Thanks to their prowess at both ends, the hosts recorded a lopsided victory
Besiktas relied on its 'tough' defense in record offensive onslaught
Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul overpowered ratiopharm Ulm and its young stars 107-74 on Monday night as it set club BKT EuroCup records for most points scored in a game and in a half, the largest margin of victory and two-point shooting accuracy, among others. But the root of all those numbers was the team’s toughness on defense.
“I want to congratulate my players because we were serious from the first second till the last one,” Besiktas head coach Dusan Alimpijevic said after the game. “It was offensively very good but I have to say that all this confidence came from great defense.”
Not only was his team serious from the first second, but they essentially controlled the game from the first second.
Well, almost the first second. Ulm, in fact, controlled the opening tip. But then the Besiktas defense forced a turnover. Even though Besiktas didn’t turn its first possession into points, Dustin Sleva’s aggressiveness showed as Besiktas corralled 2 offensive rebounds. Ulm’s Isaiah Roby seemed to shift the momentum the other way with a steal and teenage star Ben Saraf was coasting in for a layup when Kerem Konan flew in for a block.
That’s when Kyle Allman drained a three for the game’s first points. Before long, it was 7-0 and the hosts never let up. A 19-0 run later in the quarter led to Besiktas sitting pretty at 31-9 after 10 minutes.
The rout was on and both teams knew it.
“The first quarter was a disaster and we never really recovered from it. That was obvious,” Ulm’s head coach Ty Harrelson said.
The 22-point lead after 10 minutes was tied for the sixth largest by any club in EuroCup history. The 33-point halftime difference was tied for the third-most in competition history. And it was only the seventh time a team led by at least 40 points through three quarters.
At halftime, Allman listed what his team had to do to secure the win: “Keep being physical, keep them out of the paint, stop them from getting second chance points and keep pushing the tempo.”
Besiktas checked those boxes. It was physical throughout and allowed only 7 second-chance points in the second half (after giving up 4 in the first half). And the team kept the pace by scoring 28 third-quarter points before easing up in the fourth.
Less than a week ago, Besiktas was on the other end of a beatdown in losing 87-101 against Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv. And the week before the team lost by 21 against Bahcesehir College Istanbul.
Sleva, who shined with 15 points on near-perfect shooting and 7 rebounds, explained what the team took from those losses. “Dusan [Alimpijevic] challenged us earlier in the season, we started off a little bit slow, but he challenged all of us to play tough, to play harder… Tonight shots were falling and we were playing tough.”
Besiktas’ toughness might have been enough to win the game. But all those shots falling is what turned it into a blowout. The team made 22 of 31 two-pointers and the 71.0% accuracy was the best in club history. Its 15 triples tied for the second most ever for Besiktas and its 53.3% shooting from deep was the best by any team in the EuroCup this season.
“We fought as a team, everybody on the court. All 10, 12 of us,” Sleva added.
Indeed, almost everyone contributed. Eight players scored at least 9 points. Seven players had steals. And a message was sent that Besiktas is a dangerous team that can play at both ends of the floor.