Valencia Basket (9-8) will look to protect its position in the playoff zone with a visit from Anadolu Efes Istanbul, which has dropped to 7-10 after losing four in a row.
Erdem Can, Efes: 'We need to respond to toughness'
2023-24
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 18 of 34
Regular Season
Valencia BasketVBC
9388
Anadolu Efes IstanbulEFS
Overview
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The home team could give a debut to new signing Kevin Pangos, and he’ll hope to feast against an Efes squad that has suffered defensively in recent weeks, allowing at least 86 points in each of its four losses. The Turkish team did a good defensive job when the teams met in Round 4, winning 77-73 behind 15 points and 6 assists from superstar Shane Larkin, who has scored 23 and 28 points in his last two games. Valencia was led by 13 points from Damien Inglis on that occasion and he’ll hope for a return to form after only averaging 5.4 points in the last seven games.
Erdem Can, Efes head coach
"We are entering a very difficult double-round week. We will play our first game against Valencia on the road. Valencia is a team that plays very tough at home. We need to respond to this toughness. We want to start the double-round week well."
Tibor Pleiss, Efes center
"The first game of the second half of the EuroLeague against Valencia on the road will no doubt be tough. Valencia is always a tough team to play against, especially at their home court and a team that deserves respect. We are not happy with the recent scores we got, but I believe that we have the potential to start a new winning streak. I hope the first game of the year will be the beginning of our winning streak.