TURK TELEKOM revamps roster
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 Turk Telekom announced this weekend a flurry of additions to its new roster, which will compete in the Eurocup regular season. Up to seven new faces will show up in the team in order to compete hard the next campaign. The changes start at the bench, as the new boss of the team will be Murat Ozyer, who arrives from Galatasaray Cafe Crown. Ozyer led the team to the 2008 ULEB Cup Final Eight semifinals, and his experience will help the team from Ankara. But on the court, Turk Telekom will see six new faces also. At point guard, Demond Mallet (186, 31) arrives from DKV Joventut of Spain. Last season, he averaged 9.6 points and 4.6 assists in 9 Euroleague appearances. He was a main ingredient in the team that won the Spanish King's Cup and the ULEB Cup titles in the 2007-08 season, one of the biggest successes in club history. Before the two years in Spain, Mallet had a long experience in the German League with Braunschweig, amberg and Cologne. Another point guard for the team is Soner Senturk (192, 23) arriving from Darussafaka of Turkey, where last season he averaged 10.8 points reaching the Turkish League quarterfinals. He had played in the first team since 2002, as he grew up there in the inferior categories. Moving up in player size, a new addition at shooting guard is Andre Owens (192, 28), arriving from Crvena Zvezda of Serbia. Last season, Owens averaged 10.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 12 Eurocup games with Zvezda. Last season was his European debut after several yers in the NBA with the Utah Jazz, Indiana Pacers and Houston Rockets.
 Inside the paint, Turk Telekom has also brought in three new faces. Power forward Lamayne Wilson (202, 29) arrives from SLUC Nancy of France. Last season, he saw Euroleague action averaging 12.1 points and 4.1 rebounds in 9 appearances. After college, he madehis European debut in 2002 with Skonto Riga of Latvia, and since then he has played in Russia with Avtodor Saratov, Germany with Ludwigsburg, Italy with Cantu and also France with Asvel Basket and Cholet, aside from Nancy. Another addition at power forward is Umit Sonkol (206, 27) arriving from Mersin BB of the Turkish League. Last season, he averaged 8.0 points and 4.3 rebounds in 27 games. He made his debut in 2003 with Aras ITU and after that he was two seasons in Pinar Karsiyaka, one in Bersin BB and one in Banvitspor before returning to Bersin in 2008. Last but definitely not least, the addition at center is Turkish legend Huseyin Besok (212, 34) also arriving from Galatasaray Cafe Crown. Last season he averaged 7.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 4 Eurocup appearances, while in the EuroChallenge he boosted those numbers to 15.2 points and 7.9 boards in 12 games. Besok's career has been long since he started with Efes Pilsen in 1994. In 2001, he moved to Israel to play two seasons with Maccabi Elite. Injuries handicapped his development, and in 2003 he played for Sunce Sibenik to be back in shape. After that, he played in France with Asvel Basket and Le Mans, Russia with Unics Kazan, Poland with Prokom Trefl Sopot and then returned to Turkey to join Galatasaray.
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Monday, August 17, 2009
Eurocupbasketball.com
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