Galatasaray: Micov Aims to Restore Club Culture | Basketball News

Micov, who played for the yellow-red team for three seasons in his basketball career and is currently the sports director of the team, made a statement to the AA reporter at the Turkcell Basketball Development Center.

Speaking about the squad structure of the team, Micov said, “We have players who will and will not be in the team next season. Their performance this season will affect the decisions we will make. Our coach is already continuing his duty. Everything depends on the players. If we can achieve our goals this season, then we will look at where we are lacking. This will be under the control of the coaches. Of course, I will talk to them. We will try to find the best players we can get in the transfer market. We want to bring back the old culture of Galatasaray. I played here before. I played here before. Beating Fenerbahçe, playing in the Basketball Europa League and winning the BKT European Cup was normal. We want to reflect this culture, so we plan to transfer the best players who can come to Galatasaray.” he said.

“WE ARE ACHIEVING OUR PRIORITY TARGETS”

Stating that he took office about a month ago, Micov said, “One of the concepts I like to use is ‘shock therapy’. We changed the coach of the team during this period. We also had a new player. It seems that this ‘shock therapy’ is working. Since we came here, we have won all the matches in the Turkish Insurance Basketball Super League. We beat the two teams above us in the rankings. We also had one win and one loss in the Basketball Champions League. We are achieving our primary goals.” he said.

Micov stated that he wanted to change some points in the yellow-red team and said, “We aim to manage the team in the best way. We want to change the approach and character of the team. We aim to continue winning in the Basketball Champions League and maintain our position in the league before the play-off round.” he said.

“I HOPE WE WILL BE A PART OF NBA EUROPE”

Expressing his views on the NBA Europe project, Micov said, “There are a lot of rumors about this issue. If we participate in the NBA Europe project, it would be interesting. This is a new organization and we do not know which teams will compete. Some Basketball Europa League teams may also move to NBA Europe. We do not know how many teams will play. I hope we will be a part of NBA Europe. We expect to play our matches to a sold-out house. This way, we will have a better budget and add better players to our squad.” made his assessment.

“I AM TRYING TO GET MORE FANS TO COME TO THE HALL”

Vladimir Micov stated that he is trying to get more yellow-red fans to come to basketball games.

Micov explained that when he started his duty as sports director, he had one-on-one meetings with everyone in the team, and said:

“I tried to learn everyone’s point of view. I also explained myself. We, former players, sometimes look at things from a different perspective. I can give advice to the coaches. They can benefit from my knowledge. Of course, I do not want to be a coach. This is not my goal or job. I will create a squad for next season by talking to the club and the coach. I am not saying that we are playing badly at the moment. This is not an excuse. We just need to make some changes. We will restructure to play better. This, of course, depends on the budget and the market. At the same time, this situation depends on the budget and the market. “The season also depends on the tournament we will play in. When I was playing for Galatasaray, our hall was full. Now, I feel sad when I see fewer fans coming to the hall. This is of course up to us. If we win, they will come to watch us. If we lose, the number of fans coming to the hall will normally decrease.”

Stating that the Turkish Insurance Basketball Super League has developed in recent years, Micov said, “When I was there, there was no rule that ‘At least one local player must be on the field at all times during the match’. This rule had a positive effect. Thus, the National Men’s Basketball Team won the silver medal in the 2025 European Championship. This shows that local players make a difference on the field. We also want to be one of the best teams in this league. I played in this league about 10 years ago. Many new talented players come from the bottom. During the match, they “We need to give more time and role.” He commented:

Micov noted that it was a great success for the National Men’s Basketball Team to win the silver medal in the European Championship and made the following evaluation:

“Investing in the league and the facilities brought about this success. I think Ergin Ataman is the best head coach in Türkiye right now. I respect him very much. He leads the team well and gives self-confidence. I do not want to underestimate anyone. Serbia’s reserves and Türkiye’s reserves were not at the same level, but as I said before, everyone can play basketball. Everyone can shoot and everyone can run. Turkey was the hungrier side in the match it played with Serbia. It was more concentrated. In the end, it was the winning side. The players were close to winning the gold medal, but they lost concentration in the final minutes and lost the match. I watched Ergin Ataman’s interview there and said, ‘We will win the gold medal.’ he said. I’m sure of that too. I wish him success. “Turkish basketball has made a lot of progress in recent years as a national team, league, players and federation.”