Match Preview
Besiktas had no problems against Trabzonspor in the previous Super Lig season, taking two victories, 98-84 on the road and 86-80 at home. The Black Eagles are having some serious problems defending in the early stages, though, so the question is whether there is room for an upset on Monday.
Besiktas Struggling to Find Consistency
This season marks Besiktas' return to the EuroLeague, but their results and performances have been awful in late September, registering three straight losses to Fenerbahce 72-59 (Super Cup), Valencia 96-94 (EL) and Anadolu Efes 95-81 (Super Lig).
Dusan Alimpijevic's side finally put an end to this negative run on Wednesday by defeating Maccabi Tel Aviv 109-93 on a neutral court in Belgrade. Anthony Brown and Scottie Wilbekin played key roles, landing 20 points each.
The Black Eagles couldn't connect, though, and suffered a 95-82 defeat to Barcelona at home on Friday. Poor defending in the first half proved to be very costly for the Turkish side, who trailed by 12 points at the break, while their shooting was at just 39%.
Trabzonspor Making a Winning Start
Trabzonspor had a decent run in the Super Lig last season, wrapping up the regular stage in 6th place with a 19-11 record, then losing to Bahcesehir Koleji 2-0 in the quarterfinals series.
The start to their pre-season was fantastic, taking down favored AEK Athens 76-66, but then registering three consecutive defeats to Bordo Bandirma 87-65, Petkim Spor 91-73 and Galatasaray 77-65.
It looks like a lesson was learned from these defeats, starting the new Super Lig campaign with an 82-76 home victory against Bursaspor last weekend. Troy Caupain, Marcus Keene and Emanuel Terry all did great here, landing 12 points each.