Turkish basketball fans are rejoicing at the appointment of David Blatt as coach of Efes Pilsen in Istanbul. The Israeli-American coach and former point guard has just coached Russia to success in the Eurobasket 2007 tournament.

But at his first press conference in Turkey he told everyone how delighted he was to be working with Efes Pilsen, how Istanbul is a great city and how his family were looking forward to living there. He told a crowded media assembly that he was now very proud to be a member of the Efes Pilsen set-up. And he reminded them that he had worked with big teams such as Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bennetton Treviso. He believes Efes Pilsen will have a good season because they have plenty of national players.

He couldn't say why Turkey had not performed well in Eurobasket but that they had done well in the last World Championships in Japan. The General Manager of Efes Pilsen, Engin Özerhun, commented on the Euro tournament and pointed out that while Spain and Lithuania had been favourites he was glad that Russia, under David Blatt, were now champions.

'He (Blatt) believes Efes Pilsen will have a good season because they have plenty of national players'

Özerhun said the club's expectations for the next season have become more obvious. He emphasised that  Blatt was a good coach even before he was the European Champion and that’s why they had made a contract with him in June.

Efes Pilsen, the only Turkish team to win the Korac Cup, have won the Turkish League 10 times, but they were swept aside by Fenerbahçe Ülker in the finals 4-0 last season, and this defeat prompted them to make sweeping changes, including the appoinment of David Blatt. This year, they are aiming to play in the Final in Europe and they have signed new players, Serkan Erdoğan (Tau Ceremica), Ender Arslan (Panionios), Andre Hutson, Kenny Gregory and Rashad Wright. They have also kept Drew Nicholas, Kerem Gönlüm and Ermal Kurtoglu while they released Nicola Prkacin and Antony Granger.

Efes Pilsen are also scheduled to play against Minnesota Timberwolves in Istanbul in October 6, the first NBA team to be seen in the country. The game will take place at Abdi İpekçi Arena.