Fenerbahçe Men's Basketball

History

Fenerbahçe's men's basketball department was founded in 1913, and achieved considerable success when the sport established itself in Turkey. Fenerbahçe won Turkish Basketball Championship national titles in 1957, 1959, and 1965, just before the Turkish Basketball Super League was founded in 1966, and made it to the EuroLeague in 1960 and 1966. Its fans had to wait until 1991 for another title, when Levent Topsakal, Larry Richard, and head coach Çetin Yılmaz led Fenerbahçe to the Turkish League title over Tofaş.

Fenerbahçe returned to the EuroLeague in 1992, but lost in the preliminary round. Fenerbahçe was back in the Turkish League finals in 1992, 1993 and, 1995, but could not find a way to win the championship for some time. A third-place finish in the 1997–98 season allowed the club to return to the EuroLeague, and with players like Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Marko Milič, Žan Tabak, İbrahim Kutluay, and the late Conrad McRae, Fenerbahçe advanced to the eighth-final playoffs, losing there to Real Madrid. The club made it to the Korać Cup quarter-finals in 1995–96 and 2000–01, and also finished in fourth place in the 2004–05 FIBA Europe League.

In the summer of 2006, the basketball club merged with Ülkerspor, to form Fenerbahçe Ülker. After the merger, Fenerbahce dominated the Turkish League and became the league champions two times in a row. After losing the third Turkish League finals after the merger, to Efes Pilsen, in a closely contested playoff finals, Fenerbahçe became Turkish League champions again in the 2009–10 season, this time by beating Efes Pilsen in the finals.

Fenerbahçe Ülker headed into the 2010–11 season with 5 new transfers: Engin Atsür, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Marko Tomas, Kaya Peker, and Darjuš Lavrinovič.

New transfers for the 2011–12 season included: Bojan Bogdanović, Curtis Jerrells, James Gist, Hakan Demirel, and also Thabo Sefolosha, who returned to the NBA after the 2011 NBA lockout ended. With head coach Neven Spahija, Fenerbahçe Ülker became the Turkish League champions again. After two disappointing seasons, Željko Obradović was then signed as the team's head coach, and the roster was strengthened with the likes of former Toronto Raptor Linas Kleiza, promising power forward Nemanja Bjelica, consistent center Luka Žorić, and hot Turkish prospects Kenan Sipahi and Melih Mahmutoğlu. Fenerbahçe Ülker became the Turkish League champions again, after beating Galatasaray in the playoff's finals.

At the top of Europe (2014–present)

In the 2014–15 season, Fenerbahçe reached the EuroLeague Final Four for the first time. In the quarterfinals, Fenerbahçe knocked out Maccabi Tel Aviv with 3 straight wins. In the semifinals, the team lost to Real Madrid, and eventually finished fourth. At the end of the season, the club's sponsorship agreement with Ülker ended. In the 2015–16 season, Fenerbahçe impressed in the EuroLeague Regular Season and Top 16, and qualified once again for the Final Four tournament, by eliminating the defending champions, Real Madrid, in the playoffs, again with a score of 3-0. During their first Final Four match against Laboral Kutxa, Fenerbahçe faced risking elimination once again before, Kostas Sloukas, made a game-tying lay-up to force the game into overtime, where Bogdan Bogdanović would help lead the team in overtime to win 88–77. The club became the first Turkish team to ever make it to the EuroLeague Final game. Their final opponent in the EuroLeague competitions was CSKA Moscow. Fenerbahçe lost after overtime.

Sponsorship naming

Due to sponsorship deals, Fenerbahçe has been also known as:

Fenerbahçe Ülker (2006–2015)

League

Turkish Basketball Super League

Champions (7): 1990–91, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2015–16

Turkish Basketball Championship

Champions (3): 1957, 1959, 1965

Istanbul Basketball League

Champions (7): 1954–55, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66

Cups

Turkish Cup

Champions (5): 1966–67, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2015–16

Turkish President's Cup

Champions (6): 1990, 1991, 1994, 2007, 2013, 2016

Basketball Federation Cup

Champions (5): 1953–54, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61

European competitions

EuroLeague:

Final Four (2): 2014–15, 2015–16

Runners-up (1): 2015–16

Fourth (1): 2014–15

Against NBA teams

In 2012, Fenerbahçe became the first and only Turkish basketball club to win against an NBA team. The team beat the Boston Celtics in Ülker Sports Arena on 5 October 2012. In 2015, Fenerbahçe became the first and only Turkish basketball club and third European club to win against NBA teams in the United States, defeating the Brooklyn Nets in Barclays Center on 5 October 2015.

Individual awards

Retired Numbers

06 Mirsad Türkcan

07 Ömer Onan

50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors
Chosen:

Šarūnas Jasikevičius

Željko Obradović

Nominated:

İbrahim Kutluay

Mirsad Türkcan

EuroLeague MVP

Nemanja Bjelica - Season 2014–15

All-EuroLeague First Team

Nemanja Bjelica – Season 2014–15

Jan Veselý – Season 2015–16

All-EuroLeague Second Team

Andrew Goudelock – Season 2014–15

Ekpe Udoh – Season 2015–16

Luigi Datome – Season 2015–16

EuroLeague Rising Star

Bogdan Bogdanović - Season 2014–15

EuroLeague MVP of the Month

Nemanja Bjelica - Season 2014–15, March

Jan Veselý - Season 2015–16, January

Ekpe Udoh - Season 2015–16, April

EuroLeague MVP of the Week

Willie Solomon - Season 2007–08, Regular Season, Week 12

Willie Solomon - Season 2007–08, Top 16, Week 6

Oğuz Savaş - Season 2008–09, Regular Season, Week 10

Emir Preldžić - Season 2012–13, Regular Season, Week 1

Bojan Bogdanović - Season 2012–13, Top 16, Week 5

Andrew Goudelock - Season 2014–15, Regular Season, Week 2

Andrew Goudelock - Season 2014–15, Regular Season, Week 5

Bogdan Bogdanović - Season 2014–15, Top 16, Week 11

Jan Veselý - Season 2015–16, Top 16, Week 4

Luigi Datome - Season 2015–16, Top 16, Week 9

Ekpe Udoh - Season 2015–16, Playoffs, Game 2

Ekpe Udoh - Season 2015–16, Playoffs, Game 3

Ekpe Udoh - Season 2016–17, Regular Season, Round 4

Jan Veselý - Season 2016–17, Regular Season, Round 20

EuroLeague records since 2000–01

Andrew Goudelock - 3-point field goals (10) - Euroleague 2014–15, Week 5

EuroLeague Best Scorer

1998–99 İbrahim Kutluay: 21.41 (in 17 games)

EuroLeague Rebounding Leaders

1998–99 Žan Tabak: 10.00 (in 18 games)

2008–09 Mirsad Türkcan: 8.64 (in 14 games)

2010–11 Mirsad Türkcan: 7.33 (in 12 games)

EuroLeague Blocked Shoots Leaders

2007–08 Ömer Aşık: 2.06 (in 15 games)

2015–16 Ekpe Udoh: 2.12 (in 25 games)

NBA Draft Picks

Ömer Aşık - 2nd round 36th pick overall with Chicago Bulls in 2008 NBA Draft

Semih Erden - 2nd round 60th pick overall with Boston Celtics in 2008 NBA Draft

Emir Preldžić - 2nd round 57th pick overall with Phoenix Suns in 2009 NBA Draft

Enes Kanter - 1st round 3rd pick overall with Utah Jazz in 2011 NBA Draft (also went to, but didn't play for University of Kentucky)

Bojan Bogdanović - 2nd round 31st pick overall with Minnesota Timberwolves in 2011 NBA Draft

NBA Rights Held Players

Bogdan Bogdanović - Sacramento Kings

Head coaches

Main article: Fenerbahçe basketball head coaches list

1944–49 none

1949–50 Feridun Koray

1951–65 Samim Göreç

1965–66 Samim Göreç / Sacit Seldüz / Mehmet Baturalp / Altan Dinçer

1966–67 Erol Demiroma / Altan Dinçer

1967–68 Altan Dinçer

1968–69 Önder Dai

1969–71 Mehmet Baturalp

1971–72 Mehmet Baturalp / Altan Dinçer / Deniz Sine / Bülent Yüksel

1972–73 Altan Dinçer

1973–75 Önder Seden

1975–76 Önder Seden / Hüseyin Kozluca

1976–78 Tuluğ Siyavuş

1978–79 Tuluğ Siyavuş / Hüseyin Kozluca

1979–82 Mehmet Baturalp

1982–83 Önder Seden

1983–84 Aydan Siyavuş / Önder Okan

1984–85 Önder Okan

1985–86 Dennis Perryman / Erdal Poyrazoğlu / Mahmut Uslu

1986–87 Faruk Akagün / Rıza Erverdi

1987–88 Rıza Erverdi / Doğan Hakyemez

1988–89 Fehmi Sadıkoğlu / Rıza Erverdi

1989–93 Çetin Yılmaz

1993–94 Necati Güler / Faruk Kulenović

1994–95 Murat Didin

1995–96 Murat Didin / Murat Özgül

1996–98 Murat Özgül

1998–99 Murat Özgül / Halil Üner

1999–00 Halil Üner

2000–01 Nihat Izić

2001–04 Murat Özgül

2004–07 Aydın Örs

2007–09 Bogdan Tanjević

2009–10 Bogdan Tanjević / Ertuğrul Erdoğan

2010–12 Neven Spahija

2012–13 Simone Pianigiani / Ertuğrul Erdoğan

2013–present Željko Obradović

Notable players

To appear in this section a player must have either:

Played at least one season for the club.

Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club.

Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time.

To perform very successfully during period in the club or at later/previous stages of his career.

Italic players still play for the club.