Emre October, General Manager of Samsunspor Club Basketball Branch, who stated that they finished the basketball league in the second place and made it to the Play-Offs, said, “We have gone through a new structuring in basketball for the last 2 seasons. Under the leadership of our President, Yüksel Yıldırım and our team, we have created a very beautiful structuring. We’ve had much more success than expected. Compared to our budget, we dealt with all the teams that were higher than our budget in the first and second years of the league. In fact, the championship may have escaped at the last moment, but that does not mean that we had an unsuccessful season. I think we are very successful. Despite our own budget and the new restructuring of the club, we have come a long way. The biggest factor in this is our President Yüksel Yıldırım, Jasper Yıldırım and our management. Afterwards, they offered us this opportunity and we are trying to organize this organization in the best way possible. When we look at it, our teacher İlker Salman and his team, the player group for 2 years, have captured a very good chemistry and synergy. However, we are playing a very enjoyable basketball. We formed a team that fights and fights to the last ball. The energy and athleticism of our team this year is very high. I think we enjoyed most of our fans who came to our games,” he said.
Expressing that they believe they will emerge from the Play-Offs as champions with the support of the fans, Emre Ekim said, “Our fans were not together last year due to the pandemic, but this year we have a very serious fan group. Each week, our numbers increased and they supported us. I also thank them here. We finished second last season with 20 wins. We finished second again this year with 23 wins. This year, we put it on the number of wins. When we look at the past years, teams have generally moved to the upper league with 23 wins. But unfortunately, 23 wins were not enough for our bad luck. Regardless, finishing second is also a great achievement for us. We have taken the field advantage in the Play-Offs as well. The matches we will play in Samsun are very important for us. If we win the matches in Samsun, we will be champions and we will go to the Super League. The players and our technical team are aware of this. I hope everything will be fine. The team deserves a full hall. That’s why we expect all our fans not to leave us alone in the Play-Off. Let’s be together, let’s unite. Let’s be the champion in the play-off. This road passes through unity and togetherness. We are waiting for the great Samsunspor community to our matches,” he said.
Emphasizing that they need the support of the fans in the Play-Off matches, Emre Ekim said, “Play-Off matches are starting this week. We finished in the second place and we will play with Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Kağıtspor in the ninth place. If we win, we will play with the winner of the 4th and 5th match and then the final. Here, the biggest support is again in Samsunspor fans. From here, I call on all fan groups, all basketball lovers and the whole Samsunspor community, do not leave us alone. Here we have to play the Play-Offs in unity and integrity without any discrimination. I think we will achieve a very good synergy with the audience. this is so important for us. We are waiting for our fans to all the matches here to be a partner in this pleasant environment and the beautiful victories we will experience in the Play-Offs. It will be really enjoyable,” he said.
Thanking everyone for their support, Emre Ekim said, “We have a Basketball Committee organized by the Samsunspor Club Association. All those who worked in this committee really gave their heart to Samsunspor, Samsunspor people. They really give us serious support. I think this is a very important event. Under the leadership of our Samsunspor Club Association manager and Basketball Club vice president Arzu Uslu, our Association Managers Alper Engiz, and Damla Beytekin, this formation really makes a great contribution to our basketball. I would like to thank this organization for its support so far. He has always helped and supported us in our matches during this process,” he said.
