After two weeks of training at the Gloria hotel in Antalya, Lokomotiv has relocated to the Turkish capital, Ankara, where they will participate in the Ankara Yalçın Efe tournament. Our first game will begin on September 18th at 6:15 PM. There will be no live broadcast, but we will keep you in touch on what’s going on on our social media.
Depending on the outcome of the first game, on September 20th, we will play either at 6:15 PM for first place or at 4:00 PM for third place against one of the teams from the Türk Telekom/Maroussi pairing. However, right now it’s time to tell you about the first team that Loko will be facing – Karşıyaka from Izmir.
The basketball division of Karşıyaka Sports Club was founded in 1966. Since then, the team, which plays in the red and green colors like Lokomotiv, has got three major titles: two Turkish championships (1986/87 and 2014/15) and a Turkish Cup (2013/14). Also noteworthy is their participation in the 2020/21 FIBA Champions League final.
Last season, Karşıyaka narrowly escaped relegation from the Turkish Super League, finishing 14th. This result contrasted sharply with two consecutive 4th-place finishes in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 championships, so the team has undergone major changes this offseason – only power forward Mert Celep remains in the roster.
This pre-season, the team has played four friendly games, defeating Macedonia’s Rabotnički (84:74) and TFT Skopje (86:60), Kosovo’s Bora (78:59), and losing to Turkey’s Manisa (78:84). Detailed statistics for these games are not available; only the starting lineup against Manisa is disclosed. Among starting 5, the name of small forward Charles Manning immediately stands out. The player spent last season with Avtodor, posting stats of 7.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.1 steals.
Also starting against Manisa for Karşıyaka were:
• Center Justin Alston (#32), who averaged 15.2 points and 5.1 rebounds last season for Hapoel Holon;
• Power forward Samet Geyik (#4), the team captain and a former regular call-up to the Turkish junior national team;
• Power forward Mike Moore (#2), who has played in 10 different countries during his 8-year senior career;
• Point guard Chris Chiozza (#11), a 2021-22 NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors; although he didn’t play a single minute in the playoffs that season, he made 36 appearances in the regular season, including one start.
But the most accoladed player on the current Karşıyaka roster is center Egemen Güven (#15), a club’s alumnus who returned to his native land after six years playing for other Turkish teams, including winning a Euroleague championship with Anadolu Efes. Güven has three gold medals at the European Junior Championships, and in 2014, he was named MVP of the U18 Euro.
What about Loko?
Based on the results of six friendly games, we’ve compiled a list of our top 5 players on every key statistical metrics.
POINTS
Jeremiah Martin 16.0
Kassius Robertson 12.5
Patrick Miller 12.5
Royce Hamm 11.3
Vince Hunter 10.0
REBOUNDS
Vince Hunter 6.3
Anton Kvitkovskikh 4.2
Royce Hamm 4.0
Kirill Yelatontsev 3.5
Daniil Kasko 3.0
ASSISTS
Patrick Miller 5.2
Jeremiah Martin 3.5
Makar Konovalov 1.8
Vince Hunter 1.8
Ilya Popov 1.5
STEALS
Vince Hunter 2.0
Jeremiah Martin 2.0
Anton Kvitkovskikh 1.2
Patrick Miller 1.2
Royce Hamm 0.8
BLOCKS
(it’s Top-6, because players jn 2-6 positions share the same stats)
Royce Hamm 0.8
Ilya Popov 0.5
Vince Hunter 0.5
Kirill Yelatontsev 0.5
Anton Kvitkovskikh 0.5
Jeremiah Martin 0.5
EFFICIENCY
Jeremiah Martin 19.0
Vince Hunter 14.5
Patrick Miller 13.3
Royce Hamm 12.3
Kassius Robertson 10.3
PLAYING TIME
Patrick Miller 23:26
Jeremiah Martin 23:24
Royce Hamm 20:06
Kassius Robertson 20:02
Anton Kvitkovskikh 19:21
