2019-12-20T12:45:26+00:00

2019-12-20T12:45:26+00:00

2019-12-20T11:24:53+00:00.

It takes patience and perseverance to get to the top and even greater effort to stay there. Anadolu Efes Istanbul hasn’t reached it yet, but is definitely putting in the effort – and then some – and getting closer than ever. On the court and in the stands.

By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net

The club’s first appearance in a EuroLeague Final Four was in 2000, where Efes finished third. The second was in 2001 in the SuproLeague, another third-place finish. Last season, after 18 years, Efes returned to the Final Four, made its first championship game, and was runner-up. During that long wait, the club’s efforts grew even greater, and it seems like Efes is starting to be rewarded.

That appearance in the final last season for the first time in club history set the bar pretty high for the Turkish team, but Efes is proving to be more than capable of making the leap. It’s no coincidence that they’ve been alone at the top of the standings since Round 11, a position they have not found themselves in since the EuroLeague format was changed to round-robin play in 2016.

What’s even more impressive? A club with no football division, from where the bulk of fans usually come for most teams, has come to fascinate so many people that Efes’s attendance numbers reflect its ascendance on the court.

The capacity of the team’s home court, the Sinan Erdem Dome, is 16,000 and this season Efes is filling it at a rate of 74.1%! The increase in attendance compared to last season is 43.8%!

In general, the comparison with recent seasons is characteristic of the product that Ergin Ataman and his players are now offering to fans. Only Zalgiris Kaunas – who, irrespective of results, have always lived in their own fairytale on the court and in the stands – are doing better in terms of attendance this season.

2016-17 (Abdi Ipekci Arena – 12,270)

Course: Knocked out in the playoffs

Average attendance: 5,405 (12th of 16 teams)

2017-18 (Sinan Erdem Dome – 16,000)

Course: 16th place in the rankings

Average attendance: 3,900 (16th of 16 teams)

2018-19 (Sinan Erdem Dome – 16,000)

Course: Finalists

Average attendance: 8,229 (8th of 16 teams)

2019-20 (Sinan Erdem Dome – 16,000)

Course: 1st place in the rankings

Average attendance: 11,859 (2nd of 18 teams)

In the case of Efes, though, the fairytale is beyond what anyone could have imagined. Even on the least popular nights, its attendance is now greater than the club’s average in the first two seasons with the new format, or even in previous ones.

The Round 2 overtime win over ALBA Berlin by 106-105 was attended by a season-low 6,478 fans, a number far greater than the club’s average attendance in 2017 and 2018. In Round 11, Shane Larkin’s all-time EuroLeague scoring show of 49 points in a 104-75 win over FC Bayern Munich was witnessed by 14,902 fans who will be able to tell that they were there when the record was set. But that’s not even Efes’s season-high number. That came in Round 4, when Efes topped Real Madrid 76-70 before 15,167 delighted fans. And there’s more to come.

Head coach Ergin Ataman, who has guided Efes to all three of those Final Fours over 20 years, could not feel more proud of his current creation.

“The basketball we are playing right now is being enjoyed all across Europe and around the world. When you also add success to this, all the basketball fans in Istanbul are coming to the Sinan Erdem Dome in order to be a part of this amazing atmosphere and experience the excitement. I am proud of my players, who have achieved this in the short time of one-and-a-half years. I hope the culmination of this great excitement will be the Final Four and, this time, the championship,” he told Eurohoops.

The 54-year-old Turkish coach is not the only one on the team who has been there for the ups as well as the downs. Team captain Dogus Balbay is in his ninth season with Efes. The satisfaction he’s getting from the team’s incredible rise is indescribable.

“We already had a core fan base that has been supporting us both at home and away. They are always with us. But, of course, after last year’s success, there was another huge wave of fans that came along. They supported us in all of our games, both in the Turkish League and the EuroLeague. We played a lot of soldout games in the EuroLeague. They gave us a lot of strength. I think it will continue to increase. We are expecting all of our fans to come to the Turkish League games, too. We reflect the strength and energy they give us on the court, and we continue to win. Having this kind of support and all basketball fans following our games gives us happiness and pride.”

To be continued…

Photo credit: Getty Images

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