FICYMIs Nov 5: Besiktas teenager Aksu; Bona commits to UCLA; Germans vs flopping; NIL
FICYMIs Nov 5: Besiktas teenager Aksu; Bona commits to UCLA; Germans vs flopping; NIL
Friday In Case You Missed Its: Besiktas' Yagiz Aksu made his BCL debut; Turkish big man Adem Bona decides on UCLA; German league sets up evaluation board to fight flopping; NIL
We’ve hit the end of another work week and that means the Friday In Case You Missed Its when TTC lets you know some of the things around the WWWs that you may have missed. This week: A 15-year-old Turkish talent makes his Basketball Champions League debut; Turkish big man Adem Bona (don’t worry, that’s that last Turkish story) decides to play at UCLA; the German BBL league sets up an evaulation board to combat flopping; and some interesting news in the NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) world. Enjoy!
Aksu debuts in Basketball Champions League at 15y 9m 2d
This week saw a youngster make his debut in the Basketball Champions League as Yagiz Aksu entered the game for Besiktas against Rytas Vilnius at 15 years, 9 months and 2 days. For those wondering … no, Aksu is not the youngest player ever in the BCL. That distinction belongs to Lefteris Mantzoukas, who was 15 years, 6 months and 29 days for Promitheas Patras, for whom he played on October 10, 2018 against Oostende.
Bona picks UCLA over Kentucky
One of the top young big men talents from Europe has made his decision about his college career as 2003-born Adem Bona of Turkey committed to UCLA. Bona, who play college prep ball at Prolific Prep in California, picked UCLA over offers from Kentucky, Kansas, Baylor, USC, Arizona State and Miami. In the above video he talks about his decision.
German league creates evaluation board to help refs against flopping
Looking around YouTube it’s not hard to find plenty of videos featuring really bad flopping in the NBA. And the German easyCredit BBL wants to make sure such obxiousness doesn’t sink into their league as the clubs requested an evaluation board to be formed and work to stomp flopping out of the game in the country.
A large majority of the 18 club general managers/managing directors voted in favor of fighting to bring more fair play back into the game.
“We want to unmistakenly signal to our players that faking fouls is not a sign of particular cleverness but simply unsportmanslike - both when physical contact is allegedly harsh or when a foul that has not happened at all is faked,” the league CEO Stefan Holz said on the league’s website. “Neither the clubs nor we as a league, and certainly not our fans want to see something like that.”
A test stage is currently underway until the end of the first half of the season in mid-January with the committee made up of former German national team players and former referees who review questionable scenes after each round of action. Among those on the committee are Hansi Gnad, the captain of the German team that won the FIBA EuroBasket 1993, and Pascal Roller, who helped Germany win silver at the FIBA EuroBasket 2005.
If three of the four committee members reviewing the plays agree it was an example of flopping, the involved player will receive a notice the first time. A second incidence by the player will land him on a list that all 18 clubs and all referees receive. The list will not be made public during the test stage, and the player will not be fined.
High schooler Williams signs NIL deal with Puma
There was a recent headline in the NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) world that really adds some intrigue. The 5-star, 17-year old high school star Mikey Williams signing a multi-year deal with Puma. It’s the first big shoe contract in the new NIL era and of course it will not impact Williams’ eligibility. It does however set up a possible clash if he plays college basketball given that some of his offers may come from schools with shoe deals with competing companies to Puma. For those who don’t remember, a shoe deal even cost Dragan Bender a chance to star at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2015.
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