In 2024, Turkish basketball achieved outstanding successes throughout numerous ranges, from nationwide groups to particular person gamers and coaches.
The achievements this yr set a robust basis for the way forward for the game in Türkiye.
Both the lads’s and ladies’s nationwide groups earned their spots for the 2025 European Championship.
The girls’s crew, “Fairies of the Hoops,” dominated their qualification group, securing their eleventh consecutive look on the championship after profitable their first 4 matches.
Meanwhile, the lads’s crew, “12 Giant Men,” certified for his or her twenty sixth European Championship after profitable three of their first 4 qualifying video games.
On the worldwide stage, Turkish gamers shone brightly. Alperen Şengün, taking part in for the Houston Rockets, broke data with a standout season.
He scored 45 factors in a recreation towards the San Antonio Spurs, setting a career-high and making historical past because the highest-scoring Turkish participant in an NBA recreation.
Over the course of the season, he averaged 21.1 factors, 9.3 rebounds, and 5 assists per recreation, falling simply in need of an All-Star choice.
At solely 22, Şengün continued to impress, recording three triple-doubles within the present season.
In October, he signed a profitable five-year, $185 million contract with the Rockets, the most important contract ever for a Turkish participant within the NBA.
At the teaching stage, Ergin Ataman made historical past in his first season with Panathinaikos.
The Turkish gaffer led the Greek crew to a EuroLeague title, marking their first championship in 13 years.
Ataman’s management didn’t cease there; he additionally secured the Greek league title, overcoming Olympiakos.
This victory added to his spectacular trophy cupboard, which already included a number of EuroLeague titles with Anadolu Efes and Galatasaray, in addition to home titles throughout a number of groups.
Ataman’s sixth European championship win solidified his place among the many continent’s greatest coaches.
Fenerbahçe’s dominance
Fenerbahçe’s Women’s Basketball Team continued their dominance in European basketball, profitable the FIBA Women’s EuroLeague for the second consecutive yr.
In the ultimate, Fenerbahçe crushed Villeneuve d’Ascq from France with a dominant 106-73 victory. They additionally claimed the FIBA Super Cup, defeating Beşiktaş 79-63 for his or her second consecutive title.
Meanwhile, Fenerbahçe’s Men’s Team, Fenerbahçe Beko, clinched the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL) championship for the second time in three years, finishing a extremely profitable season throughout all competitions.
In home developments, Hidayet Türkoğlu was re-elected because the president of the Turkish Basketball Federation (TBF) after a landslide victory over rival Efe Aydan.
Türkoğlu has been on the helm since 2016 and can proceed his management till 2028. Additionally, Türkiye inaugurated the Basketball Development Center (BGM) in Zeytinburnu, which is ready to be a brand new hub for the game.
The middle opened its doorways on September 29, with a match between Fenerbahçe Beko and Anadolu Efes marking its debut.
The middle will host home and European video games, together with these of the Turkish nationwide groups and high league golf equipment.
Lastly, the Turkish girls’s and males’s basketball leagues noticed Fenerbahçe ending on the high, with the ladies’s crew securing their sixth consecutive title within the ING Women’s Basketball Super League. They posted a formidable 50-1 document in 2024 throughout all competitions.
Meanwhile, Beşiktaş’s girls’s crew reached the ultimate of the FIBA Women’s European Cup however fell quick, dropping to London Lions in a dramatic last.
Source: www.dailysabah.com