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Quarter Final
- April 10, 2008
- PALAVELA
Local time: 18:30
TV
CET: 18:30
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Head Coaches
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ATAMAN, ERGIN
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Besiktas Cola Turka head coach
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"It's going to be a very hard game for sure. Both teams know each other very well. As a matter of fact, everybody knows the ups and downs of each other and will try to use it as an advantage for themselves. We've been saying the same thing since the beginning of the season. We are targeting the top of ULEB Cup. To win the title. This is why we are here in Turin. Of course, we take our first opponent Galatasaray Cafe Crown very seriously. But we will try to follow the same route to the top of the cup by beating them on Thursday evening."
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OZYER, MURAT
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Galatasaray Cafe Crown coach
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"It's really very important and a great honor for us to be among the top eight teams of a prestigious competition like the ULEB Cup. As a great club, Galatasaray is always targeting the top in every competition. Of course, it's the same thing for us that we came here to Turin to do something special. We will play the quarterfinal against another Turkish team. This is going to be the derby game of the ULEB Cup. Whatever happens as a result at the end of the game, Turkish basketball will be the winning side for sure. I hope and wish that one of the Turkish teams will bring the trophy to Istanbul. And of course, we will try to be the one doing that. But if Besiktas wins the cup, we will applaud them with all our heart. We believe that it's going to be a derby game in fair way with fair play."
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Players
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SHUMPERT, PRESTON
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Besiktas Cola Turka forward
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"This is not only important for Besiktas Cola Turka, but also important for Turkish Basketball history. These kind of coincidences do not happen very often in sports. I'm proud of to be a member of this great team we have at Besiktas Cola Turka. Honestly, we'd prefer to play with Galatasaray Cafe Crown in the final. The team that plays better will move to the semifinal. For sure, we will try to be the winning side. I can also say that we have better chance to do that. I hope we play well and win the game. But this is not going to be the end of our mission, which is taking the cup to Istanbul."
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PEKER, KAYA
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Besiktas Cola Turka center
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"This is a historic moment for Turkish basketball, having two teams at this stage in one of the top competitions in Europe, the ULEB Cup. It's our dream to take the title in this competition. We completed the first part of our dream by reaching the Final Eight. But the real challenge starts now. It will be harder than before. But if we came here to win the cup, we have to handle the stress. Galatasaray Cafe Crown is a very good team, but we are better than them and we will try to show it on Thursday night. Our target is high and we will try to reach it with all our might."
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BROWN, DEE
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Galatasaray Cafe Crown guard
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"It's a good thing for Turkish basketball that two sides from Turkey will play in the quarterfinals. We are having a great season and have plenty of strong players in our roster and will try to improve it with another great win against Besiktas. We proved that we are strong and what we can do in the previous games. It's good to guarantee a semifinal spot for Turkey in the ULEB Cup, but for sure, we want to be the winning side. We want to play as good as we can against Besiktas and try to win to play the semifinal. Then we can extend our dream."
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AKYOL, CENK
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Galatasaray Cafe Crown forward
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"I'm really curious to have this experience to play in this kind of top competition at the club level. Besiktas Cola Turka is a great club, which is also challenging for the top in the Turkish League. It’s going to be an interesting challenge for both teams. We are focused on qualifying for the semifinals. I hope that we get what we want on Thursday evening."
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Turin will be turned into a Turkish battleground for the ULEB Cup Final Eight quarterfinal showdown between Besiktas Cola Turka and Galatasaray Cafe Crown. Both clubs are not just Turkish League foes, but they are Istanbul city rivals as well. Head coach Ergin Ataman's Besiktas reached Turin after knocking off Red Star in the Last 16 with a tie in Belgrade and a 12-point victory at home. Small forward Preston Shumpert had a monster two-game series with 32 points in the first contest and 24 points in the decider. Shooting guard Rick Apodaca added 24 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in the Game 2 victory to help Ataman's team to the Final Eight. Galatasaray advanced by ousting Kalise Gran Canaria with a 25-point win at home and a 9-point road loss. Power forward Chris Owens tallied 27 points and 7 rebounds to lead five players in double figures in the opener as head coach Murat Ozyer's squad shot 61% and outrebounded Gran Canaria 31-23. Guard Robert Hite led the way with 20 in the second game. The two teams have also met twice domestically this season with the visiting side victorious both times. Galatasaray won the first match-up 75-80 in late November as Charles Gaines had 14 points to lead six Galatasaray scorers in double figures. The two teams battled again on March 7 at Galatasaray's home and Besiktas clubbed the hosts 66-83. Shumpert's 20 points led a balanced effort as Besiktas shot 63%, while holding Galatasaray to 35% shooting, including just 7 of 29 (24%) from long range. Both teams feature well-balanced squads, who were among the better rebounding teams this season and also committed few turnovers. Besiktas's frontcourt of Kaya Peker, Sandro Nicevic and Predrag Drobnjak is big in size and experience, which makes the absence of injured Galatasaray center Huseyon Besok especially meaningful. Athletic forwards Owens and Gaines will look to Fatih Solak and Cemal Nalga to help out in the paint. Besiktas guard Christian Dalmau, who missed his team's last Turkish League contest, is expected to play as usual, joining Apodaca, Shumpert and Sinan Guler in a lethal shooting backcourt, which will match up with Brown, Hite and Cuneyt Erden. Galatasaray's experienced small forwards Cenk Akyol and Britton Johnsen could prove to be x-factors with their contributions, whether it be scoring, on the glass or on defense against Shumpert. This game has all the makings of a classic ULEB Cup encounter that will be remembered for a long time and could come down to which team's shooter of choice is hottest in the closing minutes.
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Tuesday, April 08, 2008
ULEBcup.com
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Stats Comparisions: Teams and players
| 80.7 |
Pts. |
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SHUMPERT, PRESTON |
17.8 |
Pts. |
16.1 |
BROWN, DEE |
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Pts. |
80.6 |
| 53.87 % |
2FG% |
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YAGMUR, MEHMET |
76.92 % |
2FG% |
64.29 % |
KAYA, MURAT |
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2FG% |
56.81 % |
| 30.89 % |
3FG% |
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VEYSELOGLU, ERKAN |
50.00 % |
3FG% |
45.45 % |
BESOK, HUSEYIN |
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3FG% |
35.43 % |
| 32.6 |
Rebounds |
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PEKER, KAYA |
6.6 |
Rebounds |
7.3 |
GAINES, CHARLES |
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Rebounds |
31.7 |
| 15.9 |
Assist. |
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DALMAU, CHRISTIAN |
4.4 |
Assist. |
4.0 |
BROWN, DEE |
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Assist. |
13.6 |
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