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Galatasaray will have problems in the paint

It will be especially hard if Erceg is going to play, and that is expected. Karsiyaka are a good team, shooting-wise, and without a proper defense, Galatasaray could be in trouble

Fiba.com

Today's match is played in Izmir, and the two coaches, usually friends, are now meeting as enemies because both teams need points. Karsiyaka lost five out of the last eight matches in the league, not to mention the away defeat against Stelmet and the home one against Lokomotiva. Galatasaray lost on Sunday against Tofas in their own hall, and they have huge problems with rotation.

We've known since the beginning of the season that Karsiyaka have problems with rotation. That's mostly felt in the Wednesday - weekend stretch, and Karsiyaka's records are suffering because of that. Against Lokomotiva they've played without their wing center Gabriel and center Guven; both returned for the Darusafaki away game. Sarica probably wanted to expand the rotation so he started the match without Gabriel and the irreplaceable center Palacios, and instead of them he put Hersek at position four and Demir at five.

Sadly for Sarica, the experiment failed. Gabriel had 2/6 in 23 minutes, Palacios 2/9 in 25, while the Hersek - Demir duo managed nine points in total, and three rebounds. Considering that shooter Diebler (2/8) was completely out of shape, it's not strange they had a -16 record. They took the lead in the first quarter with 19-17, but in the rest they failed. Mahmuti's defense completely stopped them, and they stayed at 9/30 for three and 15/32 for two. At the same time their defense got worse, and you don't win a match like that.

They will have a strategic advantage in the paint against Galata. Ataman currently has no inner rotation; he's using Micov as the wing center because of Erceg's injury, and Young and Gonlum are not enough to carry the rotation themselves. Palacios and Gabriel simply cannot repeat such a bad match as it happened on Saturday, and the same goes for Diebler. Karsiyaka could be easier on Galata's defense.

The question is how are the players and Galata's leadership in this match. The main questions which concern them now are regarding the completion of the team; they managed to beat the uninterested Olympiacos last week, but on Sunday they conceded 98 points against Tofas and were defeated once more. Both of them will enter the match with a 6-5 record.

Galata's defense on Sunday will best be demonstrated with the following: 50% of Tofas's shots for three, and 61% for two. There simply was no resistance, and since there was no motivation, the defeat wasn't surprising.

Zoran Erceg missed that meeting after the Greeks. It's questionable whether we'll see him today, it's more realistic he'll miss this match as well, and after Tofas, Ataman said:

- We don't know, we don't want to risk his Achilles' heel injury.

In case Erceg is missing and they have to use Micov, that's won't be comfortable against Karsiyaka's Gabriel and Hersek. Also, Galata are very active regarding goings and arrivals of players. Usak's Justin Carter has been mentioned, and some other good players; Erceg is apparently followed by Real, especially if they get rid of Slaughter.