© BELGIUM
A ticket in the Round of Sixteen of the Champions League is the bet of the play-ins, the hipper name for jump-off matches in the Basketball Champions League. To reach that stage, Filou Oostende must pass Bahcesehir Istanbul, the winner of the FIBA Europe Cuo 2022.
Peter Rossel in Istanbul
The preparation for the first play-in-match in Istanbul was difficult for Filou Oostende. Their outward flight took off from Charleroi on Tuesday with a delay of four and a half hours. “This is not an ideal situation. We even landed too late to train in the arena”, sighs coach Dario Gjergja in Istanbul. “Fortunately, we have already prepared well in Ostend in recent days. After all, January has a very busy schedule for us on three fronts. We’ll do the best we can here. I hope we’re not too tired. Such a European campaign is very important for my young team. We are gaining a lot of experience here.”
Euroleague experience
Of course it would be optimal that Ostend immediately takes the lead in this playoff formula “best of three”. But coach Gjergja immediately warns against that thought. “We have to realize who we are playing against here. At its core, Bahcesehir has seven basketball players with a Euroleague past. This is a strong team that definitely has a lot more experience than we do. We will do our best but also learn a lot. This winner of the FIBA Europe Cup 2022 has a big budget and a lot of quality. They are strong on both sides of the terrain. They base every attack on a decent defense. Offensively they simply punish everything, also with a bevy of three-point shooters. We cannot afford any mistakes. Under the rebounds, they provide uninterrupted pressure. Last weekend they completely overturned a competition match in twelve and a half minutes. Against Pinar Karsiyaka, also in the Champions League, they turned a fifteen-point deficit into a five-unit win. That’s amazingly good!”
Bahcesehir Koleji Istanbul is currently ranked ninth in the Basketbol Süper Ligi with six wins from thirteen games.
Statistics
Tyree is Ostend’s top scorer in the Champions League with 17.8 points per game. Bratanovic (70.6 %) and Gillet (69.2 %) scored the highest two-point finishes. With 56.5 % bombs and 89.5 % free throws, Thurman is the best in two offensive disciplines. Bleijenbergh picked up the most rebounds, 6.6 as a match average. Van der Vuurt handed out the most asssts, seven perfect goal passes per game.
Directly on television
Sport 10 will broadcast the match from Istanbul on Wednesday from 6 pm Belgian time on Proximus channel 132, Telenet channel 218 and TV Vlaanderen channel 34. The second match will follow in Ostend on Tuesday 10 January. With a 1-1 score, a third match awaits on Tuesday, January 17 in Istanbul. The stake is therefore a ticket for the Round of Sixteen in a group with Bonn, Manresa and the winner of the play-ins Rytas Vilnius-PAOK Saloniki.
