Games to watch: Bahcesehir College Istanbul

After three years away, the club is back in the competition for a second campaign

Despite having won just two of 10 games it played in its lone BKT EuroCup season so far, Bahcesehir College Istanbul returns to the competition with sizeable ambitions.

Coach Dejan Radonjic has lured six players with EuroLeague experience to Bahcesehir this summer, which speaks plenty about what this club is aiming for. Sitting in Group A, which features several title contenders, Bahcesehir will not have an easy task, but will certainly have many games worth of extra attention.

Round 2: Home opener vs. local rival

When your first home game after three years away from the competition is against city rival Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul, it is the definition of a "game to watch." Despite playing against each other in the EuroCup for the first time, these two clubs know each other well, having battled each other for several years in the Turkish League. They split home wins last season when they even faced off in the Turkish Cup with Besiktas taking away the victory.

In addition, Radonjic, who took Crvena Zvezda Belgrade to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs in 2016, on this night will face a Besiktas squad led by his good friend Dusan Alimpijevic, the man who replaced him on Zvezda's bench. There are many storylines in this early-season clash of Istanbul rivals and we cannot wait for the tip-off to this one.

Round 5: A hometown visit

When it comes to Coach Radonjic, few things make him happier than going home and he will have the chance to do so in Round 5 when Bahcesehir visits Buducnost VOLI Podgorica. Radonjic returned to his hometown to play the club where he grew up, where he spent the majority of his playing career and started his coaching career, leading the club to the EuroCup Quarterfinals on two occasions.

In addition to that, this will be another great test for Bahcesehir and its EuroCup ambitions because it is never easy to win at Moraca. Moreover, a win could nicely set the team up because Bahcesehir hosts four of the next five games.

Round 16: Big late-season test

Bahcesehir is expected to be battling for a postseason place and few things make you more ready than tough late-season road games, such as a trip to face one of this season's contenders, Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv. Going against Hapoel's backcourt will be a tough challenge, but it will serve the team to see where it is at with two more games to go in the regular season.

What Hapoel will certainly hope is to get a contribution from big man Tai Odiase. When he faced Hapoel last season with Prometey Slobozhanske, Odiase scored a career-high 19 points. This season, going against Hapoel's new big man Johnathan Motley, it will be certainly one of the best matchups of the round.