Turkish basketball player
Do?u? Balbay
(
Turkish pronunciation:
[do?u?
bal?baj]
; born 21 January 1989) is a Turkish former professional
basketball
player. He is 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) tall and he plays at the
point guard
position.
[1]
Amateur career
[
edit
]
Do?u? Balbay started playing basketball in the Turkish club
Fenerbahce
. After two years in the Turkish Basketball League, he moved to
Brewster Academy
,
Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
,
U.S.
to study.
Balbay spent the last two years playing on the Under-18 Turkish national team, and he helped the squad place fourth at the 2006 European Championships. He also played two years on the Under-16 Turkish national team and led that squad to the
2005 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship
.
He led Brewster to a 29?6 record and a runner-up finish at the
NEPSAC
Class A Championship while averaging 13.5 points and 7.5 assists per game during his senior season under coach Jason Smith.
After Balbay signed a
letter of intent
with Texas,
Longhorns
' head coach
Rick Barnes
declared that "Dogus is an important pickup for our program, as he will provide us quality depth at the point guard position." Barnes also said that Dogus "has a clever international game and good athleticism. Dogus is a strong perimeter defender and a good play maker who has the ability to score in the lane."
At the midway mark of the
2009?10 season
,
ESPN
analyst
Jay Bilas
named Balbay one of the two top perimeter defenders in college basketball that season, along with
Chris Kramer
of
Purdue
. Bilas said about Balbay,
Balbay puts the best pressure on the ball of anyone I have seen all season long. With his ball pressure, teams have a difficult time running offense against Texas, and Balbay has taken more than one quality point guard out of the game this season.
[2]
Do?u? was not drafted in the
2011 NBA draft
but was linked with various European teams, including his native
Fenerbahce
. His strength, versality, defensive prowess and speed is said to resemble
Fenerbahce
and
national
player
Omer Onan
.
ESPN
analyst
Fran Fraschilla
named Do?u? his favourite player in the 2011 Eurocamp.
[3]
Professional career
[
edit
]
In July 2011, he signed a three-year contract with
Anadolu Efes
.
[4]
He won the 2012 BSL All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, securing the win by jumping over Anadolu Efes teammate and 2010 BSL All-Star Slam Dunk Contest champion
Sinan Guler
on his way to the basket.
[5]
In May 2014, he re-signed his contract with Anadolu Efes.
[6]
On 23 June 2023, Balbay amicably parted ways with the Turkish powerhouse after 12 seasons together.
On 13 December 2023, he announced his retirement from professional basketball.
[7]
[8]
[9]
Personal life
[
edit
]
He is the son of Mithat (father) and ?ukran (mother) Balbay, and has one older sister, Derya. He was married 8 July 2017 to Erica Balbay.
[
citation needed
]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
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