In this feature, commentator A highlights Elijah Bryant’s standout 19‑point performance for Anadolu Efes, emphasizing his scoring efficiency and emerging leadership. Bryant then discusses his systematic approach to preparation, treating every practice and game as a data‑driven experiment, using film study to remove emotion and continuously iterate. The conversation shifts to the practical challenges of playing in multiple European competitions: the EuroLeague uses a smoother, grippier ball, while the Turkish (FIBA) league ball has a pebbled texture that affects grip, spin, and shooting consistency, requiring players to adapt weekly. Bryant also explains the Turkish league’s foreign‑player regulations—currently allowing seven non‑Turkish players on a roster but mandating at least one Turkish player on the floor—highlighting how these rules influence roster construction, playing time, and development opportunities for domestic talent. The segment concludes with a comparative reflection on how the NBA’s lack of foreign‑player limits creates a different product, while the Turkish federation aims to balance competition and local player growth.
Chapters
Plenty of potential picks, but it has to go to Elijah Bryant. He's getting better and better the further he gets into his EuroLeague career, and this was one of his best performances. A team-high 19 points. Big buckets, big moments.
Just basketballs, right?
Got to be the same.
No, no chance. So actually, this week we'll be taking on Petkim, but this ball in the Turkish league, and we'll be playing Milan in the EuroLeague with this ball. This ball actually bounces a little bit different compared to this one, and the leagues aren't the same. There's different rules in terms of what players can play and who has to sit out and what Turkish players have to be on the floor, but we'll get into that later. Right now, let's go kick Milan's—
You're not eating all my pancakes, are you? You see the—
oh yeah, yeah, they be out.
When it comes to preparing for the game, I think the more prepared you are, the more data points that you have allow yourself to react in a way.
You're not gonna remember every play, you're not gonna remember every set, but like I said before, you can get tendencies. So getting like a scouting report that has players' tendencies on it, so like this type of stuff is beneficial. But for me, I like to watch film.
So I have one of you guys ask me, what do you do after a bad practice, or what do you do after a bad game? And I started to think after watching film, is that there's no such thing as a bad game or a bad practice if you're going into the game or practice with intention. So you look at the practice or the game as an experiment where you can learn from, and then whether fail or success, you reiterate. So whether you have a good game, you don't attach emotion to that, and you constantly are reiterating and trying to find ways to get better. Hence why I watch film after a good game or a bad game. It's part of my system regardless of what happens on the court or what emotion I felt. Is it easy every single time to do? No. But when you take the emotion out, then it allows you to see it more as a science experiment. After lunch, I watch my film and then I take my nap, and then I pretty much— the camera's down because I'm locked in on the game. So I'll see you guys after the game.
Balmoro to the basket again, stopped by Poirier. That bounce off the backboard ignites the offense in spectacular fashion. The speed, the elevation, and then the exclamation. Otuoro! Stan Otuoro, the raging bull from Istanbul, providing an unlikely spark, but Elijah Bryant shutting out the light. Bryant faked the pass to the corner and went all the way to the goal. It's like they're toying with this Milan defense. Bryant off balance, off the rim, off the backboard, and everything going down for Efes. That's 9 for Elijah Bryant now. Lead all scorers in the game on 4-of-4 shooting. And a foul and a score! He's in the form of his life, Elijah Bryant. It doesn't matter how physical and how tight the defense. Bryant weaving his way to the foul line and knocks down another 14 points without a miss for Elijah Bryant. The tip, the transition, Mirotić, a follow, it's As his captain and franchise player seemed to be in significant pain, the deficit has been halved. Elijah Bryant, 17 perfect points. Lede of fake takes it. Oh my goodness, unplug the printer! A big jam in the land. Bryant though has the answers. Elijah Bryant with 19 points to lead Efes, and an offensive foul. It's Bryant, not just about his 19 points, his all-round performance and personality. He's become a leader for Anadolu Efes.
MVP, congratulations on the win. We were watching together some of your plays. You were automatic tonight on the court. That was the mindset?
Yeah, I think the biggest focus is we got the win. That's all that matters. Uh, wasn't pretty in the third quarter, but we found a way to get a win, and that's all that matters.
What do you think that made a difference tonight?
Uh, I think we had to get better at getting defensive rebounds, but we stuck together. We got a big lead in the first half, and we got a win.
Thank you so much. Enjoy.
Thank you. Wow.
Thank you.
Bye.
Okay, so we made it to Izmir, Turkey, where we are playing PETCAM. In these different European competitions or these different overseas competitions, you actually don't play with the same ball. Yes, you heard that right. You play with two different balls. So play with the EuroLeague ball in EuroLeague competition, and then you play with the FIBA ball. So last night we played with EuroLeague, and tomorrow we play with FIBA.
Or how playing with the two different balls can affect you as a player. So in terms of specs, they're basically the same on the paper— 29.5, typical size basketball. But the main difference is in grip and texture of the ball, so different materials that they use. The FIBA ball, which is the Turkish league ball, has more like of a pebbled texture with additional panels and deeper channels providing a different type of grip compared to the EuroLeague ball. Specifically, when that ball gets wet from sweat, it does not dry well at all. So the EuroLeague ball is smoother with the softer texture that has more like of an agile feeling, grippier. It's easier to palm the EuroLeague ball for me specifically. Quickly. And when it gets wet, it's not— it's like it absorbs the sweat. It doesn't stay on top. So the difference in panel design, grip, and texture can even affect the trajectory and spin of a shot. So, or even in practice, playing with both balls to have a lot of touches with both. So basically, this week we're playing EuroLeague, and we'll practice all week with the EuroLeague ball. After this game, and let's say Lyon, France against ASVEL, we'll be practicing with the Turkish League ball because we have a Turkish League game on coming up. So each week you're changing balls, which is— if you think about it, it's kind of a unique situation. Imagine being a quarterback in the NFL and then having to play with a different football all of a sudden. Different stitching, slightly different pebbling on the surface. It's going to affect your throws, your grip, everything. So basically understand that when you're watching these different games and why they play different balls. Now, why do they do it? I'm assuming it's all about money. Everything's all about money usually. But at the end of the day, as a player, you can't control that. So you need to focus on what you can control and learn how to shoot with both.
So personally, my favorite ball to play with is a EuroLeague ball. Obviously, it's necessarily when it gets sweat on it that it doesn't become slippery compared to the FIBA ball. Another thing about these Turkish League games is that these teams that were coming to play after arriving to the hotel at 6 in the morning have been waiting and preparing for us all week, and this is like their Super Bowl. And I'm not saying that to put them down or anything. I'm saying that because I was one of those teams before, and I know how it feels. When I played in Eilat, Israel, uh, my first team I played with out of BYU, I was waiting for Maccabi. I was waiting for Jerusalem. I was waiting for Hapoel Tel Aviv because those were my money games, per se.
Today is game day in Turkey, Izmir, Turkey to be exact. But the thing about Turkish league games is that there's certain rules for foreigners. Last year you could play with 5 foreigners. This year you can play with 7. So today I'm here for the game, but I'm actually not playing. So on our team we have Turkish players, we have Latvian players, we have French players, we have Americans, but foreigners are counted as anyone who is not Turkish.
So for today, you only can select 7 foreign players to play—
French, Latvian, American, anyone non-Turkish. Most teams usually only have 7 players, let's say smaller teams in Turkey, but our team has 11 foreigners. So each game someone has to sit out in order to meet the regulations of the Turkish league. You also have to have one Turkish player on the floor at all times during the game. So last year it used to be 5 foreigners on the roster and we had like 10 foreigners, so 5 guys were usually out, but there was no Russian rule where you had to have one Turkish player on the floor. This year it's different. I think they did it to allow Turkish player to be on the floor at all times.
But I think in the end it was better for the Turkish players when it was 5 foreigners because that means there are more spots for the Turkish players.
In my opinion, when it comes to these domestic leagues of other countries, I believe that you should be focused on the best product, whatever that is. Look at the NBA.
They don't have any rules of how many foreign players or what player can be on the floor because they're trying to create the best product ever. Now on the flip side, I do understand that if you did that, then that means the Turkish league would be filled with a bunch of foreigners.
So you would basically take away the opportunity for your local Turkish players to have a job and gain their skill and their craft in basketball. So I think there has to be some fine medium.
But if you are a Turkish player— not necessarily Turkey—
but if you are a European player, it is easier to find a job in your local country because you count as that local citizenship. So I think if you knew that you were competing with everyone around the world, like the NBA, then it would— fair market—
it would allow the players to become better, to work harder.
And I think that's where the Turkish Federation has come into that idea of we have to get our Turkish League players better by having more competition.
And this is all my opinion, there's no facts behind this, but I'm just thinking out loud.
