Second place is at stake in Group A of the BKT EuroCup Regular Season on Wednesday as Besiktas and London put their opposing strengths to the test.
Besiktas vs. Lions is a strength-on-strength collision
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The early part of the new BKT EuroCup season has produced many pleasant surprises. Among them, sitting in the top part of Group A, are two teams squaring off on Wednesday in Round 7, Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul (5-1) and London Lions (4-2).
Besiktas, the only 4-0 team at home this season, will attempt to continue protecting the floor at BJL EmlakJet Sports & Event Hall against a visitor that holds a perfect 3-0 road record. That's a scenario that not many envisioned before this campaign tipped off.
Besiktas returned to the EuroCup this season after a seven-year hiatus. Over the summer, knowing it needed chemistry and tuning, Besiktas built a largely new roster head by former EuroCup Coach of the Year Dusan Alimpijevic, another newcomer to the club.
So, when Besiktas stunned Joventut Badalona for a 62-63 road triumph in the opening round, many people saw it as a big early-season upset more than anything else.
Now that the Turkish side has a 5-1 record in Group A, that win over Joventut seems less and less like an upset. All Besiktas has done since then is continue to win and dominate on defense.
Entering this Round 7 contest, Besiktas ranks second in points-against defense, allow just 72.3 points, while holding opponents to a competition lows of 14.0 assists and 29.4% three-point shooting.
The only loss Besiktas has suffered so far this season was an improbable 90-88 defeat at Wolves Vilnius, where it squandered a seven-point lead in the game's final 20 seconds.
Wednesday brings one of the biggest tests for Besiktas because on the opposite side will be the Lions, road winners already against two of last season's semifinalists, Prometey Slobozhanske and Joventut. The latter road win a week ago was the perfect bounce-back from home losses to Paris Basketball and Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv.
Besiktas has not shined on offense this season; just six teams score fewer than its 80.0 points per game. Jonah Mathews is averaging 15.3 points and Matthew Mitchell 14.0, while Angel Delgado has been a force in the paint with 11.8 points and 8.2 rebounds. The team has no player averaging more than 3.3 assists.
Meanwhile, the main strengths of the London Lions, coached by Alimpijevic's Serbian countryman Petar Bozic, is their offense. Indeed, the Lions rank second with both 92.3 points and 22.5 assists this season, the exact categories that Besiktas excels at stopping.
Matthew Morgan has starred for the Lions, averaging 19.0 points and 3.7 assist. Gabe Olaseni has been huge under the basket with 14.3 points and 7.8 rebounds along with 2.7 assists. And Donte Grantham is right behind, averaging 13.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Veteran playmakers Tarik Phillip and Jordan Taylor combine to average 9.2 assists.
What made London's success even more notable was the absence of Sam Dekker in four of six games this season. He has since posted 18.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
The Lions arrive to Istanbul with rising confidence and an offense that is clicking. Besiktas entered the season needing to learn a lot, but already has a top grade in winning games.
All signs point to a fun contest on Wednesday in Istanbul.