The video blends live EuroLeague commentary of Anadolu Efes Istanbul’s games against FC Barcelona (Round 6) and Alba Berlin (Round 7) with personal vlog segments from player Elijah Bryant. The play‑by‑play highlights Bryant’s scoring, steals, and key moments, while the on‑camera monologue covers his mindset of treating each practice and game as an experiment, learning from losses, and focusing on controllable factors. Bryant also shares cultural observations about Turkey’s National Republic Day, his experience staying at a new hotel, and celebrates Halloween dressed as a Ninja Turtle, emphasizing that family and fatherhood come before basketball. He mentions a podcast (“Failure” by Art of Accomplishment) that reinforces his growth philosophy, and concludes with a message of consistency over intensity as the team prepares to travel back to Istanbul.
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But it's Elijah Bryant who comes up with the steal. He now has it in 3-point territory and lands from downtown off the hookup from Darius Thompson. Elijah Bryant, 7 points in the game to lead all scorers. That gives Anadolu Efes Istanbul their first lead of the game.
All right, so we play Barcelona tomorrow. I think they're number 1 in the league right now. Different coach, basically same guys. So Kevin Punter, he was in Partizan last year. Vesely, he's been in EuroLeague forever. Jabbar, Bryant was there last year. Um, Abrinas, Sanoraski. Um, condolences to La Pavitola who got injured, so speedy recovery to you. But yeah, so you kind of know the players, but it's not gonna be an easy game, obviously not having Shane. Everyone has to step up, you know, fill a role and do this a little bit more. It'll be a great experiment. I've been trying to frame games around experiments, not only games but practices to, and understanding that every single opportunity on the court is an experiment to, um, in practice work on something, and in the game to get more data points. Some stuff, the hypothesis is going to work, and some stuff, the hypothesis is not going to work. And how are you going to reiterate and reframe in order to allow yourself to not look at it as a failure but look at it as an opportunity to learn from it?
So just—
I don't want to take anything off the top. Finally. Yeah. Okay, close your arms, boys. Elijah Bryant, say thank you for all the blessings. Thank you for everything.
Oh my gosh, today is a big day, not just because it's a game day, but today is actually Turkey's National Republic Day. So in 1923, Atatürk officially ended the Ottoman Empire and started the Republic of Turkey and became the first president of Turkey. So today is like the Fourth of July, um, celebrating their country. My son has no school, a bunch of parades, fireworks, celebrating the independence of Turkey. So happy National Republic Day as a foreigner in Turkey.
Can we say a praise real quick? Cuz I have to go. Generally, Father, thank you for this day.
We thank you for many blessings.
Thank you for Many fans decked out in the national colors of red and white, Turkish flags being waved throughout the arena here. So that is the scene live here at the Basketball Development Center in Istanbul as Anadolu Efes Istanbul welcome FC Barcelona for round 6 action in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. The opening tip is controlled by the visiting team, FC Barcelona. They've first 3 buckets coming from beyond the arc, shooting the ball beautifully. Elijah Bryant leads his team in scoring with 10, and he's got his buckets in a variety of ways tonight. Wonderful footwork in crowded lanes, fantastic touch off the glass, or going directly to the net, finding his range from downtown as well. Elijah Bryant leading his team in scoring with 10 points in the first half. Juan Núñez landing the 3-ball. Vincent Poirier got the first 5 points of a rather slow start to the third quarter. Rodrigue Beaubois then netted the next 6 points, so the visitors up by 10. Approaching the halfway stage of this final quarter, a final quarter that is deadlocked at 11 points apiece. But Jordan Warre has lost the basketball off the inside of his heel. Oh, and how about that for a beautiful assist, hitting the deck to bag his fourth steal of the game was Juan Núñez. And while Sat on his glutes, eyes in the back of his head to place this perfectly placed offload. It will be a single-digit deficit defeat to open this double week here in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague experienced by Anadolu Efes Istanbul. As for FC Barcelona, they extend their magnificent winning streak to 5 wins in a row.
All right, so obviously you saw we lost, but That's gonna happen. That's gonna happen a lot more times in my career. And the biggest thing is to just learn from it. You never fail if you learn. So now it's time to reiterate, watch film, learn from the mistakes, and get ready for ALBA. So we leave tomorrow to head to Berlin. It's a double week. So again, remember, yes, it sucks. Your emotions are giving you feedback. Oh, I should have done this. This guy should have done that. And it's easy to point fingers now, but the biggest thing is making sure staying together, looking yourself in the mirror on what you could have done better, and focusing on everything you can control. So time to head to Berlin.
He's back!
We're in Juice's homeland.
All right, so we made it to Berlin and I I've actually never stayed in this hotel. This is the Titanic Hotel. We usually stay in a different hotel. And I will say this, I don't want to sound like I'm complaining a lot, but I've come to know what hotels I sleep better at. And judging by obviously having the Chili Pad and judging by the pillows, I think it's going to be a good night's sleep because at the other hotel there was a super long pillow and then a super wide pillow. So during the night you could not get comfortable at all. And I would ask my teammates and they said the same exact thing. But let's go get some food. I'll be the first one to say that basketball has been one of the biggest blessings in my life, obviously after being married and having kids, but it has allowed me to travel the world, experience new cultures, and meet new people and create new friendships. With that, though, I do miss a lot of time at home and do miss a lot of things because I can't control my schedule. For example, today is Halloween, and while I would love to be home with my family celebrating Halloween because Halloween has a special place in my heart because I created new friendships, created new experiences, created new memories with a bunch of friends, you know, going around the neighborhood, getting candy, and then bringing your candy back and dumping on the floor and doing trades and stuff like that. I can't experience that today. But to be quite honest, even if I was home per se in Europe, it wouldn't be the same as trick-or-treating in the States. So today I'm gonna bring a smile on people's faces. We're headed to shoot around, and I'm dressed up as a Ninja Turtle because that's what we are as a family. Everyone's a Ninja Turtle. I'm Raphael, the red one. So at the end of the day, like Giannis said, because at the end of the day you're a father and not the basketball player, so I am a father first. This basketball stuff is something I do on a daily basis, and obviously you guys know how serious I take it. I probably take it more serious than anyone you know, but there's more important things in life sometimes. And for me, being a father and a husband, a brother, a son comes before basketball.
Pull him up. Raphael, is that you?
What is crazy?
Yeah, it doesn't matter.
Okay, so we just got back from shootaround. Now we're having another meeting and then we'll go to lunch. Everyone seemed to enjoy Rafael. All right, so I'm about to head to the game, and for me, I like to write in my journal to give me cues exactly on what I I'm focusing on for the game, because no matter who I'm playing or what practice I'm in, it's an opportunity to get better. So if we're playing Panathinaikos or if we're playing Alba Berlin, with all due respect, it's an opportunity to get better. Every team is capable of beating you every single night, no matter who you're playing. So I like to listen to this podcast called Failure. It's by Art of Accomplishment, and it talks about how basically no matter what, you're gonna fail, but You can't fail if you're always reiterating. So everything's an experiment. So in a game, you're never going to play perfect, you're never going to have a perfect practice. But if you're reiterating and trying new things and having a next play mentality every single time, then that's when you start seeing success. So you miss your first shot, oh, I'm not going to shoot again. No, you focus on your systems and your cues and you do that because you're not focused on the result, you're focusing on the task. So let's go. We still get a win. Happy Halloween, Raphael.
Happy Halloween and welcome to the start of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Round 7 as Alba Berlin prepares to host Anadolu Efes at the Uber Arena in the German capital. And we are underway with the ball falling for Louis Olinde. Around the horn it goes, Bryant along the baseline for 3. Face up to Poirier, and that's a nice move. The reverse layup rattles around and in. Both ends to be a little bit more conservative with the shot attempts as Bryant inside for the layup. Thompson sets up Poirier. You proper players to call upon. There's a 2 inside and 1 for Effiz. Bryant teed up to drive on Prochida. He scores and is fouled. And just like that, F has a burst of 6 points in a row.
Elijah's making a free throw. We're recovering transition defense. Watch for lead count runs and passes.
Bryant inside to Otsuru. He waits, stops, and is fouled as Williams complains. Tempted alley-oop, that didn't make it very far, and this is going to be easy for Otoru. Williams trying to get the better of Poirier, he does, and draws the foul. Rebound to Bean, pass to Olindi, he's denied at the rim by Poirier. Schneider, nowhere to go. Rathbeek looking for help. He steps underneath and is able to get the bucket. 10 on the shot clock for— Demerolu drives, scores, and is fouled. So trying to drive on Bean. Warren out for 3, tough shot, he gets it to go. And there is now Officially the final buzzer, and Alba Berlin remaining rooted to the foot of the EuroLeague table. They fall to 1-6.
You didn't bring no speaker? You're not serious, bro.
Come on. All right, so we got back on the right track. We got a dub. Everyone's healthy. Everyone on their team is healthy. We'll travel back tomorrow to Istanbul. I'll get to see the boys. God is good. Remember, consistency over intensity, and we'll see you in the next one.
