Welcome back to the Taking The Charge Podcast and this week’s interview is with Deniz Aksoy, Turkish basketball commentator. Deniz talks about growing up in the game of basketball and then her rise in the media world and how she became one of the biggest basketball media personalities in Turkey.
Before that … let’s take a quick look around the world of basketball with the Big Three
3:55 Story we are watching - The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague decided to void all games played against the three Russian teams - not just future games.
6:40 - Young player of the week - Jaime Pradilla, 2001-born center Valencia Basket. Don’t look now but he has scored in double figures in his last four games with Valencia - two each in the EuroCup and ACB. He is averaging 13.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 0.5 steals in those games. Pradilla also picked up 8 points and 3 rebounds for the Spanish national team against Ukraine.
8:20 - Up-coming event we are watching - Real Madrid will be hosting AX Armani Exchange Milan on Friday March 11 in the EuroLeague. Real have lost four straight games as well as eight of the last 13 games.
Before we get into the talk with Deniz Aksoy, we would like to give you a sneak peak of the Taking The Charge Prospects Podcast interview with German forward Luc van Slooten from Basketball Löwen Braunschweig - which is part of the paid subscription section of the TTC substack.
10:45 - Sneak preview of interview
Deniz Aksoy, Turkish basketball commentator (17:25)
Here is a rundown of the interview
18:15 - If she ever gets confused knowing which show she is actually doing
20:20 - Her insight into the status of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
25:30 - How she thinks Anadolu Efes Istanbul are holding up as reigning EuroLeague champs
30:05 - The start of her journey in the basketball world - and early memories of Efes
33:00 - About going to Italian high school in Istanbul
36:00 - Why she studied in Milan
37:05 - As someone who really shows her fashion, what was it like being in Milan
39:10 - Why Salma Hayek, Nadine Labaki, Monica Bellucci and Penelope Cruz are her role models
41:20 - Which one movie from that quartet she would watch as a final movie
42:55 - What she learned from traveling in Peru about 10 years ago
45:10 - How she started getting in the media world
47:25 - What she did at FIBA EuroBasket 2017 in Istanbul - working for YouFirst
49:40 - How she remembers her experience working in China at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019
52:55 - About moving from Milan back to Istanbul to work for S Sport
54:50 - What other job she would do if she had had a chance
55:25 - What her favorite interview was
58:50 - Any role models/mentors among media people
1:00:05 - About her role as a role model as a female in the basketball world
1:03:25 - What she has learned from Murat Murathanoglu
1:06:20 - What was the experience like being at the NBA Draft with Alperen Sengun
1:10:35 - About watching Anadolu Efes Istanbul winning the EuroLeague title - but watching it from home.
1:13:50 - Future goals/aspirations
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