Efes Pilsen Spor Kulübü (English: Efes Pilsen Sport Club) is a Turkish basketball club based in İstanbul and sponsored by the Efes Beverage Group. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Republic of Turkey is a country located in Southwest Asia with a small part of its territory (3%) in southeastern Europe. ... Basketball Basketball is a ball sport in which two teams of five players each try to score points by throwing a ball through a hoop. ... This article needs cleanup. ...

The club was founded in 1976 by a takeover of the second-division Kadıkoyspor club, which had failed due to financial problems. It won the 1978 second division championship undefeated, earning promotion to the Turkish first division, where it has played ever since. In its first top-flight season (1978-79), Efes won the league title, immediately establishing itself as one of the country's top clubs. 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Events January January 1 - The Copyright Act of 1976 takes effect, making sweeping changes to United States copyright law. ... 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ...

The club's main claim to fame was winning the Koraç Cup in 1996, marking the first-ever European title in a team sport by a Turkish club. More recently, it has become a fixture in the Euroleague, making the competition's Final Four in 2000 and narrowly missing the Final Four in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... The Euroleague is a high-caliber professional basketball league with teams from all over Europe. ... The playoff term Final Four was originally popularized to refer to the final four teams in the NCAA Basketball Tournament; these are the champions of the tournaments four regional brackets, and the only teams remaining on the tournaments final weekend. ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January January 1 - Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Two current NBA players, Hidayet Türkoğlu and Mehmet Okur, are products of Efes' youth program. A third former Efes player, Ibrahim Kutluay, briefly played in the NBA. The National Basketball Association of the United States and Canada, commonly known as the NBA, is the premier professional basketball league in North America. ... Hidayet Türkoğlu, widely known as Hedo Turkoglu (born March 19, 1979 in İstanbul), is a professional basketball player, and the first Turkish-born player in NBA history. ... Mehmet Okur (born May 26, 1979 in Yalova, Turkey) is a professional basketball player who currently plays power forward for the National Basketball Associations Utah Jazz. ... İbrahim Kutluay (born January 7, 1974) is a Turkish NBA basketball player. ...

Honors

• Koraç Cup: 1996
• Turkish league: 1979, 1983, 1984, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
• Turkish Cup: 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002

External links

• Official site (http://www.efesbasket.org) (in Turkish and English)
• Euroleague team profile (http://www.euroleague.net/teams/teamCard.jsp?id=IST)