished with 17, Acik had 11 points and 6 assists and Kris Lang added 10.
| Semifinal Playoffs, best of 5 games |
| Record | Team | Game | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | | 1 | Besiktas C. Turka (1) | L* | 87 | May 19 | - | *- | | 1 | Turk Telekom (4) | W* | 77 | - | - | - | | 0 | Efes Pilsen (2) | L* | 65 | May 20 | *- | *- | | 2 | Fenerbahce Ulker (3) | W* | 76 | - | - | - |
*In Turkey, if one team won both regular season games between them,
their playoff series begins 1-0 in that team's favor.
| Semifinal games | | Game 1 | Besiktas Cola Turka vs. Turk Telekom | 87-77 | May 16 | | Game 1 | Efes Pilsen vs. Fenerbahce Ulker | 65-76 | May 17 | | Game 2 | Turk Telekom vs. Besiktas Cola Turka | - | May 19 | | Game 2 | Fenerbahce Ulker vs. Efes Pilsen | - | May 20 | | Game 3 | Turk Telekom vs. Besiktas Cola Turka | - | - | | Game 3 | Fenerbahce Ulker vs. Efes Pilsen | - | *- | | Game 4 | Besiktas Cola Turka vs. Turk Telekom | - | *- | | Game 4 | Efes Pilsen vs. Fenerbahce Ulker | - | *- |
|
|
Gökhan Türe, Istanbul
|