The Turkish side came up with a fine performance following a setback in the opening game of the season
Besiktas was red-hot against Lions after a cold shower in Round 1
Artículo
3 Min lectura
Regular Season
Round 2 of 18
Regular Season
group b
Besiktas GAIN IstanbulBJK
9973
London LionsLDN
group b
Overview
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Besiktas GAIN Istanbul showed glimpses of what the Turkish side is capable of with a sound 99-73 home demolition of the London Lions in Round 2 of the BKT EuroCup, bouncing back from the opening 85-79 setback at Lietkabelis Panevezys.
Besiktas relied on a deep roster to make the Lions look like alley cats in a one-sided clash, as six home players scored in double figures while the hosts also took much better care of the ball.
The Turkish outfit dished out a team 23 assists against just 9 turnovers, whereas the Lions had 17 assists and 14 turnovers, having struggled to deal with relentless half-court pressure from Besiktas.
It was one-way traffic from start to finish as London’s much changed roster looked a pale shadow of the side which stunned Europe when it reached the EuroCup Semifinals in 2024 before taking a one-year sabbatical from European competition.
In contrast, Besiktas showed the potential to emerge as one of this term’s favorites, provided the Turkish side can stay consistent and avoid slip-ups like the one in Lithuania last week.
Exactly the concept the home team’s head coach Dusan Alimpijevic highlighted in his postgame comments, in fact. “Every win in the EuroCup is important and this one especially so as we’ve had some long trips and several more coming up,” said Alimpijevic, who was recently promoted to the Serbian national team’s head coach.
“I am happy that we were able to find our rhythm, particularly on offense. We have a lot of things to improve defensively but I believe in this team and I am sure we will get better and better. It’s early days and we should be able to raise the level of our performances.”
Besiktas also dominated long-range territory as it made 13 of 29 shots from downtown while the Lions hit a mere 6 of 21 in the wake of aggressive defense from the home side, which scored 17 points off London turnovers.
In a nutshell, it was a thoroughly deserved win for Besiktas by a whopping margin which in way flattered the home team, but the Lions have a mountain to climb if they are to make any kind of impact in Europe this season.