TUR - Already one trophy in the cabinet for Efes this season

ISTANBUL (TBL) – New Efes Pilsen coach Velimir Perasovic knows it will be a long, hard season in Turkey and the Euroleague.
 
The early evidence suggests his team is going to be very good.
 
Efes clawed their way back from a 16-point deficit to stun Fenerbahce in the 26th Presidential Cup and Perasovic couldn't help but smile as his team is assured of finishing the campaign with at least one trophy.
 
"Winning was a great victory for us," he said.
 
"We started the game very badly.
 
"We received 28 points at the end of the first half. And the difference increased to 16 at one point.
 
"We struggled to catch up with Fenerbahce for most of the game."
 
Defense turned the game around, though.
 
"We had a wonderful defense strategy in the second half," he said.
 
"I can say that we were successful but against teams like Fenerbahce, it is not possible to close the gap of 16 points and win the game all the time.
 
"We really wanted to win this game. For me one of the most important benefits of the game is the fact that we took 16 offensive rebounds from Fenerbahce, which is powerful under the rim."
 
One of Turkey's heroes at the FIBA World Championship was Kerem Tunceri.
 
He's hoping to carry his good form into the domestic campaign with Efes and in the Presidential Cup, he poured in 18 points.
 
"The Presidential Cup was a title sought after by both teams,” Tunceri said.
 
"In fact, neither team was ready for this game.
 
"As you know, we are having problems because of injuries of (Miroslav) Raduljica and Kerem Gonlum.
 
"We could not train as a team for some time. We played badly in the first half of the game but we had excellent defense in the second half and won the game."
 
FIBA