Can Ogut felt heartstrings pulling at him this past off-season when he was looking for a place to play. In the end, the point guard chose Turk Telekom Ankara because it was time for him to return to where it all started.

The 29-year-old playmaker spent his childhood with the club and played for Turk Telekom for 10 years - the last three as a professional.

“I made some wonderful friendships through this club. I still miss the experience and pleasure I had while playing for a young Telekom team, especially in the second league,” said Ogut, who was in the TB2L in 2008-09.

He would stay there until 2013 when he decided to leave for Royal Hali Gaziantep. as a 21-year-old.

"It is quite exciting to compete at these levels both individually and as a team - a cup with elite players and strong teams."

“It was really difficult for me to make such a decision after playing for Telekom for so long. Gaziantep's offer and the coach's attitude towards me were the most important elements in my decision to move there. My main ambition was to establish myself at a high level in a good organization. I believe I accomplished that over time,” said Ogut.

The native of Malatya played for Gaziantep for seven of the next eight years - with a one-year stay at Acibadem Universitesi Istanbul in 2016-17.

“Every day of my seven years at that club was filled with incredible moments. My best memory was finishing third in the EuroChallenge in 2013 under Jure Zdovc's coaching,” he said. “Playing at Gaziantep, where I was captain for the last three years, improved my communication with the team and with the staff, and I gained valuable knowledge. I'm also grateful to the club for trusting me with the captaincy at such a young age.”

During the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons, Ogut ranked in the top five in assists in the Turkish League.

“During those two years, I shared the court with two players with exceptional basketball intelligence: Tonye Jekiri and Mouhammadou Jaiteh. Furthermore, our overall chemistry was superb, which really enhanced my confidence on the court, and those players helped me feel more at ease on the court,” he said.

This off-season Ogut said he had offers from a number of clubs. But the fact that he would get a chance to play in the 7DAYS EuroCup was a major factor in choosing Turk Telekom.

“One of the reasons I love Telekom is because it competes in the EuroCup. It is quite exciting to compete at these levels both individually and as a team - a cup with elite players and strong teams,” said Ogut, who had played in the EuroChallenge, Basketball Champions League and FIBA Europe Cup in the past. “There is no easy game. But because I've been competing for years and enjoy it, I go into every game with a higher level of motivation.”

Ogut returned to a different club than the one he left in 2013.

“As an organization, I believe they are in a much better position. As far as I can tell, they place a higher value on youth development. They hope to gain more players to the main team, which will help the club's tradition in the long run,” he said.

Besides playing in the EuroCup, another reason to come back to Ankara was a feeling of home.

“I have many pleasant memories of this place. One of the reasons I choose Telekom is emotions. One day, everyone goes back home.”

After eight seasons away, Can Ogut trusted his emotions when he decided to return home and play for his boyhood club Turk Telekom Telekom. 

Can Ogut, Turk Telekom: 'One day, everyone goes back home'

In recent years, however, we haven't heard a lot about young Russian prospects, but EuroCup power Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar aims to change that narrative.

**[MORE...](https://www.eurohoops.net/en/trademarks/1275495/lokomotiv-is-paving-the-way-for-russian-basketballs-next-generation/)**

Russian basketball has certainly seen its fair share of glory days. Dominant clubs with big aims and marquee players have stood tall in both the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup, winning nine titles across the two competitions in the last 15 years and finishing as runners-up six more times.

Trademarks by Eurohoops: Lokomotiv's youth movement

Cristiano Felicio joined the 7DAYS EuroCup for his debut season with ratiopharm Ulm having already held quite a distinction in European basketball.

Ulm's Felicio is enjoying his first steps in Europe

Back in 2014, Felicio helped Flamengo, his club in Brazil, defeat then-reigning Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion Maccabi Tel Aviv to win that season's Intercontinental Cup. Felicio was 22 years old when Flamengo downed Maccabi 156-146 over two legs in Rio de Janeiro – losing the first game 69-66 and then taking the second contest 90-77 – and he remembers the moment well.

"Those two games are still in my memory like it was yesterday. No one expected us to do what we did against such a strong team like Maccabi. But we believed in ourselves, we knew we could do it and we did it," said Felicio, who played 2 minutes of the second game, picking up 1 point and 1 rebound.

"We were playing at home with thousands of fans supporting and pushing us. I would have to say those are the best memories I have from that time. Having my family in the arena as well to witness that for sure made it even sweeter."

"I knew what I wanted for my future as a basketball player."

One could argue that the 2014 FIBA Americas League champion Flamengo did not beat the real Maccabi team that claimed the 2014 EuroLeague crown. But the Maccabi team in Rio featured Alex Tyus, Guy Pnini, Devin Smith, Sylven Landesberg and Yogev Ohayon all back from the title-winning team. The team also included Jeremy Pargo, who played for CSKA Moscow the previous season and lost to Maccabi in the final, as well as Brian Randle, Aleks Maric, MarQuez Haynes, Nate Linhart and Jake Cohen.

And facing those stars of European basketball left an impression on Felicio.

"It definitely meant a lot to me to be able to play against them and see them so close. It gave me an understanding of what I would have to do and sacrifice to be on the big stage just like they were. It's not easy, but it's definitely a price I'm comfortable paying," Felicio said.

Fast forward nine years to 2021 and Felicio is once again facing European competition, but this time on the continent of Europe. And the Pouso Alegre native is also looking to re-establish his career after playing the last six years in the NBA.

Felicio signed with the Chicago Bulls as a free agent in 2015 and shared time his first season between the Bulls and the team's D-League affiliate, finishing the 2015-16 campaign with 31 games with the Bulls. The following three seasons saw him play 66, 55 and 60 games, averaging at least 4.0 points and 3.6 rebounds in each season.

Felicio failed to really make an impact with Chicago the next two seasons, appearing in 22 games in 2019-20 and then averaging just 4.7 minutes in 18 NBA games in 2020-21.

This past off-season Felicio decided it was time to head to Europe.

"I knew what I wanted for my future as a basketball player. Everyone wants to play at the highest level possible and everyone should think like that," Felicio said. "I wasn't getting playing time in the NBA, so I decided the best path for my career was to go somewhere where I would be able to play."

He signed on a one-year contract with Ulm, which gave him the chance to play in the competitive German League as well as the EuroCup.

"Out of the options, Ulm was the one that made the most sense for me at this point. Of course, speaking with Coach Jaka [Lakovic], seeing how much he wanted me here and playing EuroCup were some deciding factors for me over other places," Felicio said.

Europe wasn't a complete unknown for him, though.

"I knew quite a bit from watching EuroLeague and watching some of my Brazilian friends or former teammates who play or played here before. It's definitely different to watch and play the games," said the big man, who played in the 2016 Olympics and the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 for the Brazilian national team.

"I was surprised by how physical the game is."

Felicio also talked to his former Bulls teammate Javonte Green, who played at Ulm in the past.

"He had great things to say about Ulm. Of course, it helps to know other players' perspectives, but at the end of the day it was all my deciding and what I thought was best for me," he said.

Felicio has played quite well in his European debut, averaging 10.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.4 steals through five games, including a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds in the double-overtime win over Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana in Round 4.

Still, the play in the EuroCup has been a bit of an eye-opener for Felicio.

"I was surprised by how physical the game is and the fact that you have less space on the court to operate. It's a more thoughtful game in general, too, where you use more plays and a little less individual talent to win games," he said. "My goal for this year is to play the best I can and help Ulm achieve success. I believe we do have a strong team that can play with anyone and we have been proving that."

One thing is certain, he also knows the feeling of beating a reigning EuroLeague champion.

Virtus Segafredo Bologna is in its third consecutive EuroCup season and Kyle Weems has been with the club for that entire run. This season is Weems’s fifth in the competition. He reached the EuroCup Finals with Strasbourg in 2016 and made it to the semifinals with Virtus last season. The versatile forward has agreed to continue sharing his thoughts with his EuroCupbasketball.com blog. Weems will let fans peek behind the scenes to learn more about Virtus as it strives to meet its high expectations in the 2021-22 EuroCup; it is no secret that the goal is to lift the trophy at the end of the season!

Kyle Weems, Virtus: 'We're hanging in there'

There are no undefeated teams in the EuroCup. I think this shows that it is a hard competition for all teams. Obviously, everybody knows about some of the teams with the bigger budgets and big names and the big rosters, but I think the competition in total has shown its true face and on any given night, you need to bring your A-game because you can lose whether it's at home or on the road. So I've been very surprised from the competitiveness and the competition in the EuroCup so far. The product has to come to fruition on the court and it comes down to getting stops and making shots.

I know Valencia lost a couple of tough ones early. Obviously, we have lost a couple of tough ones early; one on the road after kind of a nice lead at halftime against Buducnost and then another one here at home after being up 21 against Valencia. Both of those are very disappointing, but it's a long year. Another thing and another factor that kind of plays a part is when you have that those bigger names and those ambitious goals, teams like us, Partizan, Valencia... You are going to get everybody's best shot on any given night so that makes you have to concentrate and focus and lock in even more as a team.

"I've been very surprised from the competitiveness and the competition in the EuroCup so far."

In our last game, Reyer came back from a big deficit, but we pulled out the win down the stretch. We have been in that situation a handful of times, sometimes being down late, coming back, winning... or maybe not losing, but just being in a close game. But we have lost leads before. Against Buducnost, I believe we were up 11 or 12 at halftime. Against Valencia, we were up 21 at one point in the second quarter and up 12 at halftime, and we weren't able to close out either one of those games. Against Reyer, we were up 20 points. I believe it was 59-39 after a pair of my free throws and for whatever reason, we let the lead slip and that's something that we have to pay attention to. But first thing’s first, when you win, that's pretty much the only thing that matters. But in this competition, like the Valencia game that we learned, sometimes those leads will slip completely and not just make it a close game. So again, it's something that we need to pay attention to, just learn from it and try and close out games better.

We have played against Reyer in three different competitions: the Italian SuperCup, Italian League and EuroCup and it is only mid-November! Is it different to play in the EuroCup? I think it's exactly the same. What's crazy about Reyer is we've played so much in the past and like I said, in three different competitions already this year. Last year, we played them twice in the Italian championship and also in the Italian Cup, as well as the year before, before the pandemic hit, we played them in the Italian Cup as well. It is always a close game every time. So they know us, we know them, they have a great coach, they have a great core of guys like Tonut, Mitchell Watt, Austin Daye, De Nicolao and have added guys like Jeff Brooks and key role players, Sanders and Phillips, guys who have EuroCup experience, definitely made them a little better. So again, they know us, we know them. It just came down to, honestly, who made a few more plays and who made a few more shots and more stops. And I'm just glad that we were able to close that out after kind of letting the 20-point lead slip and also having a couple of guys banged up and injured.

One of the keys was stopping Tonut, who was the Italian League MVP last year. He is a great player. I have a ton of respect for him. I'm not going to take all the credit for him having zero points. We all know that in the game of basketball, some days it’s your night, some days it's not, whether it is another guy in your team's night and he's more of a focal point, or maybe you had an off-night shooting. But whatever the case, it doesn't take anything away from him. Tonut is a great player. I've had to guard him pretty much every time we play them, so that's over 10 times already in the last three seasons. I think that was definitely a big part of our game plan. It's just kind of making things tough and difficult on him and making somebody else beat us than their best player. It worked this time. The next time that we play them in the EuroCup and also the Italian Championship, I think it's going to be another focal point to just kind of make his life a little bit more difficult and not let them get anything easy. But he is definitely a great player. He can do it all, and he's kind of the motor to their team as well as Mitchell Watt.

"We understand that it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. The full chemistry is going to take some time."

It has not been an easy season for us. It never is, but we had some important injuries. We're hanging in there. Losing Ekpe Udoh was tough. Everybody knows how important of a player he is, but even more important as a person, as a part of your organization, being in your locker room, just the way that no matter whether he scores or he gets a lot of minutes or not so many minutes, just being with him during the preseason, showed us a lot of how to be a professional. And I think that was very important for guys like myself, who've been over here for a while and this is my 10th year, to rip a little page out of his book and add it to mine. I saw the way he carried himself and his demeanor. He was never too high. He was never too low. He was always consistent and always ready to work, and just losing him was really tough.

And also Abass, he's the same way. He works extremely hard. He's such a humble guy. He doesn't care about the points, he doesn't care about the shine and can really defend. That was another major loss for us. But getting two guys like Jakarr Sampson and Isaia Cordinier was, in my opinion, great. We were able to get two quality players to come help us like that, especially on such short notice at that point of the season, once training camp was over. Our captain Marco Belinelli just had an operation on his elbow just to kind of clean it up a little bit. We are excited that he can stop dealing with that and be back, I believe, before our first game after the break. We are trying to get Nico Mannion up to speed after dealing with the virus that he had - not coronavirus, stomach intestinal virus. He is trying to bring his body and his legs along. We understand that it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. The full chemistry is going to take some time, just like getting guys healthy.

Personally, I look at this first as a little form of a reset to gather my basketball thoughts, get my legs under me a little bit more and get ready to hit this thing running as hard as I can for my team and for my club. So I am excited! My oldest son, Kyrie's birthday was on Monday and we had that day off. I spent the entire day with him, taking him to school, picking him up and doing a little bowling in the evening, which is one of his favorite things to do, and just spending time with my family. We are extremely blessed to live a great and comfortable lifestyle, but obviously, everybody knows you travel a lot. There's a lot of time spent in the gym and traveling away from the family with games and all this and that. But any chance that we get to have off, I definitely want to take advantage of.

Loic Schwartz had seen and done it all in Belgium and it was a religion-like love of basketball in Greece that brought him to Promitheas Patras for his first time playing outside his native country.

The 29-year-old Schwartz had helped Oostende to four Belgium championships and two Belgium Cups in his four seasons with the club. He began his professional career with Mons-Hainaut before moving to Verviers-Pepinster and Spirou Charleroi and then landing with powerhouse Oostende.

The domination in Belgium was enough for Schwartz, who wanted to see something new.

“I felt like I had done all I could do in the Belgian competition. Having won four times in a row the championship it was time for me to discover something new,” said Schwartz, a native of Brussels.

The thought of leaving Belgium had surfaced in the past, but it was never strong enough for Schwartz to act on it.

“Sometimes I would think about trying my luck in another country, but it wasn’t the right time for me. I didn’t want to leave before being successful where I was,” he said.

When Schwartz said it was time for a new adventure, he recalled his times playing in Greece in pan-European competitions and the amazing feeling in those road games.

“The atmosphere in the stadium and the fans definitely drew me to Greece. They treat it like a religion here, so it’s enjoyable to play for them,” he said.

While Schwartz knew about the basketball culture before coming to Hellas, he said he really couldn’t prepare himself for living in a different country for the first time.

“You can’t really prepare to go to a new country because you can never really know what’s waiting for you,” he said.

To help him get more out of life in Greece, Schwartz has regularly worked on adding to his vocabulary of the challenging Greek language.

“It’s a challenge trying to read the language, but I try to learn a new word every day and I hope I’ll leave here with a good basis in Greek,” he said.

Schwartz said he was really excited about coming back to the competition for the first time since 2015-16 when he was 23 years old and playing for Charleroi.

“My first time in the EuroCup I was too young and inexperienced, so I couldn’t wait to come back and show my improvement and how far I’ve come,” said Schwartz.

And while you can take Schwartz out of Belgium, you cannot take the Belgian out of Schwartz. When asked what he misses most about Belgium, he answered: “Bread.” And for the thing he likes least about living in Greece, again: “Bread”. He also doesn’t miss the Belgian rain and enjoys the weather in Greece.

Schwartz also has a tourist goal in mind during his time in his home away from home: “As far as Greece goes I would love to go see the ancient temple dedicated to Zeus in Olympia.”

Loic Schwartz may have seen and done most of it all in Belgium, but there are plenty of new things for him in Greece with Promitheas Patras.

Loic Schwartz had seen and done it all in Belgium and it was a religion-like love of basketball in Greece that brought him to Promitheas Patras for his first time playing outside his native country.

Appreciation of Greece brings Schwartz to Promitheas

After a slow start in Ulm on Wednesday, Kendrick Ray came alive with a big third quarter to lift Promitheas Patras to its first road win of the season.

Ray delivered the goods with big second half for Promitheas

Before Promitheas Patras’s Round 4 game at ratiopharm Ulm, Kendrick Ray already had a huge role on the team. He was Promitheas’s top scorer and among its top three in rebounds, assists and steals.

So when halftime arrived in Ulm and he was staring down a stat line that showed his worst game of the year - 2 points, 3 assists, 3 turnovers and a PIR of minus-1 in 14 minutes – there were reasons for concern. Was it an off night? Had Ulm’s defense found a way to stop him? Was Ray struggling under Coach Ilias Zouros's new system?

By the time the final buzzer had sounded, no one was asking those questions. Instead, Promitheas fans were applauding a stellar second half led by Ray in which the team took control of the game for good and even led by as many as 13 points before settling for a 65-71 victory.

It was the team's second straight win since Coach Zouros was handed the reins and its first road win of the season.

Ray was at the center of it all with 9 points in the third quarter alone as Promitheas took the lead for good. He started attacking spaces in the Ulm defense to get mid-range jumpers or shots in the lane with his coach signaling him and cheering him on at every stop of the clock. Ray scored twice and had an assist in a 0-10 run that gave Promitheas a 36-43 lead. After Ulm tied it, Ray had a layup and a pull-up three in a 0-11 run that gave his team the lead for good.

When it was time to put the game away, Ray set up Charis Giannopouls for a three – his only shot of the night – and then knocked down a triple of his own to make it 53-66 in the fourth quarter, the visitors' biggest lead of the night. He finished the game with 14 points on 4-of-5 two-point shooting and 2-of-4 shooting on threes. Ray also had 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 5 turnovers. His final PIR of 13 meant he had a PIR of 14 over 17 second-half minutes.

“We're just trying to come out here and play with new energy,” a humble Ray said after the game.” We have to play on the defensive end and I think we're starting to do that and it’s converting to wins.”

Ray appears to have the full backing of his coach, who was naturally pleased with Wednesday's result, but knows there is so much more untapped potential in both his guard and the rest of the team.

“The team showed that they have character. They fought from the first second and to the last. We controlled an up-tempo team, we played defense,” Zouros said to the tv cameras after the game. “Unfortunately, we didn't shoot well at the moment offensively because we don't know yet how to work together, the spacing and everything.”

If the “spacing and everything” come together over the next few weeks – Promitheas does not play its next game until it hosts Buducnost VOLI Podgorica on December 8, Ray and Promitheas will become a very dangerous team in Group B.

ratiopharm Ulm v Promitheas Patras (2021-11-17T18:30:00.000Z)

A stellar performance in a convincing win paved the way for Justin Cobbs of Buducnost VOLI Podgorica to earn MVP honors for Round 5 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season.

Round 5 MVP: Justin Cobbs, Buducnost

Cobbs went off for a career-high PIR of 44 in leading short-handed Buducnost to a 91-60 rout of Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana. He scored 33 points with only 3 missed shots. Cobbs was perfect from downtown with 3 three-pointers and shot 12 for 12 from the free-throw line. He added 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, 1 block and 5 fouls drawn. Cobbs’s PIR of 44 was the highest PIR for a Buducnost player since 2004 and the club's second-best mark in EuroCup history. Ivan Koljevic had a PIR of 46 against PAOK Thessaloniki on December 7, 2004. Vince Hunter of Boulogne Metropolitans 92 had the second-highest PIR of the round in an 84-94 victory over Hamburg Towers. The big man collected 26 points on 12-of-14 two-point shooting plus 14 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, a block and 3 fouls drawn for a PIR of 41. Aaron Harrison of Turk Telekom Ankara and Michele Vitali of Umana Reyer Venice each had PIRs of 36 in Round 5. Harrison led Turk Telekom to an 88-85 victory over Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar with 28 points, 5 rebounds and 8 fouls drawn. Vitali had 26 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 6 fouls drawn in Reyer's loss against Virtus Segafredo Bologna. Kerem Kanter of Slask Wroclaw, with a PIR of 35, rounded out the top five individual performances in Round 5. Kanter posted 17 points and 15 rebounds in defeat.

### Individual highs: Alex Perez of Turk Telekom, 11 assists

Cobbs also led Round 5 in scoring with 33 points. Johnathan Motley of Lokomotiv leads the full-season scoring charts with 23.0 points per game. Kanter led all Round 5 rebounders by pulling down 15 against Dolomiti Energia Trento. He now leads the overall standings with 10.2 per night. Alex Perez was the only player to register double digits in assists, dishing 11 against Lokomotiv. Perez is averaging 7.4 assists for the season, which is third in the EuroCup. Codi Miller-McIntyre of MoraBanc Andorra ranks first with 7.6 per night. Cobbs, Kevin Hervey of Virtus, Nikola Radicevic of Lietkabelis Panevezys and Aleksa Avramovic of Partizan NIS Belgrade each collected 4 steals in this round. Avramovic leads the competition with 2.6 steals per game. Zoran Nikolic of Buducnost, Jerai Grant of Promitheas Patras and Johnathan Williams of Trento had 3 blocks apiece in Round 5. Octavius Ellis of Promitheas ranks is the EuroCup leader with 2.2 blocks per game. Six players registered double-doubles in Round 5. They were Hunter, Kanter, Perez (11 points, 11 assists), Johnathan Williams (17 points, 10 rebounds), Alan Williams (12 points, 10 rebounds) of Lokomotiv and Alen Smailagic (13 points, 12 rebounds) of Partizan.

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica v Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (2021-11-17T18:00:00.000Z)

John Shurna shined with 20 points to help Gran Cabaria beat Frutti Extra Bursaspor and remain undefeated on the road. 

Shurna helped Gran Canaria stay perfect on the road

Another road trip, another road win for Gran Canaria, which registered its fourth consecutive triumph by beating Frutti Extra Bursaspor 74-85 to improve to a share of the EuroCup's best record at 4-1.

Three of those victories during the winning streak have come on the road and this one came with a double-digit margin. It also came despite going into the game without its second-best scorer, Nicolas Brussino, and his 13.3 points per game, as well as point guard Andrew Albicy who ranks second in the EuroCup with 7.5 assists per game.

However, the team did not miss a beat.

"We played really well in the second half, dominated the rhythm and had a great three-point percentage," Gran Canaria head coach Profi Fisac said after the game. "In the second half we played well on defense, and on offense, we had a lot of discipline in our play."

Gran Canaria got big contributions from its usual suspects, Dylan Ennis with 16 and A.J. Slaughter with 13 points, but the keys were the performances of John Shurna and Artem Pustovyi, who scored 20 points apiece.

And while Pustovyi dominated inside, making 9 of 11 two-pointers, and also pulled down 7 rebounds, Shurna scored all of his points in the middle two quarters and seemed unstoppable going 4 for 6 on two-pointers, and 3 for 3 from three-point range.

Every time Bursaspor seemed to have gotten a boost in confidence, there was Shurna hitting a triple or a tough jumper. He scored 12 points in the second quarter in helping Gran Canaria maintain a lead between 7 and 13 points.

And when the hosts got within 43-45 early in the third quarter, Shurna stepped up to the plate again. He first made a jumper to make it 45-49, then a triple to extend the lead to 47-50, then drew 3 free throws to make it 49-60. Those sparked a 0-12 run that opened a 20-point lead at the end of the third quarter, and Gran Canaria was on its way to victory.

It was Shurna's return to the lineup after missing Round 4. After going scoreless in the season opener, he is averaging 17.0 points in his last three appearances, all on the road.

On Wednesday night, the 31-year old forward came 1 point shy of his career-high and his shooting carried the team to an impressive road win.

Frutti Extra Bursaspor v Gran Canaria (2021-11-17T17:00:00.000Z)

CJ Harris did all he could but came up just short of leading Bourg to the big victory. He made 3 of 8 two-pointers, 3 of 5 three-pointers and 9 of 11 free throws for 24 points. 

Harris misses only final shot from heroic showing

He missed the attempt to tie the game at the buzzer and also split two free throws with 22 seconds to miss a chance to tie the game. Harris also had 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 10 fouls drawn for a performance index rating of 28. 