Dubai Basketball Prepare for Antalya Pre-Season Friendlies Ahead of Season Opener

Thursday 3 September 2026

Thursday 3 September 2026

Dubai Basketball Prepare for Antalya Pre-Season Friendlies Ahead of Season Opener

2026-09-03T00:00-04:00

This week our team relocated to the Turkish Riviera, with the resort city of Antalya providing the perfect setting for the team to continue their preparations for the upcoming season. What better way to prepare for a packed schedule of EuroLeague and ABA games than four games in eight days?

As head coach Xavi Pascual puts the guys through their paces, let’s take a look at the local opposition they’ll come up against.

4 September: Türk Telekom (8:15 PM UAE time)

Based in Ankara, the 2025-26 EuroCup semi-finalists are led by head coach Erdem Can in his second stint with the club. Can followed a successful period as an assistant at Fenerbahce and the Utah Jazz by winning 2023 EuroCup Coach of the Year in his first spell and returned in 2024 after a period at Anadolu Efes. After last season’s fifth-placed finish in the Basketbol Süper Ligi, Turk Telekom have refreshed their roster a number of new players, with the notable backcourt additions of veteran Tony Taylor and former Spanish ACB top scorer Jerrick Harding as well as forward Shaquielle McKissic who joins from Olympiacos.

6 September: Beşiktaş Gain (8:15 PM UAE time)

To those outside Europe, Besiktas Gain may be a team best known for counting Allen Iverson and Deron Williams as former players, but they have a notable history of success both domestically and in European competition. The Black Eagles finished runners-up in both their domestic league and EuroCup last season and have joined EuroLeague this season, making them the third Turkish team in Europe’s elite competition. They are led by Serbian national team coach and two-time EuroCup Coach of the Year Dušan Alimpijević. The team has been strengthened by the addition of players with a wealth of NBA and EuroLeague experience, including Wenyen Gabriel, Eugene Omoruyi, DaQuan Jeffries and Jaylen Nowell. This will be Dubai Basketball’s first game against the club, with their EuroLeague clash at Coca-Cola Arena scheduled for 11 December.

9 September: Bahçeşehir Koleji (8:15 PM UAE time)

Founded in 2017, the Red Dragons have quickly established themselves in Europe’s basketball landscape, reaching the EuroCup semi-finals twice in the last two seasons. Serbian legend Aleksandar Đorđević has joined as head coach and will be looking to improve on last season’s third place finish in the domestic league. Star guard Malachi Flynn led the team in points (17.8), assists (4.0) and steals (1.7) per game in EuroCup last season and has re-signed for another year. He’s joined in the backcourt by familiar face Aleksa Avramovic, on loan from Dubai Basketball.

11 September: Anadolu Efes (7:00 PM UAE)

In their fifty years of existence, Efes have won 42 domestic trophies including 16 league championships. The club’s back-to-back EuroLeague Championship wins in 2020-21 and 2021-22 cemented their place amongst the European basketball powerhouses and, under head coach Pablo Laso, they’ll be looking to return to EuroLeague playoff contention this season. To that end, they have made several exciting roster moves over the summer, including the signings of 2024 EuroLeague MVP Mike James and Croatian forward Dario Saric who returns to Efes after a successful stint with multiple NBA teams. This will be Dubai Basketball’s third time playing Efes, after splitting the EuroLeague series 1-1 last season. The teams meet again in Coca-Cola Arena on 17 November.

The games will provide valuable experience as the squad build team chemistry and learn new systems ahead of the EuroLeague Super Cup in Abu Dhabi on 18-19 September and the opening week of the season at Coca-Cola Arena.

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