Rejuvenated with new coach, Galatasaray get derby win, aim for more / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Galatasaray Credit Galatasaray

The derby games never disappoint. They are tense, emotional, electrifying, dramatic, and controversial. We just had El Classico on Sunday and the Greek derby on Monday to remember all these all over again.

Free throws this season

81%15,7Points made:15,7Accuracy:80,7%Place in standings:7Record max:22Record min:8Most made FTs:Kerry BlackshearTeamBCLStatisticsSchedule

As for Turkish people, The Intercontinental Derby is also never an exception.

On Sunday, Fenerbahce football club beat Galatasaray in Kadikoy, pushing their nemesis into the deep mid-table darkness in the Turkish Super League.

Just a day after,Galatasaray NEFengineered a lethal perimeter combo to geta famous 76-70 away winat Atasehir, Ulker Sports Arena, its first after two years.

This is a derby that always means more than a game. It opened a window an opportunity inside the head of Galatasaray, who lagged behind Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in basketball for many many years. Suddenly, the gap between the teams did not seem that big.

"From the first day I came, I told my team to fight. And we fought well. The players had a lot of sacrifice of themselves," said Andreas Pistiolis, the Galatasaray NEF coach, who was recently appointed to the job back at the end of March.

A long-time assistant of Dimitris Itoudis himself, Pistiolis also had a brief head coaching tenure during the season at CSKA, when Itoudis was absent due to Covid-19. He knew that the first head coaching experience on a full-time basis would not be easy.

Before Pistiolis arrived, Galatasaray lost to Fenerbahce Beko twice, both in the Turkish Basketball Super League and also in the Turkish Cup semi-finals. They were also eliminated from the Basketball Champions League and tumbling down to the lower levels of the standings in the domestic league.

A change was needed.

"Since I have been here, we mostly focused on our defense. Slowly, we are also improving our offense. We can even get better because we have the players who did not show their real potential yet," Pistiolis remarked after the game.

Dee Bost

Team:Galatasaray IstanbulPosition:PGAge:32Height:188 cmWeight:80 kgBirth place:Norcross, United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

It was 4th straight win for Galatasaray in the Turkish league, including wins over Pinar Karsiyaka and Besiktas. Galatasaray (17-10) are currently 6th in the standings.

"What we added today was great to focus on," the coach explained. "We stayed focused in difficult moments, on the game plan, and on what we had to change during the game. We keep adding things to it, we are going to get better and better."

"When it was time to move the ball, we moved the ball. When it was time for somebody to take some responsibility, we did that," Pistiolis continued. "Teamwork was the key. It was mental for us before anything else."

Pistiolis was not the only one who joined Galatasaray NEF very recently, who got his share of the terrible effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Being a Euroleague star, running towards the playoffs with UNICS Kazan, Isiah Canaan suddenly knew what to do before he opted to finish the season playing somewhere. He could not resist the call from Istanbul when Devaughn Akon-Purcell went down with an Achilles injury, which ended his season prematurely.

"When the war started, we all chose to leave. I just went home and got some therapy on my shoulder that was bothering me in January," Canaan remembered. "I spent some time with my family. I was away from home for seven months. I was also training. I didn't know whether I will play somewhere else for the remaining part of the season or to wait for the summer. Got the call to come here, the city is beautiful."

Dee Bost led the offense against Fenerbahce with 17 points and 9 assists, while Canaan helped with 13 points with 3/8 shooting beyond the arc. Not a bad accompanying effort.

It is very early to give verdicts about how much help Canaan could provide for Galatasaray but if we get to the level that Euroleague defenders are accustomed to playing against, that would be some big news. He was one of the best shooters of the entire season before the war broke out and among the leading scorers of UNICS.

Ask Barcelona fans.

"I'm trying to give everything I have, I'm trying to push this team. I appreciate the organization that allowed me to come and be a part of something special," the guard said. "We did a great job until this far, this is only my second game. We have big goals for this team."

Did Canaan think about shushing the crowd after that famous gesture that became viral earlier in the season?

"As a few thoughts that came to cross my mind. I did not want to take away from the team and the hard job that we had been doing our night. Those types of things fuel me, and I just want to fuel the team. We came out with a victory and that is all that matters."

Melo Trimble, who was rumored to join Fenerbahce at one point in the season, also played his role well, shooting big threes and providing whatever was needed when it mattered the most. His 15 points and 7 assists were decisive.

However, he got the fifth foul relatively early in the game. Now, it was not up to him to bring a win for Galatasaray.

"I was very nervous, did not even know that I had 5 fouls, I was very focused, I just did not realize. I had to go to the side and watch my team. The game was special, our team was one man down, so I was kind of worried about it. When we got to win, I became the biggest cheerleader on the side," he admitted.

Trimble also talked about how he enjoyed playing alongside an experienced pro like Isiah Canaan.

"The guy has been around in the NBA, in Euroleague. I am a young player, I also need that experience. I'm a young player, I'm still growing, learning. Watching him and playing together, he is a good guy to be around. He is helping us with the experience that he has. It's been special going down the stretch to the playoffs."

There are still three games for Galatasaray before the playoffs and they can theoretically climb up to the third place, which would mean home-court advantage. Pistiolis does not want his team to get carried away with a derby win though. It can be a Lotus Flower and an overly euphoric climate in the team can bring some immediate misery.

"We don't let this win get to our heads, that is very important for me. We need to stay focused," he concluded.

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