The future of the Turkish NT

[Straight forward]

Overall conclusion: in case everyone is ready and eager to win we can beat anyone with this team.

No, you don't. I don't want to jump here and criticize, but your arguments simply don't make any sense. Larkin is worse than he used to be and he never ever was a true star in FIBA. And he's your best guard. In other words, your best guard is galaxies away from top FIBA players as Doncic, Bogdanovic, Wemby and such. Korkmaz is not existing basically this season. Cedi has been super meh or even trash for PAO essentially. Biberovic still goes up and down, he's upcoming, but no-where near to be consistent force yet and he is not a material of true FIBA star.

All in all - mediocre team. Just as say Lithuania now is also mediocre team. There's no objective claim that Turkey can beat Serbia, France and such. Simply worse. In every single position.

[Toruko]

No, you don't. I don't want to jump here and criticize, but your arguments simply don't make any sense. Larkin is worse than he used to be and he never ever was a true star in FIBA. And he's your best guard. In other words, your best guard is galaxies away from top FIBA players as Doncic, Bogdanovic, Wemby and such. Korkmaz is not existing basically this season. Cedi has been super meh or even trash for PAO essentially. Biberovic still goes up and down, he's upcoming, but no-where near to be consistent force yet and he is not a material of true FIBA star.

All in all - mediocre team. Just as say Lithuania now is also mediocre team. There's no objective claim that Turkey can beat Serbia, France and such. Simply worse. In every single position.

Well, lets wait and see then.

[Camoka]

The problem with Korkmaz is mainly because of injuries and physical issues. Basically he is not ready. But he is very nationalist guy. I am telling it positive way. He is always willing to play for his country and he was ready anytime for our national team. Of course talent is still there. And we can expect much better version of him than now.

Adem Bona also looks better right now and we have plentty of time until EuroBasket. Philadelphia is losing too much. In case that Phila will be out of the play-off picture, we can see more Bona minutes. The one important is that he will probably play Summer League next summer. We will see whether he will be ready for the national team.

And after long time, we have a number one option on a winning team. I hope Alperen tastes the playoff atmopsfere but not winning to much there. First round exit may be good.

I think we are ready to compete right now. Of course it is really hard to beat that Jokic if he wants. And this France team. But we can be competitive.

[Toruko]

The problem with Korkmaz is mainly because of injuries and physical issues. Basically he is not ready. But he is very nationalist guy. I am telling it positive way. He is always willing to play for his country and he was ready anytime for our national team. Of course talent is still there. And we can expect much better version of him than now.

Adem Bona also looks better right now and we have plentty of time until EuroBasket. Philadelphia is losing too much. In case that Phila will be out of the play-off picture, we can see more Bona minutes. The one important is that he will probably play Summer League next summer. We will see whether he will be ready for the national team.

And after long time, we have a number one option on a winning team. I hope Alperen tastes the playoff atmopsfere but not winning to much there. First round exit may be good.

I think we are ready to compete right now. Of course it is really hard to beat that Jokic if he wants. And this France team. But we can be competitive.

I never questioned Korkmaz will to play for the NT. He is just a horrible professional, we still need him. For Bona Eurobasket is an amazing chance to play against top players. You cant find this quality in the summer league. I expect him to come over even though he wont play more than 15 minutes per game.

Our problem was never scoring or creating. Our problem is the defense and Bona is a guy who can defend all 5 positions and he also protects the rim on NBA level.

[okanial]

The future of turkish NT completely depends on Cedi not going to FT in the last 2 minutes. Give him the ball first 3,5 quarter and he will score well or set up a play for others but in the clutch time we should always go Sengun or whoever has the hot hand that day. My heart cant take Cedi FT in the clutch time

[Toruko]

Horrible game today. We showed today that we cant make plays. We dont have a single play maker who could possibly let us hope for more. We just won with more quality thats all. I mean Hungary played like there is no tomorrow but still our decisions were horrible.

The worst move was to try Onuralp Bitim twice. This guy totally lost track of bb in the States. Attacked the rim without brain.

Cedi Osman, standing ovations for him, he finished the game in a perfect way. We won just because of him today.

[Toruko]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCwS5Vtgfxw

[TurkfromGermany]

No, there is no chance.

There is no chance because of ataman and because turks have no plan. People are too fixed in the 5 minutes and zero point stats.

For turkish bb, its not important if Melih Tunca will play 2025 or not, important is that turkish bb has no plan how important Melih Tunca is.

Turkish bb doesnt know how big chance has come with Melih Tunca. Melih Tunca is a bigger perimeter prospect for turkish bb as the 19 years old Furkan Korkmaz, he is a bigger prospect as the young Cenk Akyol(87) in all ways.

Turkish bb must create a star from Melih Tunca, there is no other way to become a serious NT. You cant be satisfied with his role at Turk Telekom, he must have the ball in his hands and must make the decisions, not the 10 foreign players. Even in the next season this will not end, this is the stupid, no plan mentality of turks. Erdem Can must give him the full control next season but he will buy 5 foreign in the same positions, this is the IQ of turks, sad but true. Therefore a lithuanian can come and lauth at you.

[Toruko]

Melihs role next season depends on his delivery this season. He must show that he gets better within the season. His frame is solid but he is too thin, his defense is because of his unfilled frame really bad but yes, it would be better if he played in the TBL big minutes beside BSL/Eurocup.

I am happy that he left Efes on loan and I think that he is really solid talent but it wont be enough for Eurobasket 25.

[Toruko]

Melih Tuncas game has evolved in this season. The eye test says that he has become offensively a true BSL player. His three point shots are falling and he makes good decisions in crunch times. His body is not ready rn. and I would still prefer Kenan Sipahi over him but he is developing and will reach the EL level very soon. I expect him to break out next season. Defensively, he needs to become stronger.

Stats (BSL): 11 games | 17 MIN | 8.1 PTS | %42 2PT (18/43) | %55 3PT (12/22) | %94 FT (17/18) | 2.7 AST | 1.7 REB | 0.9 TO | 8.6 EFF

In case Furkan Korkmaz you can now see that he is hardly ready for playing professional basketball. Nevertheless his talent shines through here and there. Bahcesehir is a good place for him. We need a good Furkan Korkmaz for Eurobasket 25

[Camoka]

I really like the body transformation of Alex Koyun. He is clearly a forward now.

He is very late 2008 born guy. He can do a lot things little and looks smart.

[Toruko]

Its just 9 month till Eurobasket 25 and after watching half of the season I want to draw some conclusions.

The front court: The front court will consist of the players Alperen Sengun, Ercan Osmani, Omer Yurtseven, Berke Buyuktuncel and Adem Bona. This is a tremendous Mix of skillset. Sengun is probably the best European player after Jokic, Giannis and Doncic, at least this season. Competing players are Franz Wagner, Wembanyama and Kristaps Porzingis.

Sengun slowly rises his fgp and this with little help from his team. He has to fight against two three guys in order to score and he mostly creates for himself. Not only he creates with his prolific footwork but he also has also developed a very efficient push shot and a turn around fade away jump shot although its not as efficient as it was last season. Shortly said, he is unstoppable in one against one. Just Wembanyama can stop him under the rim efficiently. On the defensive end he showed what he can do with capable wing defenders. With improving positioning and understanding of the game he became a plus defender in the NBA

I was thinking a lot about his pairing on the court and who might complement him the most. He needs a guy who can make open shots and drive to the rim smartly when Sengun gets doubled and in the perfect case pass when the opposing team manages to rotate successfully. The good thing is we have such a guy. Ercan Osmani is his perfect fit in the offense. Ercan is still very sloppy but he is also very talented and his game is growing from day to day. Defensively, both have size and they are good rebounders. Ercan still makes many unnecessary fouls because of excitement. This might be the only problem and he is a lost case against fast guards. But lets stick with the front court for now...

Sengun - Sanli, Sengun - Yurtseven didnt work at all. Sengun - Bona and Sengun - Buyuktuncel are other options that will probably work very well.

Yurtseven is showing his value in the offense with PAO and he will strongly benefit from the possibility of playing Euroleague at high level. He still has strong ups and downs within the game but his concentration was high in the last two games. He just needs to play with a guard who can attract the opposing perimeter player and this will be our problem. About his pairing he needs to play with good wing defenders. Fortunately, Cedi Osman is showing that he can defend exceptionally well if he wants to. Hernangomez showed how good he worked with Yurtseven. If someone can find Yurtseven near the rim after drives Yurt is unguardable in one against one. A power forward who can drive and dish plus someone who can defend multiple positions would be the perfect fit for Yurt and yes there is a guy. Berke Buyuktuncel is his name.

And we havent talked about Adem Bona yet. His role in the Eurobasket 25 is to come in from the bench when defense and energy is needed.

We have the talent set to react on every possible scenario more or less.

The back court:

What the Turkish basketball lacks the most are players who can deal with the ball. In 2025 nothing has changed. Thats the reason why a ready Shane Larkin absolutely crucial for our game. He is the only guy we cant replace in this team. Without him we wont be able to compete against no significant team. The opponents would close down the painted area and let our guys shoot and they would fail like always. He must come early and prepare well.

Besides him Kenan Sipahi is our best PG without the slightest doubt. He is a solid guy who makes everyone around him better and as a 30 year old veteran he can read games wisely and play efficient. I dont have the slightest doubt about his defense but he might slow down our game a lot. Posting up smaller guys could be a way to create though.

Here I would make the big change. I would start with Sipahi instead of Larkin. Kenan Sipahi needs a team around him that can score.
Kenan Sipahi - Furkan Korkmaz - Cedi Osman - Ercan Osmani - Alperen Sengun would be a very well functioning offense defense balanced team. The reason for this change is to pair up Yurtseven with Larkin and we have to use Larkin efficently without exhausting him. Without Larkin we wont be benefiting from Yurtsevens offense at all and his defensive shortcomings would hurt us a lot.

Cedi Osmans and Omer Yurtsevens performances in the EL is really something that should make us happy.

The case of Furkan Korkmaz: he is the biggest question mark on this roster. He is clearly the most talented offensive player that we have behind Shane Larkin but he is not ready at all. He has a horrible shape rn. There are sequences where you can see his talent but if he does not get in shape till September he should stay at home. With Bahcesehir he will get solid playtime. We need a good Furkan Korkmaz!

Melih Tunca is by far not ready to play do or die games but I would take him to the EB 25 anyway. He could play meaningful minutes against teams like Belgium. Since he is our future it will boost his development additionally.

Sehmus Hazer or Onuralp Bitim: considering the role they have taken in this season and their contribution it should be Hazer. Hazer despite having a horrible touch around the rim can step up big time in important games. Still not the best solution for the shooting guard position.

Conclusion: The team is exciting and can surely fight against any team but much will depend on how prepared our guys will come to the tournament. The team is offensively gifted and has unlike the previous tournaments solid pieces for the defense. Still there might be pieces that wont work together in a perfect way.

France is still our nightmare. I dont want to meet them. Hopefully in the final.

We can give a good fight against Serbia but it wont probably be enough.

I am not very afraid of Germany tbh. Much will depend on the participation of Isaiah Hartenstein and I dont think that he will come to help the Germans.

Latvia is a strong team and Greece might be a difficult case just because of Giannis but we can beat any team on a good day.

[Straight forward]

After Jokic, Giannis, Doncic it's Wemby, Sabonis, Franz as best players in the NBA. Only then Sengun, Porzingis. In FIBA on other hand the picture might be different and we are taking about FIBA.

When I think about Turkish NT to me pops out 2 questions - how good will Sengun and Biberovic (if he's NT available). There's no other exciting questions there. Both Cedi and Korkmaz are on the down side to certain extent compared to previous tournaments and even then they were not enough. So is Larkin. It's too soon for Bona, Tunca (might be nice in the future), let alone Berke who is a disappointment.

Lack of world class perimeter players.

[Toruko]

After Jokic, Giannis, Doncic it's Wemby, Sabonis, Franz as best players in the NBA. Only then Sengun, Porzingis. In FIBA on other hand the picture might be different and we are taking about FIBA.

When I think about Turkish NT to me pops out 2 questions - how good will Sengun and Biberovic (if he's NT available). There's no other exciting questions there. Both Cedi and Korkmaz are on the down side to certain extent compared to previous tournaments and even then they were not enough. So is Larkin. It's too soon for Bona, Tunca (might be nice in the future), let alone Berke who is a disappointment.

Lack of world class perimeter players.

Sabonis is never better than Sengun.

[Straight forward]

Sabonis is never better than Sengun.

LOL, never better He was all NBA for 2 years. Didn't see Sengun there.