Victor Lapena, Head Coach of our Fenerbahçe Safiport Women’s Basketball Team, which made it to the Final Four for the 8th time in women’s EuroLeague history and for the 2nd time in a row, and Team Manager Arzu Özyiğit made statements in the Interview of the Day broadcast on Fenerbahçe TV.
In the program where the Final Four adventure was discussed and the season was evaluated, our Head Coach Victor Lapena and our Team Manager Arzu Özyiğit also expressed their views on the Turkish Basketball Federation’s foreign number decision.
Our Head Coach Victor Lapena, who stated that he was happy to make it to the Final Four first, shared his feelings with the following words: “I feel very good that we have achieved such a success. We are enjoying it right now. We have a Turkey Cup match ahead of us that we need to focus on. Then we’ll think about the Final Four.”
OUR HEAD TRAINER VICTOR LAPENA: IT HAS HELPED ME MUCH THAT OUR PLAYERS HAVE A COMPETITIVE SPIRIT
Victor Lapena, who was asked to comment on the beginning of the season, said, “We have been the group winner for 3 years since I took office. We couldn’t play the Final Four in the first year due to Covid, but we played the first leg and beat it by 20 points. The Final Four was like a guarantee anyway. There was a delay before the second matches. If that match had been played, we would have been the first team to make it to the Final Four. In the second and third years, we already made it to the Final Four and we were always the group winner. It was very difficult for me. My team was incomplete. Later, when it was completed, we had health problems. Everything overlapped, but we tried to find a way. The fact that our players have a competitive spirit helped me a lot in this sense. Thanks to that, we are at this point and we won 11 games in a row.” he said.
OUR TEAM MANAGER, ARZU ÖZYİĞİT: WE STARTED WITH A SQUAD PLANNING AT THE EARLY SEASON, BUT IT APPROPRIATELY DID NOT WORK AS WE WANTED. BUT EVERYTHING HAPPENED, WE ARE VERY HAPPY WITH OUR TEAM RIGHT NOW
Our Team Manager Arzu Özyiğit said about the process, “It was a little more difficult for me. I’m the one who has to put everything together. Thanks again to our President. He allocates a certain budget every year despite all the conditions and negativities and says ‘We cannot keep this brand at a lower level’. Again, we had a budget, we got our players, but the players couldn’t come here because the season was getting longer in the WNBA. We didn’t really start the season well. There was great misfortune. A player suffered a major knee injury, Helena Ciak. We don’t have a pivot, we don’t have a tall… We think about how we’re going to fight. The teacher is nervous, he does not have the staff he wants. I have a budget to follow. Then came the Elizabethan move. The connection developed quickly, She, as we have worked with him before. We had to move a lot of stones after they came to us. We only have two foreign rights in Europe; our strangers were Kayla and Jasmine Thomas. When the European was gone, Elizabeth came, and when she came, Jasmine was unable to play in Europe. Jasmine and I broke up, Bria Hartley came. She moved a lot of stones. We started out with a squad planning at the beginning of the season, but unfortunately it didn’t turn out as we wanted. But everything fell into place, we are very happy with our team now. Our President and our Management both support us a lot. Even our president said, ‘It happens,’ when there are defeats in a row. He even said, ‘Better at the beginning than at the end. The whole process continued exactly as he had said.” she made her assessment.
OUR HEAD TRAINER VICTOR LAPENA: PREPARING FOR THE MATCH IN RIGA WAS NOT EASY AS IT SAID, BUT IT WAS NOT VERY DIFFICULT
After the Russian teams were expelled from the organization, TTT Riga, with whom we were matched, and the preparation process of this matchup, Lapena said, “First of all, I have a very good team. They made their preparations in record time and the Riga match came out. It didn’t come as a big surprise to me because we watch all the matches every day. We also had an idea about Riga. We were ready in a very short time. It wasn’t easy as said, but it wasn’t that hard either.” he said.
OUR TEAM MANAGER ARZU ÖZYİĞİT: WE ARE FAVORITE. WE HAVE THE BEST STAFF, THE BEST ORGANIZATION
Our Team Manager Arzu Özyiğit, who made a statement about Fenerbahçe Safiport being shown as the favorite in the Women’s EuroLeague after the Russian teams were expelled from the organization, said, “This year, we set out with the motto of being the champion. Even if it was in Ekaterinburg, we were a candidate for the championship. We would beat them somehow. Our chemistry was well settled, the team settled each other. “Last year we missed Ekaterinburg by 4 points and this may be that year, if Ekaterinburg had also been. Now there is something like this: Ekaterinburg’s strength is spread over 4 teams because Ekaterinburg is unreachable for all teams except us. We were targeting Ekaterinburg, not them. “We are the favourites. We have the best staff, the best organization. We are the strongest club in terms of the club, the most disciplined and serious club with its supporters, organization, president and board of directors. This will make a difference. We want to show this difference by winning the cup.” used the expressions.
Speaking about the quarter-final match that we will play against Galatasaray in the Bitci Women’s Turkish Cup, our Head Coach Victor Lapena said, “We have already started preparing for that match. We have two league games to play before. Of course we respect the opponent, but our minds are focused on the trophy. We do our work accordingly. Sometimes these cup matches can be very dangerous, while everyone is focused on the final, the seriousness of the other matches may decrease. Those games are more dangerous. It is better for us to have the first match with Galatasaray, we will focus on the first match and continue that way.” made the statement.
Our Team Manager, who also made a statement about the health status of Kiah Stokes and Bria Hartley, said, “Kiah Stokes had a very unfortunate shoulder injury. He was hit in the national team camp, he relapsed here. We can make Kiah Stokes more available to play. Our healthcare workers are struggling for this. At the moment, they do not consider surgery appropriate because it is not a solution. We are striving to make it the best. He works very hard, he works very hard. He is trying to catch up with the Turkish Cup, but we think we can make it to the Final Four for sure. Bria Hartley suffered a knee injury. He caught the season in the WNBA, we thought he was completely healed, but when he came here, our doctors saw some deficiencies in his knee. We stay in his milk a lot so that he doesn’t get injured again. He works hard and is very adapted to the team. We think we can make a full squad for the Final Four.” she said.
Regarding the decision taken by the Turkish Basketball Federation regarding the number of foreigners, our Team Manager said, “It would not be right for me to make a statement on top of the statements of our manager, Mustafa Kemal Danabas. Our President and they will make the final decision. I can express my opinion as follows; What the federation did is wrong. They held a meeting with the General Managers during the season. I took our ideas from our Board of Directors and said, ‘We are absolutely against this rule’. We compete in Europe, we are one of the strongest leagues in Europe, our teams compete in EuroCup, EuroLeague. If you reduce the number of foreigners, investments will start to decrease and the number of teams that will fight will decrease. Not only in terms of Fenerbahçe, but also in terms of our brand value in Europe. Turkish League is very valuable. They took our ideas. Except for a few teams, the majority said ‘Let it fall’. Before taking such a decision, they should have taken the opinion of the presidents or the relevant managers again. They explained it without consulting, it was unethical. If Fenerbahçe says one day, ‘I am not in this business’, the brand value of women’s basketball will drop incredibly. That’s why we deserve respect. Our president says in all his speeches, ‘We have to protect this brand value’. You should show us this respect too. It was a very wrong attitude.” expressed his views.
Our head coach, Victor Lapena, on the decision of the Turkish Basketball Federation, said, “I will not express a very opposing view. If such a decision has been taken, we will see if it is good or bad. Whatever the decision is, I will implement it.” made its assessment.
OUR HEAD TRAINER VICTOR LAPENA: WE ARE STRONG WITH OUR FANS. WE WANT TO SEE THEM WITH US
Finally, our Head Coach, who invited our fans to the quarter-final match of the Bitci Women’s Turkish Cup, which we will play with Galatasaray in Mersin, said, “We are strong with our fans. We want to see them with us. We win games with them. If we’re going to win that trophy, we’re going to win it with our fans.” he concluded his speech.
Source:fenerbahce.org
