ATHENS (Greece) - The Final 8 field is set. JDA Dijon and Iberostar Tenerife came through in the clutch of their respective, game three deciders, and now know who they will face next week. In what promises to be a fascinating clash of playing styles, JDA Dijon will go into Quarter-Final 1 to meet Türk Telekom and their roster of Monstars in Athens. Let’s dive into the tactics and look at where the key battlegrounds might be.

Türk Telekom

Key Players

This roster looks absolutely stacked. Coach Gören’s men from Ankara have undergone some major roster changes but it has enabled them to put together possibly the strongest squad (on paper at least) in the Final 8. The club is certainly flying into Athens in a bullish mood.

 

Michael Eric - Center

The biggest departure (literally) from the team was center Moustapha Fall. The giant Frenchman was enjoying one of the most dominant seasons we have seen from a big man, and was also a pivotal part of coach Gören’s system. Replacing him is Michael Eric, fresh from winning the ACB Bubble with Baskonia. Eric is a slightly different style of center but is still an explosive, above-the-rim finisher in the pick-and-roll, and also particularly hard to hold on the left block. Eric is also a real threat on the offensive glass.

 Sam Dekker - Power Forward

The power forward rotation also sees a high-profile change with Sam Dekker coming in to join Kyle Wiltjer. Dekker is - like Wiltjer - a former Houston Rocket and possesses genuine NBA level athleticism. He plays very hard on both ends and is the kind of player that can contribute to the game in multiple ways. 

Kyle Wiltjer - Power Forward

Wiltjer is coming off his best season in Europe and after leading Türk Telekom in scoring at 17.9 points per game, including shooting 43% from deep, he has proven himself to be one of Europe’s best offensive players at the power forward position. Make no mistake, this is a well-balanced and very talented rotation at the four.

Tyler Ennis - Point Guard

The high-profile recruits don’t stop there. Maybe the highest-profile signing is 6’3” (1.91m) point guard Tyler Ennis. Ennis is coming off a season-ending injury during his rookie season in Europe but now back to full-health, Türk Telekom have themselves a genuinely elite point guard. Ennis shot 53% overall and 44% from 3-points across all competitions in his rookie season with Fenerbahce and has a floater package to rival any you will see at the Final 8, including those guys at AEK. If Rice and Langford are some of Europe’s most established scorers at the guard position, Ennis may be among the next incoming.

 

Kamar Baldwin - Guard

Also joining Ennis is Kamar Baldwin, a rookie out of Butler University. Baldwin will be stepping into the role once filled by Nick Johnson and has a versatile offensive skill-set. For Butler, Baldwin was a threat running off screens, and also creating for himself with the ball. As with all rookies, it is yet to be proven what he will contribute in Europe but he projects to be a microwave scorer and somebody with a very interesting season follow - not least because he is in the unique position of being draft-eligible for 2020.

Kiefer Sykes - Guard

Kiefer Sykes can flat out score. Just ask Avellino fans. Sykes owns the single-season scoring record in the BCL with 43 against Banvit and when he gets cooking, there really isn’t a way to stop him. Sykes is also a Chicago native and plays with the kind of toughness that you’d expect from ballers that hail from that neck of the woods. If you haven’t seen his documentary "Chi-Town", now might be a good time to do so.

Muhammed Baygül - Shooting Guard

When November's National Team windows come around, don’t be surprised to see Türk Telekom's captain Muhammed Baygül earn a call up for Turkey. He has been integral to everything the team from Ankara does this season. 11.4 points, 3.2 assists, 3.8 rebounds, shooting 50% from deep, and 89% from the line, Baygul has produced at a high level all year. The former Darüşşafaka and Pınar Karşıyaka man is now 28 and seems to have found a home. Despite all the new, high-profile recruits, Baygül will be vital if Türk Telekom are to achieve their target of taking Europe’s most beautiful trophy back to Ankara. 

Stats

Before the break Türk Telekom had the best field goal percentage in the BCL at 50.4%, largely thanks to being the league’s most precise snipers from behind the arc - they are the only club to shoot over 40% from deep this season. They also head into the Final 8 with the third-ranked offense in the BCL, scoring an impressive 116.5 points per 100 possessions. On the defensive end, coach Gören’s men have taken care of business on the glass all season, pulling down 75% of their opponent’s misses - better than any of the other Final 8 teams. It isn’t just efficient shooting and defensive rebounding where Türk Telekom lead all of their other Final 8 opponents, they also score 37.6 points in the paint, again leading the field in the Final 8.

Playing Style

Offensively, the stats tell a lot of the story. Türk Telekom are an inside-out team. They shoot 72.2% at the rim and then over 40% behind the arc in every area of the rainbow except the left corner. The primary generators of these shots were Moustapha Fall drawing extra defenders in the post then spraying passes around the horn, the likes of T.J. Campbell, and Nick Johnson creating advantages in the pick-and-roll, and the entire team’s willingness to take and make transition 3’s. 

For Türk Telekom to really click, Michael Eric will need to be able to generate the same type of gravitational pull that Moustapha Fall exerted and then also make great decisions when and where to pass. One area he will certainly be able to collapse Dijon’s defense is as the roll man where he is a lob threat, and rim running in transition. 

On paper, there is tantalizing potential for some lethal  two-man combinations in Türk Telekom’s pick-and-roll game. Ennis and Sykes are both players that can draw two defenders on the ball and both Eric and Dekker are legitimate lob threats. Wiltjer also carries the extra threat as a pick-and-pop shooter or a floor spacer should his defender get sucked into helping. 

On the defensive end, Türk Telekom were very much geared towards pressure on the ball with the guards, safe in the knowledge that the towering Fall was guarding the goal. In the pick-and-roll, you could expect to see a lot of "Drop" and "Ice" coverages with everything funneled into areas where Fall was waiting to alter and swat shots. Watch the clip below and notice the pressure on the ball, with Fall, dropped into the paint on every ball-screen. On the second pick-and-roll, with no advantage created, and faced with the prospect of attempting a shot over Fall, Besiktas’ offense forced the kick-out pass and the result was a turnover with Türk Telekom off to the races.

We can probably expect a similar defensive scheme with Türk Telekom's new look frontcourt, however, bringing in Dekker and Eric does give Burak Gören the option to use some more aggressive hard shows and trapping style coverages. 

JDA Dijon

2020 may not be a year that many people will remember fondly, but on the court, it’s already been one that JDA Dijon will never forget. In February they claimed their first-ever Leaders Cup crown after a dramatic victory over Monaco in the semi-final, then dispatching ASVEL in the final. Then to continue the year of firsts, they have now reached the championship tournament in the Basketball Champions League. Laurent Legname has kept the core of the group together and they come into Final 8 with chemistry and  momentum

Key Players

David Holston - Point Guard

There really isn’t any other way to see it, David Holston is dynamite for JDA Dijon. 12.3 points and 6.9 assists, and nearly 2 steals per game means you find Holston making an impact for Dijon all over the court. Perhaps his most important role for Laurent Legname is as the closer in the clutch. Holston is shooting 39% from deep this season on 6.4 attempts. A high volume of those attempts are off the dribble and from deep range. With the game on the line, Holston is as cold as anyone at the BCL Final 8.

 

Axel Julien - Guard

The other half of Dijon’s deadly duo in the backcourt is French international Axel Julien. Julien is putting up 9.3 points and the best part of 6 assists every game. Julien shares the playmaking load with Holston and has great chemistry on the pick-and-roll with both Alexandre Chassang and Abdoulaye Loum. Julien’s best weapon is his bounce and burst. 

Chase Simon - Wing

With Rasheed Sulaimon one of the key players to leave Dijon, the club acted assertively to fill the roster early. Chase Simon had previously enjoyed a productive season with Bourg in the Jeep Elite and spent the last two seasons with Anwil. Simon fits Dijon’s system as a playmaker on offense and defense, as evidenced by the clutch steal he came up with late in the fourth quarter of the decisive game three win against Nizhny Novgorod.

Jaron Johnson - Wing

With Lamonte Ulmer also leaving there was a second wing position to fill on the roster. Dijon have brought in Jaron Johnson fresh from a strong season with Elan Chalon in the Jeep Elite. Johnson has played just one game for Dijon in the game three win v Nizhny and attempted five 3-point shots, knocking down two of them. He is, however, much more than just a shooter. Johnson has some serious bounce and when he puts it on the floor to get to the rim, he’s going strong. 

Hans Vanwijn - Power Forward

This looks like a great pickup for JDA Dijon. Vanwijn already has experience of a BCL Final 4 with last year’s hosts Antwerp. At 6’9” (2.06m) Vanwijn is super versatile on both ends and will have to be if he’s going to match up with Türk Telekom’s all-star power forward rotation. In his first game for Dijon, Vanwijn scored four points on seven shots. For Dijon to reach the Semi-Finals and further, he will need to be much more assertive on the offensive end. 

Abdoulaye Loum

With Richard Solomon leaving, Dijon’s 6’11” (2.11m) big man is in line for an increased role. Loum has the length and explosive athleticism to impact the game on both ends and already produced one of the dunks of the season. Loum’s length and disruptiveness on the defensive end is also a huge part of the way Dijon operates in coach Legname' system.

 

Alexandre Chassang - Power Forward 

Alex Chassang is enjoying a career-best season for Dijon in 2020. 11.5 points is a career-high and he’s shooting over 58% overall. The chemistry between Holston, Julien, and Chassang is vital for Dijon and his ability to finish on the roll or knock down the mid-range jump shot could be a real difference-maker against Türk Telekom. Chassang had 20 points in the Game three win over Nizhny and he may well need to have a similar performance on the offensive end for Dijon to advance. 

Stats

A Defensive Rating of 102.9 points conceded per 100 possessions has Dijon rated as the fifth-best defense in the BCL. This is, in no small part, thanks to their ability to make plays on the defensive end. Dijon have stolen the ball on a league-best 14.2% of their opponents' possessions, a number that is also the second-best Steal Percentage ever in the BCL. Behind only Monaco’s 14.4% in the 2017/18 season. Dijon also force a league-highest 17 turnovers per game. Those steals and turnovers also translate into 14.9 fastbreak points per game, the second-most amongst Final 8 teams.

Playing Style

JDA Dijon are the BCL’s best team at defending the ball-handler in the pick-and-roll. Opposition ball-handler’s score only 0.5 points per play in the pick-and-roll against Dijon, and Laurent Legname’s team also force a ton of turnovers with the way they guard ball-screen actions. In stark contrast to the video earlier for Türk Telekom’s “Drop” coverage, Dijon are super aggressive with the screener’s defender. They will trap and hedge with extremely active hands. Watch the video below, and notice how they have an attacking mentality to the way they guard pick-and-roll.