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Sarica should have Ragland at his disaposal today

The information we're getting from Turkey suggest that Ragland is no longer dealing with a lot of back pain, meaning he will be there to help his team against the mighty Barcelona

The Turkish champions Pinar Karsiyaka underwent a lot of changes over the summer but their Turkish league opener proved they are still a very good-quality team. 

Ufuk Sarica's team played an away game against Besiktas (also changed a lot since last season) to record a very convincing win by 17 points (79-96). The win could have been even more convincing had Pinar not let go in the final quarter to concede 27 points. But still, they almost hit 100 points despite the relaxed final quarter and despite the fact top scorer Ragland wasn't on the team with a disc hernia, which prevented him from playing the Supercup match against Efes and the first round game against Besiktas. 

The information we've been receiving from Turkey suggests that Ragland is no longer in as much as pain and that there is a chance for coach Sarica to have his top scorer ready to face the mighty Barcelona. We have to wait and see how much time will Ragland be able to actually spend on the floor, though. He will probably have to be medicated in order to make it through the game.

Pinar's game against Besiktas was different from what we're used to. While most of their points in the previous season came from the back court (Dixon, Diebler and Strawberry), it was Pinar's front court that crushed Besiktas. The tall players (Palacios, Gabriel, Iverson, Guven and Gonlum) combined 59 points in that game. 

It will therefore be especially interesting to see how Pinar will do when faced with Tomic, Lawal, Doellman and Vezenkov. 

- Playing Euroleague is something we have been waiting on for a long time - forward Koc said about his team's Euroleague debut. 

- The fact we're playing one of Europe's top teams at home only makes the game more important. The first game is always tough, which is why expect the fans to put pressure on Barcelona. We'll do anything for a win that will be the first step towards the Top 16 for us - Koc said. His coach said something along those lines too:

- We have the home court advantage. Together with our fans, we will fight until the buzzers sounds. Barcelona are in great form following the Supercup.

Just like Sarica said, it's been a while since Barcelona seemed this good. Even when not playing as well as on Sunday, they are still able to beat Zaragoza without barely breaking a sweat. The defensive end was not good, the three-point shooting was off but there was no panic either as Barcelona turned things around in the final quarter and won easily.

Tomic did brilliantly once again to finish with 23 points(10-for-11 from the floor). No other player on the team was that efficient but all 12 of them got the chance to play and all of them ended up hitting some shots. Interestingly, even with the constant changes in the lineup, Barcelona finished the game with only three turnovers and that says it all about the quality of this team.

- It was a strange game. We were not able to find rhythm in defense but we were able to win on account of the quality of players like Navarro - coach Pascual said. 

The great choice of players that sees even the mighty Navarro coming on from the bench is the greatest strength of this Barcelona and coach Pascual knows it too:

- We're on a good rhythm and the atmosphere on the team is great. All of my 14 players are fit and ready to play.

This match will be a true test for Barcelona since no team has it easy in Karsiyaka. A small arena and noisy fans combined with a very good-quality team make things very tough for any visitors:

- They may not have a player who is well-known with the general population but they are the Turkish champions and we have to respect that. They play an atypical defense in order to try and break the opponents' rhythm.

Pascual can be happy because Barcelona's game currently seems perfect. Arroyo fit in perfectly, which is no surprise given his experience. Barcelona's offense got even more efficient with him, which will be important today, especially since Arroyo has lots of experience at this arena from his time at Galatasaray.

- The opening game of such a competition is always tough, especially if you play away but I think we have enough quality to win - Pascual said. 

Barca opened the season in an impressive manner with a Supercup trophy. They seem to be the top title contender in Spain and one of the top Euroleague title contenders. However, Barcelona will be face with an atmosphere they are not really used to. A small arena, noisy fans and the opponent that can play basketball. Most importantly, Karsiyaka are not that fast since Dixon left, while their defensive end always does well. They have enough physical power to stand up to Tomic and others in the pain, which is why I think we're in for a closer game than the odds suggest. Barca will also focus on defense, which is going very well with Tomic and Lawal in the paint. Both teams like a well-organized basketball and I think this will finish with around 70 points on each side.