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Turk playing a lot better basketball since the new coach took over

We should point out that today they're facing a serious opponent, moreover because Banvit have a complete team with the return of Rowland and Simmons, and we can expect Mejija today

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Telekom won three out of the last four matches, and Banvit lost three out of four. The clash in Ankara will be quite interesting. Under Sunter Telekom have scored more wins in four rounds than in the last seven, and they will want to continue with that good shape and make an additional step towards the fight for Europe and the place in the play-offs.

Coach Sunter said from the beginning they have to find balance, get more players since Ermis is no longer on court, and make a step forward in the rebound. Without Ermis and the rebound problems they've lost the last home match against TED Kolejliler, and then the Usak away match was the test of everything Sunter was mentioning. Ermis couldn't play because of an injury - nothing serious, and he should be available today - so the got last year's Tofas's play, Buker.

He did a solid job, spent 32 minutes in game. Pulverized Warren in the defense (8p, 3/9), had five assists and six rebounds. Carter (19p), McCauley (18p, 8r) and Valters (16p) were in charge of getting points. They had some trouble in the first three quarters, but despite that they lost only five and with 29-21 in the last quarter completely turned the game around and scored important points.

They lost twice against Banvit last season, and today's match is a huge chance for them. Banvit have trouble with the rotation, although they are expected to be complete today. In case they would win this, Sunter's players could easily connect a big series because they're up for an away match with Eskisehir, and a home match against Selcuk. We can easily claim they will be building their foundation for the play-offs in these matches.

Let's add that with Sunter's arrival and signing Valters, Devoe Joseph completely fell out of the rotation.

Banvit was under a lot of questions for the past few weeks. They hay problems with the rotation, calculations, not to mention they didn't try hard enough. Coach Lukic had to do a lot of matches without Rowland, and some without Simmons and Mejie; sometimes without all three of them, eg. the away match against Oktjabr in an unsignificant match in the Eurocup.

- The problem exists, and we have to make an analysis to find a solution - said coach Lukic after the defeat on Saturday against Besiktas with 81-80.

However, he didn't go in detail and what kind of conclusions they've come to.

- I have to especially thank Rowland and Simmons who played despite their injuries.

The duo is back, but Mejia was missing - he got free time to see his newborn girl. He's expected to be back today, so it's possible that we'll see complete Banvit. We should point out they were quite good despite the absences. They won Efes in a home game without Simmons and Rowland, when Mejia packed 27 points. Againsr Besiktas Rowland scored the winning point 80-79 seconds before the end. Lofton returned it with an even harder shot from some six meters for 81-80.

Banvit had 1.5 seconds left. Lukic took a time out, the ball was at the middle of Besiktas, and Simmonst packed a three-pointer for the win. But, the judges took a look at the tape and determined that time was already up, and thus Besiktas were celebratory.

- Generally speaking, we put up a good fight, but this time luck wasn't on our side - said Lukic, whose team won against Galatasaray in a similar way on their own court.

With that third defeat in the last four matches they're down onto 6-5, they have one more win than TED and Telekom and the series of matches which are yet to come are against teams from the middle of the table - Telekom, Gazinatep, Trabzon. That could be hard because everyone will be looking for points.

It's important to point out that Rowland and Simmons played over 20 minutes, which means they've recovered up to some point, and Lukic expanded the rotation so much that even without Mejia nine players can spend a decent time in game, seven of them 20 minutes or more.

If they repeat such a thing today, with Mejia's expected contribution, then they can be called the favorites. Banvit are looking more like a team, and when they're complete, their quality is immaculate. Especially when motivation is running high.