EFES PILSEN

5. STORY: EFES PILSEN IS TIED TO MY SENIOR CAREER AS A TEAM COACH, WHERE I ARRIVED FROM BURSA AND BC OYAK RENAULT, WHERE I RECORDED UNPRECEDENTED RESULTS: “IN ONE YEAR I DID NOT LOSE A SINGLE GAME IN EITHER THE SENIOR OR JUNIOR CATEGORY—NOT ONE!” With Efes, I achieved the biggest Turkish club result up to that point; we narrowly missed reaching the FIBA European Cup final. Until then, the best result had been reaching the third round. We lost in the semifinals to Scavolini by one point—more accurately, we were robbed, since two Americans and I were ejected from the away game in the first half. Thus, Scavolini went to the final in Novi Sad against Cibona. At Efes Pilsen, I was brought in by a formidable professional team led by the great basketball benefactor Tuncay Özilhan, much like Emil Tedeschi was until recently in Croatia. As always, I was eager for unreachable—unexperienced—ceilings. I organized and conducted seminars for Turkish coaches working with youth, formed Turkey’s first camp for two-meter players, and invested in young players and ambitious coaches. My right-hand man, AYDIN ORS, I promoted to the best Turkish coach of all time until the emergence of ERDOAN ATAMAN.

6. STORY: SPORT & CULTURE & EDUCATION PROJECTS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH. RiN ACTIONS. UN PROJECT “THINK AND MOVE”