Efes takes on CSKA in tough Euro battle

ISTANBUL

Anadolu Efes is on a competition-high six-match winning record in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16. Efes meets CSKA Moscow tonight. AA photo

Anadolu Efes hopes to continue its hot streak when it hosts CSKA Moscow in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague tonight.

Efes is tied with Real Madrid for first place in the Top 16 Group E with a 6-1 record and is on a six-game winning streak. CSKA is third at 5-2 and has only lost once on the road in this Euroleague season. Efes has a 5-3 home record against CSKA, but it lost to the Russians 90-71, with 22 points each from Sonny Weems and Nenad Krstic, when they met in the Top 16 opener in December. That was Efes’ only defeat in the group.

“In the Turkish Airlines Euroleague we have got a six-game winning streak. We want to extend this into seven,” Efes coach Oktay Mahmuti told the Euroleague website. “CSKA Moscow is a tough and respect deserving team. But we have got targets. And in accordance to these targets no matter against which team we play, we only want to win. We know our opponent’s strength. With the support of our fans who made an unbelievable atmosphere last week against Real Madrid, we want to stop CSKA’s weapons, put our own basketball on the court and get one step closer to the playoffs.”
The game at the Abdi İpekçi Arena starts at 8 p.m.

Anadolu Efes tricks basketball team: Classical music concert turns out to be giant choir

The basketball stars of Anadolu Efes were all dressed up for a classical music concert, wondering why their club decided to bring them to such an event when it turned out to a charming joke of gigantic proportion. "Coming here, listening to classical music for an hour and 45 minutes seemed for some of us like torture and... it wasn't like that at all!" said Efes forward Sinan Güler.

The classical concert turned out to be a giant choir singing Efes fan songs, with the audience in on the surprise. The resulting short video will be distributed as an official advertisement for the club.

After the players took their seats, the orchestra started playing relentlessly slow classical songs. Some of the players appear to be bored, while others, like former NBA star Sasha Vujacic, are even caught sleeping.

Then suddenly, the musicians started to play the fan song "Senden daha Güzel" (More beautiful than you), a cover of rock band Duman's hit. The Efes players appeared last year in an advertisement where they played the songs for their fans. This time the exact opposite happened as a spectator in the audience stood up and started to sing the lyrics. Another spectator followed, then a group, until the whole audience turned into an immense choir as the Anadolu Efes players looked on astonished. The festive atmosphere infected the players as well, who couldn't resist joining the choir.