Fenerbahçe Ülker

From Hoopedia

Fenerbahçe Ülker

Nickname:	Yellow Canaries
League:	Turkish Basketball League
Founded:	1913
History:	Fenerbahçe Ülker (1913-present)
Arena:	Abdi Ipekci Arena
Location:	Image:Turkey Flag.jpg Istanbul, Turkey
Colors:	Yellow and Navy Blue
President:	Aziz Yıldırım
Head coach:	Bogdan Tanjević
Championships:	6 Turkish championships 7 Turkish cups 4 President cups 7 Istanbul leagues
Website:	Feberbrahce.org

Fenerbahçe Ülker is the professional basketball section of Fenerbahçe SK, a major sports club in Istanbul, Turkey. The club was founded in its current form in 2006, when Fenerbahçe's preexisting basketball section merged with the former Gençlik ve Spor Kulübü, better known both in Turkey and internationally by its sponsorship name of Ülkerspor (from the Ülker Food Group).

1 History
2 Current Depth Chart
3 Notable Players
4 External Links

[edit]

History

One of the oldest clubs in European sports, Fenerbahçe, recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. Its basketball team, Fenerbahçe Ülker, has made some of the most loyal and die-hard fans in the world happy. Fenerbahçe SK was founded in 1907 and its basketball section reached great success when the sport established itself in Turkey. Fenerbahçe won national titles in 1957, 1959, and 1965, just before the Turkish League was founded in 1966, and made it to the Euroleague in 1960 and 1966. Its fans had to wait until 1991 for another title, when Levent Topsakal, Larry Richard and head coach Cetin Yilmaz led Fenerbahçe to the Turkish League title over Tofaş S.K..

Fenerbahçe returned to the Euroleague in 1992, but lost in the preliminary round. Fenerbahçe was back in the Turkish League finals in 1992, 1993, and 1995, but could not find a way to get the elusive trophy for a while. A third-place finish in the 1997-98 season allowed the club to return to the Euroleague, and with players like Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Marko Milič, İbrahim Kutluay and the late Conrad McRae. Fenerbahçe advanced to the eighth final playoffs, losing there to mighty Real Madrid. The club made it to the Korac Cup quarterfinals in 1996 and 2001, as well as finishing fourth 2005 FIBA Europe League, but it wasn't until summer 2006 that the team became a European powerhouse. Fenerbahçe merged with Ülkerspor, one of the winningest clubs in recent Turkish basketball history and a perennial Euroleague powerhouse since 1997.

Fenerbahçe Ülker play matches in 11.500-seat arena, called the Abdi İpekçi Arena. A new hall with capacity 12.000 is to be built in a few years.

[edit]

Current Depth Chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Bench
C	Gašper Vidmar	Oğuz Savaş
PF	James Gist	Kaya Peker	Mirsad Türkcan
SF	Marko Tomas	Emir Preldžič
SG	Ömer Onan	Bojan Bogdanović	Can Maxim Mutaf
PG	Roko Ukić	Curtis Jerrells	Engin Atsür