Ismet Akpinar: rolling the role player / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Tolga Adanali/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Tolga Adanali/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

At the beginning of the season, I don't think that there were many people amongst the European basketball community who would claim that the overall roster strength of Fenerbahce Beko was poor.

Free throws this season

74%11,8Points made:11,8Accuracy:74,4%Place in standings:13Record max:21Record min:4Most made FTs:Jan VeselyTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Yes, Obradovic's days are long gone. But it was a special type of period, a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a club usually. Many clubs have those golden days, but they don't last long.

Yes, things got a little bit chaotic for Fenerbahce in the middle of the summer when Igor Kokoshov's farewell came somewhat unexpectedly premature. There were other unproven rumors about a larger scale of an overhaul.

But the roster assembled for the new season was solid at the end of the day.

No matter who says what, Nando De Colo, Jan Vesely, and Marko Guduric are not an easy trio to put together as a leadership group.

Besides, Pierria Henry and Achille Polonara were among the hottest assets of the summer, which made their way to Atasehir. Dyshawn Pierre, who was very effective in the previous season, was retained.

But what was usually overlooked besides that main part was the quality of the second unit. Look at captain Melih Mahmutoglu who jumped to the scene out of the blue to score 27 points to salvage his team against Tofas in the Turkish Cup.

There was also one mysteriously overlooked name and rarely had a chance to prove his worth: Ismet Akpinar.

Ismet's name is still rarely pronounced in the latest spurt of Fenerbahce and their re-invigorated playoff run despite the absence of De Colo and Vesely.

Yet, his impact is compelling. He probably played his best game against Frutti Extra Bursaspor in the domestic league, where his 19 points and 4 assists with 5 out of 5 clutch 3-point shooting was decisive for the win.

Ismet Akpinar

MIN:10.13PTS:4.14 (50%)REB:0.43As:0.71ST:0.14BL:0TO:0.86GM:7ProfileEuroLeague2021/2022

But he did not stop there. Two crucial threes in the 3rd quarter against Real Madrid held the opponent's comeback attempts in Istanbul.

Those shots are extra meaningful once we consider that Fenerbahce only made 6 threes out of 29 threes.

"It was not an easy situation for me in the beginning as the roster is deep. It is difficult to get the minutes you want in each game, "Akpinar admits.

"But I'm always trying to keep myself ready. It can be defense, it can be a 3-pointer, it can be offensive support like bringing the ball or providing extra energy from the bench. I try to help the team in line with their needs. The last games are better for me, of course," he added.

Akpinar is not a player that you can assess his value to his team through score sheets and basic averages. His 4.1 points, 0.7 assists with 37% 3-point shooting per game does not look like a superstar contribution at all.

You need to go deeper.

Regarding the last 6 games in all competitions, his average plus/minus index comes in the top 5 with +6 points, after Marko Guduric (21.3), Achille Polonara (13.9), Dyshawn Pierre (8.4), and Pierria Henry (6.2), when projected in 100 possessions.

For a second-unit guard who only has around 10:00 minutes on average in EuroLeague, that indicates a very high efficiency level.

Coach Sasha Djordjevic recalls how hard it was for him to leave Ismet out of the roster in the first part of the season:

"In the beginning, when I left him out of some of the games and I was trying to explain why he had to be out, his words were striking to me," the Serbian coach recalled.

"That's how it is, Ismet, I have to put someone out."

"I understand, coach, I understand."

"He was telling me it was ok, but from my heart, I felt that he was suffering," Djordjevic tells.

But Ismet is not a quitter.

"I was upset, of course, but I didn't reflect that much on my teammates, and I always tried to stay positive and good things came in the end," he reveals.

"It was normal that I couldn't find the minutes on the court. Fenerbahce are one of the best teams in Europe. I knew that getting into the team would not be easy, and I prepared myself for this challenge.

"But as a player, one always wants to be in the squad, to play in important matches such as AX Armani Exchange Milan, Real Madrid, to contribute. Matches like this are special to me, and I would like to do whatever the team needs," Akpinar said.

Ismet remained adamant and kept working. Those extra individual workouts before or after the team practices helped him many times in his career. That was how he kept his self-confidence above the surface. That is how the way how he deals with pressure.

"I will make your job difficult about the team selection, coach," Akpinar said to Djordjevic.

This was exactly what Djordjevic was looking for.

"He is definitely doing that, making my job difficult. He earned all the credit whatever you see from the guys, the fans," the coach praised Akpinar.

Ismet is a humble guy who talks with sincerity. His size and physicality, along with his overall skillset, might be underrated, but his focus and approach to the game could never be questioned.

"He is a nice kid and a good professional," tells Himar Ojeda, the sporting director of ALBA Berlin, where Ismet Akpinar became a EuroLeague player for the first time.

"When he was here, he was the young guy that made it through to the pros, but it was difficult because we did not have a second team, and he had to directly jump from the regional team directly to the EuroCup. At that time, he had a low possibility to play that much. He works hard and tries to do whatever you tell him," Ojeda said.

Since his ALBA days, Akpinar became a really cultured type of player. Experiencing many scenarios in clubs while playing in various levels like Ulm (EuroCup) and Besiktas (Champions League), and Bahcesehir Koleji (EuroCup again), he learned how to deal with adversity and knew that only by extra workouts, his time could come.

Akpinar sharpened his organizational skills as a point guard to play as a pick-n-roll ball handler. He can also be utilized as a secondary scorer with catch-and-shoot 3-pointer threats.

In all these multi-faceted aspects, the extent of his offensive contributions may vary, but his defensive effort is almost there every night. This is the way how he understands the game.

By focusing his defensive output, Ismet became a regular guard in the National Team setup during Eurobasket 2017.

On the way to punch their ticket for World Cup in China, he was among the main protagonists where Germany managed to come back from 23 points deficit to come over against Israel in OT.

He never failed to impress his former coach in Germany, NT Henrik Rodl, with his ambitions.

"For us, I guess his defense was the most impressive part as he was crucial for the defensive pressure on the opposing point guards," Rodl shares his thoughts.

"He made his way to the roster of National Team despite there were a lot of NBA players."

But Rödl also adds that Akpinar did not limit himself to becoming a 3&D player.

"Now he is more experienced, and he can do many other things. His ball control gets a lot better, the decision-making is getting better as he is more poised to make the right call.

He is becoming a really good point guard. The past summer, he had a really good chance to make the Olympic team, but he was injured. It was a little bit unfortunate," said the German coach.

Akpinar's plus and minus statistics tell only a small part of his impact, but still, they are there. The eye test also confirms how useful he is lately. I compiled a few defensive stops in the clip below that Ismet made against ASVEL.

He basically shut down Chris Jones and Matthew Strazel, who were quite effective against Efes a few days later.

"Offense, any player can always have a bad day. Turnstiles may escape, 3-pointers may not fall. But you can play defense every day. I prepare for matches with such a mentality," Akpinar explains his approach.

"Every player likes the offense a little more, but I want to concentrate on both sides," he adds.

It is hard to be a role player. When the team wins, your dear contributions would be overshadowed by the team's main star players. On the other hand, when the team loses, you will be among the first ones who be blamed for the failure.

The final destination of Fenerbahce's path is virtually impossible to be predicted because of its chaotic nature.

Despite still being 26, Ismet Akpinar's big experience in topsy-turvy situations of many sorts could be very helpful. Apparently, he is ready to provide when duty calls. And he is just getting started.

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