After three days of competition the U-16 Turkish Final Round already knows the quarterfinals match-ups, with only three teams reaching them unbeaten: Efes Pilsen, Fenerbahce Ulker and Galatasaray. The four battles will be: Efes Pilsen - Bornova, Maliye Milli - Galatasaray, Fenerbahce Ulker - Pinar Karsiyaka and Besiktas - Tofas. Let's explain a couple of details of each one.
Efes Pilsen - Bornova: Efes 6'6'' forward Berk Demir ('95), current best blocker of the tournament (2.7), third best rebounder (13.0) and fifth best scorer (20.7) has been one of the big names of the first round. Beside him, youngster Okben Ulubay ('97), with 16.0pt+10.3rb, and talented Cedi Osman ('95), 17.0pt+3.0st, are other important pieces. Difficult goal for Bornova, where its best prospect is being Ulas Onur Dedeoglu ('95) with 11.7 points and 6.7 boards.
Maliye Milli - Galatasaray: With three wins in three games Galatasaray remains unbeaten, but the Maliye Mille duo Beraat Aksan & Zekiqi will put them in problems for sure. Ahmet Beraat Aksan ('95) is the fourth best event scorer (21.7) and best rebounder (17.0), while Samir Zekiqi ('95) is the third best scorer (22.3) and the eigth best rebounder (11.7). For Galatasaray 2.01 Batuhan Yilmaz ('95) is averaging 13.0 points and 6.7 boards.
Fenerbahce Ulker - Pinar Karsiyaka: Today he only played 11 minutes because he rested, but James Metecan Birsen ('95) -at the pic- is the best prospect of his age in Europe and the main attraction in Fenerbahce. The forward is avareging 11.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 23'. Ayberk Güleryüz ('95) adds 13.3 points and 5.7 rebounds. For Karsiyaka the best in the first round has been Necip Sergen Uçkun ('95) with 9.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
Besiktas - Tofas: Bursa squad will give the regins to Adnan Mustafa ('95) and Mert Cevik ('96), both in the top-10 of scorers in the tournament. Mustafa averages 23.7 points (43% from downtown) and 3.7 boards in 29 minutes, while Cevik is having 19.0 points, 13.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists. At Besiktas side NT members Dogukan Sanli ('95), 14.0pt+5.3rb, and Kartal Özmizrak ('95), 12.3pt+5.7rb+3.3as, the best.
Photo: M.B.
