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Defending champions Pinar had to start from scratch, Ivkovic merely filled the gaps

The team from Karsiyaka underwent great changes compared to the last season in which they won the title. Dixon, Diebler, Strawberry and Hersek are all gone...Efes lost some players too but those who joined to step in for them make the team even better than the one from last season

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The fifth game in the final series between Pinar and Efes put an end to the last Turkish championship. Pinar won in Istanbul to win the title and will now face Efes again in the battle for Supercup that will mark the official start of the new season. The game is to be placed on neutral grounds in the Tukish town of Samsun. Karsiyaka are defending the Supercup title after beating Fener 77-75 for it at the start of the last season. 

Pinar paid the price for taking the title from the mighty Fenerbahce and Efes as they lost quite a few players to them over the summer. Hersek and Dixon joined Fener, while top shooter Dieble left for Efes and Strawberry joined Olympiacos. Some other players left Pinar as well but they're not as important. 

The defending champions did their best to acquire good-quality players who would step in for those who left. Point guard Ragland from Milan was therefore acquired as Dixon's replacement, Justin and Josh Carter should step in for Diebler. Both of them can play he guard and small forward positions. Gabriel stayed at power forward position, with veteran Gonlum from Galatasaray as backup. Pinar managed to prevent starting center from leaving, while Iverson from Laboral Kutxa joined.

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Pinar have a team that will fight for top spots this season, with the only problem being the fact they have not spent enough time together yet, unlike the team that won the title last season. That means coach Sarica will have a lot of work to do trying to get his team to work together perfectly. He tried to improve that in numerous friendly matches in which Pinar displayed enviable efficiency. The defense was looking up as the official start of the season neared too.

- We want to open the season with a trophy to get some extra confidence. We want to give the fans that joy - Sarica said ahead of the meeting with Efes while club president added:

- We are not done with winning trophies, we want more.

The last available information says Justin carter is questionable (groin injury) but that his chances of playing have improved. Him not playing would be a problem for Sarica's team. A park in Karsiyaka was named after Sarica, which only goes to show how popular he is there. 

PRESEASON GAMES: Pinar - Ušak 86-80 (Ju. Carter 23, Ragland 13, 6a, Gonlum 10, 8a, Palacios 10),Pinar - Orkide Gediz University 83-64 (Ragland 13, Ju. Carter 11, Iverson 11, Gonlum 10, withot Jo. Carter),Banvit - Pinar 95-83 (Ragland 18, 7r, Palacios 18, Iverson 12, 6r, Ju. Carter 11, 6a, Gabriel 10, without Jo. Carter), Galatasaray - Pinar 100-104 (Ragland 27, 7a, Ju. Carter 18, 6a, 5, Palacios 15,  Gönlum 11, Gabriel 11, Iverson 10, without Jo. Carter), Demir - Pinar 76-77 (Ju. Carter 16, Ragland 15, 5a, Gabriel 15, 8r, Palacios 10, without Jo. Carter), Darušafaka - Pinar 77-80 (Ragland 20, Iverson 12, Ju. Carter 10, without Jo. Carter), Mega Leks - Pinar 73-69 (Gabriel 13, Ju. Carter 12), Metalac V. - Pinar 72-66, tournament in Greece: Lokomotiv Kuban - Pinar 61-79, Aris - Pinar 74-84 (Ragland 19, Jo. Carter 16, Palacios 12, Ju. Carter 11); Pinar Cup: Pinar - TED Kolejliler 73-65 (Gabriel 21, Ragland 16, Ju. Carter 12),Pinar - Trabzon 74-70 (Ragland 15, Gabriel 15, Ju. Carter 10), Pinar - PAOK 80-72 (Ragland 17, Gabriel 13, Baygul 12, Iverson 10).

Efes want more trophies as well as they won only one last season. It was the Turkish Cup title after the win over Fenerbahce in the final. In Euroliga, Efes crashed out of quarterfinals to Real, while today's opponent stopped them in the championship. It was 4-1 even though Ivakovic's team took a 1-0 lead in the series. 

The Serbian coach stayed at Efes since they were doing well for the most part of the last season so there was no need for any major changes. When it comes to the more important players, backup center Lasme, back up power forward Bjelica, forward Perperoglu and defender Janning are all gone. But, they were definitely not Efes' key players. It is the team that matters under Ivkovic anyway, not individuals. Every player gets an approximately equal time on the floor and no one has the necessity or the will to stand out too much.

That is why Duda only put new parts into an already well-tuned machine. Granger joined from Unicaja to share the point guard position with Huertel, which is an improvement at that position (Draper left for Kuban). Dieble is better than Janning on the offensive end and his back up Korkmaz isn't bad either. There is a lot of players Ivkovic can choose from at forward position. Brown joined from Kuban and there area also Osman, Batuk, and Ulubay ready to play. Saric is the only choice at position 4, meaning this should be his season. Tyus and Dunston will be there for the center position since they joined only because Krstic is out until the end of January. 

Efes are very close to their quality level from last season. They might have more offensive potential due to Granger, Diebler and Brown, how are better shooters than Draper, Janning and Perperoglu. Let's not forget the fast Huertel is still on the team. His skills in defense are not good but he will do step it up in offense. Efes will remain focused on defense, regardless of the acquisitions, since that has been Ivkovic's style for years now and he will not be backing down from it.

PRESEASON GAMES: Union Olimpija - Efes 61-90(Dunston 18, 6s, Granger 14, 4r, 5a, Košut 11, 6s, Ulubay 10; without Šarić, Batuk, Osman, Korkmaz, Balbay, Heurtel), Krka - Efes 43-84 (Granger 15, Dunston 13, 12r, Brown 10, 7a; without Šarić, Batuk, Osman, Korkmaz, Balbay, Heurtel), Helios - Efes 75-94(Dunston 19, 7r, Granger 15, Heurtel 10, 5r, 6a, Dunston 10, 6r, Brown 10, Baykan 10; without Šarić, Batuk, Osman, Korkmaz, Balbay) Laško - Efes 65-79(Diebler 15, Heurtel 13, Dunston 11, Duverioglu 10, 8r; without Šarić, Batuk, Osman, Korkmaz, Balbay, Brown), Darušafaka - Efes 79-80 (Diebler 18, Heurtel 16, 8a, Dunston 13, Brown 10, 7r, Tyus 10, 8r, without Šarić, Batuk, Osman, Korkmaz, Balbay), Efes - Büyükčekmece 96-70 (Granger 20, 6a, Tyus 16, 8r, Brown 13, Dunston 13, Batuk 10, Heurtel 9, 9a); tournament in Istanbul: Efes - CSKA Moskva 72-76 (Granger 17, Diebler 13, Heurtel 12, 7a), Efes  - Banvit 71-66 (Brown 14, 9r, Granger 12, Diebler 10), Efes - Galatasaray 86-78 (Brown 14, Diebler 13, Tyus 12, Dunston 10, Granger 10); AEK - Efes 85-56 (Šarić 12, Diebler 9, Brown 8), Efes - Lokomotiv Kuban 75-74 (Granger 19, Diebler 15, Tyus 9).