Last year’s champion faces a team hoping to play the role of party pooper
Eighthfinals breakdown: Dreamland Gran Canaria vs. Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul
Game Preview
6 Mins read
Even though both teams have played a combined 26 seasons in the BKT EuroCup, Dreamland Gran Canaria (12-6) and Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul (9-9) will face off for the first-ever time next Wednesday, March 6. And what a stage for this first meeting between the two, as the winner of this eighthfinals tie will advance to the quarterfinals, where a test against Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv (13-5) awaits.
Gran Canaria: What to expect
Gran Canaria opened the 2023-24 season with 10 consecutive victories, as it picked up where it left off last season. After all, Gran Canaria finished its championship-winning campaign in 2022-23 with eight straight wins, so that meant Jaka Lakovic's team had won 18 in a row – the fourth-longest streak in competition history – following its victory in Round 10 of this current season. Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar (twice) and Virtus Segafredo Bologna hold the record with 20 consecutive victories. Gran Canaria improved to 10-0 with an average winning margin of 17.2 points, thus remaining the team to beat in the competition, no question.
Gran Canaria went on to win just two of its next eight regular-season games, however, falling to third place and not getting a bye to the quarterfinals. Two of those six losses came in overtime – on the road against ratiopharm Ulm and Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse – and another came in double overtime at home against U-BT Cluj-Napoca. After recording 19 consecutive home wins, Gran Canaria enters the playoffs on a three-game losing streak at Gran Canaria Arena. In addition to that loss against Cluj, Gran Canaria lost by 22 against Dolomiti Energia Trento and by 10 against Turk Telekom Ankara in what was a rematch of last season's EuroCup Final. Which Gran Canaria version will we see in the eighthfinals: the dominant one from the beginning of the season, or the one that tailed off significantly in the latter part of the campaign?
Besiktas making noise a decade later
Besiktas is in its first EuroCup season since 2016 and has got past the group stage for the first time since 2014, while it took Besiktas three appearances in the competition to reach the quarterfinals. Coached by Ergin Ataman and led by Preston Shumpert, Kaya Peker and Sandro Nicevic, Besiktas had one loss in 14 games to qualify to the 2008 Final Eight, but it came up short against archrival Galatasaray Istanbul on a last-second three-pointer by Cunyet Erden. In 2014, Besiktas took a 17-point lead in the first leg of its two-game eighthfinals series against Nizhny Novgorod, but a 24-point loss in Russia was the end of the road for coach Ahmet Kandemir and his team.
Fast-forward to the 2023-24 season and Besiktas’s decision to bring in experienced EuroCup players and a head coach that knows the competition paid off right away, as Besiktas won its opening three games in Group A. The team kept winning at home and got great support on the road from Besiktas fans, who either travelled to see the team or were from the Turkish communities of Paris, London or Ljubljana. Besiktas is the only team to have beaten Paris Basketball this season, 63-68, and it was cheered on by a great road crowd in the French capital. That said, just like Gran Canaria, Besiktas has slowed down in recent weeks, finishing the regular season with a three-game losing streak and averaging just 72.7 points in those stretch.
Back-to-back attempts: What happened?
Gran Canaria has a chance to win a second consecutive EuroCup title, which is unprecedented. Of course, there is a big reason why this has never happened before: the EuroCup champion earns the right to play in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague the following season. Gran Canaria opted to stay in the EuroCup for another season and therefore has a chance to win it again. It is not the first team to have this opportunity as a former champion opted to do the same, while another dropped from the EuroLeague to the EuroCup midway through the season. Let's take a look.
Hapoel Jerusalem won the 2003-04 EuroCup title, downing Real Madrid 73-82 in a memorable final in Charleroi, Belgium. Jerusalem opted out of the 2004-05 EuroLeague and had a good shot to win another EuroCup title but was narrowly eliminated in regular-season action. Despite being third in its group with a 6-4 record, it failed to be one of the two top-ranked third-placed teams by one point (Aris Thessaloniki 6-4, +42, Jerusalem 6-4, +41). Valencia Basket won the 2013-14 EuroCup and returned to the competition midway through the 2014-15 campaign. The Spanish side made it to the quarterfinals, losing against eventual champion Khimki Moscow Region.
Coach Alimpijevic, Needham get another shot
Besiktas head coach Dusan Alimpijevic and playmaker Derek Needham have been working together for the last three seasons. Coach Alimpijevic brought Needham to Frutti Extra Bursaspor at the start of the 2021-22 season, a year in which Needham made it to the All-EuroCup First Team and Bursaspor went all the way to the EuroCup Final. The Turkish club had a fairy tale run to the EuroCup Final, too, winning three do-or-die road games against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana and MoraBanc Andorra to reach the championship game. Virtus Segafredo Bologna prevailed in the final, however, beating Bursaspor 80-67.
Coach Alimpijevic and Needham remained with Bursaspor last season and qualified for the EuroCup Playoffs, but Gran Canaria stood in its way, winning 72-66 behind 17 points from John Shurna. When Alimpijevic joined Besiktas, Needham was one of his team's first signings. He is averaging 11.6 points and 3.1 assists in 17 EuroCup games this season, although he doesn’t have the best of records against Gran Canaria, having gone 1-4 through his career. Needham's only victory over Gran Canaria came with Mornar Bar in the 2020-21 season, with the Montenegrin club winning 100-102. Alimpijevic, the 2021-22 EuroCup Coach of the Year, is 0-4 against Gran Canaria in the competition.