Biraz önce FIBA' nın resmi internet sitesinde bir yazarın şampiyonanın ilk 2 günü sonrasındaki yorumunu okudum. Özellikle Turkiye' ye fazlasıyla değinmiş. İngilizcesi olan arkadaşlar için aşağıya kopyalıyorum.
Olmadı örneğin Cem Bey fazla mesai yapıp İngilizce bilmeyen arkadaşlar için yazıyı translate de edebilir :hi
Jeff TAYLOR
http://www.fiba.com
TURKISH DELIGHT
Three days into the FIBA World Championship and the picture has become crystal clear.
Italy and Turkey fully deserved their wild cards, and my observations from afar about Panama and New Zealand being good teams were way off the mark.
Let’s start with Turkey.
Hedo Turkoglu and Mehmet Okur are good players and nice guys, but they have no business playing for this Turkish national team, at least in 2006.
Bogdan Tanjevic must be thanking his lucky stars the country’s most famous, foreign-based players were unavailable as they rested in a bid to recover from injuries. He has a team of fighters here in Hamamatsu.
What is there not to like about Turkey? Let me borrow a phrase from my Spanish friends.
NADA!
Did you see that Turkish frontline go to war against Lithuania and Australia? These big guys are playing with pride. I’m gobsmacked by the intensity Kaya Peker, Ermal Kurtoglu and Kerem Gonlum.
That trio is fearless, whether it’s banging bodies with Robertas Javtokas and Darius Songaila of Lithuania, or Andrew Bogut of Australia.
I can’t see them beating Greece, who are the most physical team here in Group C. But I can promise you this much after watching them win two games. They’ll fight until the end.
Turkey beat Lithuania 76-74 in the final 17 seconds with two tremendous defensive stands.
Ender Arslan stole the ball from Arvydas Macijauskas, was fouled by the Lithuanian and then made the game-winning free throws.
Arslan and Co then shut down their opponents, forcing Giedrus Gustas to take a desperation shot from the left that didn’t come close to going in.
Even more impressive was the result against Australia.
Down 14 points at half-time, Turkey refused to lose. Nineteen-year-old Ersan Ilyasova is blossoming into a big-time performer, and he showed it by scoring 14 of his 17 points in the second half.
Ilyasova killed the Aussies from three-point range, making three of four attempts.
In the second half, he was two of two from the arc, and on another try, he got hit on the arm by Jason Smith and earned three free throws.
Ilyasova, with his exaggerated follow-through to show how sweet his stroke is, made all three from the stripe for a 70-65 lead that effectively sealed the win for Turkey.
Ilyasova’s team-mates in the U20 side at this year’s European Championships, point guard Hakan Demirel, is starting and playing a lot of minutes.
Turkey still have Qatar to play in the group so there is no doubt they will advance to the next round.
As for Italy, expectations were low with no Andrea Bargnani and an indifferent build-up but Carlo Recalcati’s team has proved already it is not a team to be taken lightly.
They opened with a comprehensive win over China.
And with Climamio Bologna sensation Marco Belinelli pouring in 26 points, Marco Mordente playing with poise at point guard and Matteo Soragna the glue on defense, the Italians upset Slovenia 80-76.
Before the tournament, Slovenia, a talented side with a handful of NBA players, spoke of being happy to play in a FIBA World Championship for the first time. They didn’t talk about winning a medal.
Italy coach Carlo Recalcati, despite bringing a young team to Japan, spoke of winning important games in the group to improve position for the next round.
Advancing, even for this young team, was a foregone conclusion for Italy. The Italians are not talking about medals, but I think they believe getting to the podium is within reach if they finish second in Group D behind Team USA.
Who knows? The Italians are young, but maybe they can give the Americans a run for their money.
Italy beat the US before the Athens Olympics, and don’t think this team won’t be drawing some inspiration from that game.
As for Panama and New Zealand, the Panamanians have been outclassed. Nolan Richardson, you should be coaching this team.
You did, afterall, get the team qualified for Japan.
New Zealand’s World Championship has gone off the rails due to the three-game suspension meted out by FIBA for Mark Dickel, the point guard who tested positive for a banned substance.
The Tall Blacks have lost their first three games, including a 95-73 mauling by Angola.
As I am in Hamamatsu for Group C, the teams I’ve watched have been Greece, Qatar, Brazil, Australia, Turkey and Lithuania.
At the risk of sounding fluffy, I want to give a big thumbs-up to these teams for being great off the court. Basketball is a lot better than football because the players, even the famous guys like Anderson Varejao and Leandro Barbosa of Brazil and Kurtoglu of Turkey, well, they don’t have big heads and it’s much appreciated.
Jeff TAYLOR
http://www.fiba.com
