London Lions head coach Steve Vear is looking for his new team to upset the odds when they host Turkish side Bahceshir College in the FIBA Europe Cup at the Copper Box on Wednesday evening.
BUY TICKETS - FIBA Euro Cup: London Lions v Bahcesehir - Wed 26 Jan 2022 @ 7:30 pm
Vear took charge of the Lions in a BBL Championship game for the first time on Sunday as they defeated Newcastle Eagles 103-94, but he is expecting a much tougher test in front of a big crowd on Wednesday:
"It was good to get a victory on Sunday, but Wednesday is a much bigger test" he acknowledged. "I've watched eight of their games, and there's no doubt they're a really good side. They have some former NBA players, they're well rounded and balanced with lots of weapons. Jamar Smith is one of the better players in Europe and when he gets going he's tough to guard."
Bahceshir won all six games in the first group stage of the competition, and opened the second stage with home wins against Lions (107-82) and Bakken Bears (90-76) but went down 75-70 against Avotodor Saratov in Russia in their last European outing. They come into the game on the back of a 113-189 victory at Merkezefe at the weekend and sit eighth in the 16-team Turkish Super League with a 10-9 record.
Smith leads the Turks with 17.6 points, adding 4.9 assists and 3.9 rebounds, while veteran centre Oguz Savas brings 11.6 points, a team-high 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists. American big man Richard Solomon adds 11.1 points and five boards while Benjamin Bentil has brought 14.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in four games but hasn't played since the first group stage..
Vear has a good idea what his team need to do if they are to get their first win in Group L:
"We'll look to execute our game plan and we want to get at least one win in the second stage of the competition" he said.
"This is a tough level to play at, there's teams who just missed out on the Champions League. The other three teams in our group have real European history, big budgets and big-time players. That's the long term aim for us, to become a big name in Europe."
Vear will be able to welcome back Marquis Teague and Aurimas Majauskas back into the squad for Wednesday's game, while Andre Lockhart drops out due to FIBA eligibility rules. Big man Jordan Williams returned to training on Tuesday but is unlikely to play until the weekend.
Teague and Majauskas bring 14.1 and 10.6 points per game respectively, but Lions are led by Isaiah Reese\s 16.9 and 6.5 assists per game, with the American adding five rebounds. Dirk Williams adds 14.4 points and 2.6 rebounds, while Kylor Kelley and Julian Washburn each chip in just over nine point per game for the Lions in Europe.
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