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Breakdown: Turk Telekom Ankara vs. Germani Brescia

Breakdown: Turk Telekom Ankara vs. Germani Brescia

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6 April 20235 Mins read

Geoff Gillingham

Breakdown: Turk Telekom Ankara vs. Germani Brescia

In the last 7DAYS EuroCup Eighthfinals series to take place, Turk Telekom Ankara (13-5) welcomes Germani Brescia (8-10) to the Turkish capital on Thursday, April 13. These two teams, which finished second in Group B and seventh in Group A, respectively, come into this playoff tie in contrasting moods, with Turk Telekom having won five out of its last six regular-season games, whereas Brescia went 3-3 and tasted defeat in Round 18.

Beware of Turk Telekom's fearsome five

Last summer, Turk Telekom underwent major changes to its roster and also appointed a new head coach in Erdem Can. Fast-forward to now and those decisions have certainly paid off, with five first-year players averaging at least 10.0 points per game and Coach Can having turned Turk Telekom into one of the EuroCup's most dangerous teams, following an 8-8 record – the sixth-best mark in Group A – last season under previous head coach Henrik Rodl. This year, the Turkish team was almost as good at home as it was on its travels, going 7-2 at Ankara Spor Salonu and 6-3 on the road.

Whether it is the scoring of Axel Bouteille (17.7 ppg.), the do-it-all nature of Jerian Grant's game (14.6 ppg., 3.1 rpg., 6.2 apg., 1.4 spg.) or the powerful inside presence of Tyrique Jones (12.0 ppg., 7.5 rpg.), Turk Telekom has regularly caused headaches for opposition defenses this season. What's more, you add a scoring guard in Tony Taylor (12.9 ppg., 3.5 apg.) and an active forward like Nathan Sestina (10.8 ppg., 4.7 rpg.) into the mix and Turk Telekom suddenly has a diverse set of options that certainly has put the EuroCup on notice. Starting against Brescia, Coach Can's fearsome five are ready to do some damage in the playoffs.

Brescia is ready to defy the odds… again

Brescia understands that the odds are not in its favor, as tends to be the case in 2-7 playoff matchups, but it does have recent memories of winning a trophy. During the domestic cups' week, Brescia managed to down Turkish Airlines EuroLeague giant EA7 Emporio Armani Milan and then Pesaro, before beating another EuroLeague team in Virtus Segafredo Bologna to become the Italian Cup champion. Very few had expected that Brescia would achieve that feat, which is once again the case heading into this matchup with Turk Telekom. When there's nothing to lose, Brescia tends to find a way to step up.

Perhaps the biggest reason for that is down to the excellent play of Amedeo Della Valle, who will no doubt occupy a considerable amount of Turk Telekom's scouting report. The dynamic Italian guard has enjoyed one of his best EuroCup seasons to date on his return to the competition, with Brescia having not been among the 20 participating teams last year, as he averaged 14.6 points, 1.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists across his 17 regular-season appearances. Brescia has had to deal with injuries for much of this season – Kenny Gabriel is the latest player to go down – but Della Valle's consistent performances saw the Italian team keep its playoff hopes alive. Although Brescia had a disappointing road record, going 3-6, it is able to still dream of a potential upset, largely thanks to having Della Valle on its roster.

The chance to make history

Neither Turk Telekom nor Brescia has ever made it as far as the EuroLeague, and in the case of the latter, this will be its first-ever trip to the EuroCup Playoffs. Brescia, competing in its fourth EuroCup season, failed to make it to the postseason in 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21, yet now it will get its first taste of being under the bright lights. Without the weight of history there to weigh it down, Brescia should be able to play free as it takes on the role of the underdog and hopes to come away from Ankara with a surprise win.

Turk Telekom, meanwhile, is in its seventh campaign in the EuroCup, but last season saw it make just its second appearance in the playoffs. Back in 2007-08, it fell 184-161 over two legs to UNICS Kazan in the Top 32, before losing 93-80 to Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana in the eighthfinals in 2021-22. The expectation this time around is that Turk Telekom will find a way to get past the first knockout stage and potentially allow itself to start to dream of a lengthy run in the postseason.

The stats point in Turk Telekom's favor

Perhaps it is not surprising given where the two teams finished in the standings, with Turk Telekom entering the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in Group B and Brescia as the No. 7 seed from Group A, that it is the Turkish side that has the advantage from a statistical perspective. In terms of scoring, Turk Telekom had the ninth-best average at 84.2 points per night, compared to Brescia's ranking of 16th with 79.9 points per contest. Coach Can's team is seventh for both rebounds (35.7 rpg.) and assists (18.4 apg.), while Brescia is 12th (34.3 rpg.) and 11th (17.5 apg.), respectively. In the three main categories, there's a noticeable gap.

On defense, however, there is a smaller disparity in terms of points allowed. Turk Telekom, thanks in part to the presence of big man Jones (1.1 spg., 0.9 bpg.) and the ability of Grant (1.4 spg.) and Erkan Yilmaz (1.7 spg.) to record steals, has the fifth-best defense in this year's EuroCup at 78.4 points per game. Brescia ranks seventh at 79.8 points per night, with center Tai Odiase averaging 1.3 blocks per contest and guard John Petrucelli averaging 1.5 steals on a nightly basis. The statistics tend to paint a good picture of what could happen in a game, but this is the playoffs, where anything can happen– and even more so in the EuroCup's exciting single-game elimination format.