Turk Telekom GM recalls last minute offer from EuroLeague, Gran Canaria controversy / News - Basketnews.com

In an interview with BasketNews, Turk Telekom Ankara's general manager, Onder Kulcebas, talked about their golden year in the 2022-23 season with Erdem Can, the aftermath of that successful season, and their long-term planning and EuroLeague ambitions.

Credit: Turk Telekom, Sports Digitale | T.Sezgin/BasketNews illustration Credit Turk Telekom, Sports Digitale | T.Sezgin/BasketNews illustration

Turk Telekom Ankara had a season to remember last year, making it to the EuroCup final, finishing the Turkish Basketball Super League in first place in the normal season, and making it all the way to the semifinals.

One of the architects of this success was Onder Kulcebas, the team's general manager, whose efforts helped to catch the proverbial "lightning in a bottle" in a club that is often known for its uneven season performances among Turkish and European basketball circles.

"Our first goal is for everyone who comes into the club to increase in value, whether it be the coaches or the players," Kulcebas explained in the 1st part interview with BasketNews. "The whole organization should grow and thrive because teams with such budgets do not have the luxury of being in first place or winning finals and cups every year."

"However, every year, you can develop some players. Every year, you can develop anyone from assistant coaches to the head coach or people from the club's management. Alongside our president, Savtekin [Senturk], this is our biggest goal and dream.

If this sticks, if we can make this happen, then people will start seeing you as a jumping-off team and behave accordingly. Then, the club will start making money. This is our goal, actually," added the Turkish GM, explaining the club's goal of incremental growth.

While the Turkish team had trouble keeping intact the 2022-23 roster, which brought them their arguably best season, things might have been different if they had defeated Dreamland Gran Canaria in the EuroCup final and made it to the EuroLeague.

That particular game cannot be thought of independently from a scandal that went down with Turk Telekom's bus getting involved in an accident that hurt Erdem Can ahead of the game.

To elaborate, a bus en route to a training facility was violently stopped by a driver employed by Gran Canaria after Can attempted to turn down the driver's loud music after countless verbal warnings by the members of the Turkish team.

Erdem Can's Gran Canaria incidentCredit Muhammed Ali Yahsi/Depo Photos via ZUMA Press Wire - Scanpix; Twitter/VOLEapp

Speaking of the controversy, Kulcebas revealed how the accident affected the team and his own current perspective after the dust had already settled.

"It was a very unpleasant affair, and it had a direct impact on the final. That team [the 2022-23 Telekom squad] was a very united team that always supported one another," Kulcebas explained. "So that accident caused a bit of an overload as everyone was very motivated ahead of the final game."

"Naturally, the accident negatively affected everyone because the team got really upset, and a combative environment developed inside the team. After the coach returned from the hospital [with a neck brace], some were crying, and others retreated to corners, watching the coach from a distance. The motivation completely got unfocused.

However, at the end of the day, it was an experience for us all on how to manage similar situations in the future," Kulcebas continued.

It appears that Kulcebas is at peace with what happened and does not hold Gran Canaria accountable for what happened.

"It was really hard to take in, but now, thinking about it with a clear mind, I don't think that Gran Canaria was at fault. I think it was the driver who was irresponsible. Maybe he was a fanatic of Gran Canaria."

"Of course, the EuroLeague Basketball should've provided us security personnel for both the semifinal and the final games. This is an insufficiency on their part; something like this shouldn't happen in such a big organization," Turk Telekom GM noted.

Although the Turkish executive criticizes the EuroLeague's organization, he still believes that it is undisputedly the best continental league and that the EuroCup remains the best pathway to success.

"There are organizational insufficiencies, sure, but all players want to make it to the EuroLeague eventually," he admitted. "This makes it easier for you to sign valuable and/or talented players if they see that you are trying to make it to the EuroLeague through the EuroCup."

"Our current vision is to remain in the EuroCup because last year, we were really close to making it to the EuroLeague. Maybe if we hadn't broken up the roster or if the offer had come sooner," Kulcebas wondered.

Kulcebas then revealed what exactly went down last year when Turk Telekom unexpectedly became a real contender to join the EuroLeague for the 2023-24 season after Gran Canaria stated that they would not be able to make it due to financial concerns.

"Diego [Guillen, EuroLeague Competitions Senior Director] called me with 10 days remaining [until the declaration of participating teams for the 2023-24 EuroLeague season]," Kulcebas recalled. "He told me that they could include us if we were ready."

"However, we had already built the team, everybody had changed, and at the end of the day, we were bound by an organization and a budget that was pre-approved.

If we had said yes, we would have suffered the same fate as Karsiyaka did some years ago," Kulcebas stated, recalling Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir's brief stint in the EuroLeague in the 2015-16 season, which caused a major financial strain on the club that they were not able to resolve for a long time.

"I hope we and our organization can bring the EuroLeague to Ankara. That's our main goal," he concluded.

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