Anadolu Efes will play their EuroLeague Round 10 game against Virtus tomorrow night at PalaDozza, and this game could decide a lot.
The season for Anadolu Efes definitely hasn’t started as planned. They have won only three of their first nine EuroLeague games, and over the weekend they also suffered a heavy blow against Besiktas in the Istanbul derby in the Turkish Super League. For a team with minimal ambitions to qualify for the EuroLeague playoffs, a 3-6 record is alarming. And if they fail in Bologna, a 3-7 record could be considered an emergency.
All this has led to fans being furious and calling for accountability. And that’s normal. When results are poor, everyone is to blame: the general manager, the coach, the players… And they will be even angrier if things don’t turn around soon. After all, Anadolu Efes won the EuroLeague in back-to-back seasons under Ergin Ataman. Since then, the intensity of expectations has been incomparably higher than before. Now, the Istanbul club is expected to constantly be in the mix for the Final Four and the title, yet in the past three seasons they have missed the playoffs twice.
Claim Now Ismail Senol Era
When Anadolu Efes surprisingly appointed Ismail Senol 12 months ago, Turkish public opinion was divided. Some saw it as an interesting and intriguing move, while others were skeptical due to his lack of experience in this field.
One of Senol’s first moves was to dismiss Tomislav Mijatovic from the head coach position, even though the Croatian expert had achieved the same number of road wins in the early stage of the EuroLeague season as Anadolu Efes had in the entire previous season. The hiring of Luca Banchi did not produce immediate results, but by the end of the EuroLeague regular season, they finished with eight consecutive wins, leading to a playoff appearance where Panathinaikos eliminated them in five games.
That EuroLeague result was roughly the only bright spot, as they were eliminated in both domestic competitions by Besiktas, a team with a much smaller budget and resources than Anadolu Efes. In the Turkish Cup quarterfinals, the score was 85-80, and in the Turkish Super League semifinals it was 3-2 in best-of-five series, even though Banchi’s team led 2-1 after three games.
Although Banchi came to Anadolu Efes as a renowned coaching name after a very successful stint at Virtus, it was clear from the start that he was a temporary solution and would only be there until the end of the season.
When Basketball Sphere exclusively reported in March that Igor Kokoskov would become Anadolu Efes’ head coach from the 25/26 season, the Turkish club quickly responded with an official statement denying the media reports and giving full support to Banchi. A few months later, our website’s reports were confirmed when Kokoskov was officially promoted.
If the agreement with Kokoskov was made long before the previous season ended, it raises the question of what would have happened if Banchi had, for example, reached the EuroLeague Final Four? Or maybe won it? A similar strange situation occurred in Fenerbahce in 2022 when the club prearranged Dimitris Itoudis, so Aleksandar Djordjevic did not remain head coach despite demolishing Anadolu Efes in the Turkish Super League final after Efes had won the EuroLeague.
Time under Igor Kokoskov
Igor Kokoskov’s start on Anadolu Efes’ bench has been anything but smooth. Fans are already calling for changes, and with each new defeat, Senol will be under increasing pressure to make another move, as he will be seen as the main culprit.
The roster assembled over the summer rightly gives fans high expectations. Shane Larkin played outstandingly for Turkey at EuroBasket and is still capable of contributing at a high level. Jordan Loyd perhaps played the best basketball of his career in Poland jersey, Nick Weiler-Babb was named the EuroLeague’s best defender last season, and adding PJ Dozier, Isaia Cordinier, Rodrigue Beaubois, and Sehmus Hazer creates one of the most powerful backcourts in Europe.
Ercan Osmani has also developed into a dominant power forward option, and with such a roster, expectations are high. It’s true that Anadolu Efes has major problems at the center position, but they were aware of Vincent Poirier’s injury before the season started, while the absence of Georgios Papagiannis is a serious blow. However, Anadolu Efes must find a solution, and the only way out of the crisis is through wins.
If the lack of options at the center position, aside from Kai Jones, can be considered a good reason for rebounding problems, it still raises questions about why Anadolu Efes is one of the worst offensive teams in the EuroLeague by all major statistical indicators.
They have the eighth-worst offensive rating, an average of only 16.4 assists, and only three teams have fewer assisted baskets than them, while shooting percentages remain very low. Notably, coach Kokoskov insists on organized offense without much rushing, and Anadolu Efes plays at the second-slowest pace in the entire EuroLeague. However, when you have players like Larkin, Loyd, and Cordinier, the question arises whether a slightly faster style of basketball with more transition options could improve things.
A clock is ticking
Few EuroLeague clubs have patience.
Unfortunately, most coaches pay the price too early and don’t get the chance to reap the rewards of the systems they build. Ioannis Sfairopoulos was fired after just two games in the new season, Joan Penarroya was dismissed in Barcelona despite a positive record (5-4), and several other coaches are on the hot seat. Patience does not exist in the EuroLeague.
Therefore, it is reasonable to ask how much time Kokoskov will get to implement his ideas in Istanbul. His tenure at Fenerbahce was not successful, which certainly doesn’t help in terms of believing that results will come throughout the season when most needed in April, May, and June.
Anadolu Efes currently sits at 3-6, and a potential loss in Bologna would drop them to 3-7. And the question is whether Senol would have the courage to endure that and allow Kokoskov to fix things. At Anadolu Efes, standards are extremely high, and the money invested over the summer is too much to be near the bottom of the table after a quarter of the season rather than in a playoff position. Injuries to centers are an excuse, but no EuroLeague team is without some injury issues. That is reality.
Senol showed 12 months ago that he has no patience with Mijatovic, and that decision brought short-term EuroLeague results. We will see if he will again act quickly if a turnaround does not happen soon. The market has several prominent coaches like Xavi Pascual, Andrea Trinchieri, and Pablo Laso, who might bring instant results and reverse Anadolu Efes’ poor trajectory.
But in the long term, is that the right move? There’s no need to question Kokoskov’s coaching expertise. However, European basketball operates under very different rules than in United States.
And potential loss in Bologna could lead to changes.
