20 October, 2020
09 May, 2021
27/12/2020
Transfers
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Tofas Bursa Transfer Watch

The most surprising change to Tofas didn't come about during the summer but rather on October 26th, when head coach Orhun Ene decided to terminate his tenure at the club, just weeks after it entered its sixth season.


Three days later, the Bursa team announced they were handing the reins to Hakan Demir, the experienced tactician who was at the helm of  Bandirma during the past two seasons.

The latest addition to the Tofas roster is big man Tomislav Zubcic, who arrives in Bursa as a free agent. The 30-year-old Croatian spent the 2019-20 season at Russian side Enisey, averaging 15.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in the VTB United League, with 16.6 points and 6.1 boards per game in the FIBA Europe Cup.

Shortly after the start of the season Tofas had brought in an old fan favorite, Tarik Phillip. The 27-year-old guard played for the Bursa team last season and averaged 10.8 points and 2.7 assists per game in the Turkish BSL league.


Phillip started the season at Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem, with which he played in the Athens Final 8, but parted ways with the Israeli club after the second game of the 2020-21 Regular Season.

In the summer, the Bursa club had waved goodbye to two players who left their mark in recent years as Sammy Mejia decided to retire from basketball and Baris Ermis joined fellow Turkish BCL participants Galatasaray.

The Bursa club nonetheless maintain a big part of their 2019-20 team and  signed Semaj Christon, whom they faced in the 2019-20 EuroCup when he was playing for French side Limoges CSP. The 27-year-old combo guard averaged 15.8 points and 7.4 assists per game in the French Jeep Elite league and his performances attracted the attention of Baskonia.


Christon averaged 9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists in his first four games in the Spanish Liga Endesa but, due to the coronavirus pandemic, he could not return to Spain to take part in the season-ending tournament in which Baskonia were proclaimed champions.

Tofas also signed 30-year-old Sean Kilpatrick, but parted ways with the former Brooklyn Nets and Panathinaikos shooting guard on December 10th. Kilpatrick averaged 16 points and 3.5  assists in the two BCL games he played with the Turkish team.


At the five spot, Tofas have opted for a mobile center in Jeremy Simmons, who averaged 10.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists in the 2019-20 Italian Serie A with Openjobmetis Varese.

Tofas penned small forward Nuni Omot, who last season with ZZ Leiden averaged 17.8 points in five FIBA Europe Cup contests and 12.4 points per game in the Dutch Eredivisie,  but loaned him out to Poland's Trefl Sopot after the start of the season.

The Bursa side have also brought back home Turkish power forward Alihan Demir who studied in the US and competed in the NCAA, initially with Drexel and last year with the Minnesota Golden Gophers.