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Aliaga want to charge for the good defense work in the last two rounds

Izmir team have miserable 1-7 ratio, but they've only lost with 2 difference in the last two rounds, against Usak who crushed Telekom in Ankara yesterday, and against TED

Aliaga are hosting Edirne in a match of great importance, after the 1-7 in the first eight rounds. They're in a series of five consecutive defeats right now, but they should have a stroke of luck sooner or later, as well, it's not like they deserved to be defeated in the last two rounds. They lost to Usak Sportif 70-68 in the last game, with the points scored 1,6 seconds before the end. They lost to TED in Ankara last week, 71-69. Coach Kavasoglu said they needed to improve the defense, and it seems things were getting better in that area. To concede 70 and 71 points two weekends in a row, especially in the Turkish league, where the game is very open and fast, is not a bad result. Now they have to gain the team's self-confidence back, which was lowered a lot by their start of the season, and also by the departure of the coach they did the pre-season with (Hakan Demir).

They lost the center Petar Popovic before the game against Ankara, too, and Bora Hun Pacun (15p, 6s) and Ali Asik (0/6 out of game, 0/4 three pointers) will cover for him. Asik is a lot more mobile than Pacun, and mostly plays the four. Sommerville played all 40 minutes (22+11), and Sean Marshall (7p, 3/9), usually a reliable wing, didn't satisfy. Aliaga had huge issues with that position because Clay Tucker dominated the game with 29 points. 

They'll have an advantage against Edirne on the 3 and 4 positions, where Marshall and Sommerville are, and if Randle manages to match Washington, and with the better shoot from the outside than in the last round (8/27 three pointers), Aliaga could get their second win. The difference between these two teams isn't huge, despite the Aliaga's 1-7. 

- The progress in the defense is visible in the last two weeks. The team have changed considerably. We want to end our difficulties against Olin - coach Aclan Kavasoglu said. 

Even though the differences are big compared to the last season, in both teams, Aliaga defeated Olin in the last four games between the two. 

Olin Edirne come to Izmir after two defeats in a row by the teams from Istanbul. First they lost to Efes while conceding 95 points, then they gambled away the chance they got against Besiktas at home, and lost 86-79. After Besiktas were in the lead by 77-70, they turned the game with the 9-0 series, but then lost the points in the last minute. 

Even though they shot the impressive 30/32 throws, they lacked more precision for the three pointers (9/25), because everyone knows that the three pointers are a very important part of their game. Captain Reha Oz scored 1/4, first player Washington also 1/4. Washington did score 22 points (11/11 penalties), shot 5/12 from the game, but also had 7 lost balls. Besiktas defense managed to somewhat slow down Olin's main player. 

A big problem for coach Cem Akdag was the front game, Colton Iverson had 12+11, and Tomo Ruzic scored 16 points with 7/7 from game. Add to that the usual good performances by Gains and Lofton, Edirne just couldn't keep up.

- A very important segment were the early Christos Tapoutos foul problems, which is why he couldn't contribute - coach Akdag pointed out.

Tapoutos, wing player, is one of the main players, and he played a really weird game this time, did 5 fouls in 7 minutes, and lost the shot from game. 

- Regardless of the defeat, I'm proud of my team, we fought till the end and lost. Baris Guney (27 min, 9p, 7a, 2/9) couldn't train fully during the week because of the viral infection, and we couldn't get his best in the final moments because of the exhaustion. The fans saw we fought till the end, and that's the kind of combativeness we need in every match, so I'm really proud because of that attitude. 

Today's opponent aren't on Besiktas' level, but the fire is burning under Aliaga's feet, and they'll definitely face them fully energized. Akdag will need Tapoutos and captain Oz's best game, because those are the positions where Aliaga are very strong (Sommerville and Marshall), and we're going to see an interesting duel between Randle and Washington.

Aliaga aren't as bad as the ratio 1-7 tells. They lost their last two games in the last seconds, against the teams who are currently taking the play-off positions, Kolejliler and Usak. That same Usak knocked out Telekom in the away game yesterday, and Aliaga were leading with 10 points difference after the first period. The only time they won was against Galatasaray, which isn't a coincidence, etiher, because Dagli, Maroisvili and Gordon were playing then. They stabilized their defense, and conceded 70 points in the last two matches. Olin are the worst defense of the league at the same time, so if Aliaga puts a pressure on Washington, and they have to because that's the way to the win, they're definitely not without their chances here. Quite the opposite, they're a favorites in my opinion...