ANADOLU EFES

ROSTER

4 BALBAY, DOGUS G 1.85 5 YIKILMAZ, SOYKAN G 1.86 6 ILIEVSKI, VLADO G 1.88 8 KINSEY, TARENCE F 2.00 10 TUNCERI, KEREM G 1.90 11 AKYOL, CENK F 1.97 12 GONLUM, KEREM F 2.08 15 BATISTA, ESTEBAN C 2.08 19 VUJACIC, SASHA G 2.00 20 SAVANOVIC, DUSKO F 2.04 21 ILYASOVA, ERSAN F 2.07 23 KUQO, ERMAL C 2.07 32 GULER, SINAN G 1.92 34 SIRIN, GOKHAN F 2.07 42 BARAC, STANKO C 2.17 Head Coach: SARICA, UFUK

Historic Results 2010-11: 9-7, Top 16 2009-10: 6-10, Top 16 2008-09: 4-6, Regular Season 2007-08: 9-11, Top 16 2006-07: 10-10, Top 16 2005-06: 12-10, Playoffs 2004-05: 17-6, Playoffs 2003-04: 14-6, Top 16 2002-03: 12-8, Top 16 2001-02: 12-8, Top 16

2010-11 Results Euroleague: Regular Season 5-5 Top 16 2-4 Turkish League: Semifinalist Turkish Cup: Quarterfinalist

A fresh upbeat feeling surrounds mighty Anadolu Efes entering the 2011-12 Turkish Airlines season as the Turkish powerhouse looks to make a strong drive to reach the 2012 Final Four on its home court, Sinan Erdem Arena. Efes has a new man in charge – head coach Ufuk Sarica begins his first full season with the club; a new roster – 10 new players signed with the club over the summer; and even a new name. What is not new is the hunger for success. No team has more Euroleague wins over the past decade without reaching a Final Four than Efes. To help change that, the club reinvented itself by bringing in a handful of winners. Among them are a reigning All-Euroleague selection, forward Dusko Savanovic, and three players with previous Final Four experience: veteran playmaker Vlado Ilievski, forward Ersan Ilyasova and center Esteban Batista. Now Sarica takes over eager to put all the pieces together and to lead Efes on a magical run to its own front door and a magical Final Four experience in front of its loyal fans.



Entering his eighth season at the club, Kerem Tunceri is the face of the franchise. A combo-guard that can flourish as a scorer or creator, Tunceri has the ability to play alongside any of the team’s other guards, since he can shoot from the outside or penetrate with the ball on offense and lockdown opposing guards at either spot. The seasoned Ilievski is a natural playmaker whose game is built on making his teammates better. Dogus Balbay should benefit from playing behind the aforementioned guards in his first Euroleague campaign. The shooting guard duo of Sasha Vujacic and Sinan Guler features two players with polar opposite skills. While Vujacic has the potential to be an elite-scorer and a go-to guy, Guler is a super-athletic blue-collar wing who does his best work on defense and running the break. Tarence Kinsey is a newcomer, but familiar with Efes from playing for crow-town rival Fenerbahce Ulker. A classic “glue” player, his role could change from game to game and Kinsey can do it all on both ends of the floor. Young veteran Cenk Akyol rounds out the list of wing players.

Boasting a loaded frontcourt, Efes can always go with a big lineup by using either of its top choices at power forward to move down to the “3”. The sweet-shooting Savanovic excelled as a Euroleague rookie last season with Valencia and hopes to have a few more game-winning shots in his back for the fans in Istanbul. Ilyasova, who is back playing in Turkey after six seasons elsewhere, is a true game-changer. Just coming into his prime at age 24, he can score from near and far, rebound, block shots and do whatever else is asked of him to help win games. Rookie Gorkhan Sirin is not expected to see much time initially, but there are hopes he will blossom by the end of this season too. Center Stanko Barac comes off a breakout season in which he showed he can be a top scorer and shot-blocker at the Euroleague level. Batista brings pure power to the center spot, where his rim-rocking dunks and tough defense lift teammates and fans alike. Low-post scorer Ermal Kuqo is an additional option for depth and leadership in the frontcourt. Lastly Kerem Gonlum will miss much of the season recovering from an ACL injury, but could still be a valuable piece if he recovers at the end of the season.

On paper, Efes has everything a team needs to succeed – experience, depth, versatility, size and – most of all – talent. Having the Final Four on its home court gives the players, coaching staff and fans extra motivation to carry Anadolu Efes to a special season.

VIDEOS Sasha Vujacic Ufuk Sarica Dusko Savanovic