This season there will be a new BKT EuroCup champion thanks to Besiktas Emjakjet Istanbul, which dethroned Dreamland Gran Canaria 78-80 in the eighthfinals. Veteran playmaker Derek Needham again played a big role in this victory, getting 9 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 fouls drawn and a PIR of 9. Needham knows what it takes to get playoff road wins in the competition. Two years ago, he led Frutti Extra Bursaspor to the 2022 EuroCup Finals with three straight victories in do-or-die games on the road. Besiktas also plays on the road in the quarterfinals, facing Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Derek Needham, Besiktas: 'Playoffs are always different'
Interviews
11 Mins read
Besiktas bounced back from three consecutive losses at the right time and worked hard during the break to be ready. "We had a couple meetings to see what was going on," Derek Needham said. "I think it was our effort, honestly. We are a defensive team and we weren't as hungry on defense like we usually were. We had to get back to it, get back to our rules on defense, which is huge for us. I think we showed that a little bit in the Gran Canaria game."
Hello, Derek, and congratulations on beating Gran Canaria. It's never easy to win at Gran Canaria Arena. What allowed you to compete until the final minute and get the victory?
"Thanks. I think it was great preparation from the coaching staff. Our coaching staff has played them two or three times. They were in our group my first year in Bursa, and then last year we played them in the playoffs as well. So we are kind of familiar with the core team of Gran Canaria, so we kind of knew what their weaknesses and what their strengths were to that team. But it's always difficult with that travel to go play there, so we went a day early just to get acclimated because it's three hours, I believe, behind Istanbul. That's a big time difference, to sleep and everything.
"I think one of the things we saw with them was they are used to having super athletic bigs and that really helped us out that this year they kind of have more like hustle bigs, not above-the-rim type of bigs. You know what I mean? Last season, they had Diop, who is now with Baskonia, and Balcerowski, who is with Panathinaikos. They helped Gran Canaria a lot the past couple years. And we felt like this year we could connect, get in the paint a little bit more, even though they still have those fantastic guards on the outside. But we had a great game plan though. The game plan was perfect. We won, so I would say it was perfect, of course."
How great was it not just to dethrone the champions, but to beat a team you have lost against throughout most of your EuroCup career?
"I actually was nervous going there just because that road travel was always bad. But like you said, I just hate losing there. I played them probably four or five times in EuroCup, so I was kind of familiar. But repeating as champions is probably the hardest thing to do that next season. So that kind of gave me like a little hope, like, 'all right, this could be our time' because it's just hard to repeat as champions in any sport."
"We worked like crazy during the break."
You also finished the regular season with three ugly losses, by 19 points or more. How did you work during the break to put together such a great game like you did against Gran Canaria?
"We worked like crazy during the break. We had a couple days off and were right back to it. We had a couple meetings to see what was going on, because usually if we lose, we lose by 5-6 or at the buzzer or something like that. And we had had three 20-point losses in the EuroCup. And then we got destroyed in the Turkish Cup by 30, I believe. So we were trying to figure out what the difference was, and I think it was our effort, honestly. We are a defensive team and we weren't as hungry on defense like we usually were. And giving that 1,000 percent effort on defense, which is our calling card. So we had to get back to it, get back to our rules on defense, which is huge for us. I think we showed that a little bit in the Gran Canaria game."
You are by far the most experienced player in this team. How much of a vocal leader are you on the court being the point guard and the most experienced player?
"I'm very vocal. Against Gran Canaria, I was just trying to make sure they understood the intensity and everything of playoff basketball. Some guys have played against Spanish teams, and I was also giving them, as well as coach, the breakdown of how Spanish teams like to play and how if you are not physical, they can run you over like they did against Baskonia, like they did against Real Madrid last month, like. So we had a heightened awareness and I was screaming the whole week like, we have to get back to our defense and being physical in order just to have a chance in this game."
Two years ago, you were chosen to the All-EuroCup First Team. Did it change anything in your career, proving that you belong to the EuroCup's elite level?
"I don't think it changed anything. I think it gave me mental validation that I needed to know, like I'm on the right track of work ethic, taking care of my body, sleep, all that stuff. But each year you still have to go out there and prove it again and again, no matter what you did the two years before. So if anything, you just gave me validation and more motivation and confidence to continue doing what I'm doing."
Let's talk about Coach Alimpijevic. Of course, you worked together in Bursaspor and now he brought you to Besiktas. How's your relationship with him? It's always important that a head coach and his starting point guard understand each other.
"Yes, that's super important, especially for Coach Alimpijevic. He calls us the extended version of him on the court, like the third coach. We have a clear understanding. We have similar playing and coaching styles. Like if I was a coach, I would coach similar to him. If he was a player, he would play similar to me. So it was kind of like two peas in a pod almost. So there's a great respect there and there's a great understanding. And being together three years... it is rare for players to be with coaches that long, even if you switch teams."
Two years ago, you and Coach Alimpijevic led Bursaspor to an unbelievable playoff run, with road wins against Partizan, Cedevita and Andorra to get to the finals against Virtus. What are your favorite memories from that amazing run?
"Partizan, for sure, was the best memory. I would say just their fans were incredible. I still haven't seen anything like it. We came very close when we played Fenerbahce and Sinan Erdem had 15,000 fans screaming for us. But that Partizan game was amazing, especially just looking over a couple of times and seeing [Partizan coach Zeljko] Obradovic on the sidelines and thinking 'whoa, you are doing something right, you are in an amazing spot'. That was probably one of the best group of guys I have had, because it's rare you get on a team and every guy from the 12th to 13th to the first guy on the team has one goal. Like, there's no individual goals, there's nothing. There's one goal, and it's to win the game that you are on the floor, and they give everything for your teammates. That's rare to have. And I even tell my teammates to this day, that's a rare occasion to happen. If you can get everybody on that page you can have that type of historic run. So I still talk to guys from that championship run to this day, that finals run."
One of them is John Holland, who plays for Hapoel now. It's been two years since his famous halftime interview, the pitbulls and all that. How much of the same mentality do you need against Holland and Hapoel this time?
"John Holland. I literally just talked to him two days ago. He was the boost we needed. We had mental confidence, but John was our vocal confidence. He literally brought our words to everything that we would speak in practice and stuff. He is just undeniably a great teammate, man. And as you can see, wherever he goes, those teams win. What he was doing right now has been amazing. And I'm pretty sure he is a main cog in that."
"If we get to the semifinals and play again at home, for us, it would be Partizan-esque."
How fun was the whole thing when it happened? It was a halftime interview, so I am sure you didn't see it until the game was over.
"Yeah, I saw that. So we get on the bus and guys are on their phones and they are like, 'did you see it?' I'm like, 'I didn't see anything. I haven't checked my phone'. And they showed it to me. I thought it was fake at first. I'm like, 'when did this happen? Was this after the game?'. 'No, this is halftime'. And then I start thinking like, how we won the game. We won the game because Jacob Pullen took a shot 0.1 seconds after the buzzer. I'm like, 'yo, thank God we won that game'. Because if he did that interview and we lose that game, we look crazy. But he had the whole bus cracking up. I told him, as soon as I saw it, I said, 'John, this is legendary. This will live forever. This might be your calling every time someone sees you, they might start getting like a dog or talking about underdogs and pit bulls'. So now that was legendary. It was a classic. Immediately. That was the best."
You will play Hapoel in Vilnius. It's not really a neutral arena but it's not exactly Tel Aviv. Will you have some sort of advantage playing there?
"I don't know because they beat us twice already, maybe it was about 20 points the last time they played us, so I don't know about the advantage. Playoffs are always different as well. Those games are totally different. I would say the slight advantage, if any, is we are both on a neutral court that we haven't played on before. So they did make a home in Belgrade and now we will be playing in Lithuania, in Vilnius, so it's a double neutral court almost, but they will have the fans also."
If Besiktas wins, it will reach the EuroCup Semifinals for the first time. It will also earn the right to play at least one home game in the semifinal. How great would it be to make history and give Besiktas fans the chance to see their team back in its arena in the EuroCup this season?
"Coach calls it writing our name in the history books, Besiktas, in gold letters. He likes to repeat that to us now for playoffs. But I can't describe to you the atmosphere. If we get to the semifinals and play again at home, for us, it would be Partizan-esque, it would be up there. That's the type of fans we have, and I think they deserve it. We kind of dropped the ball in the regular season. Our goal was to have a home game to finish in the [regular season] top four. We know we have a huge task to get there, though. Hapoel is a really great team, so we know we really have to earn giving our fans a home game in the playoffs."