Roster rundown: Frutti Extra Bursaspor

Frutti Extra Bursaspor went on a fairytale run to last season's 7DAYS EuroCup Championship Game, but it fell at the last hurdle when it lost to Virtus Segafredo Bologna. Over the summer, Dusan Alimpijevic, the 2022 EuroCup Coach of the Year, has many key contributors back and the team has added a couple of new additions as it hopes to make another deep run in the competition.

BACKCOURT

All-EuroCup First Team selection Derek Needham, who played a pivotal role in Bursaspor's success in 2021-22, is expected to play a leading role once again. Anthony Clemmons is one of the newcomers and the 28-year-old brings experience after featuring in the EuroCup with Turk Telekom Ankara last season when he posted averages of 12.1 points, 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals in 14 games. The Clemmons-Needham duo may be among the most formidable backcourts in the EuroCup. Backing up Clemmons and Needham are Omer Utku Al and Mithat Can Ozalp, with the former set to repeat his role as a regular option off the bench while the latter, who is still just 20, attempts to earn more minutes in Coach Alimpijevic's rotation.

FRONTCOURT

Onuralp Bitim and David Dudzinski will likely continue as starters for Bursaspor at the forward positions. Bitim impressed in his debut season with the club last year, averaging 12.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists in the EuroCup. Dudzinski also made a fine impression in his first campaign as a Bursaspor player. Another option for the forward position is Yigitcan Saybir, who is a recruit from Anadolu Efes Istanbul. He only played six games for Efes in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague across four seasons, but the 23-year-old featured in 39 Turkish League contests last year. Zach Auguste and Ahmet Duverioglu will share the bulk of the minutes at the center spot. Auguste has arrived from Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, where he served as a sixth man last season, and he will be out to remind EuroCup fans of what he is capable of after previously shining in the competition with Galatasaray in 2018-19 and 2019-20. Duverioglu joins from Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul and will hope his experience works to his benefit, having appeared in 142 games in the EuroLeague. The 21-year-old Tarik Sezgun is likely to continue his development by learning from Auguste and Duverioglu in a reserve role.

PLAYER TO WATCH

The emergence of Onuralp Bitim, among others, was one of the keys behind Bursaspor's success last season, but at just 23 years of age, he has the potential to take his game to even greater heights. Bitim had more of a minor role when he was with Pinar Karsiyaka in 2020-21, but upon arriving at Bursaspor, the support of Coach Alimpijevic saw him begin to play with more confidence and he soon put the EuroCup on notice. With Coach Alimpijevic still in place for the coming season, Bitim can become Bursaspor's undisputed star if he continues to develop at the pace he showed during the last campaign.

OUTLOOK

Repeating last season's heroics is going to be a tricky test for Bursaspor, but with Coach Alimpijevic and some of the team's key contributors still at the club, it might be possible. Bursaspor is in the tricky-looking Group A in this year's EuroCup, which means it will be competing against the likes of Cedevita, Joventut Badalona and Umana Reyer Venice as they all jostle to secure the best seed going into the single-game knockout rounds. Yet, if Bursaspor can channel its inner pitbull spirit, as John Holland made reference to during last year's run to the EuroCup Championship Game, anything is possible.