Efes Pilsen S.K.
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Categories: All pages needing to be wikified | Wikify from October 2007 | Euroleague clubs | Sport in Istanbul | Basketball teams in Turkey | Sports clubs established in 1976
Efes Pilsen Spor Kulübü (English: Efes Pilsen Sport Club) is a Turkish basketball club based in İstanbul and sponsored by the Efes Beverage Group. It is the most successful club in the history of the Turkish Basketball League, having won the league's championship 12 times. Their home arena is the Abdi Ipekci Sport Center. Efes Pilsen basketball team won the first ever European title by a Turkish club in any team sport (Korac Cup of 1996). Efes Pilsen also came 2nd in the Eurocup of 1993, and reached the Final Four of Euroleague in 2000, finishing 3rd; and the Final Four of FIBA Suproleague in 2001, finishing 3rd once again.[1] The club was founded in 1976 through a takeover of a second-division club which had failed due to financial problems, Kadıköyspor. It won the 1978 second division championship undefeated, earning promotion to the Turkish first division, where it has played ever since. In its first top-flight season (1978-79), Efes won the league title, immediately establishing itself as one of the country's top clubs. The club's main claim to fame was winning the Korac Cup in 1996, marking the first-ever European title in a team sport by a Turkish club. More recently, it has become a fixture in the Euroleague, making the competition's Final Four in 2000 and narrowly missing the Final Four in each season from 2002 to 2006. Current NBA player Hidayet Türkoğlu, former NBAer Mirsad Türkcan are products of Efes' youth program. Former Efes player Mehmet Okur also plays in the NBA and former Efes player İbrahim Kutluay briefly played in the NBA. For the season 2007-2008, Efes Pilsen signed David Blatt as the head coach.1
Honors
Current squad 2007/08Coach:
Notable playersAgainst the NBAIn 2006, Efes became the first Turkish basketball club to be invited to play NBA teams. Efes competed against the Denver Nuggets in Denver, Colorado on 11 October, and against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland, California on 13 October.[2] References
External links
de:Efes Pilsen Istanbul es:Efes Pilsen S.K. fr:Efes Pilsen İstanbul hr:Efes Pilsen Spor Kulübü it:Efes Pilsen S.K. he:אפס פילזן lt:Stambulo Efes Pilsen nl:Efes Pilsen SK tr:Efes Pilsen Spor Kulübü | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
