Turk Telekom Ankara (5-1) takes on Gran Canaria (4-2) at Ankara Spor Salonu in the Turkish capital on Wednesday in an important showdown in the fight for first place in Group B. Turk Telekom lost its first game of the season against Paris Basketball and has been unstoppable ever since to reel off five straight wins. Gran Canaria comes off a road loss against Dolomiti Energia Trento that ended a three-game winning streak. Both teams have deep, experienced rosters, which should make this an entertaining game for basketball fans.
Turk Telekom and Gran Canaria meet in pivotal Group B showdown
Turk Telekom is one of the best defensive teams in the competition, allowing just 78.3 points per night. It needs to work on its three-point defense, however, as opponents are hitting 40.8% of their shots from downtown. Turk Telekom has done a great job of boxing out, allowing just 8.0 offensive rebounds per night while ranking sixth in defensive boards (25.7 drpg.). With scorers like Axel Boutielle (17.7 ppg.), Tony Taylor (13.8 ppg.) and Jerian Grant (13.7 ppg.), offense should not be a problem for Turk Telekom if it sticks to its defensive standards.
Gran Canaria leads the EuroCup in three-point shots made at 12.5 per night. It is also tied for first place in assists at 20.5 per game. Ferran Bassas (5.2 apg.) and Andrew Albicy (5.0 apg.) will share the ball in a key battle to control the game tempo against lightning-quick playmakers like Taylor and Grant. Gran Canaria must do its best to make the most out of its size advantage in the paint, finding Khalifa Diop and Aleksander Balcerowski down low to get Tyrique Jones into foul trouble.